Chapter 28
Six year old Jonathan Petrecca sat listening
attentively as his Dad was giving his weekly speech to the members of
the family. Almost every week the Petrecca household
would sit together and go over the past weeks events and happenings. Also
during this weekly ritual Jonathan's earthly father (me) would give the
weekly sermon from God's word. It was a time of sharing, learning and
appreciating God for all that He is. It is an hour that has been happening on a
consistent basis on and off for nearly two years now. Now Jonathan is only
six years old as I stated earlier. His life, well his life is spent going to
kindergarten, playing his Nintento Wii System, and playing and fighting with
his twin brother T.J. Also may I add to the list of his activities giving his
mother snug-a-bug kisses whenever she asks him to. A life, thank God, that is
full of love and fun given to him by the grace of God. The funny thing about it
is that Jonathan even though he is so young realizes this also. What makes you
say that, you may ask. Well, because during the last family hour (which happened
to be on Valentines day 2009) this young boy requested one of the nicest wishes
I had ever heard in my life. Surprising it would have been had a 60 yr old man
said it, let alone coming from a young six year old kindergartner
lips. " Daddy, I have a great idea. Lets take one of those
red balloon hearts that say I love you on
them and that float to the ceiling that mommy bought us for Valentines
Day. And let’s let it go outside and let it fly up to Heaven. God would be
happy to get an 'I Love You' balloon, wouldn't
he daddy?" Jonathan stated with a smile. I told him that it was
great idea.! And that God is Love and what better way
is there on this day to celebrate love, but to let Jesus know that we love him.
So as a family we all walked outside together. 
We said a prayer and
dedicated the day and balloon to the Father-In-Heaven and sent it on its way as
it headed toward the throne of God. ( At least that was our intent in our
family's hearts as we watched this helium filled, heart shaped message fly into
the clouds.) You know the longer I am a dad; I have come to realize how
important it is to hear, really hear our children's requests. Although
sometimes they cannot be met, just to know that they are being heard and really
listened to. I believe makes all the difference in the world to them. It shows
them that they matter, really matter. I know it is not good to give our
children everything they want. But I do believe it is good for them to come to
us as parents and ask. It means they have a dependency, a trust, a non
self-reliance that there is someone that they can go to in time of need and
want. The longer that I am a Christian the more I believe that God really wants
us to cast all our cares upon him. "In EVERYTHING
let your requests be known to God." Philippians 4:6
states. The key word here is everything in this verse. No, not some things, no,
not many things, or a couple of things, but Everything!
I believe reading the word of God clearly leads us to a place of God
reliance and away from self reliance. I don't know about you but I
can have a tendency to worry a lot. I worry about money, my career, life,
children. The list goes on and on. Some days even to the point where I just
want to run and hide and shut the world out because it seems that everything is
spiraling out of control. Did I say control? The more I think about it I
believe most of us if we are honest with ourselves are control freaks. Whether
it is a lack of trust in others or God because we have been hurt in our past.
Or whether it is just from our own insecurities because we are just too
prideful. Letting go of things that surround us in the physical
sense is hard enough, let alone giving our trust to some higher power
in the spiritual realm can be very difficult if we really are truthful
about it. We must come to a point in our life to realize that every Word of God
is true. That the Holy Bible is the standard of truth for God and man. Without
coming to this revelation there is room for satan to create doubt. And
God, is a God of absolutes and truths and standards. When you have any
reservation in your heart that God's word isn't totally 100 percent
credible you leave yourself in a dangerous place. When God reveals to your mind
and more importantly your heart that every single word is true you then
can begin to understand His power. This will bring you to a place of
trust. While spending time in the Bible is the first step to understanding
God and his ways. Without this knowledge I believe it is almost impossible to
learn what the good Lord wants you to do. There is a Bible verse on every
subject to show us what God want us to do in every situation. The standard is
the Word of God. It is the only thing in this life that
we can totally hang our hat on. Once you have come to this point in your life
and realize that you should listen to what the Bible says and not necessarily
how you feel. It is then and only then that you can start to make better
decisions in your life. The devil doesn't want you basing your life on the
Bible. He will go through great lengths to let you believe that what you are
reading in the Bible is written by men and not God. He will lie to you and tell
you there are false hoods and that you cannot base your life on what this
Book says. This spiritual battle has gone on now for over 2000 years. One
of the verses that has helped me through some tough times when my faith has
been tested is from John 16:13 " The spirit
of truth will lead us into all truths and tell us of things to
come." Before I knew Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior I
couldn't recognize the truth if it smacked me right upside the head. During the
past twelve years I have grown with the Lord to a place where I cannot run from
the truth. I know now when I am lying. I recognize when I make a mistake and
instead of justifying it or blaming someone else about my bad decision the
spirit that lives inside me now lets me know the reality of every situation. It
is amazing what we were before we became saved. How someone can live without
God's spirit in their heart amazes me sometimes. In my life I am constantly
reminded of how foolish I once thought and how I justified in it a way
that I am sure was frustrating to others who were near to my life back before I
knew Jesus and my Lord and Savior. Each one of us is at a different point with
their relationship with Jesus Christ. Some of you well you are just stubborn
and believe that you know better. I have been there. There are some of you who
have been thinking that it is time to seek a new and better way because your
life has landed in a total mess. Mainly because you keep repeating the same
behavioral patterns and are frustrated because you keep getting the same heart
breaking results. Let me share with you a little secret. You can go to all
the therapists in the world. You can go to the health clubs and plastic
surgeons in the universe. You can make every New Years Resolution out there.
But until you accept Jesus Christ into your heart as your Lord you will
continually be frustrated. God is the only one who can change the heart. Before
we can get the outside to work right we have to get the inside thinking
correctly. All else is just a futile attempt to fixing the real issues. My
prayer, my request is that you
who read this chapter will ask Jesus Christ into your heart. Buy an
NIV or NKJV Bible and Pray to the Father-In- Heaven in the name of Jesus about
everything. This will help you build your faith and trust in the Word of God.
And help you begin the greatest relationship of your life. Maybe even one day
to the point like my son's request where you will send a helium filled
balloon that states," I Love You" on it to the Creator of
all in Heaven. And that my friends would be a great place to be.
Whether you are six or sixty years old! I wish you
God's Love on your journey. God Bless to you
all. Al