salvation

Made For Life

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Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:1-2

It seems strange, though it shouldn’t at my age, to think that so many of my family and my friends have gone into eternity while I remain here. That sobering thought turns me to wondering what it will be like in my own last moments here and first moments before God. How brave will I be when I put my foot into the boat that will take me across God’s great river?

Though for the Christian there is no fear in death, it still seems so wrong – so unnatural – so contrary to the joy of life that is seated deep within our hearts no matter our age. One day it came to me; that, it feels unnatural because it is. God made us for life!

Everything in heaven is about life. Jesus is the way the truth and the LIFE. The words He spoke were Spirit and LIFE. He offers a a drink of LIVING water and whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal LIFE. There is nothing in God’s plan that has anything whatsoever to do with death. We must choose to live every day with our focus on life, because that is what He created us for. We may no longer be strong, but the strength of the life of Christ is greater in weakness. We might not be able to do certain things easily, but we can do all things through Christ. Then one day, in the words of the Apostle Paul, when death has been swallowed up in victory we will be changed from this life to the next. Depression and the fear of death lose their grip when we remember that Jesus has a life to give us that is more abundant and overflowing that we could ever imagine!

This wonderful video from the Mullett family is not just a well filmed piece – it is their story. Their son Austin passed away in 2010 after17 years of battling through one serious medical condition after another and yet they have turned their grief into a ministry of the joy of life that Jesus gives. I hope you will be as blessed as I was to watch. Maybe you will shed a happy tear when you are touched by the mystery of the joys and sorrows we pass through on the way to eternal life. Have a blessed week-end everybody!

Coming As We Are

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“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

This is the video version of my post from yesterday where I shared about my dad’s beauty shop. I do the video because once a week I prepare a devotional newsletter which I send in to two different nursing homes where I once visited and this video gives them some music to go along with their lesson. The newsletter version is usually shorter than what I post here because it all has to fit on one page in print large enough for my dear friends to read. I pray that you will also be blessed as I share a few songs along with the thought for the week. “Come to Jesus; just as you are” He is calling and waiting for you.

Here in the Tampa Bay area it is “Florida cold” but our family up North is having tons of fun shoveling white stuff which we don’t miss a bit! Have a blessed Tuesday wherever you are!

This is from our son’s house up north of Philly

A Place Called Home – Song

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments

Sometimes advice is tough to take because what is being suggested seems really hard (or even impossible) to do. So when Barbara of My Life in Our Father’s World asked if I couldn’t write music for a poem I posted last week I thanked her for the idea but inwardly just shrugged it off. But somehow I knew my impulse was wrong on a number of levels so I began to pray and ask God if He had something more in mind than I did…(Dumb question!) You see the real issue was that the reality behind the words to this poem, now turned song, is a very painful one. I had been in five different places in three different states by the time first grade came along. My younger sister and I moved so often that it was hard to remember our phone number (No cell phones back then). But all through the avalanche of changes, God was watching and waiting for me to find in Him the home that He had prepared. And though the scars of that time remain, I can truthfully say how glad I am to know Jesus in a unique way because of that journey. I pray you will be blessed as you listen. For anyone struggling with some of those same issues I pray that you truly find that home Jesus promised when He said.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. John 14:3 ESV