pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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The Circle

Reading: Hebrews 12: 18-24

Hebrews 12 offers a new perspective on God.  The God embodied in Jesus is the same God whose voice can thunder and who can be terrifying.  God is unchanging.  What changes or evolves is our understanding of God.  Stand at the window and watch and listen to the power in a magnificent thunderstorm.  Witness God’s voice booming!  Sit with a family that has just lost a loved one who they think was not saved, witness the unspoken questions and fear.  Consider the conviction we feel when we sin.  We quickly repent and seek forgiveness so that we are back in God’s love and away from the terrifying feeling of being outside of God’s love.

Through Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit we experience God differently.  God is now more personal, more easily accessed.  Jesus and the Holy Spirit function as more open conduits to heaven and God’s love.  In Jesus the man we saw the living God, first on earth and now in heaven.  Hebrews reminds us that Jesus is “the mediator of a new covenant” where grace and forgiveness comes through His blood sacrificed on the cross.  It is a free gift to us all.  It costs us nothing.  What a change in the previous relationship!  Jesus is also the mediator that stands between us and God and with the Holy Spirit intercedes for each of us.  This is what has changed, not God.

Faith and our response to it has also changed significantly.  Before Christ’s time on earth, faith in God was seen as an exclusive thing.  Either you were part of God’s chosen people, or you were not.  Jews were in, everyone else was out.  Faith led the Jews to care for one another, to live a life of obedience to God’s ways, and to worship God alone.  Jesus changed who was in the circle.  Through Jesus, all people are chosen people.  There are no limits or exclusions to the new covenant.  There is now no Jew or Gentile, no slave or free, …  We are to be Jesus’ hands and feet, loving all people with a servant’s heart.  We are to be Jesus’ voice, offering the good news to all peoples of all nations, ever working to expand the circle, ever seeking to build the kingdom here on earth.

What role shall we play today?  How will we each be a part of widening the circle, of helping another to step inside so they too can know God’s love?


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Refuge

Reading: Psalm 71: 1-6

The psalmist is experiencing a rough season.  The writer desires to seek refuge in God and to find a place away from their attackers.  There are pleas for God to rescue and deliver, to save.  The psalmist turns to God for help.

At times in life we may also feel like we are under assault.  We may feel like things are stacked against us or that life is a lot uphill lately.  When this is just a day or maybe a few days in a row, we can usually lean on God to help push us through.  Soon enough we see daylight and are thankful for God’s presence and strength that helped us endure and remain faithful.  But what about those times when a few days turns into a few weeks, maybe longer?  It is in this place that we find the psalmist.

We can relate to the psalmist.  It feels as if attackers and other negative people are all around us.  We think we are remaining faithful and obedient to serving God.  So why the conflict?  Why the opposition?  It seems unfair and unjust.  It becomes a tipping point.

Maybe we have stepped where we shouldn’t.  Maybe we have followed our own plans instead of God’s.  So maybe the opposition is calling us into check, back into alignment with God.  Maybe the trial is to refine or define or purify our faith.  When we are deep in a time of trial the temptation can be to turn away from God and to run to something else.  So maybe the discomfort forces us to really look at our faith, to define or refine our trust in God, or to deepen our faith.  It may be a season that yields growth.

There will be times of conflict and opposition when we serve God.  It is Satan’s best trick – doubt, questioning, fear.  It is his attempt to derail us.  The psalmist wrote, “Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go”.  May the Lord our God always be our rock of refuge.  In God we can trust.


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Big

Reading: Jeremiah 1: 4-10

How big is the God you serve?  Is God big enough for just you?  Is God big enough for just your family or your church?  Is God big enough for the whole world?  In Jeremiah’s day, the people would have said God was just big enough for Israel.  They self-identitied as ‘God’s chosen people’ and, while this is true, it did not mean they had exclusive rights.  God is the God of all creation, of all people.  God calls Jeremiah to be a prophet” to the nations” and not just to Israel.
When we are children we see the world from this self-centered view.  We look at everything from the perspective of how it affects us, of what’s in it for us.  It is a very egocentric way of life.  This is where Israel’s faith was stuck.  Like them, when one remains stuck at this phase if life, the focus is bent only inward.  One thinks that God loves only them.  This view is of a little god, of a small god.  But we love and serve a BIG God.

In Jesus’ ministry we see the inclusion of all peoples as His ministry develops.  At first Jesus stays within Israel, ministering only to the Jews.  But over time we see a shift to include the Gentiles as well.  Nearing the end of His ministry, the great commission is to bring the Word to ALL nations, echoing God’s sending of Jeremiah.  Our faith develops along similar lines.  The more we come to know and love God, the more we begin love others more.  Our vision of God and how big God’s love is expands as God’s love grows in our lives.

As we live out our faith, may it be a big faith.  As we look at someone and anyone and everyone, may we see them as the beloved children of God that they each are.  Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of the whole world’s sins.  His love encompasses all people everywhere.  May our love do the same.


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Prophets

Reading: Jeremiah 1: 4-10

The opening lines of Jeremiah are powerful.  The Lord is staking a claim on Jeremiah’s life.  God tells him that before he was formed in the womb the claim had been made.  And Jeremiah was not just claimed as a child of God.  The Lord informed him that he had been set apart to be a prophet to the people if God.  Powerful and encouraging words.  Intimidating and frightening words.

Webster’s defines ‘prophet’ as, “a member of some religions who delivers messages that are believed to come from God”.  For Jeremiah, who is speaking directly with God in today’s passage, the message is surely from God.  The timed certainly dictated a need for God’s intervention.  Jeremiah’s place in history was one of turmoil, fear, and threats from outside.  Nations around them were growing in power and the nation of Israel was divided.  Instead of turning to God, the Kings of Judah and Israel tried to make alliances with other kings.  In the end, because of a lack of trust in God’s protection, both nations fell and many were taken to exile in Babylon.

We live in a time when our world needs to hear the Word of God and to experience the love of Jesus Christ.  Beginning in Genesis and running through Revelation we have the inspired Word of God, found in the writings of the Old Testament and the New Testament.  We too have a message to share that comes from God.

Jesus was clear that He was just the beginning.  Starting with the disciples, empowered by the Holy Spirit, the work of Jesus was continued.  Paul, Timothy, and others joined in, filled with the same Holy Spirit.  The Word of God was proclaimed and lives were changed.  The world was changed.  Right up to today many have gone forth into the world to share their faith in Jesus with a world in need of love, hope, and light.  Brothers and sisters in Christ, fellow prophets of God’s Holy Word, we too are called.  May we each go forth, armed with God’s messages of love, hope, forgiveness, and resurrection to change lives and to change our world.


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Amazing Grace

Reading: Psalm 80: 1-2 and 8-19

In our passage today the people of God find themselves outside of relationship with God.  The vine that God planted and grew in Israel, that God allowed to prosper because of divine protection, is being attacked by their enemies.  The wall has been laid waste and the people perish.  The psalmist cries out to God on behalf of the people and asksGod to “awaken your might, come and save us”.  The Psalm ends with a promise not to turn away from God again, but it is couched in the if-you-save-us-first provision.

When the people were with God and God was with the people, life was good.  Israel grew and prospered.  But they allowed the people they conquered to influence them and soon enough Israel was bowing to false gods, to foreign idols.  And soon the Israelites looked up and realized that God was angry with them.  Maybe at the time their promise not to turn away again was sincere.  Maybe they did truly desire to return to full obedience to God.  Maybe they were desperate enough to mean what they pledged.

At times we too find ourselves in a bad spot.  As with the Israelites, it is because we have turned away and have chosen earthly idols over God.  It is because God is no longer our priority that we feel God is distant.  But God is only distant in our minds.  The living presence of God, the Holy Spirit, is still right there trying to work in our lives.  Unlike the Israelites, we have a personal connection to God through the gift of the Holy Spirit.  We also have Jesus as our great high priest in heaven.  He who became flesh knows what it is like to be human and Jesus stands between God and us.

Like the Israelites, we too stumble and we too fail.  But thanks be to God for the Holy Spirit, the power of God dwelling in us, ever drawing us to be more and more like Christ.  God’s mercies are new every morning and God’s love never fails.  Praise be to God that this sinner is still loved and still welcomed always into the family of God.  For this amazing grace we say thanks be to God!


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Fix and Run

Reading: Hebrews 12: 1-2

Paul encourages us to “run the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus”.  It is a call to follow in the footsteps of Jesus as we run the course that He marked out for us as He lived His earthly life.  There are challenges and days where it seems harder to run the race Jesus ran, but when we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the race is easier.  When we focus on the one ahead leading the race, it is easier to keep pace and to follow.

To keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we must connect to Him daily.  Prayer and study are our two primary ways.  Through reading and studying the scriptures each day we gain a better understanding of both the runners and the race.  In Jesus we find the perfect runner and we also see how to run the perfect race.  In the people Jesus encountered we see the runners who were struggling with the race and we hear Jesus’ words of wisdom and encouragement on running the race.  In these runners we often see our own struggles and hear the words Jesus spoke as words spoken to us as well.

Keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus can be a challenge.  Paul begins the passage for today by encouraging us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles”.  Paul knows that much will try and garner our attention and focus.  He knows that much will try and hold us back from living a life dedicated to Jesus.  The many pressures society places on us can greatly hinder us if we cannot look past them and keep our eyes focused on Jesus.  Temptation is all around us.  Sin can easily entangle us and can keep us off the race track.  It is when we focus on Jesus that the sin and temptation loose their power over us.

May we fix our eyes on Jesus today and run our race with perseverance so that one day we too may know the joy of the cross.


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By Faith

Reading: Hebrews 11: 29-40

“By faith” they walked through a sea, by faith the walks of a mighty city simply fell down.  By faith the giant was slain, by faith three hundred routed the thousands.  By faith touching the hem of a garment brought healing, by faith a man walked on water.  By faith the people of God have done things that would have been impossible otherwise.  Each and every time someone trusted fully in what God was calling them to and the miraculous occurred.

These stories are not stories of someone getting a wild idea and then asking God to make it happen.  Each is the story of how God spoke into the heart of a faithful follower.  Each is the story of a person hearing or sensing the voice or nudge of God and being willing to trust enough in God to lead them to respond by faith.  One can only assume there are thousands upon thousands who heard or felt God leading them as well but instead ignored it or refused the call.  We know this because we each are one.

Each of us that have heard or felt God leading us to do or say or be something are not without faith because we hesitated or were fearful or doubted.  We are human.  Each of us have also had experiences where we did step out by faith, where we did trust in where God was leading us.  In these cases lived were affected and maybe some were changed.  Perhaps our life was one that was changed because we followed God’s lead.

Just as all those who have come before learned and trusted and came to walk with God, we too are learning and building trust and growing by faith in our walk with God.  Just as those such as Moses, Joshua, David, Samuel, Rahab, Stephen, Peter, Luther, Martin Luther King Jr., and many more lived by faith to positively affect our faith and our world, we too can have a mighty impact for the kingdom of God.  May we be willing and trusting servants to answer the call of God and to step by faith to do God’s will.


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Tomorrow 

Reading: Luke 12: 54-56

Jesus opens today’s passage with some praise of the crowd’s ability to read the weather correctly.  It is praise to draw them in, to pique their interest and attention.  Then in a sudden twist He calls them hypocrites.  Many a mind gathered there must have wondered at what could be hypocritical about predicting the weather.  If only that was where Jesus was going.  Instead Jesus shifts to interpreting who He is and to reading the signs of God’s presence in their midst.  But the masses miss these signs.  They seem oblivious to the coming judgment.

Unfortunately believers and non-believers alike live in the mindset.  Death or the day of judgment is far away, not right here at hand.  Many are aware of God but have not dedicated their lives to following Christ.  After school, after marriage, after kids, after … then I’ll go to church.  Some day.  For others life is good and they have no need for God.  Perhaps in the back of their minds they know that in a big crisis they can seek God, but God is not needed now.  Life is good.

Many Christians live with a similar mindset.  They rationalize a sin they continue to practice and vow in their minds to give it up one day.  Others vow to start reading their Bible and to pray every day, starting tomorrow.  Or it may be joining that small group or helping out with VBA or…  Yet too often tomorrow always remains a day away.  Making a total commitment to Jesus is hard.

In the last few verses of chapter twelve Jesus uses another illustration to show that judgment will come.  His point of emphasis is that one cannot wait until they are standing before the judge to start making things right.  The kingdom of God is at hand.  It is for us as well.  Are we aware of it?  Are we choosing to live now for the King?  Is there an urgency to be ready for the kingdom because tomorrow may be at hand?


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Cast Love

Reading: Luke 12: 49-53

Love is patient, love is kind.  Love is not rude, love is not easily angered.  Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.  These words from 1 Corinthians 13 seem so appropriate when we consider today’s passage.  Jesus’ words today seem harsh and challenging.  “I have come to bring fire to the earth” sounds ominous and destructive at first.  He states He came not to bring peace but to bring division.  The passage ends telling of the hardest division: the division of families.

I come not to be served but to be served.  Let me wash your feet.  Love thine enemies.  How can Jesus speak these words elsewhere in the Bible and then say He came to divide families?  While all Jesus did and said was based on love, He knew that not all would choose to follow Him.  Jesus knew that many would reject Him.  He also knew the choice to declare Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior was a personal and individual choice.  Because of all this, Jesus knew division would come as we each make our own decision concerning following Him.

The dividing line between follower and nonfollower is sharp.  As followers of Christ we are called to a radical life of love, self-sacrifice, and absolute dedication to our faith.  One cannot be half way dedicated to following Jesus – lukewarm is not following.  So Jesus knew this decision would cut across family lines, through friendships, and would come to define where we stand and who we are.

Over this reality we cast love.  The great commission calls us to go forth to make disciples of all peoples.  Our faith calls us to go forth in love, as Jesus went forth.  Just as He loved the outcast, the sinner, the anyone, so too are we to love all we meet.  In doing so we become the conduit through which Christ’s love reaches others.  It is a love that conquers all fear, doubt, hate, mistrust.  It is a love for all people.  Perhaps this is the fire Jesus wants to bring – His love spreading like wildfire across the communities in which we live.  Today may we cast out love.


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Inside

Reading: Isaiah 5: 5-7

God loves and cares for all humanity.  It is God’s desire to be in a loving relationship with each and every one of us.  God blesses us with all we need and more as an expression of that love and care.  God watches over us and through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit guides and protects us.  God is the ultimate example of a loving parent.

In today’s passage the people of Israel are the children.  Apparently they are not being good children.  The frustrated parent looks back over all that has been done for Israel and recalls all the love and blessings poured out upon them.  In response to their disobedience and lack of faithfulness to the covenant, God will step back from being their provider and protector.  God will not stop loving them.  But God will love them from afar.

At times in life I have made similar choices.  I can relate to the Israelites.  I have allowed earthly pursuits to push my relationship with God way to the back burner.  I have been enamored with the things of this world from time to time, leaving very little or no time for God.  At some point though I come to a place where I realize that the hedges and walls are not there.  My soul is dry as God’s rain has not fallen in a while.  When I stop here and look at how I have been living my life, I see that I have stepped outside of my relationship with God.  The walls and hedged are still there. I had just stepped outside of them for a season.

Perhaps you can relate.  Perhaps you know someone in your life who is struggling along outside the walls of God’s love.  Step back inside.  Lead that friend into a relationship with God.  In relationship with God is where and when life is best.  May we all dwell inside the bounds of a loving, committed relationship with God.