Driving Through the Notch

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

Even though I walk through the valley of death I will fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff they comfort me. Psalm 23:4 ESV

During times of crisis, it is natural to be fearful. A few years ago, our airwaves were filled with the constant reports of quarantines and businesses shutting down. There had never been anything like it in our lifetimes, and we wondered what would happen next. Today, there are other crises happening that are like the dark valley of death in today’s verse. Each of us faces a little different valley, but what remains the same is that as we go through them, we have a hope because we have a good shepherd. whose name is Jesus, and He has promised to walk with us all the way through.

Outside the city where I was born lies a long valley called Sugar Hollow. It is a notch between the hills through which the main road coming up from the South runs into town. It is a pretty stretch of road, but one strange thing about Sugar Hollow is that as you drive into it during afternoon rush hour, it gets dark early. Everyone begins to flick on their headlights because the surrounding hills block out the sun, in the Hollow. All around it begins to look as if night has fallen; but as you round the final bend of the road that leads out of the valley, the shadows draw back, and the sun reappears as if saying “You made it through the notch again! Welcome home!” 

Prayer: Father God, help me to trust you in the valley I am walking through today and to remember that you have promised to be with me all the way through!
Photo by Z N on Pexels.com

Our Hope of Heaven

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments 
Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides Thee. 
Psalm 73:25 KJV

Hoping for heaven has sometimes been given a bad rap, because many of the old hymns and sermons of yesteryear focused exclusively on heavenly bliss, while ignoring the importance of our time on earth. But the Bible says that neither our greatest victories nor our worst failures can compare with what lies ahead for us in heaven. It reminds me of when our boys were teenagers. In shop class they made themselves wooden plaques with their names carved on them to hang over the doorways to their rooms. Though no one had any doubts as to whose room was whose, they simply felt they needed to stake out their own personal territory. In the same way God has staked out a territory in heaven for everyone who has put their hope in Jesus Christ. God has personally engraved our names over the doorways of our rooms. So don’t worry. There is nothing wrong with a joyful longing to be together forever with Jesus in the place He has prepared for us. We need to be able to say, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides Thee.” Then our hope of heaven can strengthen our hearts in the storms that come our way today and lighten our load so we can carry the burdens of others. This hope comes from God and will shine through any dark night and will light our paths all the way to our Heavenly home!

Seeing a Rainbow

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments 
And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:12-13 ESV

A few years ago, a group from our church made a trip to the Ark Encounter in Kentucky. When they returned, they were full of more stories of their time together than about the Ark. At first, I laughed about that, but then I thought how fitting that was because even if one day someone actually finds the original structure of the ark it really wouldn’t change a thing. Believers would still believe, and unbelievers would still doubt. What matters most is our faith, not some historical artifact.

But the Bible says that God did leave us something even greater than Noah’s Ark to visit. He left a sign of His faithfulness in the clouds that everyone can see, and we call it the rainbow. Everyone over the age of five has seen at least one rainbow, though few know who put it there. God left us this beautiful though fleeting sign of His eternal love and kindness, yet most will see it and still not believe in Him. Now, it is a great experience to go to the Ark Encounter, and I highly recommend it as a trip well worth taking. But more important than visiting the ark and more foundational to our faith it to look up in the sky after a storm and thank God for the rainbow. The only traveling we need to do, is from unbelief to faith, from fear to blessed assurance, because the rainbow is God’s eternal sign to everyone who believes of His great faithfulness and love!