Our Heavenly 911

September 4, 2020September 4, 2020 / pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them… Psalm 37:39-40a

Calling God our helper has gotten a bad name as some have misinterpreted this as if it meant treating God like an assistant or employee. But the Hebrew word used here for help means to surround, protect and come to the aid of someone in trouble. God is not working for us, but instead He is like the ambulance driver or fire fighter who is equipped and waiting to answer our cry for help. So today if you look out your window and see trouble on your street and the news on television is filled with videos of riots remember that God’s help is available whenever we ask. The writer of Hebrews puts this into practical terms by saying;

Keep free from the love of money and be content with what you have. for He has said; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5

What is really at the bottom of a lot of the unrest and anger we are witnessing is money. Liberals and conservatives both act as if people would be content if they just had a little more. Conservatives complain the government has taken too much and liberals act as if people need to be given more. Whatever happened to; “All we need is love!”? So no matter what side of the political aisle we stand on, today’s reading counsels us to take a deep breath and step back from the conflict and remember that the love of money is like a boss who can never be satisfied. If we become slaves to him we will lose our spiritual freedom and the only one happy with that is Satan. But if we turn to Jesus for help; He promises us contentment that no government can tax away and no thief can steal. He has promised to never leave or forsake us and the Greek word used here for never means – NEVER! He never hides out in the middle of a crisis or walks away when we mess up. He is our ever present help in the time of trouble(Psalm 46:1). He is heaven’s 911 operator and when we dial the phone of prayer; Jesus answers. He is always listening. All we need to do is cry out in faith and we will hear His calm and steady voice saying; “This is 911. What is your emergency today?

RSVP

August 24, 2020 / pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”He said to them, “Come and you will see.” John 1:38-39a

RSVP comes from the French phrase; “Répondez, S’il Vous Plaît” It is great a way of organizing an elaborate event so that the host knows how many people to prepare for. Now we have always loved parties but since we aren’t used to formalities we hadn’t considered using such a system for the special event we held for a few friends and family. We had reserved a room at a restaurant and invited a specific list of people. But the day of our event came and we were sad to see that some guests who we had counted on seeing had to work late and then embarrassingly some who we had forgotten to invite showed up! But when God plans a party He is way more organized than we were. His event in heaven is for everyone but when we receive our invitation we will find that inside the envelope Jesus has included a spiritual RSVP. Before showing up at Heaven’s door we will need to fill it out and send it in to be included on His list. (In the Bible called the book of life)

God’s invitation to come to Jesus is for you. The Bible tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son to pay for our invitation. Just like the disciples, we are welcome to come and see Jesus. God wants businessmen, nurses, teachers, ladies of the night and even politicians to be there! The blood of Jesus was shed to pay for us all to be there, but the question today is: What is your answer to Him?