pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: beauty


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Beauty

Reading: Song of Songs 2: 8-13

Verse Ten: Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.

Our passage today comes from a book of love songs, mostly written by Solomon.  In our verses today, one can feel the love and passion between these two people.  There is anticipation in his coming to her and there is excitement in his invitation to come away with him.  There is beauty in the world and he wants to experience it with his love.  There is indeed much love and passion between these two.

The love and passion that drives their relationship is the same love and passion that drives our relationship with God.  God continually calls out to us with love and passion, always calling us to join Him.  Our relationship begins at our baptism, where God calls us to Him and marks us as a child of God.  This marking usually also involves a community of faith who commit to helping us on our journey of faith.  From the time of baptism, God’s grace begins to work in our lives even though we may be unaware of it.  This exhibits God’s love and compassion for us.  As we gain a greater sense of God’s call and of His claim upon our lives, we come to a point of entering a personal relationship with God as we commit our lives to Him.  We begin to live our lives sharing God’s love and passion with others.  We become bearers of the good news of Jesus Christ, helping others to know God’s love and passion.

Like the young lover coming to invite his love to come and see the beauty of the world, we too invite others to see beauty.  But our gift of beauty is on the cross.  The deep, deep love and passion Jesus had for us is found in the beauty of the cross.  It is through the cross that we are sealed as a forever child of God.  As we live into God’s love and passion for us today, may we each help others to know the love and passion and forgiveness that calls out to us all.


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Repent of Ye Idols!

Reading: Acts 17: 29-31

Verse 29: We should not think the divine being is an image…

Paul tackles the prevalent religion of the local people in today’s passage: polytheism.  For many, many years the Athenians have worshipped many different gods.  Each god was limited, confined basically to its own area of expertise.  Paul takes the local faith head on when he states that we are God’s offspring.  His logic is that if we are created by God, then we should only worship the one true God and not any creation of our human hands.  For Paul, God is limitless.  All is under God’s control as God was and is the creator of all things.  This is in striking contrast to the popular stance on many gods held be the Athenians.  Paul goes on to proclaim God’s judgment on them and to call them to repentance.

On the surface level it is hard to imagine worshipping a god for this and another god for that and yet another god for this need or concern.  On the surface level, it runs so counter to basic understanding of God.  Yet if we delve in a little deeper, if we look a little more intently into the mirror, we realize that we too are more like the Athenians than we’d like to admit.  We shy away from calling them ‘gods’ but at times w definitely have lots of idols.  We might recoil at the idea of worshipping money or possessions or status or beauty, but when we get honest and get right down to it, anything we place above or before God becomes an idol we worship.

Like Paul called the Athenians, his words call us to repentance as well.  What are the things we chase after, the idols we worship?  Verse 31 reads, “for He has set a day…”.  Judgment will come.  Paul reminds us that God calls us to repent.  This day, may we look deep within, repent of all that draws our love away from God, and begin to live the lives we are called to – lives that love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.


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Creator

Reading: Psalm 139: 13-18

Sometimes the amazing work of God leaves me speechless.  The intricate beauty of a spider’s web or the complex and exact design of a honeycomb catches my attention.  The stunning colors of a field of wildflowers reveals to me God’s unlimited vision.  The power of a huge thunderstorm gives me a glimpse of the might found in God’s fingertips.  The sun rising in the stillness of a calm morning brings more insight into God’s creativity.

Yet nothing reveals God’s ability to design and create more than the human being.  We are so complex physically and emotionally.  A multitude of processes happen in our body each second without a conscious thought on our part.  We can think and learn and invent and solve almost without limit.  Human beings are God’s masterpiece.  No two of us are exactly alike so we are each one of billions and billions of individually hand-crafted masterpieces.  Amazing.

The psalmist writes, “you created my inmost being” and “your eyes saw my unformed body”.  In these verses we gain a sense of the time and care God put into each one of us.  It is humbling to think that the God of the entire universe, the God who made and makes everything, takes the time to knit each of us together, to weave us together into a handmade creation.

God values each of us deeply as our Creator.  The God who formed us also desires to dwell in us and to be an active part of our lives.  The presence of God within each of us calls us to live a holy and righteous life.  Our response to God within us is to share God with others.  In word and deed we have the privilege of living as a unique child of God every day.  May we bring praise and glory to the Lord this day with our every act.  May our lives today reveal our Creator to the world.


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Experience God

Reds, oranges, and yellows slowly fill the sky as the sun begins to break forth over the horizon.  At the end of the day, the occasional purple or blue may mix with the reds, oranges, and yellows as God says ‘good night’ and brings rest to the earth.  The beauty, power, and majesty we find in sunrises and sunsets is spoken in every language in every place on earth.  “Their voice goes out into all the earth”, declares the psalmist.

As a Youth growing up in Connecticut, I can remember going out early to a rural turkey farm early on Easter morning.  We would arrive when it was still dark.  It was always cold.  As we waited in only the calm sounds of nature, one could sense God was near.  Slowly the sun would creep up and begin to warm our silent faces, simply watching God’s handiwork unfold.  Once the sun was risen, we would join in song, prayer, and the Word for our Easter sunrise service.  The sunrise was always like God’s welcoming presence coming amongst us.

We were very intentional about awaiting God’s entrance and His presence on those mornings.  Sometimes life can just become so busy that opportunities like this are gobbled up.  We can work and work and work and become so consumed that we miss the beauty of God’s voice calling out to us as it echoes through nature.  We miss those still moments where God is trying to consume us with His power and beauty and majesty so that He can refresh and renew our spirits and our souls.  It is a shame we so often miss it.

“The heavens declare the glory of God” reminds the psalmist.  May we more often make the time to experience the things of God.  Let it begin today.

Scripture reference: Psalm 19: 1-6


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Praise the Creator

Yesterday we celebrated the gift of Jesus Christ to us and to our world.  The psalm today celebrates all of God’s other gifts that we find in our world.  God clothed creation in amazing beauty – from the stars, sun, and moon to the snow, frost, and rain.  He also created much that is also beautiful.  From the birds and animals to the mountains, trees, and flowers, we find much beauty in our world.

God created much with an amazing amount of diversity and creativity.  We do not see just roses, but tulips and daffodils, and morning glories.  We don’t just see red roses, but white and pink and…  There is not just one type of mountainscape.  Some are beautiful in their rugged splendor and others are pine-covered and inviting.

Today at my house it is very cold and windy and snowy.  In a few months the grass and plants will burst forth with beautiful green and young birds will chirp.  In just a few more months the hot sun will bring forth growth and the occasional thunderstorm to remind me of God’s power and might.  And soon thereafter the leaves will turn a variety of yellows, reds, and oranges and cool evenings will return.

Today may we connect to the many incredible ways that God has created the earth and all that is in and on it.  As we consider and marvel at the work of His hands, may we praise and thank our loving and amazing Creator God.

Scripture reference: Psalm 148


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Amazed by God

The heaven’s declare God’s glory.  The sun and moon and stars reflect His perfect creation and remind us of the vastness of God.  God’s creation reflects a wonderful order and gives us a glimpse of His power.  His fingerprints are all over creation.  His glory is shown from the tiny cells that become a living creature to the beauty and intricacy in a spider’s web.  All that is God created and ordered and breathed life into.

Although none of these things can speak, they each shout forth God’s glory in their own way.  We can hear and see God all around us.  He is present in the sunrise just creeping over the horizon, in the delicate beauty of a new blossom, and in the way a human body functions physiologically.  God is present to us in so many ways.  His divine glory is manifested to us through all that He created and continues to create.

Take time today to be amazed by God.  Sit outside for a bit.  Take a stroll at lunch.  Spend a few minutes out on the deck or porch tonight.  Take some time to hear and see God speak to you through the creation all around you.  Sit in that presence and feel His power and glory within you.  Thank God for the wonderful creation that you are!

Scripture reference: Psalm 19: 1-6


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Words and Without

“Use your words.”  How many times have you said or heard this?  We tend to be very auditory in our learning and in our communication.  In our worship services we require words for everything we do.  Even in the silence of prayer run through our minds.

Must people of faith are people of the books.  The Jews and Christians each have their Bible and Muslims have the Qaran.  The words contained in the Bible are the teachings and stories that guide our life.  Before any were written down they passed on by word of mouth.

We can also worship and draw close to God without words.  Late at night we can sense God’s presence in the majesty of the stars.  On a walk in the woods we can find a bird’s song draws us to a time with God.  A piece of music can weave its way into our consciousness and can become a holy experience.  Something as simple as sitting and watching a campfire can lead us to a time with our savior.

God is all around us.  He is always seeking us, always waiting time with us.  At times we use words in a variety of ways to draw close to God.  Sometimes we do not use words but find ourselves close to God anyway.  Today, may we choose to draw near in a variety of ways.

Scripture reference: Psalm 19