Grace

Coming to the Throne of Grace

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Luke 7:37-38 ESV

Luke doesn’t try to put a positive spin on the fact that this woman was a sinner. Actually, this story hinges on the sinfulness of the woman and the grace of God. Many of us are like this woman except that we wear 21st century clothes. What has not changed is that we have exactly the same problem. If we follow this woman’s example, we will find that Jesus has exactly the same solution!

Are we willing to go into the Pharisees house and put ourselves in a vulnerable position before Jesus Christ? Are we ready to go into a place where we might be criticized, ostracized or tossed out? This woman came and wasted no time going to Jesus. She must have decided that if she was going to be tossed out at least she would have time to pour out her alabaster flask. Yet as she drew close to Jesus something unexpected happened.  She began to weep for her sins and the tears fell on His feet. Then seeing the tears coursing through the dust on His feet she knelt and began to wipe them with her hair and kissed them and anointed them with her oil. She might not have understood what was happening and the Pharisee certainly had no clue.  The throne of grace is an awesome place. We never know what will happen when we get there.  What we can know is that when we get there Jesus is ready to receive us and forgive our every sin!

Hands Wide Open

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments 
His hands wide open
Stretched to hold 
Kind Joseph’s calloused palm 
Then reached to grasp sweet Mary’s hair
That was gently hanging down

Hands that multiplied five loaves 
Held a child in their embrace
Lifted a man to walk again
Then touched a leper’s face

Hands that shared the wine and bread
And washed our dirty feet
Were nailed wide open on the Cross
Their work for us complete

Hands Wide Open by Peter Caligiuri
Copyright 2022 all rights reserved

Fighting For Our Family

/ pastorpete51 / 8 Comments

Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” Nehemiah 4:14b ESV

I sometimes enjoy watching the HGTV shows like “Hometown” and “Love it or List It”. My favorite moment in the half hour shows is always the “Reveal”. That is when the happy couple is lead into their newly remodeled home and shown all the amazing improvements, while uplifting music plays in the background. One part we don’t notice is that most of the furniture we are seeing, is actually just staged and that if they want to keep it all, they will need to pay a bit more. While that technique is great in selling television shows or homes, it is not so great with families. In the old days, that is what we did when company came over and today it is more like posting pictures on Facebook of our family vacation or our smiling grandkids at the beach. But the real life, messy scenes that never make it to social media are our arguments, heartbreaks and tears that lurk behind every one of those staged images. But God is not shocked, offended or pushed to the brink of unfriending us when we are going through a family crisis. Instead, it is during those dark and terrible times that God chooses to teach us that He wants us to stand and fight for our family and that by His grace we can learn to love as He did. 

We fight because a family is worth defending
We fight because we love them too much to quit
We fight because no one else will come to their aid
We fight because family is a precious gift from God
And God expects us to lay down our lives
As He did His
And then stand strong in His love
When everyone else has walked away