hurricane Ian

Don’t Forget the Flashlight!

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments 
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 ESV

Having lived on the central Gulf Coast of Florida for several years, we used to laugh that we had never seen the iconic Sunshine Skyway bridge, even though it is only twenty miles South us. So, on my birthday last year, we planned to drive over the bridge, stop at a nearby park for a picnic, and take oodles of photos. But a storm by the name of Ian set its sights on our area the day before our big plans. The Skyway bridge was closed, and we evacuated to an inland location. That night after we settled in, we heated up a frozen pizza and prayed for safety and God’s blessing on my birthday dinner. Then about halfway through the prayer, the lights flickered out and we found ourselves in total darkness. I learned that night, that the suitcases of supplies we had brought along to weather the storm, were nothing compared to our flashlight!

Jesus said, that if we follow Him, we will never be left in the dark, and that little flashlight that saved our dinner that evening gave me a great appreciation for what He meant! But Jesus never promised that we would have a blindingly brilliant light. He simply said that if we choose to follow, then He will always give us enough light to be able to walk with Him. Sometimes there are spiritual storms that come our way even more unexpectedly than Hurricane Ian. But if we keep our eyes on Jesus – The Light of the World – we will never be left in darkness. So as the tropics heat up this Summer and storms start to head our way, be sure you remember the flashlight!

Hurricane Peace

/ pastorpete51 / 19 Comments

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 ESV

Though we lost power last night at around 7 pm, we made it through the night safe and sound. It’s funny how without lights or television that we were able to get to sleep early with no problems! Rather than being a fearful situation it was actually kind of peaceful. Of course we spent the time to text our kids and keep our close friends updated but then we just packed all our essential food in our big cooler with lots of icepacks and went to bed. Thank God also for our Youversion app on our phones that allowed us to read our Bibles in the dark, before praying and then peacefully drifting off to sleep.

Yes, Jesus left us peace…His peace and He adds to the promise a challenge. That is to not let our hearts be troubled. Notice, He gives the peace unconditionally, but He tells us that it is our job to manage our emotions. He will keep us always safely in His hands…no strings attached….but for us to enjoy the full benefit of His gift our part is to guard against fear. “Don’t let your hearts be troubled!” Like the command that stills winds and waves (and we had plenty in Florida yesterday!), the words of Jesus will calm our hearts. He has promised that when we ask, seek and knock, that He will give us all we need. Now Jesus is asking, seeking and knocking at our hearts. We mustn’t allow fear to keep the door bolted! If we just trust the voice that is asking for us to open, if we allow the one who is seeking after us to find us and when we open our door, He has promised that His peace will carry us through whatever Hurricane is shaking our world. Now that’s a peace we can use, not only in hurricanes but every day in everything we face. Have a blessed day all. Now if I could just find a way to make coffee!

Our Stronghold

/ pastorpete51 / 10 Comments

In case anyone hasn’t watched any television recently, we here in Florida are in for a doosie of a hurricane named Ian! So of course as we were finishing up our morning men’s prayer meeting the storm was central to our conversation. Just then my friend interrupted our small talk and suggested we turn to Psalm 46. This morning that passage took on a whole new meaning for us.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though tye earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. Psalm 46:1-2 NIV

Well we don’t have even one mountain in our whole state, but huge swaths of real estate are predicted to be under the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Some of us are evacuating inland, others stocking up on water and gas for their generators. But no matter where we decide to go we can rest assured that God is very present in this our troubled time.