Listening to God Brings Blessings

Once Blessed, We Must Sing God's Praises!

From Psalm 81: 1 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob. 10 I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. 11 "But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. 12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. 13 O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! 14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes. 15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their doom would last forever. 16 I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

Years ago, Nellie would say to Caty, our youngest. "We need to get ready to go to church." Caty would ask, "What kind of church? Is it sit down and behave church, or stand up and have fun church?" Her perception of church was clear at that point, and we knew her favorite option. Stand up and have fun meant church fellowship events like covered dish luncheons, birthday celebrations, children's Sunday school, Vacation Bible School, and other things where she was allowed to "stand up and have fun." This psalm is an invitation to church in a way. It is a call to worship for the people of Israel. It says that we should sing. Christians have a rich tradition of singing. Someone once said that to sing is to pray twice. Singing should reflect the joy and strength of our faith that we have in the living God. The psalmist remembers a time when the people of Israel did not listen to God nor would follow God's leading. The result was that they wandered off following their own hearts and their own counsel. Yesterday's passage spoke of the people finding themselves in worthlessness. Yet, God continues to call and to wait for us to listen to God and to sing God's praises. This would result in the defeat of the enemies we face; apathy, fear, doubt, restlessness, resentment, anger, revenge, boredom, illnesses that come from stress, sin; these are our real enemies, and they are easily defeated by God's strong, loving hand. Woe to those who hate God, but those who love God will be fed with the finest that God has to offer.

PRAYER: Thank You, Loving God, for not giving up on me. Help me to listen, to be blessed, and to be a blessing. Let me surrender to You so that you might fight off the enemies I may face today. I pray this in Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

Seek the Worthless, Become Worthless

The Conviction of Sin is Good, if we seek to become closer to God

From Jeremiah 2: 4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves? 6 They did not say, "Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives?" 7 I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. 8 The priests did not say, "Where is the Lord?" Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit. 9 Therefore once more I accuse you, says the Lord, and I accuse your children's children. 10 Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been such a thing.11 Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit. 12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord, 13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

Last Friday I witnessed an awesome event. Thanks to my daughter Nellie's advice, before sunrise I was at Beach Access 3 on South Padre Island. I walked towards the beach and found that there were already about 80 people already there. We were all there to witness the release of newly hatched Kemp Ridley Sea Turtles. I had seen news reports and pictures of such an event, but never dreamed I would be there on the beach to witness this miraculous event of God's creation. Set to begin at 7 a.m., the crowd grew slowly larger and by 7:10 am we were anxious to see the turtles. It was at about that time that the styrofoam coolers filled with 39 hatchlings arrived. The volunteers and workers of the sea turtle rescue organization set up yellow Caution tape to keep us out of the path these babies would need to make their way to their home in the ocean. Knowing that all of us wanted to see these turtles, the interns held up one or two turtles so that we could see them up close before they made their way into the waters and out of our sight. The intern that came to where I stood said, "These babies are born with so much energy that we release them immediately to make their way to where they should go. If we don't do it soon, they lose their energy and will never survive." The sea turtles have to make their way to where God intended them to go or they die.

Jeremiah was told by God to share the message in today's passage. It is a message of love but it is a message of correction towards them. It is a parent asking a child why they have chosen to do the opposite of what they were told and taught. It begins with the word, "Hear." All people of God should be open every day to listening to God. And the results of those that don't listen are obvious, as the passage will develop. The next component of the message is the question asked about God, "What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and become worthless themselves?" (v. 4). If we seek the good of God the good in us will emerge. If we seek after worthless things, the worthless in us will emerge. Ouch! One of the turtles started in the opposite direction of the sea. One turtle wandered towards the crowd. Amazing how fast in sand these little ones can crawl. Thankfully, the gloved hands of the workers turned the reverse minded towards the water. Another one went into the crowd and brought the baby back to the sand and pointed it towards life. One by one, the 39 made their way into the sea. When the very last one entered the water the crowd cheered and clapped. The director of the organization came to begin picking up the coolers and other equipment and I noticed tears in his eyes. He spoke to someone near me and said this was always an awesome event for him. I imaged how God must feel when we choose to go in the opposite direction and we push away the loving hands of God and continue going the wrong way. I believe God feels the same for those who choose to go with the crowd instead of with those headed towards the fullness of life. But I also know that when one of use changes course and heads towards Him, there is great rejoicing in Heaven about what we have allowed God to do in our lives.

Look back on the times in your life where you saw the loving hand of God blessing and guiding you. Look at the times where you know you should have died and not survived something, yet you lived. Let us not be among those who choose to commit two evils as verse 13 says, by forsaking God, "the fountain of living water," and by digging out cisterns of our own making that are cracked and can hold no water. We were made by God to hold the living water so that others might drink from us that drink that will share life and life in abundance.

PRAYER: Loving God, my choice is to let You fill me with Your goodness. My choice is to listen to You and to reflect on how good You have been in my life. I seek to find You and I seek to be filled with living water so that my life will attract those who need a drink of life in their life. This I pray in Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

Thought for Today: Be a Drink of Life for someone.

Prayer Request: The son of one of my pastors, The Rev. Harlene Sadler, was injured in a work injury. The doctors believe the triceps were torn away from the bone and he will undergo an MRI today in San Antonio and will have surgery on Friday. Please keep this young man in your prayers. Thank you!

Jesus Never Changes

Here Are Some Ways We Can, For the Better!

From Hebrews 13: 1 Let mutual love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. 4 Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you." 6 So we can say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?" 7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 15 Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

The model of our faith never changes. Jesus Christ, as this well known verse, verse 8 states, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Yet, leading up to it are some instructions for our need to change to be like Jesus. The first is the need to love one another; here said in a different way, "Let mutual love continue." Keep in mind the majority of the New Testament was written as a result of the actions of believers who did not love one another. Most of Paul's instructions were a call back to love. Has that changed much? As Jesus taught in Matthew 25, the writer here again stresses the need to show hospitality to strangers. Again, why is it difficult for believers to be nice to everyone, including the ones they don't yet know? The need to visit and pray for those in prison is shared here, and these were usually the prisoners being held for their Christian faith. And it was also said we should remember them as though we were in prison with them. Some of these prisoners were being tortured, the end result desired was for them to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ.

Marriage is stressed as that which is to be held in honor by all, and sexual purity within marriage should be maintained; God's judgment against sexual impurity will be done. Christians are to be free from "the love of money" and greed, the reminder being that God never leaves us nor forsakes us and provides for us. Our respect for our leaders in faith should be that which helps us shape our lives in imitation of their good example; then the verse about Jesus, Jesus has never and will never change. This shares the writer's belief that Jesus' love for us is steadfast. All that Jesus shared through God's Word is the same, and the ultimate model for faithful and fruitful living is Jesus Christ. And through Jesus we should offer a "sacrifice of praise to God," living and sharing and telling of a life blessed and made whole through Jesus. And with this sacrifice should come a life that shows a life that shares and cares. This is what pleases God.

PRAYER: Loving God, may my life reflect all that I have read and learned today. May I seek, through You, to grow closer to being the image of Christ here on the earth. This I pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

An Honor Just To Bless

Come to the Table; What an invitation!

From Luke 14: 1 On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. 7 When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8 "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; 9 and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, "Give this person your place,' and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, "Friend, move up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11 For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." 12 He said also to the one who had invited him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Perhaps you've been there. You and yours (if you're lucky, some invitations come only to the husband) are invited to a "feast" of some sort. It would be the big meal after a wedding and if there are no assigned seating, you play of the game of "Where will/should/could I sit?" As a pastor I have been a part of a processional before the bridal party arrived, to sit on a three tiered level of tables, on the highest level, with the bridal party on the second, the family on the third and the wedding guests on the floor. As I pastor I have also been assigned to another floor at the very back, to sit with people I did not yet know. The food eaten at the first feast was the same on the third tier as on the floor level, as was the occasion; and the same for the place of the second floor. Jesus teaches at such a feast, knowing that human emotion and human reason is funny and varies from person to person; the universal being how important am I and will this be reflected in the place i sit?

Jesus' first point was that of humility. You were invited by someone kind enough to invite you. And if you're truly humble you won't rush to a seat. You can visit with people, converse and then see where you can be seated, thankful you were invited in the first place. What Jesus stresses is that we should not seek our own honor by making our way to the head table only to find that we do not have seating there. Seek to sit where no one else cares to sit, and if you're asked to move up or closer, then so be it, but keep your humility in all of this.

Jesus' second point was startling, and still is for many. When you are the host of such a feast, do not use it as an occasion to pay back those who invited us the last time. Someone once said, "We as Americans believe we are always under obligation to 'pay back' those who invite us to lunch or dinner; and it shows in our weight." Jesus says our invited guests should be "the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind." He goes on to say, "And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." Hmm. So, everyone should be welcome at out covered dish fellowship meals, or is that just for "us?" What if they don't bring a covered dish? How can we expect to feed those that don't bring something with them? And what about the Table of the Lord? Should "outsiders" and "foreigners" be invited and welcome too? What if they don't dress or talk like us? What if they smell or carry germs?

Jesus was all about blessing. Jesus blessed people and wanted people to bless others, and that includes you and me. We should seek to be a blessing back to God and to God's people. True humility comes from knowing and imitating Him who showed us how to truly live. I believe Jesus called it life in abundance.

PRAYER: Loving God, forgive me when I seek the best and the first for me. Help me to realize it is not about that; it is about being a blessing to those who do not yet know blessings from God through me, especially those whose lives may reflect to them that they are far from and not worth a blessings. This I ask in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

God, Our Hiding Place

In God We Find Our Deliverance

From Psalm 71: 1 In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. 2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me. 3 Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. 4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel. 5 For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. 6 Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.

I had the perfect boyhood home. It was wooden and on blocks. It was near a creek back in the days when creeks had water and rainfall came often enough. My best friend lived three doors down, and my only grandma lived in the back yard in her own home. The house was raised just high enough and I was small enough, to provide a hiding place. There was a certain spot where I could lay for hours and not be found. In the heat of 90 degree or hotter weather, the coolness of the shade and the soft dirt, which was delicious for a time, hid me well. In all the times I hid there I never encountered anything of danger, no spiders, no snakes, or bugs; nada. I suspect David could not hide under his tent, but he knew hiding places. It may have been in a small cave or opening in the side of a cliff where he knew he would be safe from whatever, or later, whomever might cause him harm. And because of his relationship with God, he knew God was his hiding place and served him better than any cave or physical hiding place. I don't fit under any house today, and my boyhood home has been gone for over fifty years. The creek was paved and thanks to the Texas drought, it has no water. I don't know where my boyhood friend moved, and my grandmother has been dead since 1986. Yet, even today, like David, I have a hiding place in God. Yesterday, Nellie awoke with the thought of John Wesley's prayer room and found online a photo of it. As she and I talked about prayer and the many hours that Wesley spent in prayer, she said, "Imagine what he shared in there; he must have cried in there and pleaded in there with God." John Wesley had a hiding place, and so do you.

No castle nor fortress can compare to the strength and power of God. There is no rock large enough to offer us the protection and safety of God. If we are pursued by wicked people or from unjust or cruel people, we have in God the hope and trust that has been ours for as long as we have known about or more importantly known and had a relationship with God. Even before our birth, as soon as God knew us, He has loved and cared for us. Thanks be to God, and let us sing those praises for our God.

PRAYER: Thank You, O Blessed Lord, for the hiding place your provide. Thank You for sharing with us that strength and protection that we often need. As David prayed, so do I, be to me that which protects and keeps me, for You are my hope and my trust. Amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

Our Attitude Towards Worship

Standing on the Promises? Or Sleeping on the Premises?

From Hebrews 12: 18 You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. 20 (For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death." 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear.") 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 25See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! 26 At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven." 27 This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of what is shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; 29 for indeed our God is a consuming fire.

The Gospel reading from yesterday, which is the recommended one for Sunday, told of attitudes found in worship and in the blessings that God offers to us every time we gather to worship God. In other words what we bring to worship may shape what we take out and take home from worship. The old saying, "Your attitude determines your altitude" speaks true about worship. The hungry and eager heart to hear and praise God usually does. The reluctant or wandering heart, who can't decide if it's worth staying for the last hymn, because the Cowboys are playing, is the heart that may leave as empty if not emptier than it arrived.

The writer of Hebrews speaks of worship beginning with references to the first Exodus worship experiences with God at Mt. Zion. The people of God were gathered in the presence of the living God and were exposed to living words shared from God by Moses. Yet, it was fear that shaped their spirit and they were unwilling to hear, and as evidenced by their responses later, unwilling to live the teachings of God. The concluding part of the passage says that we are people of God that cannot be shaken by fear or doubt; we are a people that should gather to give thanks to God and to offer to Him "acceptable worship with reverence and awe," meaning that regardless of the music our spirits should be attuned to what God is going to share in that moment of corporate worship. And may we take it home and put into the practice of our lives.

PRAYER: Loving God, prepare my heart even today for the worship due You all days, but more so on the day I set aside for You. Do not let me be tempted to be among those jogging or walking or washing or wandering the streets on the day You have called me to gather with Your people; but make me one who invites others to the joy that can be ours in the act of worship. This I ask in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

Expect Great Things on God's Day!

The Sabbath is a wondrous day

From Luke 13: 10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11 And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." 13 When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day." 15 But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" 17 When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

The Sabbath for most Christians, in our understanding, is Sunday. That is, the day we have set aside to observe and celebrate all that needs to be done to worship and praise God. It is our day set aside for the special things of God. And it is a day that God has set apart for great things for us. In this story, Jesus is teaching on the sabbath. What great things He was sharing we do not know, but we can be sure it was love affirming and life strengthening. And into the teaching comes a woman bent over with an ailment she had had for eighteen years. Without missing a beat, Jesus sees her and tells her, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." (v. 12). Jesus saw beyond just an ailment, it was, as we see later in the passage, a bondage or a prison cell of sorts. When Jesus lays his hands on her, she is healed immediately and she stands up straight and begins to praise God. What a joyous occasion in which to celebrate and return thanks to God. But not all present rejoiced in this miracle. The leader of the synagogue began to address the crowd with great anger. "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day."

We have two interpretations of the significance of the sabbath. For Jesus it was a day for God. For the leader of the synagogue it was a day of dos and don'ts. The chief don't was to not work. Anything involving any kind of physical exertion meant working and thus a violation of the purpose behind the sabbath, for on the seventh day, the sabbath, God rested. The Jews went to great lengths to define work and in that list of don'ts, to heal someone was definitely work. So, the healing of this crippled woman was work. Listen to Jesus' comeback; "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on this sabbath day?" Jesus hit home. He hit a personal spot. Jesus knew the practice of these religious men. They winked at the "work" of untying livestock to lead them to water. But when it came to seeing a sister in the faith delivered from this prison cell after eighteen years, they could not tolerate it? As the kids would ask, "What's wrong with this picture?"

Jesus' vision of a great sabbath is when God's wholeness would be shared with all. The sick would be healed. The hungry fed. The thirsty would quench their thirst. The naked would be clothed. The stranger would be welcomed. The sick and the prisoners visited. And this was a sharing with all. No one excluded. And Jesus would later teach, when we do this for the least of these, we are doing it for Him.

The blessings of the great sabbath provide a glimpse of God's kingdom. Jesus held that this kingdom was at hand and our hand should be at work in making it so right here, right now. As we share with love the things that heal and restore from God, we are also sharing a preview of that Kingdom that will never end. Jesus' sabbath is not a list of don'ts, it is a list of do; do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.

PRAYER: Loving God, may I be a part of the present and coming kingdom. May my all be involved in doing that which brings the fullness of your life and love to all people. This I pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

Restore Our Faith

"Let Your face shine, that we may be saved." - Psalm 80:19

From Psalm 80: 1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth 2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might, and come to save us! 8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. 9 You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. 10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches; 11 it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River. 12 Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? 13 The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it. 14 Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, 15 the stock that your right hand planted. 16 They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance. 17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself. 18 Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name. 19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

We've been at low places in our lives where we've felt that even our prayers could not be answered. Some have even shared feeling as if they are in a box where prayers could not leave the box. If we have strayed away from God we sometimes assume that God has strayed away from us. This psalm says if God can hear, God will act. Even in our low points. The national posture of Israel was one of unfaithfulness during this writing. They had reached their low point and believed that they were in need of a new relationship with God, and they were right. The writer of the psalm is also the one praying for this restoration and recognizes the aspects of God that are always faithful. God is our shepherd, who can lead us in the way we should go. God is enthroned as King and will respond with a King's might. It then uses the same imagery used in yesterday's Isaiah passage of a vineyard whose walls are broken and has suffered natural and human damage as a result. But the faith is there in the prayer; if God's hand come upon us again, we will be blessed with what we need: Life and relationship with God.

The same holds true for individuals and our needs before God. If we have reached a low point and doubt that we are right with God, we can call to God and know that God will not only hear; He will act! God will provide the restoration and protection our lives need, and yes, we will be saved.

PRAYER: Shepherd God, lead me to faithfulness and righteousness. Restore to my soul that which is Your light that shines upon me and those around me. In Christ Jesus I pray, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

The Sadness of No Faith

What do you do if you're expecting grapes and get wild grapes?

From Isaiah 5: 1 Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!

Whatever the opposite of a "green thumb" is what I have. My history as a grower is a sad one. The only thing I once grew was a single watermelon from seeds after eating a slice in my backyard as a boy. I wish I could say it weighed what a normal watermelon should weigh; it did not. After marriage, Nellie finally bought me a cloth cactus for my office. It requires no water, no sunlight, no care at all. It collects dust quite nicely so it does require a dusting once in a while. God planted a vineyard expecting grapes. I don't know about you, but I live in a household that loves grapes. We currently house a champion at grape-eating, our grandson, Liam. He's a master at all things video, especially games and last night he was frustrated at grandpa for not being able to keep up with him at a Legos game. Liam is four. But in the midst of that his mom places a bowl of grapes near him and he still embarrasses grandpa at this game while eating grapes. Grapes are good. But what God received were wild grapes. Not what he wanted.

The story is a call back to faith and the action God was going to take with the people who had let him down. The story tells of a vineyard sitting on very fertile ground, a hill in fact, for added protection. The vineyard has a watchtower and stone hewn vat. It was even planted with choice vines; yet it produced wild grapes. The story tells the truth of a blessed and protected people set to produce a nation of faithful believers and even believers from the neighboring countries, but the result is that the neighbors had more influence on them and the choice grapes God expected turned out to be sour and good for nothing. This happens in individuals and churches even today. From fertile and rich soil of a history of faith and service, some children or grandchildren choose not to believe. From a setting where hope should be shared with the neighbors, despair and doubt are shared with those within the bounds of "faith." What's God to do?

In this story God states plainly a prophetic word towards Jerusalem and Judah; "I will make it a waste...I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it." (v. 6). What God expected is stated next; justice but instead saw bloodshed; righteousness, but instead heard cries. Faith, but instead no faith. Joy, instead sadness. Where there is no faith, sadness is close by, as is hopelessness and doubt. Let it not be so in our lives, in our churches, and in our homes.

PRAYER: Loving God, may it not be so for my life and the lives of those around me. Let me shine brightly the life that produces justice and righteousness, hope and love, joy and blessing. May Your word about me be a positive word. This I ask in Jesus' name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

Persevere!

There's a race to be run; a victory to be won!

From Hebrews 11& 12: 29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace. 32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect. 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

In 2005, Nellie and I took our first trip to Europe. It was a great trip and an inspiring one. In London, we secretly enjoyed some tours where the English bragged on this and that; we smiled and whispered, "Yeah, but we won the war!" Later, in Spain, at the Alhambra, the tour was about the Spanish beating the Moors and gaining back control of Spain, and again we whispered, "Yeah, that was us!" And so it went. The writer of Hebrews is sharing a similar account of victories won in the midst of suffering. He shares a list of things that humanly seem impossible, but God made a way. How else can you explain a sea opened so that people could cross? How can you explain that when the enemy of God tried the same they drowned? How do you explain that a seven day parade results in walls of a city fall, or that a woman of questionable reputation did not die alongside disobedient people? How did lions have their mouths closed? Kingdoms conquered? Justice received? Fires quenched without burning? Death by sword avoided? Weakness overcome by strength? Enemies fleeing? The dead brought back to life? Suffering here and glory there?

Ours is a rich heritage that continues to live. Chapter 12 shares a powerful and favorite verse of many, that says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us," and verse two of the same chapter, "looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith." In other words, if you believe in this faith history and have faith in Jesus, how can you even consider giving up or admitting defeat in whatever challenge you are facing? Is your problem greater than God? Is you challenge ultimately going to defeat God? NO! As Paul says later on in Romans 8, "In all these things we are MORE than conquerors..." Stay in the race, strive to win. It's a message that should be lived and shared with others; starting in your home, your church, your work place, the place where you play. Stay in the race; seek to win with Jesus' help.

PRAYER: Give me that faith that perseveres. Grant me the victory in whatever I am facing, in the precious and powerful name of Jesus I pray, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

Alas, The Times Are Like This

What does Jesus mean in this passage?

From Luke 12: 49 "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." 54 He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, "It is going to rain'; and so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, "There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

The week I decide to do the Gospel reading first for a change, we get this passage from Luke. We shall prayerfully discern what God would share with us.

Jesus came as Messiah. Not everyone believed nor accepted Him as such. HIs message, teachings, hearings, miracles, blessed some and angered some. Even today, the spiritual realm to which Jesus invited us as believers, causes some to believe and causes others to be angry or resentful, especially among those who are not concerned with spiritual things and worry and fret about earthly or physical things. Jesus came so that we might have fullness of life, yet many do not want to leave the seeming fullness of the physical to experience the true fullness of life lived in the Spirit. The account of the Holy Spirit's arrival in Acts 2 had many questioning the behavior of those who received the baptism of fire, accusing them of being drunk early in the morning. Even though 3,000 new believers were added that day, most were not believers and actions followed where the disciples were arrested, beaten and ridiculed for what they did on Jesus' behalf.

As a pastor I have seen reactions from parents of children who have felt called into ministry. Their words and actions are anything but supportive and encouraging. I have seen the reactions and anger of spouses towards those also feeling called to serve God full-time. Yes, some even have divorced as a result of "not being called into ministry" or into "marriage with a minister." As a pastor I have sat with people planning a funeral and have heard some question the need to bring the loved one into a church for a final worship service in which to say goodbye, even when the dead person had specifically said his or her faith made them want a church service. Believers are called to know the "signs" and "the present time." And we are called to stand firm in our faith even in the face of non-belief or doubt that questions our actions and ministries. If there are to be divisions, we should not be on the side that finds itself against God.

The theme for this week will be a stronger faith. We are called to have a faith that does not waver or cave in to seemingly stronger forces, for there are none. Nothing or no one is a strong as God. And there is no stronger force than one guided by God to be in the right of things.

PRAYER: Loving God, strengthen our faith; guide us to fullness of life. Even in places where division is present, let us stay with You as a model and as strength for those being torn away. We pray this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

Where Is Your Heart?

Can Your Treasure Be Far Behind?

From Luke 12: 32 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 35 "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit;36 be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. 39 "But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

Last night most of our nation was fixed not on spiritual matters but on physical ones. Most thoughts were not on selling our possessions but on gaining more, like $425 million more. Yes, lottery fever. The thought of winning LOTS of money made people begin dreaming of what could be with so much money, and here is Jesus saying "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." This, after saying believer should sell possessions and give alms. And this after saying that God was to give us "the kingdom." Put in perspective, ours is the greatest to gain through God's faithfulness than all lotteries put together. Ours is a gain that "no thief comes near and no moth destroys;" ours is a place where our heart gets the most good. The substance of our faith is to continue to seek to do good for one another and to be ready to go when God sends Jesus back for us. Yet, many of us made plans for new homes, new cars, new trips, new lifestyles; sending a message that we're not quite content with what we have now.

It is not a sin to be rich. But it is sinful to love our possessions and our money more than God. It is a sin to let our possessions possess us. It is a sin to let the things of this world halt the work of the Holy Spirit in the spiritual realm and in the world to come. Do not be misled about things. God supplies our needs and sometimes we get more than we need. The question is what do we do with the extra? What do we do for the good of God?

PRAYER: Loving God, I thank You for what I have. I have been richly and wonderfully blessed. Help me to know how I can bless You and Yours. Keep me working for that which will continue to bless those who do not yet know they have been blessed. This I pray in Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

Prayer Request: The Rev. Dale White, late last night was in the ER in Wharton County running a temp of 103; close to midnight doctors still did not know what was causing it. Please pray for Dale and his wife, Anita. Blessings to you!

The Substance of Faith

Unexplainable Things Happen for Those Who Believe!

From Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, "as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore." 13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, 14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

Faith is that which leads us forward. The person of faith looks forward to what can be in believing the power of God, not in remembering what was that he or she left behind. Faith is that which allowed us to say to sin, farewell, and Yes and Welcome to a new life lived in the fullness of Christ.

I chose the pictures of lunch pails from Old Town Dallas as a symbol of faith. It was usually moms and sometimes, dads, that packed a lunch with what God has provided for their children. Sometimes it wasn't much, but it was enough, and it was part of the investment of faith these parents were making in the future by allowing their children to be educated. We all have stories of some interesting lunches when there wasn't any lunch meat with which to make sandwiches. My dream lunch involved my mom's homemade tortillas, but ridicule and shame would accompany that lunch for other children who had brought bread thought the show of tortillas was a show of poverty. Years later, those tacos were as good as gold, which could be traded for almost any type of sandwich you wanted. My fear was to awaken to the smell of frying chicken for I knew that we had no bologna nor cheese with which to make my usual schooldays lunch. Imagine my chagrin to open my wax paper treasure to discover a chicken leg inside of two slices of white bread. I would give anything now to still have the loving woman who prepared those, thankful for the loving woman I have now. Faith is the substance of hope in the unseen God whom we know provides for our needs.

Faith in this chapter is like a city to which we are moving. We move forward with hope, convinced in the imagined of what will be. It was after all, faith that tells us that what is created now was created by God. The lineage of those forebears who did what they did in faith in the God who makes all things. And it was the faith of one person who made the faith of so many others possible.

Our faith serves to bless others. What we say, think,and more importantly, do for the Kingdom of God is what blesses those who may lack faith. It is faith that says we have a homeland towards which we are walking. We may not be near yet, but that does not stop our forward movement. As we journey we should extend a hand to those in need of moving forward. Faith serves best when we share.

PRAYER: Author of Faith, speak to my faith and make it stronger. Make me aware of that which is available to me. Let me live a life that inspires others to move towards a closer relationship with God. This I pray, in faith, in the name of Jesus my Lord and Savior, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

Relationship Not Religion

God desires a relationship not religious service

From Isaiah 1: 1 The vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw regarding Judah and Jerusalem during the times of the kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. 10 "Listen to my Message, you Sodom-schooled leaders. Receive God's revelation, you Gomorrah-schooled people. 11 "Why this frenzy of sacrifices?" God's asking. "Don't you think I've had my fill of burnt sacrifices, rams and plump grain-fed calves? Don't you think I've had my fill of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats? 12 When you come before me, who ever gave you the idea of acting like this, Running here and there, doing this and that - all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship? 13 "Quit your worship charades. I can't stand your trivial religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings - meetings, meetings, meetings - I can't stand one more! 14 Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You've worn me out! I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. 15 When you put on your next prayer-performance, I'll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I'll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you've been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. 16 Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don't have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. 17 Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless. Let's Argue This Out 18 "Come. Sit down. Let's argue this out." This is God's Message: "If your sins are blood-red, they'll be snow-white. If they're red like crimson, they'll be like wool. 19 If you'll willingly obey, you'll feast like kings. 20 But if you're willful and stubborn, you'll die like dogs." That's right. God says so. Those Who Walk Out on God

Isaiah had a tough job. My daughter and I discussed the role of a prophet and how difficult it was to say Yes to God first, then God to say, "Here's what you need to say." Oh.

The message was not a popular one, nor are prophetic messages usually so, but they're powerful and they're true. And truth hurts. Here God is speaking to a people that has alienated themselves from God and sought to make things right with religious activities. I chose The Messiah Version of the Bible to get a better understanding of the urgency of the message God is sharing with His people. The truth is God desires our love and our service as a result of that love. God is not impressed with sacrifices and the blood that flows as a result of those sacrifices. God does not like "worship charades" or "trivial religious games." God doesn't keep track of the number of "Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings - meetings, meetings, meetings," and God says, in this version, "I can't stand one more!" What good does religion do if we continue to sin? If our hearts are not in love with God, our actions will give us away as being in love only with ourselves. God desires a life, a full life surrendered to Him, not to rituals or habits. God desires prayers from the heart not out of performance manuals. And even if we pray loudly, God will not listen, for God knows our heart. What God did know about Israel was that the religious people were among those "tearing people to pieces" and who had bloody hands. What God is saying is this, "Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless." Those who do surrender to God will receive the fullness of life in God. Those who do not, will miss out on everything.

PRAYER: Loving God, let me not miss out. Help me to come into the fullness of life as I seek to help those who need to know You living in me. In Christ Jesus I pray, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

God Is Not Silent

Blessed are those who can hear and listen to God!

From Psalm 50: 1 The mighty one, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. 2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth. 3 Our God comes and does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, and a mighty tempest all around him. 4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people: 5 "Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!" 6 The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. (Selah) 7 "Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. 8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. 22 "Mark this, then, you who forget God, or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver. 23 Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God."

In our everyday world there seems to be a competition for attention and a lot of it involves loudness. In our homes, the television sometimes blares without anyone really watching it. In another room a radio may be playing for no one's enjoyment. In the street an approaching car's presence arrives a few minutes before the actual car because of the thump, thump, thump of its audio system. A motorcycle may roar past your car and rattle your windows. Yet, in all the noise and even in the silence, God speaks. The voice or call of God is to worship. We tend to think of a call to worship as something we only do on Sundays in those churches where the order of worship will have a formal call to worship, that serves as an invitation to put all other things aside and to focus on the presence of God. Such a thing happens everyday, says the psalmist; from the rising of the sun in the east to the setting in the west, and all things in between, nature serves as the voice of God calling us to remember the goodness and beauty of God. And the psalmist says, in this setting, we are called to faithfulness for all that we have said we would do for God; if we've not yet lived up to what God has asked of us, then the time to do it is now. The Lord will hold us responsible for being unfaithful and unproductive. We have been given much to do, and have we done it? This is a psalm preparing our hearts for the message that will come on Sunday in those churches using the Luke 12 passage. Be ready for the coming of the Lord by having done all that was required of us.

PRAYER: Loving God, may I be reminded today and all days of that which I am called to share, namely Your goodness and mercy. Help me be ready in all ways and all things; this I pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

Are You Rich Enough (In The Things That Count)?

The Idolatry of Greed

From Luke 12: 13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." 14 But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" 15And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." 16 Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, "What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' 18 Then he said, "I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' 20 But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."

If you've ever wondered where Jesus got His material for some of His greatest parables, it was from people like you and me. Worried about things, money, bills, family relationships, death, sickness, we still provide plenty for Jesus to talk about and pray for! Here is the source of what came later in chapter 15 and the prodigal son; Inheritance and a fair share of it. Some tend to worry about who's going to get what the older our parents get, even in the poorest of families. "Grandma said I would get her ring!" "Dad said I would get his pocketknife." Is it any different among those who argue about millions? Jesus says two things; Who made me a judge over you in these matters, and , Be careful about worrying about greed because in the final analysis "one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." (v. 15). Then the story to drive home the point, an already rich man gets even richer and begins to worry and plan about what he is to do next. Then he comes upon a plan and shares it with himself. Don't you love the dialogue? "And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry."

One of my guilty pleasures is watching a show about sharks. Not the kind in the water, but three savage men who sell real estate in the largest city in the USA. They will do just about anything to make the deal and make unheard of amounts of money. What makes the show worse is they will show the sale price and the commission received in the sale of the property. Last night was the season finale and one of the sharks was shown ordering his younger brother around as he packed, and he remarked to the camera, "I've made so much money that I don't know what to do with, but I am moving to a bigger place." Rich in things, poor in spirit. This was Jesus' point. When it all comes down to it, how rich are you towards God? The old saying is true, "You can't take it with you." And I love hearing folks say, "You never see a U-Haul on the back of a hearse." And, most folks are not buried with their shoes; socks or bare feet as they awake to meet their Maker.

One of our greatest worries is about money and making ends meet. We worry about feeding our families and having sufficient health care. We worry when we hear of people losing their jobs and politicians never tire of promising new jobs and incredible remedies for the economy. And we fret about things that in the big picture of things count for nothing if we're poor where it counts the most; our faith walk with God. How much have we invested in our heavenly treasure? Have we cared and demonstrated that care towards others? Have we taken seriously what Jesus said in Matthew about doing for "least of these" was doing for Him as well? Have we paid daily in our spirit by our time in prayer, Bible study, worship opportunities, small groups, Sunday school, the reading of books that bless our spirit?

Remember the question I posed earlier that Wesley loved to pose?

How is it with your soul?

PRAYER: Loving God, may it be well with my soul because of what You have shared for me to take advantage of. Let me seek to invest more in the things that ultimately will count, things of love, service, and compassion towards others. This I pray in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde