God of love and peace, bestow upon the life of this dear reader exactly what it is they need; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes from Psalm 16: 1 Keep me safe, O God, I've run for dear life to you. 2 I say to God, "Be my Lord!" Without you, nothing makes sense. 3 And these God-chosen lives all around - what splendid friends they make! 4 Don't just go shopping for a god. Gods are not for sale. I swear I'll never treat god-names like brand-names. 5 My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I'm your choice! 6 You set me up with a house and yard. And then you made me your heir! 7 The wise counsel God gives when I'm awake is confirmed by my sleeping heart. 8 Day and night I'll stick with God; I've got a good thing going and I'm not letting go. 9 I'm happy from the inside out, and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed. 10 You canceled my ticket to hell - that's not my destination! 11 Now you've got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I'm on the right way. (The Message).
Last evening my bride and I walked for almost an hour along the T-heads and sea wall that is part of beautiful Corpus Christi. Due to illness, trips, and other interruptions, it had been some time since we had walked or run for exercise so I told her, "We will sleep really well tonight!" And so it was. I usually awaken without an alarm at sometime around 5 or 5:30 a.m. This morning it was a little after 6 and it was due to my morning call from one of my daughters who chats with me while she drives to work. This Psalm is about the peace and confidence we can have in God to the point, and I love this verse, "The wise counsel God gives when I'm awake is confirmed by my sleeping heart." The opposite side of what I just shared above is that when we're troubled or anxious about something or someone, we toss and turn and don't sleep as we should. Recent studies have shown that the better one sleeps the better it is for our health and lives. The Psalmist knew that in knowing and walking with God he slept well. As one takes one's walk with God, God blesses us with "counsel" in many ways. If we accept that counsel we are accepting peace and that peace carries over into our sleep and thus into the fullness of our lives.
Easter is a time of rediscovering that peace that passes all understanding. It is to claim for our lives the joy and calm that should be ours about all life and the life that comes after. Walk with God and you walk in pure light and you won't stumble nor fall.
PRAYER: Loving God, lead me in that path where I receive again that peace that is Yours for me. Let that peace bless me while awake and also while asleep. Let me help others by my living have that same peace. In Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
PS Please be in prayer for the needs of our world, especially those families who have lost 175 loved ones during the recent storms in the South of the USA. May God comfort them and bless those who have been injured by these storms.
