Eternal life

The Road to Our Shepherd’s Home

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures... And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:1;6b ESV

Hidden within Psalm twenty-three is the story of an invitation for us to follow God on a journey that starts with green pastures and ends at HIs home. But today, living in between those two bookends, usually includes ups and downs, confusing moments, and even some personal failures. But through everything we go through, God is teaching us to trust Him. First, we need to trust Him enough to follow the straight and narrow path that leads towards a dangerous looking valley. Along the way, we will hear howling wolves prowling around on the hilltops on either side of our pathway, and sometimes we may wonder if we should just turn around and run away but we need to remind ourselves that we are not alone. Our Good Shepherd is still with us and if we look to the Shepherd, we will see that He isn’t worried, and then He smiles at us and points to the heavy rod tucked in His belt, and He reminds us that He knows exactly how to deal with wolves. Then, He takes HIs staff and tapping our side gently, turning us sometimes to the left other times to the right. Then, if we keep following, the narrow path widens out into a meadow, where we will see a beautiful table that our Shepherd has prepared filled with delicious food, set up here in this most unexpected place. After eating, our Shepherd pours a bit of oil on His hands and then massages it into the wool on our head and around our ears. This rest has been delightful, but soon, it is time to head out again. Our Shepherd leads us back on the road, but this time He smiles, pointing behind, where we see His goodness and mercy following us, almost like sheepdogs, every step of the way. Finally, just up ahead, the road comes to an end, in front of a strangely familiar house. Though we have never seen this place before, as we look closely, we suddenly realize that this is the place that God has been telling us about from the beginning. Then as we eagerly get ready to step through the door, our Shepherd stops one final time and reminds us that our long journey has only been possible, because before we began, He laid down His life for us!

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A New Song

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
And they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth Revelation 14:3 ESV

Many years ago, I used to stop on Wednesday afternoons to visit an elderly couple, and I brought my guitar along to sing them a few songs. Though they only had a tiny apartment, the way they welcomed me made me feel as if I were visiting a palace. For companionship my friends kept two little parakeets in a cage by the front window. Whether rays of sunshine or raindrops were on that windowpane, those two always had a song, but their gentle tweeting picked up a notch or two when I started strumming my guitar.

Sometimes they would leave the cage door open and on rare occasions, they would decide to fly out and pass by so close to my head that I felt the brush of wings as they flew past. Then they would swoop up to the highest point above the kitchen cabinets where they would perch and watch the show from their balcony seats!

My two elderly friends have now taken their own places in a heavenly choir, but some days I imagine them standing there with their two little parakeets close by, waiting for me to join them one day with my guitar. And I won’t at all be surprised, if that day I feel the brush of wings on my face as two little birds pass by on their way to their balcony seats to join us as together, we join that great new song above!

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Finding Rest Along the Path

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. Hebrews 4:9-11 ESV

After traveling twelve hundred miles for a family reunion and then staying a week or so with old friends, on our final day we stopped to visit Steve and his wife Diane. Our kids grew up together with theirs, and though we had not seen each other in a long time it felt like yesterday that they had been going to youth group together. Knowing that Steve had been battling prostate cancer and now that he has elected home hospice care, we had tried twice before to go, but between various nurse’s visits and his not feeling well, it hadn’t worked out till our final day. We really didn’t know what to expect, but when we stepped into Steve’s room we experienced something totally unexpected: the peace of God.

After a moment of greeting and finding places to sit down, Steve greeted us with a smile. Of course we asked the silliest of questions to ask a dying person, “How are you Steve?”

But Steve didn’t seem at all uncomfortable to answer and he knew we meant more than just a report on how he was feeling. So he smiled and said, saying, “I’m okay. I have peace. I know I am going to be with Jesus, but I am sad for my family. Please pray for them, especially Diane.”

Feeling that genuine peace emanating from Steve, we began reminiscing, sharing photos of our grandkids and exchanging stories. Of all the dozens of people with whom we had spent time with on our trip, no one seemed more at rest than Steve. He wasn’t worried about the future, the bills or what he could accomplish. He just knew, without need of explanation, that everything was in the hands of God. Half an hour later, as we stepped out of the doorway, got into our car, and drove away, we left Steve behind, but the reality of his trust in Jesus journeyed home with us. Now in my quiet times, when I am alone, Steve’s smile, and absolute certainty of God’s grace, challenge me to also rest in Christ along the narrow path that He has called for me to walk.