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1 I run for dear life to God, I'll never live to regret it. 2 Do what you do so well: get me out of this mess and up on my feet. Put your ear to the ground and listen, give me space for salvation. 3 Be a guest room where I can retreat; you said your door was always open! You're my salvation - my vast, granite fortress. 4 My God, free me from the grip of Wicked, from the clutch of Bad and Bully. 5 You keep me going when times are tough - my bedrock, God, since my childhood. 6 I've hung on you from the day of my birth, the day you took me from the cradle; I'll never run out of praise. (Psalm 71:1-6 The Message Bible)
Dear Friend, I want to thank you for being a reader and/or listener of ConCafe. I am grateful to say that the podcast of ConCafe is now heard in 26 countries around the world. I am also humbled that such a thing can happen, but I give God all the honor and glory. I started this to bless me and if in any way it could bless someone else, so be it.
I pray this Thursday be Tremendous for you, ConCafe people; may God lift your spirits and outlook, dear Eradio, to see the world from His point of view. I thank you all again for your prayers for those who have asked prayers of us. Nellie had her first physical therapy today and she's quite the champ! She did amazingly well, and tomorrow she has her second visit here at home. This woman, in spite of her poor choice in husbands, is an amazing woman! Prayers fo our daughter Caitlin Munoz have also blessed her, as she is finally over the fever and returns to work tomorrow. Also, our grandson, Eli Munoz, is doing well, also; and thanks be to God for them. Today is the day in which Mr. Don Hisey undergoes his major medical procedure and we pray for his wellbeing and that of his family. Please pray for the Hisey family. Also, we lift up Baby Hudson, that God bring strength and wholeness to him in a mighty way; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen!
Do you have that friend, that no matter how many years it has been since you last saw them would open the doors of their house to welcome you in and give you the use of a guest room for however long you needed it? Me neither. Just kidding, of course I do! When I read this version of the Bible I thought of the years I served on the board of trustees for Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, KY, and my dear friend and brother in Christ, The Rev. Dr. David Grout and his lovely wife, Pam, who housed me during visits to the seminary and board meetings. When they moved away, I had to stay in another place, but their guest room was mine for whenever I needed it. Once our daughters moved away and found either apartments or homes, they had and still have, guest rooms with our names on them. And in this passage, the psalmist asks God, "Be a guest room where I can retreat; You said your door was always open!" What a thought!
Jesus spoke very honestly to the one who dared fofllow Him in Luke 9: "And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto Him, Lord, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." Being the itinerant preacher that He was, it is believed He often camped outdoors; rest was important, but not as important as the lives of those He came to save. He never lacked for anything, for He kept faithful to the message and God provided. Even in instructions Jesus gave to those Whom He sent to preach, He urged the mission rather than the comforts of home; and God provided.
As you find yourself, dear one, sometimes running away from something or someone, please hear again the faith of the one who wrote this passage - run to God! God will indeed get you out of the messes we sometimes so finely and easilly make for ourselves, and God will even provide and be the "guestroom" where we can retreat. God can and will free us from the grip of everything evil, and will fuel our journeys to wherever it is that we need to go; and we can one day say, as did this psalmist, that "from the day of my birth, the day you took me from the cradle; I'll never run out of praise." Indeed, and amen!
PRAYER: Loving Father, this dear friend has run long enough. They are tired and weary and need You in whom to rest. While it may still seem like the shadows ot the one or the thing that is chasing them loom larger, show that You are even larger and mightier than whatever evil or wicked thing may be in pursuit. Grant to this dear reader, peace and rest; and the new energy for the new day ahead; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Show someone the awesome guest room that awaits the weary!
Receive my blessings of joy and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
