Faith

Crow and Dove at Sunrise

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

It’s all for You God who has sent this sunrise

Dove softly cooed as he opened his eyes

Photo by amit mishra on Pexels.com

Haw – Haw laughed the Crow as He shouted right back

It’s all about me let’s not get this off track

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Pexels.com

Uh-uh it’s for God who gives us our life

Dove gently sings in the new morning light

Mine- mine it’s for me Crow mocks and he laughs

This all is for me – everything in my grasp

Oh how I wish you could see the Dove cries

It’s all about Him till the dark evening skies

Don’t worry so much I’m sure it’s my day

Mr. Crow proudly caws as he’s flapping away

Leaving Dove silently sitting alone

Where He quietly lifted a prayer to the throne

And he heard in a voice his God speaking so clear

I’ll be right by your side just believe never fear!

Crow and Dove at Sunrise by Peter Caligiuri © 2020 All rights reserved

Stretch Those Wings!

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

Isaiah 40:31 ...but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;  they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

Today on my morning walk, I found a perfect white Ibis feather lying on the ground and brought it home to show my grandson. Ibis always make me smile. They are funny looking birds when they are eating and often come into our front yard in groups of 3-5 to peck deep into the ground with their long bills. They look so much like the chickens back on our farm that I sometimes call them “Florida chickens”.

One of the delightfully strange thing about the Ibis however is that when they fly they transform themselves from a clumsy chicken like creature into a thing of beauty. They epitomize the concept of a leap of faith. They lift off the ground with a spring from their long slender legs and then spread their wings amazingly wide and then quietly and gracefully glide away.

Though I chuckle at their silly appearance I also see in my Florida Chickens a bit of myself. With this virus raging through our state and my own personal health issues I have often laid awake at night focusing on my struggles. I desperately peck deep into the soil below me searching for a way out. All the while God has been watching and wondering when I will remember that He created me to fly. He has been trying to remind me that instead of looking for just an earthly solution I need to look up to Him with faith. It is simply time to spread those wings and flying must begin with a leap into the air above. Today might be just the perfect time to stretch the wings God gave us. We might find out that we will not only look a lot better, but we also discover that right now only faith can carry us any farther on the journey that God has planned!

Jesus is Right on Time!

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”          John 11:21-22 ESV

Just like Martha we spend a lot of time worrying when Jesus is going to show up. I have an expectation that He must do something but no matter how much I fuss or complain about my problem, Jesus sticks to His own timetable. But if we will we still believe like Martha, then He just might surprise you with a miracle. Someone once said, “The hurrier I go the behinder I get.” Though it sounds funny it is no fun experiencing it. After all they had done for Jesus, Martha and Mary were probably shocked when He didn’t come to help their brother. Maybe they began to wonder if Jesus was as kind and loving as they thought. But they both knew in their hearts that Jesus hadn’t forgotten them. Even though Martha couldn’t understand she still believed that somehow He could still come to help. At the deepest point in her sorrow she still believed that it was not too late!

Part of our struggle is that God doesn’t have the same goal that we do. When Jesus waited an extra few days while Lazarus died it must have seemed cold hearted. After all hadn’t he already healed hundreds of other people? Why wouldn’t He come as fast as possible to heal one of His closest friends? But God had something better in mind. He didn’t just come for healing…He came for resurrection!