Dear
Fellow Children of God,
Two weeks ago I shared how I
received God’s blessings through the prayers of other Christians. Likewise, it is my goal, and for the most
part my practice, to read God’s Word at the beginning of each day, and then to
pray for God’s grace and help for the world around us, for other people, and
for myself. In fact, as I was praying through
my prayer list on Tuesday, August 22, a clear thought hit me. I pray for people with illness, for those
with family trouble, for people with cancer, for folks who face various faith and
life challenges. I pray for churches,
and leaders, and government officials, and those grieving. I pray for those serving in the military, I
pray for myself and for the individual members of my family, and for
others. What hit me was the realization
that, even though I pray specifically for these the needs and circumstances in
the lives of God’s people, ultimately, in spite of the reason for prayer, the
bottom line is that I wish Jesus for them.
That can sound like the unrealistic
spiritual thinking of a Christian pastor. But I also believe it is true. Please consider a few verse from God’s
Word. In The Sermon on the Mount Jesus
teaches, “7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you
will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who
asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will
be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread,
will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a
serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts
to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good
things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11) Jesus promises that God
hears and answers our prayers. And, in
response to our prayers, God gives . . . GOOD!
After all, it is our Lord who knows best what is good for us.
In Romans 8:32, God also teaches
through St. Paul, “He who
did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with
him graciously give us all things?” (Romans. 8:32) Our Heavenly Father
does give Jesus, His Son, and with Jesus our Lord also takes care of all our
needs.
In Jesus God gives forgiveness
(Luke 7:48-50), eternal life (John 10:27-30), peace (John 14:27), joy
(Philippians 4:4), protection (John 10:11), strength (John 14:16-17), and
everything we need for this life. Our
Creator, Savior, and Comforter is wiser than we are. He loves us with a love which even led Him to
send His only-begotten Son to die for us and to save us. As we face the trials of life what we really
DO need is . . . Jesus.
There are many in our world
today who want nothing to do with the Lord, or His promised blessings. Neither do they want His wise guidance for their
lives. However, those reactions just
makes Jesus all that much more exactly what we need.
As I pray for God’s help for our
world, and for those I care about, I am praying they / you / we . . . receive
Jesus.
A Child of God, Praying
for the Life, Love, Wisdom, Peace, and Blessings of Jesus!
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. In addition to preaching in Homer on August
20, I went fishing twice.
·
On Thursday evening, August 17, I went to a
local lake to do some fly fishing from my canoe. https://photos.app.goo.gl/dpgt8TCHNdRT8osV7
·
On Monday, August 21, I took Kym and Grace
Miller fishing out of the Deschka Landing up to a Parks Highway stream. Here are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/HjrDFKDYc585GKCZ8
P.P.S. Here are some more pictures from our garden.
·
Our daisies have taken over our front flower
gardens. We are thinning out the
daisies. Does anyone want some daisies to plant at their home? https://photos.app.goo.gl/BiokxAepPUxPJq1s9
·
We are sharing veggies. These are August 17 pictures. We will have some veggies to share in worship
at St. John on August 27 and September 3. https://photos.app.goo.gl/f8V47yayxjBGgjTWA
·
Here is some celery from our garden we used in
some chicken and dumplings on Tuesday, August 22. https://photos.app.goo.gl/GEz75LrQmCsctZj86
P.P.P.S. Kathy and I are driving to Florida, leaving
on September 3 or 4. We covet your
prayers for a safe trip to our new adventure at First Lutheran Church in
Gainesville.
*******
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I retired
at the end of August 2019 from serving as senior full-time pastor of St. John Lutheran Church
in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly
devotion previously entitled, "Thoughts from the Pastor." When I retired many asked me to continue
writing these devotions. So I have
continued writing. However, with life's
changes I now call this weekly devotion "Journeys Through Life as a Child
of God." Since I am no longer
senior pastor at St. John, I felt it right to only send this message to those
who asked to receive it.
So, if you stopped receiving these
devotions and wondered why, now you understand.
And, if you are now receiving these devotions and do not wish to receive
them, please let me know, and I’ll gladly remove your name from my distribution
list. My e-mail address is
jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer is that these devotions help
each of you in your daily walk with our Lord, Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father, Son, Grandfather
Pastor Emeritus, St. John
Lutheran Church
E-Mail: jonrock53@mtaonline.net
“1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished
on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1
John 3:1 a)
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