salvation

Abba Father!

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments 
So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father. Romans 8:15 NLT

Call me old fashioned, but nothing irks me more than to hear people call their parents by their first names. According to recent estimates, there are eight billion folks on earth who can call them “Bob,” or “Barbara,” but only their children can call out “Mom!” or “Dad!” Today’s verse reminds us that as God’s adopted children, we receive the privilege to call Him “Abba, Father.” God has many names in the Bible like “Mighty God” “Prince of Peace” and Wonderful Counselor,” and these all tell us what He does. But we who have been adopted into His family, can call Him “Abba.” Because of who He is to us.

Fifty years ago, I walked into a hospital room and saw my wife holding our newborn son. As I looked in amazement at his tiny, wrinkled face, God gave me much more than a new job: He gave me a new name: “Dad” When we put our faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord, we are adopted into God’s family and can begin to call Him: “Abba Father.” But in that very same instant, as God looks down at our faces, He also gives us new names and calls out “Welcome home son.” and “Welcome Home daughter!”

Have you been adopted into God’s family? You can be today! The Bible says, "But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12 NLT
Believe in Him and accept Him as Lord and you too can call Him "ABBA!"

A borrowed manger – a borrowed donkey – a borrowed tomb

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment 
 “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” Luke 19:30-31 ESV

Lent is now over and some of us come to Palm Sunday and Easter as times when we need to be in church. We know those are especially important days to God, so we show up in church. But the next week, we may or may not come back. We have finished our vows for the 40 days of Lent and now God sort of releases us. But the story of Easter, isn’t about seven weeks or seven days. It actually begins in Bethlehem, in a borrowed manger. That manger wasn’t much more than just a worn wooden trough where the cows were fed, but Jesus needed to borrow it for a little while. Then when Palm Sunday came, Jesus sent two of His disciples into a village to borrow a donkey. That animal wasn’t much more than just a simple beast on which He chose to ride for an hour. But, just like the manger for that hour, Jesus needed that donkey. Though Jesus needed, the donkey and the manger, both of them were returned to their owners. But when Jesus looked at you and me, thank God He decided that He wanted to do more than just borrow us. Jesus wants us to become permanent members of His family, and He has no plans to ever return us! So, on Friday of Holy week, Jesus offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sins and purchased us by HIs own precious blood. He did all the work. We have only to believe. When Joseph and Nicodemus, came at the end of the day, they pulled those terrible nails from the hands and feet of Jesus, wrapped Him in another kind of swaddling clothes and laid in in a borrowed tomb. That must have seemed an abrupt and sad ending to the loving life Jesus had lived, but the story wasn’t over. Jesus didn’t need the tomb for long. Very early on Sunday morning, when it was still dark, Mary and the other women came to the tomb looking for Jesus. But they were amazed by angels and they found the tomb empty. Jesus didn’t need that tomb any longer, because He had risen and He has come for you and for me. What will you do with the gift He has given? He has paid the price so you can belong to Him forever.

Since Jesus Came Into My Heart

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments 
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20 ESV

Some people of late, have fallen into the habit of dismissing the sinner’s prayer of asking Jesus into our hearts as non-biblical. But though they are correct that the prayer of asking Jesus into our hearts, is nowhere, word for word recorded in scripture, it embodies in a childlike manner the truth that being a Christian is all about the life change that occurs when we become a Christian. No one can become a Christian without a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. It would be like trying to become the member of a motor cycle gang without ever having ridden a motor cycle! If you would show up at a rally offering to join, the other guys would probably give you a long hard stare, before breaking into hysterical laughter. In the same way you have to know what it means to be a believer by personal experience. No one gets into heaven by osmosis, because of their parent’s faith or by some ritual done for them by someone else. We only be Christians by bowing our knees to Jesus Christ, before the miraculous transformation, by God’s grace can begin in our heart. The words: “I have light in my soul for which long I had sought.” were written by Rufus McDaniel, not long after the tragic loss of his son. In the midst of his grief, Rufus found comfort, strength and grace to go on, and then he passed along to us this cheerful tune, filled with joy, because Jesus had made all the difference! HAs Jesus made a real difference in your life? He can, but it all begins with when we invite Him in, to our hearts and invite Him to sit at our table. Then according to His promise, He will sit down and share a meal and a lifetime with you!