Good Shepherd

My Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Blessed Day

/ pastorpete51 / 16 Comments

Yesterday was a day that will live on in infamy, or at least in the top ten of my not favorite days of 2026. It all began as my wife, the family bookkeeper, started up the laptop to check our checking account yesterday, when lo and behold she discovered that we were overdrawn by $600! Now we run a pretty tight ship around here (my kids call me cheap). So this came as a shock. No, we had not spoken to anyone on the phone, clicked any bad links or been hacked by the CIA. Instead, three unexplained checks showed in the account, made out to folks we had never heard of. Immediately I fired up the Di lithium crystals and put the car into warp drive and headed for the bank. There we discovered that a forger had written three checks for several thousand dollars, totally wiping us out. The remainder of the day we spent filling out reports at the bank for their fraud division and then again at the sheriff’s office to report the crime. By dinner time, I had no ambition to cook anything complicated, and my wife’s diet calls for no evening meal at all. To simplify things, I simply broke out the skillet, and determined to have eggs, sausage and an English muffin. Yes, I still remembered that God works all things together for good, but at the moment, I needed something more than hearing that truth quoted to me. Imagine my surprise when I opened the egg carton and saw a Bible verse on the inside lid. 

This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it! Psalm 118:24 NKJV

Though He doesn’t do it all the time, I have been amazed and blessed to discover the many occasions when God drops a line of Holy Scripture on my path, just when I need it most. Though someone could have given me a well-deserved a lecture on thankfulness or sermonized on the reality that in this world we will have tribulation. But God chose a gentler approach to soften my heart and attitude and turned my terrible, horrible, no-good day, into a wonderfully blessed one and a time I will remember His gentle correction and care for years to come. Isn’t God amazing? I hope that whatever your circumstances, that He may come alongside of you today with His word and bring light in the darkness, calm in the storm and rejoicing in this day that He has made!

Will We Follow?

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

We each have a role in Psalm twenty-three
Ours is to follow, Our Father’s to lead
He owns the green pastures where He offers us rest
And He leads by still waters on the path that is best
Will we choose to lie down
Will we worry instead?
Will we follow HIs footsteps
Through the valley ahead?

Will we sit at the table, He’s prepared with His treasure
While the enemy watches He fills cups beyond measure
Will we rest and receive?
Will we stay? Will we leave?
For a home waits ahead
For all those who believe!

The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures
He leadeth me beside the still waters
Psalm 23:1-2 KJV

Will we Follow?
by Peter Caligiuri
Copyright © 2025 all rights reserved

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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