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Jesus is Praying for You!

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

I was broadsided by the news yesterday that the nursing home which I visited for many years lost 25 residents to Covid-19. The numbers always sound less when you hear them on the news, but when these are folks you know and love they become overwhelming. I prayed over what to include in this week’s video which is seen in several of the homes which I once visited and God gave me this uplifting thought. Jesus is praying for us.

And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.  And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.  And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. .. Mark 6:46-48a

Please pray for me and for those in nursing homes in your own community as well as mine. Have a blessed week-end knowing that Jesus is ready to walk out on any waters you and sinking in today!

Walking on the Waters

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity… Hebrews 6:1a NIV

Sometimes when we read this portion of scripture we want to skip ahead to the gallery of faith heroes in chapter 11. These passages can seem dry and filled with a high theology disconnected from our daily life. But in reality they are incredibly practical and are put there to help us to reorient our relationship with Jesus from simply looking back to His work of salvation in our past. They are focusing like a laser on the right here and right now nitty gritty of our struggles today.

When the writer of Hebrews says let us go on to maturity he points us to the ministry of Jesus as our high priest. When Jesus said, “It is finished!” on the cross, He didn’t mean that He was now ready to retire to heaven. Instead He passed from His sacrificial role as the lamb of God to become our  eternal high priest who will pray for us for us every day till the end of time. Just as Jesus was watching his disciples struggling at the oars on the Sea of Galilee, while he was on the mountain praying, so he is watching over us as we are rowing across our own rough waters. In the same way that he came walking across the waters to help them, so He is ready to come and help us with whatever we face today.  

We must never undo what lies on the path behind but maybe today God is calling you and me to focus on His purpose for what lies ahead. What is on your path today? Jesus is already praying for you and if you look out you just might catch a glimpse of Him walking on the waters towards you!

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What Are You Afraid Of?

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.          Proverbs 29:25

In the book of Proverbs King Solomon warns us about the mental, emotional and spiritual fencing we build because of fear. We erect a fence of words to protect ourselves from what others might think. We run behind a wall of busyness to hide. We lean on our position in the community to protect us from what others might do. But while each of our barriers seem good in our own eyes, God tells us that they operate like hidden snares. A snare works because it is hidden along paths we usually walk. Just as a bird puts its foot into the snare to discover the trap too late we need to be watching!

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When I stopped this week to consider how I talk, I had to confess that sometimes I stretch facts because I am afraid of what others might think if they knew the truth. There have been times when I have omitted something in a document because I feared what might happen if every detail were known. Or I have failed to call a friend to apologize, because I was afraid of what they would say. These have all been snares in my life! I did not see them, but my loving Father in heaven did! He comes with His word, shows me the hidden snares and asks, “What are you afraid of?”

But instead of only disciplining me He gives me some good news in the second half of today’s verse; “But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe!” We do not have to worry what friends think, what neighbors say or what consequences we face; instead we can say, “But I trust the Lord”   God can free us from any snares. He will protect us and give us and keep us safe even in the face of our greatest fear!