Rainbows

Hope of Healing

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses      Matthew 8:17 KJV

Did you know that God is so intimately concerned with our physical needs that He has even counted the number of hairs on our head? We have a great hope that whether in this life or in the next; God will heal every disease, restore all that is broken and renew our youth like the eagles!
1515588157828_image.jpg

Whether sitting in a wheel chair in a nursing home or confined to a bed with a tracheotomy tube in order to breathe, Jesus offers the hope of complete and entire healing as one part of His promise of eternal life. That promise may be overlooked or forgotten by those in perfect health, but God does not forget. The same Jesus who was moved with compassion for lepers, the blind and the lame has promised to wipe every tear from our eyes. He not only has compassion for our aches, pains and disabilities but the Bible tells us that He took all of these onto his shoulders and carried them. If we continue reading in the chapter of Isaiah that Matthew quotes we see in the very next verse that it is by His stripes that we are healed. God is so very concerned for every one of our pains and infirmities that He allowed a whip to fall across the shoulders of Jesus. As He was wounded again and again we were being healed. Weak arms will be lifted, failing voices will sing again and deaf ears will hear the shepherd’s voice! When the things of earth have passed we will stand strong and eternally young in the presence of our ageless King!

Excerpt from 50 Days of Hope – A special devotional for residents, workers and family members of the long term care community.

50 Days of Hope

Reflections of Hope thumbnail

And Can it Be?

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

And can it be that even on our darkest days when we face our most difficult people God is giving us opportunity to show mercy? Maybe He leads us through the valley of the shadow so that we can learn to forgive even there. A bit further on and on sunnier days we may discover how merciful and forgiving He has been to us when we were most dark and difficult with others.

Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy  Matthew 5:7

KIMG1304

Come and Follow

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” John 1:44

While Jesus first calls us to simply come and see, He also extends a second invitation to those who have come, “Come and follow!” Our seeing is tested by our following!

The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).  John 1:41

kimg0857

When we discover a new ice cream we can’t wait to tell our friends about how good it is. We have tasted something great and want others to know. In the same way if we have really seen how wonderful, awesome and loving Jesus is, then we will  call others to see as well. What is the first thing we are chomping at the bit to do today? Does it seem like the eagerness you once felt to share the good news has dimmed? Do you feel like you are just stumbling along the way trying to be a Christian?  We might need to put on the brakes, come to a complete stop and reset our GPS system for today. Have we seen Jesus as we began our day? If not, then this is the best time to simply come to Him by grace and start over. Feel like you don’t know where you are headed in His call on your life? That’s okay! Following Jesus can be like following a big rig through a thick fog. Keep his lights in sight and trust Him because only He knows where we are going!