Eternal life

Big Lessons from Small Things

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment 
But ask the beasts, and they will teach you, the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you,
or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? Job 12:7-9 ESV

Have you ever stopped to wonder why God chose beasts and birds, along with bushes and fish, to teach us? Why not just use mighty waterfalls and stars or mountains? Maybe He wants us to pay attention to every small detail because He made every one of them. Not even a single cell in our body came into existence because we decided on it, and when the details of our lives do not work out as we planned, God is still glorified. He wants reminds us that He only needed one small stone from David’s sling to bring down a giant and one small cloud the size of a man’s hand bring rain when Elijah prayed.

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When God tells us in the book of Proverbs to watch ants and lizards, to learn the way we should live, I am reminded of a father coming home from work, who strips off his tie, and gets down on the floor to play with His children. In His time on earth, Jesus got down on His knees, to wash our feet, so that we could learn that He is lowly and humble in heart. And when we throw open the windows of our soul, He sends the gentle dove, with a tiny olive branch on our darkest days. God is simply so great that even all the details of His creation can only begin to tell His message of grace, love and forgiveness. Daily He reminds us that it was not by exploding stars or tidal waves that He demonstrated His greatest power, but by three nails, a crown of thorns and a cross. There on a hilltop, death, hell and the grave were defeated, and the gates of Heaven were opened for even the youngest child who would trust in Him!

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Going for a Walk

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment 
By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. Hebrews 11:5 ESV

I love going for walks, whether at the park, along the beach or around our neighborhood. It is my way of not only getting fresh air, but also finding a place to think and talk things out with God. The Bible says that Enoch walked with God. Now we aren’t given the details but maybe his last day on earth went a little like this. He put on his robe and sandals, kissed his wife goodbye and said, “I’m headed out for a walk.” It was just like every other day, except that this time Enoch never came home.

Though Enoch’s disappearance certainly must have seemed strange, what is interesting to me is that no one wondered where he went. People who knew Enoch recognized that he walked so closely with God that if He were missing, then God must have taken Him. The Bible doesn’t explain exactly how this occurred, but it tells us that God was pleased with him and that he did not see death. Did you get that part? “He did not see death!” Now strange or not, the testimony Enoch left for us is both a challenge and a promise. Today Enoch’s life challenges us to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, and yet it also includes the promise that if we do that, God will walk with us and His promise is that He will take us on a path that goes on forever, and that for forever, He will walk with us!

Home Sweet Home!

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

I sincerely thank God for the privilege and ability of being able to complete such a long road trip as the one we returned from last night. Over the last 3 weeks, Nancy and I travelled through 17 states (not counting our home state of Florida). These are just a few random photos from our 5,500-mile jaunt. While away, we visited all 7 of our grandchildren, both our sons and their wives as well as many close friends. We were also able to stay in the beautiful small town of West Plains, Missouri, which is close to the village where we were married 50 years ago. It was really neat going to the old church, which is now Immanuel Southern Baptist of Pomona Missouri, and worship with those lovely people. While we sang the old hymns, I noticed that they are still using the piano on which Nancy played on the worship team before we were married! Now that we are home, we have to mow the lawn, go shopping, pick up the mail, wash the car and reconnect with our local friends and neighbors. But as I was resting and rejoicing in being, “Home Seet Home” I remembered that while He was here on this planet, that Jesus rarely had any such privilege. In fact, while responding to an eager listener who said he wanted to follow Him, Jesus said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Matthew 8:20 NKJV

Then it hit me that after I had unpacked all my thing and settled in, that I would still not really be home, because as a Christian our only true home is with Jesus. As the Apostle Paul once said, “So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 5:6 NKJV. But God does have a home prepared for each of us who by faith have followed Jesus and given our lives to Him. No matter where you call home today, whether things are going well or terrible, whether we are loved and accepted or rejected and unloved, Jesus has a home for us in Himself and we can have great and unmeasurable peace as we unpack our spiritual bags, come home to Him and find rest in Him alone! Some on Home! Jesus has left the lights on for us!