psalms

Rainy Days

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

Did you ever have one of those days of constant rain? We get them a lot in Florida, in fact they call it, “Rainy season!” On those long wet and dreary days, I often have wondered where the birds go and what they could be doing while thunder rumbles and lightening is crashing down. I hope you enjoy my little answer in verse to that question. Have a blessed day everyone, even if it is raining again!

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. 
Psalm 57:1 ESV


Some days the hawk sits silently
While the thunder crashes round
And the sparrows flit into the barn
Where the chickens huddle down

The cranes stand in the rushes
In her house the blue bird sleeps
While the chickadees are twittering
In the thickets dark and deep

But eagle flies up to her nest
When she hears her children cry
And shelters them with wings so strong
While the rain is passing by

Can you and I do less than birds
Who know the place to hide
And fly to God our refuge strong
To rest safely by His side

Rainy Days by Peter Caligiuri © 2021 All rights reserved
Photo by Jou00e3o Cabral on Pexels.com

God is great and we are not!

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May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you! May those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!” But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord , do not delay!
Psalm 70:4‭-‬5 ESV

I love taking pictures of all kinds of birds, so when I came upon some newly hatched ducklings I was delighted to kneel in the grass and capture a few shots before mother duck escorted them away. Maybe these tiny birds remind me again of why a Great and Holy God would have any interest in such small, boring and ordinary people like you me. How can the God of the universe, who spoke and light shined out of darkness and who traced out the Himalayas with His fingers be interested in us? O that is the greatest mystery of all! It is the mystery of the great love of God who at the cross unveiled its power and spoke to us and the light of Jesus Christ shone in the darkness of our hearts!

A Weaned Child

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child. Psalm 131:2 KJV

Rest has gotten such a bad name in our culture that we place our next order at Walmart while we are cooking, check our email during our children’s soccer game and take phone calls at the beach from customers. We never seem to be able to find a quiet place of rest. But having a hard time with quietness isn’t something new. Thousands of years ago King David had the same struggle. Imagine growing up with six brothers treating you like a servant, fighting Goliath and then dodging spears that King Saul is throwing your way. That is definitely far from a quiet life!

Photo by Andrey Grushnikov on Pexels.com

But in the middle of unexpected circumstances, God taught him the secret of quietness and David tells us that it was like being weaned. See, Babies are used to milk. Milk is sweet and easy and when babies get hungry they cry, demanding mom comply immediately by giving them a feeding. No baby wakes up hoping for a spoon full of pureed spinach! The only way a child is going to eat solid food is if he or she gets hungry enough to accept something new. Usually by the time a baby gets ready for that first bite they are so worn out from crying that in a moment of quietness they accept what mom gives them. Sound familiar? Is God changing up the menu in your life with unexpected or even bitter circumstances? Are sweet and familiar things around you disappearing faster than lawn chairs in a tornado? The good news is that even in a tornado, if we will quiet our soul like a weaned child, God has something far better than milk prepared for us. He has sent for us Jesus, the fresh Bread from Heaven as our comforter and His Holy Word for our Sunday meal!