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The Highway of Love

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

These verses are God’s highway giving us both guardrails and a center line. The guard rails tell us all that love is not. They keep us from veering off to the left by wishing we had what others do. When we look there we lose sight of gratefulness for all God has given us. On the other side is a guard rail to keep us from boasting. Because it is so easy when we have been blessed, to want to tell others how special we are.

Instead we need to keep our eyes on the center line that tells us all love is. Love is patient and love is kind, stopping to help someone with a flat tire by the roadside and giving space to the person in front who is driving slowly. Love is joyful when others find their way back onto the highway. Love stays up all night to help the person at the wheel to stay awake. And at the end of the day those guard rails of God’s love keep us from crashing, but it is the center line that will lead us all the way home!

The Beauty of Sunsets

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV

Unless there is an eclipse going on we will never see folks flocking to the shore to snap photos of the sun at noon. That’s because at noon the sun is way too bright for all but the most expensive camera lenses to capture and it’s just so ordinary. But come sunset, especially if there are clouds on the horizon, people wait with anticipation for the first colors of sunset as the sun slowly descends into the sea.

In that same way, the love of God in Christ was far too brilliant for most of His followers to receive while Jesus was healing the sick or calming seas. But at the cross as Jesus suffered and His body was wracked with agonizing pains the beauty of sunset dimmed by clouds began to be seen by unlikely candidates. One thief on a cross next to Jesus repented and received the promise of heaven. A Roman executioner believed and a young disciple was entrusted with the protection and care of Jesus’ own mother. In the sunset of His life on earth Jesus died in my place, paid the full price for our salvation and drew even fearful followers out of hiding to place Him in the tomb. How humble and kind of our Lord that He would allow Himself to die that we could see the beauty of His love in His sunset hours on Calvary!

Becoming a Water Walker

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments

He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. Matthew 14:29 ESV

When I first became a Christian, I was baptized in a swimming pool behind the church. That might seem strange for some people, but in Arizona having a church pool was not strange at all because it eliminated the need for an indoor baptistry and gave the young people somewhere to go on hot days. I had not read the Bible before Jesus found me and knew nothing more than the creation story and something about loving my neighbor. So, when I learned about Peter getting out of the boat and walking on the water to Jesus I was intrigued. I used to walk around the church pool putting my foot out on the water wondering if I could have enough faith to walk across it. Later, I learned that no one else has figured out that water walking thing since Jesus told Peter to come, 2,000 years ago but I still thought about what his first steps were like. Whether the sea was calm or churning with huge waves really did not matter. Neither option allowed for water walking. In fact, once you walk where feet are not supposed to be able to stand, it really does not matter how far you get from the boat or how deep the water is. You have now entered God’s universe of the impossible and the first thing to remember is that we are not standing on wave tops. We are launching out in faith on the word of Jesus Christ. If He says come, it no longer matters what others think. The only thing that counts is if He is calling, because when Jesus calls, He will also be there to catch you if you start to sink!