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Contentment

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

But Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 1 Timothy 6:6-7

Every commercial we see on our television screen has the goal in mind of causing us to become discontent until – we buy their product. Though we may not have worried much about, the style of our clothing, the brand of our car, or how comfortable our pillow is, marketing firms are out to change that in 30 seconds. Watching five minutes of advertisements might be enough to keep us up half the night wondering if our neighbors have noticed that the white shirts our kids wore to school yesterday were a little grey!

Madeline in Easter Dress

But having all the resources of this world at our fingertips will never make us content. No pile of money is high enough to assure a happy retirement. No detergent, toothpaste, car or dating service will ever deliver on the promise of real contentment. At the beginning when God created Adam and Eve they were content. They had neither clothing, transportation, nor possessions, and yet they walked in the cool of the day with God. Their only goals were to care for the garden and to obey God.  As we fold up the weeks and months of this past year and put them away in our memories why not end this year with contentment? Not everything has gone our way. Not every bill has been paid, every obstacle overcome. Yet Jesus offers to walk side with us from this year to next. Whatever we have, or whatever we go through He promises always to be with us. What unimaginable wealth to simply know that I am His and for all eternity He is mine!

Fearless!

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4:18 ESV

Terror attacks, earthquakes and endless wars dominate our daily headlines. Sometimes family conflicts and crises make it seem as if our world is closing in around us. In his day, the apostle John had seen Jesus crucified, his own brother executed by King Herod and a crowd of ‘religious people’ stone his friend Stephen to death in the middle of the day. John and been in prison with Peter and was arrested again by the Roman authorities then sent to a penal colony on the Island of Patmos.

Interestingly, when John talks about freedom from fear he doesn’t mention a strong army to come to our defense. He doesn’t talk about the confidence of having good legal representation to defend us or powerful friends in places of influence who will stand up for our rights. John tells us that the best defense against any kind of fear is love! John knew that fear is completely stripped of power in the face of God’s love. That love of God as witnessed in the life of Jesus Christ is strong enough to handcuff our fears and put them under arrest. God’s perfect love is so powerful that no army, no terroristic threat and no human enemy can defeat. And the best news of all is that this perfect love is available to anyone who is ready to receive it. We can’t earn His love and we don’t need to wait to figure it out. With arms opened wide on the cross God’s love receives thieves, forgives crucifiers and blesses fearful disciples. His amazing, unending and perfect love overcomes the world and casts out every fear!

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 …if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there… MATT 17:20

 

No Looking Back!

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

Brothers I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3: 13-14

For those who have seen the classic film, “Chariots of Fire” one of the unforgettable scenes is of the race between Eric Liddell and Harold Abrams. They are side by side as the approach the finish line but then, Harold Abrams turns his head to see where Eric is and in that fateful second he loses by a stride. For us to run and win our race  we need to learn both how to remember and how to forget.

Forgetting what lies behind means not turning our head to look back at things that once called us in other directions. Thinking back to what might have been only keeps us from breaking through to what can still be. We don’t forget what God has done but we need to let go of the memories of our steps away from Him.

On that day Eric Liddell won his race because instead of looking back he remembered to look ahead, beyond the finish line. We are also in a race and across our finish line Jesus is standing and holding out the prize. Eternal life with Him is worth more than all the world can offer us today. With Him is peace and joy th

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at are greater than any fear, heartache or suffering in this world. We still have a long way to go to finish our race, but with God’s help we can run our race all the way home       to Him – without ever looking back!