Lord”s prayer

Looking Ahead – Following Behind

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Mark 10:9

For those of you following my 12 gifts of Christmas series you might be wondering; “Aren’t we getting our 12th gift today?” Sorry! You cannot open your 12th gift until Christmas Eve! It is scheduled for noon tomorrow so have some hot chocolate and Christmas cookies and be patient. I confess with my wife away caring for her sister I am sometime having an extra cookie right after breakfast! But enough family talk – let’s take a closer look at today’s verse.

Most of us connect Jesus’ riding into Jerusalem on a donkey to Palm Sunday and the Easter season But it is also a key here for every day; whether it is Christmas, Easter or the 4th of July. Remember Jesus teaches us to pray by starting with “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done.” And how else does His kingdom come but humbly riding in on a donkey every morning of our lives?

So as you begin your busy day, so close to Christmas, remember that This is still the – Day that the LORD HAS MADE. We can rejoice like those people did who went ahead of Jesus as He came riding into the city that morning 2,000 years ago. Just like them, we don’t know yet what Jesus might be doing today; but we can give him praise because we believe it will be great!

Then, tonight as we lay our heads on our pillows we can be like those other folks who followed behind Jesus and we can look back and say; “Hosanna! What a blessed day Jesus has given!” We will probably never understand all the details of His plan even for a single day. What we can do is to give Him praise as our day begins and ends. Have a blessed day! What you can give God praise for today?

The God of Every Day Prayers

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Matthew 6:9‭-‬10‭, ‬12‭-‬13 ESV

Forgive us our debts, give us our food and lead us not into temptation are things Jesus taught us to pray every day. I don’t know about you but for me having to constantly ask for God’s help in these areas makes me feel frustrated and weak. But God is not at all frustrated or angry when we sincerely pray. Instead He taught us to pray these things because He is a God who is ready to forgive us every morning, delights in providing for us every day and who knows we need His protection on our journey!

A Bridge of Mercy

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

Forgive us our debts and we forgive our debtors    Matthew 6:12 ESV

I like the idea that if I am merciful to people; I can count on God forgiving my sins. But we can’t just close our eyes and say, “God I forgive everyone.” God wants us to forgive actual hurtful things people have done. Several years ago I worked for a man who was well liked in our community though he always paid his bills late. But one year after I had worked for Bob several times without getting paid I began to get upset. Thanksgiving came and went with no check. Then Christmas and New Years passed with the same result. I was angry. Bob had promised payment for my hard work but it never came. Then one day as I was praying God spoke to me. “Pete; you’ve got to let this go.”Oh I hated doing that! I had trusted Bob and worse yet most people thought he was a great guy!! But I knew God was right. At first I told God I would forgive and even threw the bill away. But whenever I passed Bob at the store I would remember his bill. Then God spoke to me again and asked; “Are you as happy to see Bob as I am to see you after your sins have been forgiven?” I bowed my head in shame. I saw that forgiving meant treating Bob, like Jesus treated me. Stepping away from demanding my money set me free to really forgive. Giving mercy means building a bridge of forgiveness for others to cross back to you, just as God built a bridge at Calvary for everyone. He freely forgives! What about you? I am ending today’s devotion with some of my favorite songs about mercy. Have a wonderful and merciful day!