Every Detail His Design

/ pastorpete51 / 7 Comments

The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall be the same size. Five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. Exodus 26:2-3

Though I love Nancy more than the day, fifty-two years ago when we said, “I do!” sometimes she makes me crazy! Sitting down to dinner, I get told there is a right way and wrong way to set the knife and fork by my plate, and that the napkins can only point in one direction. But when I read the book of Exodus, I find that in many ways God’s attention to details is a lot like hers. In today’s verse I wondered about the thoughts running through the mind of Moses while God dictated to him His instructions for building the tabernacle. Did he ever question why all of this was important. After all, when God had met him at the burning bush, He spoke of delivering the Israelites from Egypt to, “…bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey…” Exodus 3:8

But what About that Promised Land?!

Somewhere between the purple curtains and the goatskin outer covering, Moses might have wanted to ask, “Hold the presses God! Where is the milk and honey that You mentioned at the beginning?” But Moses had been through too much to question the God who went from sending frogs into the Egyptians bread dough to parting the Red Sea. Every step of the way, through every detail of their struggles, and fears, God had been working out His plan. And, in the middle of all the details, issues, bumps and bruises of your life God is still working out the details. He delights in watching over sparrows and lost lambs. The same God of Niagara Falls is the one who fills the brook with crawdads. He directs everything in His creation, and this same God of tabernacle curtains, and plagues also cares for us. He has generously given us both daily bread and the life of His only Son to forgive our sins. And right now, God invites us to a place of wondrous purple curtains, angels and lampstands, and best of all, a place at His table. There we will discover that through each major stumble and tiny heartache, every frustration and forgiveness that He has been working for our good through every detail according to His loving and mysterious design!

Photo by Mason McCall on Pexels.com

New Year Hope

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For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Luke 11:10 NIV

As we approach New Year, I confess that over the last twelve months, most of what I hoped for, didn’t happen the way I planned, many of my best efforts turned out to be fruitless and looking ahead, I have no idea what will happen next. There is just so much I don’t know, but I do know that God is not the God of hopelessness. But in the middle of our daily battles, He challenges our faith, tests our resolve and then surprises us with grace. Here in our home, our responsibilities concerning our friend Betty who came to live with us after the hurricane in October of ’24 have grown considerably as her dementia has increased and after a minor stroke just after Thanksgiving. Nancy and I struggle along with the help and prayers of friends and several health aides who stop by throughout the week. Each day feels like slogging through a muddy field, but we have hope, though our plans for the coming year are all pretty much on hold. We have a God Who has promised to never leave or forsake, who assures us that in the valleys He will walk with us…with me…with my wife and with our friend Betty. He will keep our family. He will provide answers, and He will carry us in His arms like a shepherd! (Isaiah 40:11) What an amazing hope we have!

Too often when we read today’s verse, we fail to follow through on Luke’s fuller explanation in verses 11-14. Rather than stopping at the open door, Jesus teaches us that no father will give hurtful or dangerous gifts to his children when they ask for things like bread, a fish or an egg. Then He ends with the thought that our Heavenly Father will also give us good things: and the best of all gifts is Himself. He gives His Holy Spirit, to those who ask. What more valuable gift could we possess, who better to guide, what greater hope can we have than the Holy Spirit to lead us into tomorrow? Though it will be a New Year for us, for our Father in Heaven who stands outside of time, every moment is already written in His book. Now I ask that God will bless and keep you as He leads, protects, provides and encourages by His unfailing love and eternal grace through every one of the days ahead!

Streams in the Desert

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exodus 17:6 NIV

If the prospect of launching out into 2026 looks more like heading across a forbidding desert than launching out on a journey of discovery, then remember that God has promised us streams in the desert. When the children of Israel wandered in a desert (Ironically called the Desert of SIN) without water, they became so thirsty that they were ready to stone Moses for leading them there. Then God commanded Moses do a very odd thing (God seems to major in odd things!) He told Him to take His shepherd’s staff and hot a large rock. This technique isn’t in any well drilling manual I have ever heard of. The best you might expect out of hitting a rock with a stick is a broken stick. But God always has greater things in mind and when he hit the rock, a stream of water so large began flowing out that it was enough for hundreds of thousands of people to drink.

In the same way, in our own desert of sin, God sent His Son Jesus who was struck on the cross with a lethal blow. From His side flowed water and blood and that blood He shed opened for all who would come to Him in faith a mighty river in our wasteland and provision for our journey, no matter what lies ahead in the coming year. I hope you may be blessed by this simple message which I shared at Life Care Center last Friday. May God bless you richly and open for you a path in the wilderness and streams in the desert. Happy New Year in 2026!