Uncategorized

The Value of Pennies

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. Mark 12:42-43 ESV

Last year after we finished our Christmas caroling at a nursing home, we began to pass out large print Christmas devotional books as our gift to the residents. Most of them lit up with smiles and thanked us for the books as our volunteers handed them out. But as they got to the back of the room, one lady gently reached out and slipped three one-dollar bills into their hand. Despite urging her that she didn’t need to pay for our gift, the woman insisted, “No please take it! I want to give something!”

In that dear lady I suddenly saw the widow in today’s verse. She showed us that the longing to give is a basic desire of every Christian heart. Though some of us, have had that desire dampened by people who have taken unfair advantage of us, Jesus never mentioned anything about how well the two little coins the widow contributed, were spent. What made her gift precious was the love that she gave it with. None of the rich guys who went ahead of her had impressed Jesus. But the small sacrifice that that woman eagerly gave was a treasure to Him. Her two pennies and our lady’s three dollars remind us that whether we offer gold, frankincense, and myrrh or just two pennies, God sees more than pennies. He is watching our hearts today!

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

The Most Important Person in the Room

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” 
Luke 10:40-42

This well-loved passage has many of us chuckling, as we consider ourselves a bit more like a Martha than a Mary. But our fondness for the story may cause us to miss the reason Luke included it. He alone could have recalled from firsthand experience as he accompanied Paul, how a life of service could be thrown off track by busyness. Martha was in many ways a lot like Paul. She loved Jesus with all her heart and didn’t care what anyone else thought about her faith. Remember it was Martha who invited Jesus over in the first place. Yet somewhere in the middle of her determination to serve Jesus, Martha began to lose focus. With her house filled with disciples, servants and even a few curious neighbors, she forgot that the whole occasion was supposed to be about Jesus. In the midst of our serving, sometimes you and I, like Martha, also forget who the most important person in the house is!

There are other times we get caught in the “service trap”, because of the expectations of others. As Pastor Rick Warren once famously said, “God loves you, and everyone else has a wonderful plan for your life!” We mean to take time for prayer and reading God’s word, but the phone rings, a text message grabs our attention, or we decide to check our Facebook page, just one more time. Little by little our day is eaten away by distractions, and the Holy Spirit’s voice is drowned out by the banging of our own pots and pans. With our hours consumed by serving, it is easy to miss out on taking time for the only one who really knows what we should do.

Last of all, while Martha asked for Jesus to pay attention to her needs and feelings, Mary just sat at HIs feet, with her eyes on Him. When we allow our serving to overwhelm us, we may elicit sympathy from others or even cause them to jump in to give us a hand, but we lose our chance to point to Jesus. But when, like Mary we give our complete attention to Him, then we can begin again to draw others to look to Him, because He is the most important person in the room!

The Most Important Cabinet Position

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established. Proverbs 15:22 KJ

Since the recent election of Donald Trump to the presidency, the airwaves have been filled with announcements as well as speculations as to who will fill which role in the new administration. But the most important cabinet position has yet to be discussed. Who will fill the role of spiritual advisor to our incoming commander in chief? Everyone knows that George Washington was our first president, but few have read that it was Pastor John Gano who baptized him and Mason Locke Weems who pastored the little church near Mount Vernon where Washington attended. Some presidential spiritual advisors were well known such as Peter Marshall, with Truman or Billy Graham with Eisenhower, but most remain obscure. But what matters is not the star power of these advisors, but their spiritual integrity. Let us remember to pray for God to send good and wise counsellors, not only for our president but for all our leaders. Let us also pray that they will not only seek wise spiritual counsel but even more that they will seek the wisest counselor of all: the Word of God!

Photo by Dhemer Gonu00e7alves on Pexels.com