I’d Rather Have Jesus at Sunshine

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment 
 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:7-8 NLT

Just as Paul had almost finished His race, many of my friends in memory care have almost finished theirs. This morning it was such an awesome time with our song session at Sunshine Home. There were a few more than our normal crowd and almost half of the sweet ladies were singing quite animatedly. It felt so much like church that as we closed in prayer and said amen, one of the nurses shouted, “Hallelujah!” Now I am pretty sure she was being lighthearted, but it did go to show that God showed up today and we could all feel His presence as we worshipped. I hope you will enjoy my own rendition of this song along with the West Wing Singers. Have a blessed week everybody!

I Hate to Edit!

/ pastorpete51 / 12 Comments 
For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives. Hebrews 12:6

I enjoy writing poetry, prose or even an occasional song because I love putting into words the emotions and ideas that come bubbling up in my heart. But just as much as I enjoy putting words together, I hate and despise having to edit them. While editing I feel as if the joy of writing gets lost in the weeds of parsing sentence structure, checking for misspelled words or switching adjectives. There are even days, when I just feel like deleting everything and starting over! But I have learned that unless I stick with the annoyances of editing. I will face the embarrassment of discovering my mistakes in print, after my article is published!

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A few verses before today’s passage, God is named as the author of our salvation, and here we are reminded that He is also the editor of our daily lives. I am so glad that God does not hate to edit. He doesn’t just wad us up and toss us in the waste basket when we sin, He lovingly edits and corrects all His children. Some days I feel as if everything needs to be deleted and my plans redrawn. But the Bible reminds me that changes and corrections are a normal part of the life of all God’s children. None of us gets to go to heaven unedited. The author of our salvation knows best how every line of our story should be written and He has an amazing ending in mind. So, let’s put our manuscript on our editor’s desk and ask Him to rewrite it His way, all the way to the end!

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For the Birds

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
Consider the ravens, they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds. Luke 12:24 ESV

It is interesting that Jesus chose ravens to illustrate God’s love and care for us. Ravens have no song, or beautiful plumage, and are not even useful for food. In fact, though a few complimentary phrases are used about birds, such as “soaring like an eagle, being compared to one our feather friends is rarely a compliment. After all, who wants to be told they have a “Bird brained idea, or are “as Crazy a Loon?” Even less do we wish to be told we are acting like “Silly Geese” or possibly worse, are, “Chicken Hearted.”

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The list seems almost endless, as we recall how we felt when someone said we were, “Sticking our head in the sand, like an ostrich.” Or “Going the way of the Do-Do bird.” Yet, despite all the negative press, God not only cares about the birds, but He also feeds them.

What wonderful comfort and encouragement, when we are floundering around like Turkeys, it is to know that God cares covers us with His feathers and lifts us up on eagle wings, and that the one who watches sparrows, is watching over us!

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