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Getting Ready

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments 
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2 NIV

Eighty-one years ago, no one was ready for change, least of all, eleven-year-old Diane. That Sunday morning, she was just slowly waking up. She snuggled down under the blankets quietly thinking of how wonderful it was that her father’s job with the Navy had moved them all the way from Connecticut to Hawaii. The temperature the day before had been in the upper 70’s, and compared to snowy New England, that felt like heaven! Just then she heard the sound of a plane flying strangely low over their house, and she sat up and looking out the window caught a glimpse of a plane as it turned towards the harbor and noticed a bright red circle painted on its wings. Next the phone began ringing, and she heard the door to her parent’s room creak open and her dad’s footsteps padding into the kitchen to answer. Diane slipped out of bed and tip-toed to her doorway, just in time to see daddy running back into the bedroom and hear her mom yelling for her and her older brother Don to wake up. Then from the direction of the harbor, came the sound of explosions, such as she had never heard before. Suddenly everything she knew was turned upside down. My grandfather, who was the captain of one of the destroyers which were not damaged, went out to sea and my grandmother with mom and her two brothers moved back to Connecticut and the world was changed forever!

Photo by John Wolf on Pexels.com

On this first week of 2023 we are no more ready for what lies ahead than Diane (who was my mom) and her family were on December 7th, 1941. Not even the United States Navy knew that 360 Japanese planes were coming to attack our fleet as it sat at anchor that morning. We can never know what challenges, disasters, or difficulties await us this year. What we can do is pray. Prayer means more than simply sitting up in bed to look out the window. Prayer man’s the anti-aircraft guns at the entrance to the harbor of our souls. Prayer means, watching God’s spiritual radar for enemy infiltrations of our airspace and helping our loved ones to a place of safety when we are under attack. Prayer means staying spiritually awake, but not fearfully huddled in a corner, flinching at every sound. We must devote ourselves to prayer in the same way the U. S. Navy did when it repaired its ships, recruited and trained thousands of seamen and went on to win the war. With God in charge at our spiritual Naval headquarters, we can trust that He knows the plans He has for us, and we can be thankful that He will be with us through the dangers and lead us to victory no matter what lies ahead!

My New Year’s Message

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, ‘Destroy.’ Deuteronomy 33:27 ESV

17 years ago we used to bring two of our grandsons to church. At three and one years old this was a challenge during the song service, while I was alone with them and Nancy sang with the worship team. Nathan, who was the older, was generally happy to sit and clap his hands – but not AJ. Oh no, he wanted in on the action and decided that I had to hold him so he could see what was going on! Now, I loved holding him in my arms for the first song, but by the chorus of the second, he started getting heavy and by the third I was desperate for some help. Today’s verse talks about God’s everlasting arms and I discovered that mine most definitely were not!

As we enter this new year, with all of its challenges, opportunities and scary unknowns, we need the One whose arms alone can carry us through. If we will trust Christ as Savior, then whatever we face we can know that God’s got us in His arms. They are underneath us even when we are at our lowest and He will never let us go!

365 Days With Jesus

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Ephesians 3:17-19 KJV

I love how my fellow blogger, Barbara recently suggested over on My Life in Our Father’s World that we choose a word as a theme for the year. I have been thinking about that ever since and with the New Year looming ahead I have chosen the subject of prayer as my focus for 2023. It is not that prayer is not a regular part of my life, or that this is an entirely new area for me to discover, but that my heart has been stirred, or rather pricked by the Holy Spirit about the coldness of my life. Where is the intensity that I once knew, the love of Christ that long ago brought tears to my eyes as I interceded for others? In the Fall our church completed, “40 Days of Prayer” by Pastor Rick Warren, and as our small group discussed it and I went through the journal I wished it would never end! Though the study now sits on my side table, I have determined to pursue God with a faith that works by love in my prayer life more than anything else in the coming year. What about you? What goals has God been speaking to your heart about? Maybe like Barbara, you could join the “One Word Community” to help in your journey. Whatever you do, listen to the Holy Spirit’s direction and follow Him. He alone knows the way ahead and what He has planned for our lives. Because of His love for us we can put all our trust in Him. That love is way beyond anything we can ever understand and by it alone can we know the heart of God. If you are looking for a daily devotional resource to help you in your prayer journey, I am offering here my newly revised and edited 365 Days with Jesus devotional. Each day’s reading begins with a verse, then in a short simple way applies it to everyday life and every month starts with a poem, a theme and a verse. Whatever you choose, I wish you all the best in all the 365 days that lie ahead on your path!