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Richard’s Special Day

/ pastorpete51 / 8 Comments 
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 ESV

Just as I walked up, the front door opened, and one of the staff wheeled my friend out onto the front patio. “Do you want me to bring you further?” the lady asked.

It was one of those rare fall days in Florida, when the humidity has finally fled back to the tropics, and the temps hover in the low seventies. Richard looked out admiring the beauty of the moment and replied “No, I think I’ll just, work my own way along from here.” He answered smiling.

“Hi Richard” I called out, as the nurse turned to go back inside. “Isn’t this a beautiful day?!”

Richard looked up at me smiling, then began quietly singing, “This is the day, this is the day…” Sensing this was something special, I joined in and together we went on, “I will rejoice! I will rejoice and be glad in it and be glad in it!”

When we had finished, Richard looked up into the sky, and with the rock-solid certainty of his faith, said, “One day Jesus is going to come back on those clouds, and every eye will see Him. What a day that will be!”

In the nursing home ministry that I am involved in most days are actually pretty ordinary. A small number of us meet in a dining room, we sing some songs, and talk about a Bible story, but nothing spectacular happens. But there are those moments, when it seems that Jesus cracks open a window, and the sweetness of Heaven’s atmosphere comes to us on a puff of wind. It is as if He is saying, “What you can see here isn’t all there is. The aging, the aches and pains, the loneliness, and the tears one day will be left behind. There is so much more that I have waiting for you. Be patient. Be faithful.”

I am so grateful for my friend Richard and all the others like him. God has put them in my path to remind me of the things that really matter. Though they don’t realize it, God has chosen them as His ambassadors, and if we spend a little time with them, on special days, Jesus will open Heaven’s window and pour His blessing out because, “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it!”

Photo by Ofir Eliav on Pexels.com

Never Abandoned

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“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Psalm 22:1

I know that all of Psalm 22 is a picture of the cross, but as I listened to it today on the Bible app, I also began to wonder what was happening in King David’s life when he wrote it. Was David running from Saul, being attacked by his own son Absalom or involved in some unrecorded battle? Though we don’t know exactly his circumstances, it made me realize that when Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me,” it will mean that, just like David, there will be times when we will pass through circumstances just as challenging to our faith.

But unlike our Lord, who truly was forsaken as He bore our sins, though it may feel as if God has forgotten us, that it is not so. Jesus has promised that He will be with us, through thick and thin all the way, even to the end of the world. Are you facing failure in your career? Abandonment by a spouse? Rejection by a parent? Have received the diagnosis you feared from the doctor? Jesus has not, nor will He ever forsake us, but when we humbly call out to Him, He will come. Though the lyrics of the song, “Little Talk With Jesus,” are often sung lightheartedly with smiles, let’s read them carefully this morning and make them our prayer. God is listening; God cares, and He will make things right and make us whole, when we cry out to Him in our prayer.

"I may have doubts and fears
My eyes be filled with tears
Jesus is a friend whi
Watches day and night
I go to Him in prayer
He takes my every care
And just a little talk
With Jesus makes it right!"
Cleavant Derricks

Basta! More than Enough!

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But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 
2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV

I love the word “Basta” which we use in Portuguese in this verse, which means, “Enough!” or “That’s enough!” God uses this word in reply to Paul in the way a father uses it at the dinner table when the children are all clamoring for attention, or squabbling with one another, “Basta!” In other words, “Settle down. We have more important things to do right now.” When I am sick or just plain exhausted, I often pray reminding God that I belong to Him and need His help to make it through. Though I rarely experience a miraculous answer, if I wait long enough, I always come away with a renewed sense of His grace and enough strength to keep going. In that dark moment I hear the loving voice of my Heavenly Father rising up above the clamor of my hardships, confusions and pain and He cries, “Basta! Be calm! My grace is more than enough for you!” Whatever you may face today as the sun peeks up above the horizon, if you turn your heart to the Lord He will answer. Our Jesus, who did all for us on the cross, till in agony, He cried out, “It is Finished!” “Basta!” It is enough Father; I have given all!” That grace is now so free and open to us today because Jesus gave His all, so that we might never be alone, never abandoned, never without hope. “Basta!” May His grace be more than enough and all you need for today my friends!