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1 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; May the name of the God of Jacob defend you; 2 May He send you help from the sanctuary, And strengthen you out of Zion; 3 May He remember all your offerings, And accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah 4 May He grant you according to your heart's desire, And fulfill all your purpose. 5 We will rejoice in your salvation, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. 6 Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand. 7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God. 8 They have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stand upright. 9 Save, Lord! May the King answer us when we call. (Psalm 20 New King James Version) 1 God answer you on the day you crash, The name God-of-Jacob put you out of harm's reach, 2 Send reinforcements from Holy Hill, Dispatch from Zion fresh supplies, 3 Exclaim over your offerings, Celebrate your sacrifices, 4 Give you what your heart desires, Accomplish your plans. 5 When you win, we plan to raise the roof and lead the parade with our banners. May all your wishes come true! 6 That clinches it - help's coming, an answer's on the way, everything's going to work out. 7 See those people polishing their chariots, and those others grooming their horses? But we're making garlands for God our God. 8 The chariots will rust, those horses pull up lame - and we'll be on our feet, standing tall. 9 Make the king a winner, God; the day we call, give us your answer. (Psalm 20 The Message Bible)
Happy Thursday to you dear ConCafe Family; and may blessings abound in your life for joy and service, dear Friend. That's my prayer and I'm sticking to it! Friends, I ask prayer for Nellie and myself. Most of you know that for the last nine months we have been spending our weeks here in Houston; Nellie spending Monday through Friday, and me days when I could given my erratic schedule with my insurance business. We have been grandparenting our youngest grandchild, Eli Ryan Muñoz and tomorrow is our last day. We are so sad that we can't begin to explain how we will be able to be away from this bundle of pure joy. We have seen the marvels of God's creation in his every development and to hear him struggle out words, like Mama and Dada, Liam, which he has made more an EEE-am, and Monday Nellie coaxed a grandpa out of him; makes our hearts melt. Yes, I have tried to get him to say grandma, but have not yet had success. We have enjoyed his "freedom" come first by what we called a sniper crawl, now a full crawl and his attempts to stand up against the sofa are just wonderful blessings to us. We fear the distance of being apart from him and we will miss him terribly; but are grateful to have had this very special opportunity with him. Pray for our transition and safe trip home. I am fearful to put the pencil to how many miles we have traveled during these nine months. Each one way trip is 157.8 miles, and we have made the trip at lease four times a week, sometimes more when I dropped Nellie off, went home, worked, then returned early on a Wednesday or Thursday and then home on Friday. I only know that my trusty Toyota Tacoma has politely asked for new tires. And we shall once we get back into our routine, whatever that may be! We know many of you are praying and will continue to pray, so thank you, thank you, thank you!! I also ask prayers as I write these devotionals; last night I wrote a sentence that did not make sense, and a dear friend and reader asked me about it, and I was glad to correct it. Here is the correction: " from being the enemy, the followers of Jesus Christ became his friends and coworkers." Preparing ConCafe away from home means a smaller computer screen and recording equipment not up to par with the home office. But thank you for your patience!
As we draw closer to the date, I will remind you, but on July 18th I am preaching at St. Luke's of Corpus Chrisit, and I will be officiating at Eli's baptism, so pray that the Lord can still use this worn out old preacher! It has been over a year since I have taken a pulpit to preach; not that the offers have not come; I am thankful for dear friends who have understood but still ask, and so on the following Sunday after the 18th (07/25/2021)I will be preaching in our home church of FUMC-Gonzales; again prayers for the words and grace with which to be a vessel of God's grace.
This psalm was a favorite of my grandfather, Carlos Valverde, Jr. He came to faith late in his life and just threw himself wholeheartedly into serving Christ however he could. He mowed the yard of his church in Alice; ran errands for the preacher there, and prayed loudly every night for all the needs that had been shared with him. Early in my career he took me aside and told me how proud he was of me, and that one day I would be a district superintendent. I would smile and reply that I had been called to preach and while I was still able to do that I was being faithful to my calling. He died before seeing me become a DS of the Corpus Christi, later Coastal Bend District, the latter would iniclude Alice, TX. But this was the psalm with which he would pray and he loved to share verse 7, en español (Estos confían en carros, y aquéllos en caballos; mas nosotros del nombre del SEÑOR nuestro Dios tendremos memoria.). The word carros also means automobiles and that made me chuckle because he had a fondness for them. He owned some interesting cars, including an El Camino and some others. But I knew that God meant more to him than any of the cars he ever owned.
The psalmist is celebrating faith from how he has known it. He had a lifetime blessed by special deliverances from the Lord during some very rough times in his life. After being anointed king, he went up against Goliath; won the triple crown prize of a large sum of money, King Saul's daughter, and no income tax the rest of his life; but still was pursued by his fiather-in-law who wanted him dead so that Jonathan could take over as king; not to mention countless battles with kings once he was in office; each time God pulled him through. And as a result of that faith, David became a very giving king; knowing that gratitude was very much a part of worship, and that many times means showing kindness and help to others in God's name. I saw a short video on social media about a man sharing how his little son asked why he helped so many people. He was shooting this video after helping jump start a stranger's car. The dad replied, "Because I owe so much. To God. I'm thankful for.... and he named so many things, including "Mom being cancer-free, for you, your sister," And he also said, "And when I'm gone, I'll still be with you and through you helping you pay back to God the debts you owe Him for so many special and wonderful things He has done." That may remind you of your Dad or Mom and some of what you may have seen in them; and if you're not yet showing that to your little ones, you will soon start.
This modern version just shouts what needs to be heard; "May all your wishes come true! That clinches it - help's coming, an answer's on the way, everything is going to work out." (v. 6). And the winner in all of this is God, for He is the King and everytime we need Him, He answers!
PRAYER: Awesome God, thank you for all You have shared and provided, especially during times of need. You deserve our prasie and gratitude. Let us begin to pay back with love and help to others, even and especially those we do not know! In Christ Jesus we pray, amen!
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Do unto others...
Receive my blessings for victory and peace in your life!
Pastor Eradio Valverde
