Photography

God’s Wide Angle Lens

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

In all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:4-6

One thing I love about going to the beach is taking photographs from the edge of the water that take in the wide expanse of the Gulf of Mexico – especially at sunset! There is something both overwhelming and at the same time assuring about being one tiny part of that enormous expanse. But to catch the magnitude of that scene I have to switch my camera from the portrait setting to a wide angle lens.

That reminds me of a song we like to sing at church with the line, “I know breakthrough is coming.” Usually while I am heartily belting out the lyrics I am thinking of some issue that I am hoping God will help me or maybe someone in our family with. Now it is true that God does want to meet our personal needs, but the amazing thing about the Apostle Paul’s prayer is that it is completely focused on others. He wasn’t only clinging on to that hope that God wasn’t finished with him yet (Remember Paul is sitting in prison while he is writing). No! In fact Paul writes to encourage the Philippian church not to give up on what God has started with them. He is trusting the God of breakthrough, but not just for himself to get out of jail. He is believing that God has great things in store for His friends back in Macedonia.

Praying like Paul is like switching from looking down at our feet while we stand on the seashore, to looking at the people around us through God’s wide angle lens. That is not to say that our own battles are insignificant, but that the breakthroughs which God has in store include far more than just us. We are one small part of God’s big plan. His amazing love includes so much more than we can imagine and so many more people than we could ever dream of. So in switching over to using God’s wide angle lens, think about who you can pray for this morning. Maybe that someone else needs a breakthrough that only you can ask God for today.

Morning Quiet Time

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

Having a morning walk is one of the things I enjoy the most since retirement. Those 20-30 minutes give me a time to listen and look to see in the ordinary of things around the neighborhood what Jesus has in store for today. Remember that just as he said not to worry about tomorrow because today’s trouble is enough it also follows that enough for the day is the good. This morning the good was seeing this gander out for his walk showing off his lady friends. He wasn’t busy wishing he was a taller bird like a crane, or a better fisherman like the pelican. He was just strutting his stuff completely satisfied with a duck’s life.

I have discovered that those moments at the beginning and end of my days are like bookends. Everything that God has prepared of good and allowed for problems will be kept in place if we begin and end with Him! Have a blessed Sabbath and a praise filled Sunday!

Impossible Mountains

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

And he dreamed and behold there was a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. Genesis 28:12 ESV

If you or a loved one have been living in long term care throughout this pandemic it might seem like a long climb up some impossible mountains from in front of you today to get back to normal. Today let’s look at someone in the Bible who also had a long way to climb. Jacob had lied to his father, tricked his bother into giving up his inheritance and was in the process of running for his life. The first night of his journey Jacob found himself out in the wilderness, without even a tent for shelter. He was so tired that he lay down with his head on a rock and fell fast asleep. That night God sent Jacob an intriguing dream. In spite of being totally undeserving of mercy God chose to show Himself to Jacob standing at the top of a staircase or a ladder to Heaven. I always thought this was a pretty neat story but never got the part about what it had to do with me.

Did you know that the Bible is just like Jacob’s ladder? It is an amazing book! First it reaches from Heaven all the way to earth. It is the only thing we can hold in our hands and know that it came from God. Second, just like the ladder in Jacob’s dream, God is standing at the top of it telling us of His loving plan for our lives. Like Jacob, even when it seems as if we are left alone God comes and reminds us that He is with us. Last of all our ladder is filled with angels. Some are climbing up carrying our prayers to God and others are coming down with God’s answers when we are in trouble. Most of all we have the Bible; which is God’s message that we can trust Him with our lives. It reminds us that there is nowhere we can go that His grace towards us through Jesus Christ cannot reach and that H e will help us to climb impossible mountains- even in long term care!