pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!


Leave a comment

Change

Change is hard and forced change is even harder.  In times of change we feel uncertain and emotions can rule the day.  Sometimes we wish we could just go back to the way thing were or we wish we could just disappear.  When it gets bad and we realize that we cannot handle it anymore on our own, we turn to God.

Change feels threatening and makes our world feel unstable.  We like routine and to feel secure.  All of us like someone by our side in times of stress and God fits the bill perfectly.  He wants to bring us peace, comfort, strength, presence.

In the midst of change we often seek someone else to blame.  (It is like this when we sin too!)  When our situation doesn’t improve, we can really blame God and others.  It is hard to point the finger in the mirror.  Yet when we can manage to step away for a moment and to draw a breath in, then we can begin to trust into our God who so desires to be in relationship, who so desires to pour love and guidance into our lives.  Change can be big and scary, but God is bigger and stronger.

Scripture reference: Isaiah 64: 1-9


Leave a comment

Living into Reality

Do you remember a radical life change?  Maybe it was after your first job or after your first child.  Maybe it was after s divorce or the loss of a loved one.  For all of us change is inevitable.  It is also hard to change.

When change cones we can embrace it or we can resist it.  When we resist our new identity or reality, it is a struggle.  The resistance takes a toll physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

If we choose instead to embrace our new life, we begin to live into it.  Our new way of life becomes our new DNA.  We begin to become the person God intended us to be.

As we practice our new identity as Christians, we must embrace it.  Our call is 24/7.  Through the practices of prayer, worship, study, and service we grow into who God created us to be.

Scripture reference: Romans 6: 12-23