Jesus is Lord

Have I Crowned Him Today?

/ pastorpete51 / 8 Comments 
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

The words of the hymn, All Hail the Power of Jesus Name” are awe inspiring:

“All hail the power of Jesus' name!
Let angels prostrate fall.
Bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him Lord of all.”

But when we walk out the doors of tour churches and back to our homes, the crowning of Jesus in our daily lives seems far away. Maybe we should ask ourselves, “Have I crowned Him Lord of ALL – My finances? My relationships? My job? My schedule? And maybe most important of all, my time?” Is Jesus being crowned as I go to the grocery store, stop at my favorite restaurant, or drive through busy traffic? How can I serve Him today?

In today’s verse, the Apostle Paul makes it clear, that Jesus is interested, not only in the great scene around the throne, where He is being worshipped by angels and crowned with glory. His glory is also to be seen when we stop for a sandwich, order a large, iced tea and go about our errands. What an amazing God! He whose hands were able to form the heart of burning stars also cares about how we mow our lawns. The one who commanded the light to shine out of darkness also knows what we are planning to say to our neighbors. Sometimes my greatest question is not just whether God will allow me into Heaven, but rather why in the world He cares at all about someone so mundane as myself. I can bore my family in a matter of minutes and yet, God seems interested in those small anxieties that keep me awake at night. And when I recall the commandment Jesus gave us to love our neighbors as ourselves it seems that He whispers to me, “And I have chosen you as my neighbor, when I gave my life for you!!

And Crown Him!
Crown Him! Crown Him! Crown Him!
And crown Him Lord of all!

“All Hail the Power of Jesus Name” by Edward Perronet 1780


Jesus is the Boss!

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

 I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. John 15:1 NIV

When I opened my landscaping and tree care business in 1987, I came in with more than a dozen years of experience, a professional license and plenty of specialized training. My plan was to use my expertise to guide and educate customers in the “right way” to maintain their ornamental gardens and trees. After butting heads with my “uneducated customers” for a year, I discovered that my plan would definitely never work! I then spent the next thirty years learning that my real job was to listen to those customers and meet their needs. Once I had that figured out, doing my work became a lot more fun and people usually loved the results!

Sadly, when some of us first become Christians, we start out with that same mindset. Because we have been to Catechism class, or spent years in Sunday School, we are sure that we know how to be good Christians. But then life happens, and we find out that our way of doing the Christian life definitely doesn’t work! What we all need to learn is summed up in a scene that happened years ago at the end of one workday. My customer had come out to say hello and noticed a bumper sticker on my truck that said, “We Have a Friend in Jesus”. Pointing to it, he asked humorously, “Is that your partner?” I just shook my head and laughed and answered, “Oh no! He’s the boss!” Yes, Jesus is both the boss, and our Master Gardener, and doing life our way is not an option. But when we get our plans lined up with His design, then He has promised that our lives will begin to yield beautiful fruit!

Photo by Kai-Chieh Chan on Pexels.com

The Guest Room

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love.                Ephesians 3:17 ESV

When I was a teenager, my favorite place to go on summer vacation was to my grandparent’s house. Of course, I loved their company, but they also made me feel special because they had a guest room just for me! It had really neat antique furniture and its own bathroom. But in the back of my mind, I knew that no matter how long I stayed or how much fun I had, that eventually I had to go home.

As Christians we begin our journey with Jesus by putting our faith in Him and inviting Him into our hearts. But Paul prays that we when we invite Jesus to come, that it will be far more than expecting Him to stay in our guest room for a while. Paul uses the word dwell, which means,” take up permanent residence.” Jesus wants to do more than just come for a visit. Dwelling means as Paul goes on to say that we are being rooted just like a tree into a relationship with God. Now if you go outside and glance down the street, I am pretty sure that there are not any trees going for a stroll around your neighborhood. No! Trees stay in one spot because that is where they are rooted. Last of all Paul shows us that we are not just rooted out of obligation to God, but because of love – His love. The God of the universe sent His only Son to die on the cross because of His love for us. And because of that, we can trust Him with every room of our house. In fact, we can joyfully sign over the title to our home to Him and hand Him the keys! Jesus wants more than a guest room.  He wants to live in our hearts forever!