pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: burden


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Hope in Babylon

Reading: Jeremiah 29: 1 and 4-7

Verse 7: “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city… pray for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper”.

The leaders, the craftsmen, those will skills are carried off into exile. Through Jeremiah the Lord God sends them a message of hope. Within this message is an unspoken truth: the exile will be long. This is not an exile that can be endured for just a few years and that will suddenly end, allowing life as they had known it to resume. Life as they had known it will cease to exist for an extended period.

Most of us can relate to what the exiles must have been feeling. In times of loss or unexpected change we too have felt out of sync and out of place, out of control and out of our ability to cope. There must have been a sense of hopelessness and despair hanging over the people. Into the exiles’ situation God gives direction and purpose. Instead of hunkering down and angrily riding out this period, God tells them to buy instead of renting, to intermingle and to intermarry instead of living in isolation. God tells them to find jobs and to start businesses. God says, through Jeremiah, “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city… pray for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper”. In this place of exile God tells the people that they will thrive and experience blessing. In the midst of what must have felt like a horrible situation God reminds them that it will not only be okay, but it will be good because even in Babylon God is in control.

This leads me to wonder where there is hope and maybe even new life in my Babylon. How or where do you feel exile? As we ponder this thought, events or people or situations come to mind. These thoughts can cause us to lose hope or to feel a heavy weight upon us. Or… we can remember that God is in control and we can seek to trust in God alone and maybe, just maybe, to thrive in our Babylon.

Jesus himself invites us to lay down our burdens and to trust in him, promising us that he is “gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). In Babylon, God is there and in control. Turn to the Lord, our hope and our deliverer.

Prayer: Providing God, you are the rock in the storm, the sure foundation in this life, my only hope in the life to come. In the tempest, be with me. In the valley, carry me. Shine your face upon me and be gracious to me. Amen.


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Do Good

Reading: Galatians 6: 1-10

Verse 9: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up”.

Paul is writing to the church in Galatia. He founded it and he nurtured it. Now it is struggling a little bit. The folks are not acting as brothers and sisters in Christ. The loving community has splintered a bit due to quarreling and to some thinking themselves better than others. Paul wonders if they have lost their capacity to love one another fully and unconditionally.

Chapter 6 in my Bible is titled, “Doing Good to All”. Paul begins by encouraging us to lovingly help one another in our battles with sin. Then Paul reminds us to bear one another’s burdens as the need arises. He closes this little subsection by encouraging each of us to “test his own actions” so that we can keep focused on walking in God’s ways. All of these things involve loving in truth.

In verse 7 Paul returns to a familiar illustration. He begins by reminding us that “a man reaps what he sows”. Sin equals destruction and pleasing the Spirit leads to eternal life. It is quite simple. Sow seeds of faith and live faithfully and our fruit is life forever with God in heaven. Paul knows this is not an easy road to walk. In verse 9 he writes, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up”. In 2nd Timothy 4 he calls this fighting the good fight. He encourages us not to give up in the battle because living a life of faith requires a constant effort. It is easier to allow sin to enter in and to walk with the world. But this would not be pleasing to the Spirit. Instead we must sow good seeds.

Paul closes our section for today be encouraging us to do good when we have the opportunity. Paul believes Christians should do good for all but especially for our brothers and sisters in Christ. These are great words to live by. Today, may we do good to all.

Prayer: Lord, help me today to seek to love first and always, striving to do good and not harm. Reflect in my eyes the beauty and depth of your love so that as I have opportunity today, I may share your love with others. Amen.


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I am There

Reading: Psalm 22: 1-15

Verse 11: “Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help”.

Psalm 22 is full of emotion. David is struggling and he is honest with God about it. This Psalm of Lament almost makes us feel uncomfortable as we read it. Our culture is one of self-reliance and putting on a good face, no matter what the challenge and no matter what is going on inside of us. To feel the honest emotions and to utter the deep cry within us is something we have all experienced. But it is another thing to hear it. Imagine the reaction if your pastor or someone in the congregation uttered such a prayer this weekend in church.

In our Psalm today David expresses things we all have felt. He asks the “where are you God?” questions. He recalls the times that God has been there for others who called out and were answered. To this he asks, “why not me too”? And he reminds God that he has been a faithful follower since birth – “isn’t that worth something God”? These are all questions we want to scream at God from time to time. We surely do in our inner being at times. The Psalm tells us we can do this out loud, in the assembly of believers, in the place where others can join in our prayers and in our suffering.

In verse 11 David writes, “Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help”. Yes, we too feel this way at times. And, yes, we can remain isolated in our hurt. Or we can be honest and open with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We can trust in the power of community that God created us to live in. We can lay our burdens amongst the believers so that we do not journey alone. When the fires rage and the storms rise, may we come to one another for companionship in the valley. “For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them” (Matthew 18:20).

Lord, help me to be open and honest with my fellow believers. Help me to be transparent, sharing my struggles and trials so that I do not want alone. Joining together, we experience your presence too. Grant me the courage and humility to be vulnerable. May it be so. Amen.


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Thanksgiving

Reading: Psalm 100

Verse Four: “Give thanks to Him and praise His name”.

As we begin the day, the psalmist encourages us to “Give thanks to Him and praise His name”.  It is very appropriate for Thanksgiving Day.  This is the day when we will gather around the table and list off all of the things we are thankful for: family, friends, home, employment, time off, the food!  And in the midst of the holiday, let us not forget to be thankful for our God.

People will come into this day of thanks with a wide range of emotions and from different places in their lives.  Most will come into the day with the joy and praise called for by the psalmist.  But for some, this will be their first big holiday or their first thanksgiving without someone special.  May we be sensitive to and extra loving of them if this is the case.  Others will come to the gathering with different struggles or sorrows or burdens.  To each of these may we offer kindness and understanding and acceptance along with our love and welcome.

Maybe this is how we enter Thanksgiving today.  Then these words that open the Psalm are harder to live out.  we think: joyful songs when I feel this way?  Shouts of praise as I am going through this?  If so, perhaps just verse five matters today: “For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness endured through all generations”.  Sometimes we must just cling to God’s love and His faithfulness.  Sometimes we must lean into God and His presence and know that it is enough.  As we turn to God in our need, He will surround us with His love.  And in time we will be grateful for this and we will thank Him for His love.

May our day today be filled with God, family, and  friends and with wonderful food and a joyous time of fellowship!  Amen!


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Bethel Moments

Reading: Genesis 28: 10-19

Verse 15: I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go.

Jacob has had a long day of travel.  As darkness sets is, he grabs a rock for a pillow and lays down on the ground.  He is happy for his spartan bed.  Perhaps you too have been there.  You have driven a long ways that day and are happy to finally have a place to lay your head for the night.  You’ve gone on a little further just to get a little closer to your destination.  Jacob is just the opposite: he has gone on a lot further to get away from Esau.  He had just stolen his father Isaac’s blessing from Esau and he is fleeing to Haran for protection.

In our passage today, we soon find that God is blessing this whole adventure.  In the middle of the night, Jacob awakens to angels ascending and descending a set of stairs, coming and going from the earth.  Then God speaks to Jacob from the top of the stairs to heaven.  God gives Jacob this great promise: “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go”.  What reassurance!  God also adds that He will give Jacob and his descendants this land to live in.  God closes this exchange with another promise: “I will not leave you until I have done what I promised”.  In the morning Jacob awakens and builds a pillar and names this place ‘Bethel’ – house of God.

Like Jacob, we too have our Bethel moments.  We too have come to the place of weariness and have laid down our heads, happy for the day to draw to a close.  We have carried our burdens or worries or anxieties with us and are content to just find a little rest.  And then God has shown up.  Sometimes we have prayed and sought God out and other times He has just shown up.  Sometimes it is God and sometimes it is one sent by God.  God may not remove all of our burdens… but He (or His agent) shoulders some of the load and holds our hand as we begin to move forward.  There is no question that God has been present and we have been blessed by His care and love.  This day may we take the opportunity to thank God for our Bethel moments and to rejoice in His presence in our lives.


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Choose Jesus

Reading: Matthew 11: 25-30

Verse 29: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me… You will find rest for your souls.

Jesus invites all who are “weary and burdened” to come to Him.  In the time Jesus lived, many met these conditions.  The Romans who ruled the land extracted high taxes that was a great burden to many.  Their different gods and laws also placed a burden on the people.  Living in this kind of oppression made the people weary.  And for many, the Jewish Law added another layer.  It was burdensome and made people even more weary.  From Jesus’ perspective the Law was cumbersome and impossible to keep on one’s own.

Today many people feel weary and burdened.  The lifestyle people live brings these conditions upon them.  For some it is self-imposed and for others it is their reality.  Some in our society choose to be so busy and involved in so many things that they feel like they are always running on empty.  Others in our society feel weary and burdened because of their circumstances in life.  Some in this group work and work but feel like they never can get to a place of stability and peace.  The money never seems to cover all the bills and the choice must be made between food and electricity.  Others in this group are weary and burdened because of addictions or abusive behaviors and always feel trapped and hopeless.

Jesus called out to all the people of His day and continues to call out to us today who feel weary and burdened.  Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me… You will find rest for your souls”.  He invites us to walk a different path, to live a better way.  It begins by being yoked to Jesus.  This begins by professing Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives and dedicating our life to following Him.  In doing so, we commit to learning from Jesus and the example He set.  One may wonder, why take on more?  Because Jesus will bring you rest.  He will help carry those burdens and troubles.  He will give strength and courage to face those sins and demons.  With Jesus’ yoke we find contentment and peace in our lives.  To all who are weary and burdened, choose Jesus, for “my yoke is easy and my burden is light”.  Choose Jesus.


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Rejoice, Be Glad

Reading: Psalm 32

The confession of our sin is an essential part of our faith.  It always has been the key to restoring our relationship to God and to finding renewal in our innermost being.  When we fail to confess our sins, we carry around within us a weight or a shame or guilt that inhibits us from truly living life.  The psalmist calls us blessed when our transgressions are forgiven.  The writer contrasts this with his experience when he did not confess – his bones wasted away and he groaned day and night.  We to experience similar consequences when we hold onto our sin.

Even more important than avoiding the negative consequences of holding onto our sin, which we can do, is the forgiveness and grace we experience when we do come to God with our sins.  In verse five, the psalmist writes, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, you forgave the guilt of my sin”.  He speaks of the guilt being forgiven and of the protection he felt after being made right again with God.  The psalmist describes it as being surrounded with songs of deliverance.  When we confess our sins and allow Jesus to remove the guilt and the burden, we too feel both a sense of relief and also a sense of elation at once again being in a right relationship with the Lord our God.

Today in many of our churches we will celebrate communion.  It is our time to confess our sins, to repent, and to be forgiven as an individual and as a community of faith.  We trust God to hear the words of our confessions and to then restore us to holy and pure.  In verse ten the psalmist writes, “the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts Him”.  This day and each day, may we be people of confession and repentance, ever seeking to be in a right relationship with God, ever desiring to walk within God’s blessing and protection, so that we too, like the psalmist, may rejoice and be glad.


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Journey to Share

Readings: John 12:8a and Isaiah 43: 16-21

God parted the sea as a path to freedom for His people and as a means of destruction for their enemies.  God provided water in the dryness of the desert for their physical needs and to remind them again to trust Him.  Mary blessed Jesus by anointing Him and Jesus tempered Judas’ complaint by reminding him that the needy will always be present.

As we walk along our journey of faith, we also have experiences that grow our trust in God and some that allow us to bless others.  In the first case we learn from our trials that God is always near, that we can trust Him with all things, and that He will provide.  In the second case as we grow in our faith we come to see that we too can  anoint others and in this way share God’s blessings with them.

From these two things, our focus begins to change.  We begin to see others and their needs more clearly.  We become freer to give away to others because we gain trust that God will provide.  We come to better see needs and to understand how we can meet them as we begin to journey with Jesus alongside those in need.  Our increased awareness of the needs of others, both strangers and friends alike, deepens both our inclination and ability to help.  As we come to understand that helping carry another’s burden does not weigh us down but instead blesses us, we gain strength in our mission to others.

Verse 18 speaks of God doing a new thing.  As we grow in our trust and as our mission to those in need develops, we see more and more from a new perspective.  Our focus becomes more and more like Mary’s – seeing God’s kingdom more and the world’s less.  Seeing and responding to need builds God’s kingdom.  Offering more of ourselves shares Jesus increasingly with the world.  God seeks to do a new thing in each of us.  Can you sense it springing up?  Through our lives, may we ever bring glory to God as we strive to build His kingdom here.


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Ambassadors

Reading: 2 Corinthians 5: 16-21

Christ offers us healing and wholeness.  Through Him we are made into a new creation.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit we can renew our minds every day to remain in a right relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  In the relationship we are no longer slaves to sin and death because we know that through Jesus we too have conquered these things.

All people have hurts and scars from living life.  As all is not in our control and as Satan is active in this world, there will be people, events, and circumstances that bring us pain and harm.  But the good news of Jesus Christ is that we do not walk alone.  Jesus wants to carry our burdens; He wants to take away the pain and hurt.  All He asks is that we bring these things to Him, to lay them down, and to trust Him with them.

We too at times bring hurt and pain to others.  In our humanity we can be less than God intends us to be.  In these times we are not fulfilling the call to be ambassadors for Christ and bearers of the good news of salvation.  Yet even in these times God is at work, calling us back to Him.  Through the whispers and nudges of the Holy Spirit God is always seeking to reconcile us back to Him.  As we grow in our faith, we increasingly bring the love of God out into the world with us as we seek to help reconcile others to God as His ambassadors.

God seeks to draw all people into relationship.  He seeks to have His love known in every heart.  As we experience this in our own lives, may we seek to share this good news with others, living as the ambassadors Christ calls us all to be.


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Pray

‘The prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective.’  Elijah prayed and held the rain off for three and a half years. Then he prayed and it rained right then.  Mordecai and Esther prayed for the deliverance of the Jews from Haman’s plot and they were saved.  The people cried out to God in the desert and manna fell from heaven.  Since these example of prayer were lifted up and answered, people have continued to pray and God has continued to answer.

For each of us, part of our divine appointment is to pray for one another.  We are to confess our sins and struggles to one another and then to lift each other up in prayer.  We are to share our burdens with one another so that we can share the load and also pray for one another.  We are to share our joys and good news as well so that we can lift up prayers of praise and thanksgiving to the giver of all good things.

Our prayers must also extend to those outside of our small group or church community.  We are to pray for victims of violence and social injustice both near and far.  When we read or hear of these things, pray for them.  We are to pray for the family who lost their home in a fire, for the parents who suddenly and unexpectantly lost a child, for the person struggling to feed their family, and for all others in need.  Our prayer for the ‘stranger’ can be just as effective and powerful as the prayer for our own family.

We ar called to pray.  And to pray and to pray and to pray.  Pray without ceasing.  Take everything to God in prayer.  The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  Pray.

Scripture reference: James 5: 13-20