pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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What Gets You Into Heaven?

Does being a member of a church or attending worship equate to salvation?  Does being saved require going to church ‘x’ times a month?  Paul writes that we are justified (or made right with God) only by our faith.  Yet in our human nature we often go to the question, “Am I good enough?”  Am I good enough to be loved by God?  Am I good enough to attend church?  Am I good enough to find happiness?  Am I good enough too….   Yes, yes, yes, and YES!!!

We are put into good standing in our relationship with God becuase of what we believe, not because of what we do.  When we come to trust in God with our lives, job, money, family, time… then we are living in a right relationship with God.  Do works or what we do matter?  Of course.  Later in the Bibe we read that faith without works is dead.  As we grow in our relationship with God, we come to see that His great love for us calls us to share that love with the hurting and broken world in which we live.  Why?  So that they too can come to know His saving love.

We cannot buy or earn righteousness or a right relationship with God.  We don’t get saved through membership or attendance, but by living and walking daily with God.  When our lives are guided by a trust and belief in God, then we come to live by faith.


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Always Ready

Does anyone watch over you at night?  In a sense the police watch over the town as we sleep at night, but they do not guard each individual house.  A security company protects the church at night, but in reality they are only there a fraction of the night-time.  We tend to rely on locks and alarm systems to keep watch over us at night.

When the psalmist penned #121 it was a different culture but some things existed then that exist now.  Thieves and robbers broke into houses and people were concerned about being safe at night.  And like us today, they lived in and among people who followed other religions and worshipped different gods.  But in contrast to God, the people around the Israelites believed in gods that slept at night or even for a whole season.  They worshipped gods that had to be appeased or bought.  For the psalmist, for the Israelites, and for us, we worship a God who is always there.  We worship a God who never sleeps, who always watches over us, and who keeps us from harm.  Our God is always present.

Yet how often we bounce between God and our own personal gods!  We can easily stay late at work with an eye on that possible promotion or we can jealously eye the neighbor’s new car with a thought on how we could afford a new car too.  We can plop down on the couch in front of the TV instead of at the table with our Bible.  Even in these times God is with us.  Perhaps a little sad but still right there with us.  And always ready.  Always  ready to guide us, to guard our heart, to protect us, to love us, to welcome us home. Continue reading →


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Now and Forevermore

The Psalmist asks, “Where does my help com from?”  How would you answer that question?  In Psalm 121 the writer is reminding the people, and us, that help does not come from the false gods up on the hilltop or from the many sources that we can turn to for help.  For the Israelites and for us, help comes from the maker of heaven and earth and of all things that dwell upon the earth.  In this ‘song of trust’ that the Israelites would sing, they were reminded of God’s constant watch over them.  We too have this grace – God is our all-in-all every second of each moment of each day.

Like the people who wold sing this song to remind themselves, we too sometimes need reminders.  Today we can come to put our trust in ‘things’ other than God.  We can turn to modern medicine, the latest technology, all sorts of ‘professionals’ and other ‘experts’, and even friends and family.  While each of these  things may be helpful to a degree, we must always keep in mind that God is the one in whom we put our ultimate trust.  God is the only one really in control.

Whether gathered together in corporate worship or in a study, alone with our Bibles, or gathered with a few fellow believes, at all times we have the same purpose – to more fully develop our faith and trust in God.  We must remember that He never slumbers or sleeps.  We must remember that He is always watching over us.  Both now and forevermore.


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God’s Great Patience

Sometimes it is a wonder that God chooses to stick with us and continues to be patient.  As a parent I can recall painful waitings as one of my children worked their way through figuring out something for themselves.  It would have been so much simpler (and less painful) for me to just jump in and tell them what to do or to fix their problem.  Just as God chose to let Abram grow into Abraham, we too must not rush in so that our children can grow into who God intends them to be.

And just as it was important for Abram or for our child to go through the process of growth, so too is it important for us in our faith journeys.  How many times God must have said, “Aaarrrggghhhh!!!”  over Abram’s choices.  How often he must do the same with me!  Yet, just as His love for us exceeds our love for Him, so too his faith in us exceeds our faith in Him.  And thank God!

From His eyes our growth must seem so painfully slow.  Remember the gospels and ponder this – how often Jesus must have looked at the disciples and wondered when they would get it?  In both God’s divine form and in His human form, He was and is oh so patient with us.  In His great love, He waits patiently for us to grow into the follower that He designed us to be.  I don’t really think God ever says ‘aarrgghh” about us.  I believe that God looks down upon us with great big loving eyes and a knowing smile on His face as we slowly grow into His plans for us.  How great is the Father’s love for us.  Oh how He loves you and me!!


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Hear Him Calling?

Abraham, Israel’s founding father, is a great example of faith.  He is counted as ‘righteous’ by God.  But in Genesis 12 we encounter a young Abraham.  He was only 75 years old when God called him to pack up and move to a foreign land.  Comfortably living with his father in Haran, Abram hears God’s call to move.  So Abram packs up his wife Sarai and Lot and hits the road.  He seems pretty faithful, pretty trusting in God.  As he leaves, he leaves with God’s words on his mind – you will be blessed, made into a great nation.  God will curse people who curse Abram.

But soon after they leave, Abram falters.  A famine forces them to Egypt and here, in the midst of a powerful people he fears for his life – Sarai’s beauty will attract them and Abram fears they will kill him to have Sarai.  So he tells the Egyptians that she is his sister.  Not exactly honoring his wife.  But God intervenes and sends plagues that force out the truth and they are sent on their way.  I wonder why God intervened. I wonder why He just didn’t move on to finding someone else to found the nation.  But perhaps He saw the potential in Abram.  Perhaps God knew that one day Abraham would be willing to sacrifice his only son Isaac on the altar.  Seems God knew what He was doing!

In reality we too are like Abram – full of potential but needing a little polish and elbow grease.  Ready to serve but stumbling now and then.  And Abram’s God is our God too.  He is always calling us along, loving on us as we grow.  God can see in each of us what we can become.  He can see in each of us just where we will best fit into His kingdom.   And we, like Abram, need to be willing to step out in faith, knowing that He will be there right beside us, helping us to do His will in our worlds.  Can you hear Him calling?


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Standing on the Word

Jesus faced much temptation – food when he was very hungry, comfort when he must have been hurting, and power when he was at his weakest.  Satan was persistent.

But Jesus was consistent.  Each and every time that Satan tempted him, Jesus responded with God’s word.  Within the words of the Old Testament Jesus found strength.  Through the word of God, Jesus found a unity and strength that helped him stand again evil.  This unity with his father is what brought him through.

It is what will bring us through as well.  Whether tempted by lust, greed, power, envy, want, fame, desire, anger, talent… there is a word that will speak to us.  God waits in His word to step into our life when we need him most.  In God’s word we can find strength to face down all that the enemy throws at us.  God is faithful.  His word tells us that he will not tempt us beyond what we can bear.  In Matthew 11:28, we hear his love: “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  Rest from our battles, strength for the next fight.  May we rest and trust into God for all of our needs – and especially those where we must stand against temptation!


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In Every High and Every Low

The times that Satan chooses to tempt us are often like when he chose to tempt Jesus.  Jesus had just fasted in the wilderness for forty days.  He was tired and hungry – that is when Satan came.  Evil plies him when he is at his weakest.

Isn’t that when Satan usually tempts us too?  Evil doesn’t come knocking in the middle of a good day at work or while we are enjoying a nice dinner with the family.  Evil comes after a long day at work when we come home feeling a bit grumpy.  Evil comes just after we have been scolded for something we ought to have don (or not done).  We are angry, tired, offended, grumpy – whatever.  It is then that temptation can win.

But Satan is good – he can also enter when we are feeling great.  That sermon or presentation or game that we thought went really well?  Didn’t “I” do well?!  Here too we can be caught.  It is so easy to think that the things done well are the result of something we did instead of something God blessed us with.  Here too we can be caught.

Just as Satan’s attacks are constant, so too must be the attention we give to our walk with Christ.  Just as Jesus answered every temptation from the Devil with scripture from God, so too must we know the Word.  When we call on the mighty name of the Lord, Satan will indeed flee.  When we pray out to God, He is faithful.  He will answer.  In Ephesians 6: 11 and 14 we read: “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes…  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”


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He Is Strong

Sin is in our world.  One does not have to look too far to see or find it.  In Romans 5 Paul was writing to a newly formed church that lived in dangerous times.  The Romans and the Jews were both openly against the church.  There could be a cost to saying you were a follower of the Way.  We too live in dangerous times.  We too could be asked to pay a cost for following Jesus.  While it is true that in many places around the world the cost is much higher, we now live in a culture that is not always friendly towards Christianity and is at times decidedly against our faith.

It is for these reasons that we must keep Christ’s redeeming act on the cross in the forefront of our minds.  Since Adam ate of the fruit, sin has been in the world.  It is an ever-present thing in our lives.  Satan comes at us from so many angles and in so many ways.  But praise be to God because He pursues us even more.  God was willing to become Christ incarnate, to walk amongst us, and to face death upon the cross so that He could bear the sins of the world and claim victory over sin and death through His resurrection.  Through Jesus’ obedience we are given the way to be restored into righteousness, so that we ae once again part of the good humanity that God first created.  We are set free from the burdens and chains of sin and death.

As we walk through Lent, we are called to be emptied and to be freed from what weighs us down.  As we look within ourselves may we find what God calls us to be as His child.  Through His strength may we strip away that which is of this world.  In our weakness may we reach out to Him, for He is strong.  May we daily be renewed in Christ as we walk through this holiest of seasons.


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Taking Notice

Sin can be a lot like bad food you ate at a restaurant.  When you partook, you certainly enjoyed it!  Yet later, as much as you try to keep it down, it just gurgles away and makes you take notice.  In a fit of kindness, you may even think it is not the restaurant’s fault.  As we gaze in the mirror of our souls, we may even think it is the other driver’s fault they didn’t sense we wanted to change lanes or that our spouse didn’t know we were upset with something that happened at work or maybe it was the overly sensitive person at the meeting that should’ve known you were only joking.  But when we lean in and take a closer look…

The sin in our lives doesn’t go away either if we just try and pretend it is not there.  It festers away and begins to sap our strength and energy.  It wedges the guilt right in there – between us and God or between you and a friend, co-worker, or spouse.  As with bad food, it is often only later that we realize, “Uh-oh…”

Yet there is great news!!  When we confess our sins before God we can find love, and mercy, and forgiveness.  He draws us back to Himself and teaches us a better way.  He wants to guide us to a new and better way – His way of love.  God desires for us to love others as He loves us.  And when we go to our friend, co-worker, or spouse and humbly confess our sin and seek their forgiveness, they too will welcome us back into relationship with them.  And then we rejoice, for the lost has been found, the broken has been fixed.  We rejoice in our mighty savior as He pours out His love upon us each and every day.  Thanks be to God!


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Piety – Inward and Outward

In Matthew 6 Jesus offers some tips on how we should and shouldn’t do a few things.  He advises that when we give to the needy, that we don’t make a big show of it.  He suggests that we even go so far as to give with one hand without the other even knowing about it.  He advises that when we pray we go into a quiet room.  He advises that when we fast we wash our face and make ourselves appear healthy so that others do not know we are fasting.  Jesus tells us that God knows all we do in secret and will reward us.  He is cautioning the religious leaders who like to stand before men when they pray or give.  Jesus says they have received their reward – just recognition from men.  Jesus concludes by summarizing why we should give, pray and fast as he advises – because then we are storing up treasures in heaven.

At first I thought this an odd reading on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  Lent is traditionally a season of self-examination and reflection, a season where we give something up or choose to do something ‘extra’ for others.   But then I realized the cautions of Matthew 6 are for us too.  Today is a day when many will wear the mark of the ashen cross on the forehead as a reminder of our faith.  If the cross on our forehead is simply a mark of religious piety, then we have already received our reward in full too.  If it is a personal reminder of the inner transformation taking place then it is between us and God, not as a show for the world.  If our inner change is leading to greater worship and praise of God and into humble acts of kindness to our  fellow man, then we are beginning to store up those treasures in heaven.  Now it is not about keeping score on a secret scorecard.  It is about living as a child of God.  As with Abraham, it is through right living that we too are counted righteous.

The ashen cross on our forehead can also be a conversation starter.  If a non-believer asks about it, we can explain the meaning.  In our church we use Psalm 51:10 as we administer ashes: “Create in your child a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within him/her.”  Lent is a season of giving to God and of sacrifice to remind ourselves of the repentance we must offer.   The ashen cross is also a mark of ownership – to say that we belong to Christ.  Ashes are used to remind us that we are mortal and also that Jesus chose to die for our sins.  As we go through our day today, may we allow that inner light of Christ to shine forth.  May the cross we bear in our heart (and maybe the one we bear on our forehead too) be a sign of our inward piety and may it also be a reminder that we are called to be spent in faithful service to our God and to our fellow man.