I Love the Lord! Write That Down!

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I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones. O Lord, I am your servant;I am your servant, the child of your serving-maid.You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord,  in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19)

When I was attracted to Nellie, I started writing her name on anything I could, just to express how I was feeling about her.  As I talked on the phone with her, a nearby envelope, or scrap piece of paper, I would write N E L L I E.  I knew I already loved her and this was one way of expressing it.  We love the Lord, and how do we express it?  Would you believe that when I get a new pen, I write down J E S U S.  Or I'll even write out I LOVE THE LORD.  That's just one tiny way of expressing the Lord.  But as I read this morning's Upper Room devotional guide, the writer spoke of a dark time in her life and how she thought God and God's love were far from her.  She approached a friend and shared her sadness with her.  The friend suggested she write down all the blessings she had received during each day as a reminder of God's closeness and God's love.  So, she started a practice of writing down right before bed, three blessings that she had received.  It became a practice that blessed her and reminded her of how much she was loved by God.

Do you have that need?  It might bless your life, to write down just three things that God has done for you during that particular day.  It's another way of saying, GOD LOVES ME!  That's what the psalmist did in this psalm.  He wrote down that he loved God because God listens.  God gets close enough so that He can hear us.  God gave us salvation and we should praise God for that.  We should give unto the Lord as He has required.  God has set us free, and has given us enough blessings that every day should be a day of Thanksgiving!  Call out to God and God will listen!

PRAYER:  Loving God, let today be a day of new beginnings.  May I take the time to reflect deeply on Your love for me.  As I record Your blessings, let me be a blessing to others.  May it be that someone might write down my name for having blessed them with my love.  This I pray in Christ Jesus' name, amen!

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!  Write that down!  

Eradio Valverde

Jesus is Lord & Messiah

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But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.’ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what should we do?’ Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.’ And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. (Acts 2:14A, 36-41)

Sometimes all it takes is to hear something from a new perspective and suddenly everything makes sense.  Such was the case with the religious crowd gathered to celebrate an ancient holy day.  Jerusalem was packed with visitors, tourists, and celebrants.  The Holy Spirit came and filled the place, and among those filled and used by the Holy Spirit was the disciple Peter.  After sharing his faith, Peter says, "There let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made (Jesus) both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified."  Bam!  The Bible says "they were cut to the heart" and began to ask, "Brothers, what should we do?"  Don't you love when the Church does it work and people begin to ask what they should do to become disciples or better followers of Jesus?  That is the work of the Holy Spirit, if we would just allow Him to come in and do His work among us; confessions of faith would increase, baptisms and confirmations would increase and we would see the future of the Church brightened.  You see the message has not changed and neither has the Messiah.  The message is still good news; that God so loved the world, Jesus was sent there to bring us into new relationship with God; our sins are taken away, and new ways of living can take place.  The Church can become that which blesses society with clarity and purpose as she leads people away from the "corrupt generation" into the fullness of life.

I love how this passage ends:  "So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added."  Lord, how we long for that Sunday when we can welcome in new believers in a great ways, knowing that just one who gives his or her life to You will bring great rejoicing in heaven and in the hearts of those who love you. 

PRAYER:  Lord, let me be a part of great celebrations and revival as we seek to build up Your church.  Let me be a vessel of Your grace to those in need.  May my life speak volumes of Your love so that others can ask, "What must I do, to have what you have?"  And this prayer goes up to You in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

Born Again through the Living & Enduring Word of God

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If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God. Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. (! Peter 1:17-23)

It was John Wesley, whom we credit with starting the Methodist movement that wrote these words:  "I want to know one thing,—the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach me the way. For this very end He came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God! I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri. Here then I am, far from the busy ways of men. I sit down alone; only God is here. In His presence I open, I read His book; for this end, to find the way to heaven." (Man of One Book, Preface to the Sermons).  It comes from a much longer passage of his writings, but the joy and intense pleasure that he exudes from his having and using a Bible should speak to us; we the privileged who own more than one Bible, who can access the Word of God through our phones now, or tablets, or computers, who neglect it and search it only during times of need.  Wesley spoke of his need to read it constantly, to learn about God and God's love, and how it should motivate us and our living.  And the passage from 1 Peter is the scripture that inspired that writing and life of Wesley.

We should invoke as our Father, God, who ultimately will judge all, but our reverence and desire for God should guide our living as those called by God to love all people, and to have that faith that is obedient to God because of God's work in and among us.  We are truly "born again" people, true to the spiritual, rejecting the carnal, all because of the living and enduring word of God.  If we truly live this way, we will be contagious people, sharing the love and hope of God with all.  May it be so!

PRAYER:  Living God, speak to my heart and grant me that hope.  Fill my heart with love for all people.  Let me put all other things aside, let nothing divide us, but be that which unites us all; for the good of Your work here on the earth, I pray in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

Recognize Jesus?

Photo of Emmaus Team to Puerto Rico; seated are E. M. Valverde, Eradio Valverde, Jr., Carlos Alaniz; standing are Ruben Silva, Jerry Saenz, Ezekiel Acevedo, Gabby Garza, David Marroquin, and Paul Adams.

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.’Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24:13-35)

In 1991, I led a group of ten men to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to help lead their first Walk to Emmaus in Spanish on that island.  The retreat was held outside of San Juan in El Yunque, a rain forest retreat center, where iguanas, huge parrots, and other amazing wildlife and plant life set the stage for this amazing weekend.  The photo shows part of the team, those sitting are my dad, E. M. Valverde, myself, Carlos Alaniz, then on the back row are from l to r, Ruben Silva, Jerry Saenz, Ezekiel Acevedo, Gabby Garza, David Marroquin, and Paul Adams.  Of those in the picture, my father, Mr. Acevedo, and Mr. Adams are deceased.  Of those in the picture, I believe I was the first to attend a Walk to Emmaus in 1985, but not without resistance, and after having turned down two prior invitations.  Of the men in the picture, Mr. Adams, Mr. Alaniz, Mr. Acevedo, Mr. Silva and Mr. Garza, were from my church, El Mesias UMC in Mission, Texas, and Mr. Adams was the first I was able to convince to attend a Walk. He offered little resistance until he arrived at the camp, and was seen by a team member using the pay phone calling his son-in-law to come and pick him up.  The team member remembers hearing Paul say, "I don't know where I am, that's the trouble, but when I figure it out, I'll call you to come get me."  He never made that call because the Walk blessed him almost immediately.

The retreat focuses on the title of today's devotional, and is geared to help those who attend to recognize Jesus.  It happened to me; I didn't want to go because 1)  I was already a pastor, and pastors know everything, right?  (wrong!), and 2) a retreat held at Mt. Wesley with its high mountain trails and called a Walk gave me images of a lot of walking and I was not so disposed.  But as the event unfolded and surprises of gifts, letters, posters, etc. made me recognize Jesus right at my side, where He had been all along.

The two disciples walking that Seven Mile Journey between Jerusalem and Emmaus, never walked alone; the risen Jesus came along, quizzed and blessed them, but it wasn't until He broke bread with them, they knew who He was.  So it happens in our lives.  The busyness and noisiness of our world, the worries, distractions, interruptions, all serve to keep our eyes focuses away from Jesus, almost like Peter when he walked on water; as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus he was fine, but when he looked away to see the waves, he sank.  So it is with us; the waves of despair or doubt, or challenge or worry, family concerns, worries about the future, all can take our eyes off of Jesus.  If we stop to worship and celebrate Him in our midst at church or at a retreat or during our personal prayer time, we will see Jesus.  And the more we see Jesus, Jesus will be seen in us.

PRAYER:  Loving God, may I take time to focus on You and see Jesus right by my side.  Let not the worries and challenges of this day take my vision away from the One who helps and guides me.  And may it be so, that the more I see Him, He will be seen in me by those who so need.  This I pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord; may Jesus be seen in you!

Eradio Valverde

Is Your Heart Glad?

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Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.’ As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight. Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink-offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips. The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;in the night also my heart instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.  Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure. For you do not give me up to Sheol,or let your faithful one see the Pit. You show me the path of life.In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures for evermore. (Psalm 16)

Do you have a friend that you know that when you see them, a smile just comes across your face?  Usually, it is because that person has a glad heart.  A glad heart is one that rejoices in all things, because of the joy and presence of the Lord in that person's life.  Are you such a person?  A glad heart is one that always give thanks in all things.  The owner of a glad heart knows the true value of things, has seen the big picture and rejoices in knowing that what they have has come from the loving hands of God and they count it as a rich blessing.  Many are the stories shared by people returning from mission trips who tell of how blessed they were by seeing people in economic conditions that honestly most of us are not used to, yet saw a joy and a gladness that in our nation of abundance seems to decrease by each day.  I have stayed with families who share the richness of joy in a simple meal, usually denying themselves so that I could eat.  They are blessed with glad hearts.  When it is all said and done, a glad heart will see not only the hands, but the face of God, who has provided rich and wonderful things for us, and that joy will be eternal.

Dear friend, take stock of the blessings in your life, and be glad.  Become an owner of a glad heart so that your presence will bring smiles to the faces of your friends and to new friends that you do not yet know.  This blesses the Lord and it blesses us!

PRAYER:  Awesome God, thank You for all You always provide.  I want to become the owner of a glad heart.  May Your presence in me bless others with smiles of joy, and beams of hope.  This I pray in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!  Bless someone right now!

Eradio Valverde

God Has Shown Us Ways of Life

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But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.‘You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. For David says concerning him,“I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;  therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;moreover, my flesh will live in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.” ‘Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying, “He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.” This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses. (Acts 2:14a, 22-32)

The world has not been the same since the life, death, ministry, teachings, heal sings, and resurrection of Jesus.  For years, the way we looked at history was divided into B. C., Before Christ, and A.D., anno domini, year of our Lord; such was the impact of Jesus.  And in this passage we see Peter addressing the crowd at Jerusalem with this important message of Who Jesus was and what He means to humanity.  Peter reminds them of Jesus' great deeds of power, the signs and wonders He worked among them, and how He was handed over to die, but, Peter says, "God raised Him up, freed from death, for death could not hold Him."  He reminds them of what their great king David had said about Him, and the key verse for me, "(God) has made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence."

That should be our theme during this Easter time.  Jesus' presence in our lives has made known to us a better way to live, and just Him being near us has made us full of gladness.  Yes, the trials and challenges may still be near, and there are things that seek to worry us and make us anxious, but put them in their proper place - all under Jesus.  Jesus has the last word in all things, and should so it be in the things that we face in our lives. We can choose to be glad even when others would naturally be sad.  We can choose to say we won, while others have clearly seen a loss -- there are no losses when Christ's presence is with us.

PRAYER:  Loving God, whatever this dear person is facing, let it be put under Jesus.  May Jesus' mere presence be a blessing to them, and a strong source of gladness.  For it is in Jesus' precious and powerful name that we pray, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord.  Be sure to show your gladness to someone today in a way that blesses them!

Eradio Valverde

Joy in the Lord Brings Living Hope & So Much More!

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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3-9)

This passage, like a life lived in Jesus, has many wonderful words and experiences:  Mercy, new birth, living hope, resurrection, inheritance, protection, power of God, salvation, rejoicing, genuineness of faith, praise, glory, honor, love, belief, rejoicing (catch that that's here twice?), indescribable and glorious joy, and salvation (twice again!).   A life lived in Jesus is full of blessings and surprises; yes, some trials and times of challenge may come our way, but with Jesus at our side, we overcome and are more than conquerors in all things.  The writer of this short passage is filled with excitement for knowing and having accepted Jesus.  He found, as the list shows, every one of those experiences and blessings almost in the order through which he shares them:  Mercy, as a new believer finds quickly, that God is ready to forgive our sins.  New birth comes to the one who asks Jesus to be Lord and Savior of their life, and quickly find that to think and live spiritually is what makes faith stronger and more beautiful.  Living hope is having not just hope, but a hope that speaks, nay, sings to us as we travel life with our Lord and Savior.  A living hope is a hope not easily taken from us, for in it we see the One who is the Hope of the world, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. This season shows the believers what resurrection is and how it applies to our lives.  The inheritance we have is that eternal life that will be ours as we live our lives into the transition of this life into the next.  Read the list again and again, and receive what it says to you.  But, let's focus on two words that show up in this passage:  Rejoicing and salvation.  Rejoicing is that inexplicable joy that comes to the soul from the Spirit, and bubbles up in us in marvelous ways.  Salvation of our souls is the Spirit's working in us, taking away our sins, and sealing us for Christ in the new, living relationship we should have with God through Jesus.  Any wonder the writer would list these two words twice?

May the glorious joy of the Lord be yours today in those ways and many more!

PRAYER:  Loving God, thank You for the joy of Jesus.  May the Living Hope found in Him be found in this dear reader.  May your guide and bless *|FNAME|* through whatever comes their way today.  I pray rich and wonderful blessings for *|FNAME|*, in Jesus' name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day of living hope in Jesus!

Eradio Valverde

Jesus Can Handle Our Doubts

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When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’ But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.  (John 20:19-31)

Let's start with the ending verse of this passage.  How about the last ten words?  "That through believing you may have life in His name."  The point of this passage is belief, not doubt. And it's not saying that doubt is bad, just that if we stay in doubt we miss out.  And in this case, we miss out on life.  What would Thomas' life been like had he stayed away or stayed quiet about his doubt?  Tradition tells us great things about this disciple and how he served out the rest of his life in India and causing a great number of people to take his name as their surname; remember Danny Thomas and his daughter, Marlow?  During my seminary days I knew a young man from that region whose last name was Thomas and who was a firm believer in the tradition that says the Apostle Thomas made his way to that part of the world and served as evangelist and witness to Jesus and had many converts.  Not bad for a guy who to this day is calling Doubting Thomas!

Doubt is a regular visitor to most people.  I pray it doesn't stay long, but it makes appearances and sometimes it comes just to help us throw him out as stronger believers.  Life and life's fullness comes to those who have wrestled with doubt and come out as winners.  The example of Thomas should encourage us to kick out doubt and move on towards fullness of life in service to Jesus with people who do not yet believe.

PRAYER:  Loving God, the essence of resurrection is to overcome doubt and to move towards You with the surety that You will guide us to deeper service and success among those who need to know our struggles with doubt.  Lead us to the fullness of life.  In Christ Jesus we pray, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

He died for you and me...

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Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."  Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, "The King of the Jews,' but, "This man said, I am King of the Jews.' "  Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written." When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it." This was to fulfill what the scripture says, "They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots." And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty." A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth.  When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him.  But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, "None of his bones shall be broken." And again another passage of scripture says, "They will look on the one whom they have pierced." After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.  They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. (John 19:16-42)

This is the day.  The most gruesome atrocity of a day and we call it Good.  Good because all that Jesus suffered and experienced, He did it for us.  And as we have studied Scripture, we know the meaning and purpose behind each act and the awesome blessing that is ours because of this day.  Sins gone?  Good!  Victory over death?  Good!  Life that never ends?  Good!  Indeed, this is Good Friday!

Jesus died for you and me.

PRAYER:  Loving God, even with the pain and suffering; the passion of our Lord, we see the why, and we call it Good.  Thank You.  Thank You, Jesus.  In Your name we pray, amen.

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When the hour came, He took His place at the table, and the apostles with Him. He said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;  for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks He said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves;  for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." Then He took a loaf of bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And He did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and His hand is on the table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom He is betrayed!" Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this. (Luke 22:14-23)

The Rev. Ken Houston, our pastor in Refugio, has seen over 50 executions in the State of Texas.  He was at one time, the chaplain on Death Row.  He witnessed the last meal requests of those inmates.  If you know which meal would be your last, what would you choose?  As I write this, I think I would be too nervous and excited, to know what to ask.  I would think, "What's the point?  Let's hurry; I want to see Jesus!"  Others have made it a lavish meal to remember all the good food they had had.

Tonight we remember the last supper of Jesus our Lord.  This is the account of that meal by Luke, who was not there, but interviewed many eyewitnesses and those of the disciples still alive to gather as much information as he could to report back to the Roman official, Theophilus, of all that happened in the life of Jesus.  He records that this last supper was the Passover meal celebration of Jesus and His twelve, along with the group that slowly grew around Him and some estimates put that group at about 125.  He used the meal not only as a remembrance in Jewish history of what God had done, intervening in the life of Israel and delivering them from slavery and bondage in Egypt, but also as what God was doing in the present, and what God would do in the future through this meal.  The bread and the cup became new symbols of grace, power, and blessing.  The bread became His body which in only hours would be broken, bruised, pierced, and dead.  The body became a remembrance of what it underwent to take on our sins and there on the cross were removed.  The cup would be a cup of forgiveness; the forgiveness of sin.  Then to bring sadness to the reality of the moment, Jesus revealed that one among them would betray Him.  And this account ends with the disciples worrying more about that betrayal, asking, "Is it I?" rather than understanding and celebrating the mystery Jesus revealed of love and forgiveness.  

The truth is dear friend, many have been the times you and I have betrayed Jesus.  Some have been intentional, other times, through something we failed to do; but we are still guilty of having to say, "Yes, it was I!"  But, Jesus' love shows that even those times are forgiven, and while we have breath, we have new and wonderful opportunities to serve Jesus and those who do not yet know Him.  Let right now and tonight be those times we say again, "Thank You, Lord."

PRAYER:  Loving God, we again thank You for Jesus.  While we may not fully understand tonight's meaning and purpose, we still are in appreciation to You for Your love and mercy.  Help us to become the Gospel in ways that show others, Your love and grace.  And we pray this in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.

The new commandment is to love one another.

Eradio Valverde

Wednesday of Holy Week: Silence

Image from silencesounds.ca

Nothing is written in the scriptures about what Jesus did on this day, thus it is called A Day of Silence.  One cannot accept that Jesus did nothing, so some scholars believe that this was a day of preparation for tomorrow night's Last Supper.  The room was probably already secured, the meal was being prepared, and I believe Jesus was in constant prayer.  That was one thing we are sure of, that Jesus was connected to His Father through prayer.  All that He did, all that He said, was motivated by the Holy Spirit guiding Him.

Seek to spend some time today in complete silence.  Listen to what God may be trying to tell you about life, about you, about your loved ones, and about your soul.

We may just find that silence is deafening.

Jesus Weeps Over Jerusalem

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As (Jesus) came near and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God." (Luke 19:41-44)

I grew up hearing quite often, "Los hombres no lloran," meaning "men don't cry."  And I would hear the story of one of my uncles who when about 14 or so, grew a mustache and decided to go into town by himself.  The story goes that he walked into town and some girls followed him, and he ran home crying.  My grandfather told him, "Men don't cry, especially men with mustaches!"  He replied, but my mustache isn't crying!"  As I heard these stories I hadn't yet become familiar with the stories of Jesus weeping; and I hadn't yet seen my dad cry.  When I saw my dad cry and I read that Jesus wept, I knew something was wrong with that saying.

Crying comes from the heart who deeply feels the pain and emotion of someone else or something that triggers that sadness expressed in tears.  During the final week of Jesus on earth before His crucifixion and death, Luke shares Jesus' tears over the holy city.  Jerusalem was still viewed in a very positive light by the Jews and especially those who lived in it, but it was no where the major capital and center of influence it enjoyed during David's and Solomon's reigns; but it still mattered.  Where once people trekked to be blessed spiritually, the city now reflected an American city, set more on commerce and personal wellbeing than it did a city that cared for all people. This was enough to make Jesus weep.  The temple was no longer a powerhouse of prayer and blessing; it was the site of swap meets and flea markets.  The folks running it were keepers of tradition and ritual, lording over those who still sought God the do's and don'ts of a fading religion.  People found they could still be religious, but relationship with God was no longer possible, for it was not a topic of sermons or teachings.  Jesus wept because the city did not recognize what was possible with Him in it; and Jesus saw its future and it was not a bright one; all because it did not recognize the time God visited it.

God has visited my life, just as God has visited yours.  God offered us a relationship through Jesus, and many have taken advantage of it; but as we draw near to Good Friday, what in your life truly makes you weep out of sadness as you realize that none of our sins will lead to an abundant future.  All of our sins serve only to block out the light of God's love and light for our lives.  That path that lead to Golgotha is the same path we are walking if we don't ask Jesus to take our sins with Him to that cross.  We may just find ourselves as that second thief nailed with Him - the one who did not realize Who Jesus was and what He offered.

"I have come that they might have life, and that in abundance."  That still holds true.  It is still your invitation to life in Jesus Christ.

PRAYER:  Loving God, I do want to weep as I think of things that I know I should rid myself of, but still cling to.  Rid me in Jesus' name of my fears, my doubts, my worries, my selfishness, my self-centeredness; and forgive me when I try to make that the focus of my church life as well.  I stand before you as a person of in need...  I seek Your love and forgiveness.  And I pray in Christ  Jesus' powerful name, amen.

Walk towards the cross as a forgiven person, not a bystander wanting a thrill.

Eradio Valverde

Monday of Holy Week-How's Your Prayer Life?

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He said to them, "It is written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer' (Matthew 21:13)

It is Monday of Holy Week, and yesterday's palm people have become today's profit people; well, some of them. They've put away the palms to return back to the noise and smells of the Temple. It's hard for the average person to pray with so many distractions in a house of prayer.

People shouting, shoving, wanting the best deal; and the smell of the animals for sale. Yes, those smells. Add to it the blood of the animals being sacrificed; each one paying the price of someone else's sins. It seems better to kill than to pray. Let that animal die in my place. Let this practice/tradition/custom take the place of my having to pray. I have fulfilled my duty. And hearts stayed empty.

It is Monday of Holy Week, and the people of Jesus' day did not know it. It is Monday of Holy Week, and we know it. The question is: What are we doing about it? In other words, how's your prayer life?

PRAYER: (Dear friend, say your own prayer)

Have Enough Faith? Showing Fruit?

Image from lutheranstudygroup.blogspot.com

In the morning, when he returned to the city, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, ‘May no fruit ever come from you again!’ And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, ‘How did the fig tree wither at once?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, “Be lifted up and thrown into the sea”, it will be done.Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.’ (Matthew 21:18-22)

The week of Jesus preparing for His sacrifice, He did many things.  That riotous scene at the Temple; who expected that?  And this story about His being hungry and seeing a fig tree with nothing on it but leaves.  Then Jesus withers the tree and says, "May no fruit ever come from you again!"  Ouch.  Was it just the tree that caused Jesus' anger?  Hmm.  The money changers and sellers in the temple couldn't still be on His mind, could they?  And the general lack of faith in Jerusalem couldn't be troubling Him either could it?  His lesson to the disciples indicates that Jesus expected more.  You and me could have been the source of His anger even then two thousand years ago; do we have enough faith?  Are we showing the fruit that we should in response to our faith?

The lesson from this short passage is to increase our faith and our fruitfulness.  Jesus taught, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' it will be done."  And a verse that was a favorite of mine in my youth:  Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive."  He gave us faith.  He gave us prayer.  Can't we put the two together and make for an incredible harvest of frutifulness?

I believe we can.

PRAYER:  Loving God, speak to my heart and mind; increase my faith and help me be fruitful.  May the mountains of doubt we encounter today be thrown into the sea, along with my sins.  This I pray in Christ Jesus' strong name.  Amen!

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

Cleaning House

Image from harrisonvillenaz.org

Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, ‘It is written,“My house shall be called a house of prayer”;but you are making it a den of robbers.’The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them.But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’, they became angry and said to him, ‘Do you hear what these are saying?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Yes; have you never read,“Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself”?’ He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.(Matthew 21:12-17)

Have you let something that was once good in your life slowly become bad?  Day by day, you meant to address it and take care of it, but it kept getting away from you, until the day you realized you may have let it go for too long and you believe that now nothing can be done about it.

Jesus addresses this that crept into the Temple.  Once considered the most holy place on earth, little by little, changes were made, and different practices were allowed to enter the holy place and by the time Jesus comes to the temple, He did not recognize it.  It took a lot to make Jesus mad, and for Jesus to come and overthrow the tables of those selling and buying in the temple as He said, "My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you are making it a den of robbers."  It wasn't easy to pray with the sounds of people making deals, and the animals making their natural sounds; God was still present but was made invisible by the human attention to business and money.

During this week as Jesus goes into Jerusalem and takes care of business, so should we.  We must clean house, so to speak, in our hearts, minds, and spirits.  We must make holy again what was once holy.  Time spent with God must return and away from the distractions that have taken that away from us.  We are God's and to God we must return.

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, let me begin today, right now, making what was holy, holy again in my life.  I need to get my spiritual house in order to serve You and worship You.  May it be so I pray, in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

God's Love Never Quits

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O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever! Let Israel say, ‘His steadfast love endures for ever.’ Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we beseech you,O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord.  The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches  up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.  O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever. (Psalm 118: 12, 19-29)

Sometimes God leads us to do something that may mean little to nothing now, or we do not understand why we are doing it.  Days, weeks, months, even years later, we come to realize why it was that this or that happened,, and the role that earlier event played in the bigger picture.  The psalmist was led to write these words, and while they may have had their meaning to him at that point or time of his life, that Palm Sunday event came to symbolize the true reason of his having written such poetic and powerful lines.  Some of what he wrote are eternal truths:  God deserves our thanks always because God is good and God's steadfast love endures for ever.  And as he wrote the words of the "gates of righteousness," he was writing about that day and what it would come to mean to us all; Jesus entering the Holy City for the start of that last week and all that He would endure and suffer for us.  Jesus would come to be the cornerstone of God's plans for His people; in God we would find that which would make us rejoice and be glad; our salvation from sin and death.  True occasions for rejoicing and praising God.

May it be so in our hearts right now and as we enter God's house on Sunday may it be even more so; God is good an deserves our worship and praise for all God has done through His Son, Jesus our Lord.

PRAYER:  Loving God, we praise and worship You!  You are always worthy of our praise.  For events we have endured today, You know the good and eternal things they will mean to us later.  In the meantime, give us strength, joy, and patience.  For indeed Your name is worthy of our praise.  Truly open wide the doors of righteousness so that we may enter in and live!  We pray this in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde

Prayer Update:  Thank you for praying and asking about little Teddy.  He underwent his surgery but he still is in a lot of pain and his fever continues.  He may undergo yet another surgery and so our prayers continue for God to bring healing to this little three year old.  Again, our thanks for praying for him.  

Big Ticket Event!

Image from agnusday.org

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, “The Lord needs them.” And he will send them immediately.’ This took place to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey,and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who is this?’ The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’ (Matthew 27:1-11)

Years ago as I was preparing my message for Palm Sunday, I had attended a concert, which I had called a "big ticket event."  I forget who the artist was, but I had the stubs of that event nearby, and I decided I would make a similar ticket for the parade that was the original Palm Sunday and I went to the print store with a letter sized version of it and within a day they made a huge ticket of it.  It was big enough to show the entire church what a ticket to see Jesus at His Palm Sunday parade look like.  Of course, that was my 20th Century view of that event.  Those in attendance were either at the right place at the right time, or just happened to witness this event because they were tending to something else.  

We must remember that events all fell into place.  God's hand was at work in the preparation before, during, and after the parade.  The fulfillment of prophecy took place, and the crowds were swept up in it.  Several times in our married life, Nellie and I have been at the right place at the right place during unexpected Christmas night parades.  The first was many years ago in Fredericksburg; we had gone to see Christmas lights and boy did we see Christmas lights!  On floats, cars, bands, etc.  The other was also a Christmas event as we were driving to Houston through Kingsville and we saw a night Christmas parade as well. The blessing was tremendous for us and our family.  Imagine the blessing of those who believed in Jesus who witnessed this parade.  Imagine the reaction of the disciples.  Some among the 12 believed Jesus was more political leader than spiritual Messiah, and so this reception to His entrance into the holy city of Jerusalem gave them hope that instead of death, Jesus would receive the throne to Israel, overthrow the Romans and the people of God would once again.  We know better now.  And Monday morning we know how the game turned out on Sunday.  

But the question still remains, what do we know of Jesus?  And what does that do for our spiritual life?  Are we being motivated to be someone God wants us to be; or are we like the sheep in the above cartoon just willing to "run alongside the donkey?"  I hope you know God wants us to do more, be more, and serve more.  Ours is not a faith of static comfort, but of active, faithful service.  As we continue our Lenten Journey, reflect on the areas of your life that still need attention and give them the attention to better your walk/run with Jesus.

PRAYER:  Loving Father, we thank You again for Jesus and all that He suffered for us.  May we seek to be the people You have called us to be, to do the things You have called us to do.  We seek to glorify You in all things and we pray that we might be more than spectators or those who run alongside the donkey.  We pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde