pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: connection


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Our Prayer Life

Who or what do you most often pray for?  At this point, who or what is your main prayer focus?  Are these things constants or do they change?  If these answers do not come pretty quickly, consider how you could develop a deeper, more consistant, more meaningful prayer life.  If your prayers seem to focus on just a few people or items, please consider for a few minutes the people in your life and the situations in your world that would benefit greatly from being lifted up in your prayers.

One of the most powerful ways that we can pray for another is to invite the presence of the Holy Spirit into their lives.  In Acts 8 the people of Samaria have been baptized.  John and Peter go to them and pray over them and invite the Holy Spirit into the lives of these new believers.  The Samaritans receive the Spirit as a result of these prayers.  Just like the people that John and Peter prayed for, those that we pray for can be opened up to the presence of the Spirit.  They must still receive this gift, but our prayers can begin this process.

When we go deep in prayer, we are also inviting the Holy Spirit to be present with us.  When we invest time and energy into our prayer life, it is like any other practice or relationship – it grows.  And if we allow space and invite God to be present, the connection we have can reach new levels and can impact us powerfully.

In closing, let us return to the second question.  There are people and situations that I pray for daily. This is a good thing.  But in our prayer lives we must also have a few people or items that we focus on for a time or a season.  To do so we must be sensitive and seeking.  If we do this, God and the Holy Spirit will lay these prayer focuses upon us.  Then we have the holy and awesome privelege of lifting another person or situation up in intense and focused prayer.  Blessings on your prayer life this day!

Scripture reference: Acts 8: 14-17


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Growing in Faith

Will the year ahead be significantly different than the year that just ended?  Or will it be much of the same?  Depending on where you are at in life, the answers to these questions can be very different.  But for almost everyone, we begin the new year with the hope that 2016 will be better than 2015.

For some, there will be changes that are big – some will graduate from high school or college; some will get married or have a child; some will lose a parent or a spouse; some will start or change careers; and some will move to a new home or community.  For others, the changes will be less significant but could still be impactful.

For all people of faith, our 2016 hope should be to see growth in our relationship with God.  As we enter the new year, no one hopes to see their relationship with God be stagnant or to diminish.  Growth and development should be the goal of all of our relationships.  To see growth, however, requires some work on our part.  Some of this ‘work’ can be thrust upon us by one of the life changes listed above, but our growth often comes as a result of choices we make.

One area that can see growth is our personal ministries.  For example, I can come alongside a couple of the Youth who are struggling with their faith or with life in general to mentor and encourage them just a little bit extra.  Or at the place I volunteer I could develop a deeper connection with a few of the clients.  In each of these areas it is putting just a little more effort in to positively impact another’s life.  Yet in the offering of self in the name of Christ, our own relationship with God will grow as well.  In the coming year, may we all bear a little more fruit as we grow in our faith and in our relationship with God.

Scripture reference: Revelation 21: 1-6a


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Praise Indeed

Today is “Native American Day” in my home state.  I think in every state except South Dakota that today is “Columbus Day.”  I do not know the reasoning that went into the name change and shifting the focus of the day, but I think it is cool.  The Lakota and Columbus both tie into a theme found in Psalm 104 – discovering something amazing.

Psalm 104:1 calls for us to praise God who is great and who is clothed in majesty and splendor.  For the Lakota and many other indigenous peoples, there is a holy connection to the Creator and to all of life.  They see the Creator God in all things and in all of life.  God ‘pulses’ through each creature, mankind included.  The Creator is the life force.  In my Lakota friends I see the wonderful way that they have of continually discovering God and His goodness in people, nature, and so forth over and over and over.  It is awesome!

Columbus set out into the unknown to try to find a new way.  As Christians we often wrestle with our faith and in knowing the unexplainable God we worship.  As we walk along on our journey of faith, we often encounter the unknown or that which we cannot give a logical explanation right away.  Yet with time in the Word, in prayer, in study, and in meditation, we can often find a way to either a new place of faith or to a place where we are comfortable again with God.  Often we are also reminded of how immeasurable and big our God is.  This connection builds our faith as well.

In Job, God tells him to brace himself.  Sometimes I think we are like Job in this. When we are willing and open to God and where He wants to lead us in life, sometimes I think I need to brace myself.  To trust and step into this unknown takes a lot of faith and trust.  God asks Job (and us) who was there when the foundations of the earth were laid or when the cornerstone was set.  God reminds him and us that none were there except the stars and the angels!  It is good in this story to remember that God was there before the beginning, at the beginning, is here now and will forever be.  Praise indeed for the God of the universe and the same God that walks and connects with us daily so that we can discover and grow in our faith.

Scripture references: Job 38: 1-7 and Psalm 104:1


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Pray Always

Prayer is an integral part of our faith.  Paul encourages us to “pray on all occasions” and to always be lifting one another up in prayer.  Prayer strengthens both our faith and our connections to God and to one another.

Each Sunday we lift up in prayer the joys and concerns that people share on prayer cards.  Those in worship are encouraged to pray for these folks during the week ahead.  These requests and others that are received by e-mail are sent out each week to the prayer chain – a group of people who pray for these individuals during the week.

Because people share their prayer requests, there is a greater sense of care and concern within the body of Christ.  People ask one another how things are going, ask if there is some way they can help, and so on.  These interactions and the accompanying stories of how God has worked through prayer serve to illustrate how God is active in our lives bringing healing, lifting our burdens, and extending grace.  To share and talk about God’s presence and activity in our world builds us up in our faith.

Paul’s words to “pray on all occasions” can be put to good use with perfect strangers as well.  One can offer prayer for the police officer each time you pass by one driving in your car.  One can offer up a pray for the person who passes by in the ambulance or even as you hear the siren.  One can offer a quick prayer for the mom or dad struggling with their child in the store.  You can also easily be direct with your prayers.  If you encounter a harried grocery clerk or bank teller or gas station attendance, you can offer to pray for them.  Here too we can see God at work in powerful ways.

God so wants to be connected to us.  Prayer is our best opportunity to connect with Him.  So do pray often and on all occasions.   His ear is always open!

Scripture reference: Ephesians 6:18


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This Day, O Lord

In the world there are fools and wise people, evil doers and the righteous.  For the Christian, for me, it is a constant battle to live wisely and as a righteous person.  Both the internal and external challenges are plentiful each day.  It is only with His strength that one has a chance at being wise and righteous.

Unfortunately at times I can live foolishly and can be far from God.  In these times, what I think or say lacks more integrity.  I fall into self-indulgence and do not hold myself accountable.  I fail to remain close to God at all times.  But on these days and in these moments, if I am quick to respond to the Holy Spirit’s prompting, then I can find redemption and return to the path God intends for me.

Living wisely and seeking to be righteous is a plan that requires something more than I naturally have in me.  I must work at building up God’s presence in my life through the daily practices of prayer, stud, confession, meditation, and worship.  This connection to God allows me to reach out more quickly when temptation comes my way.  This connection sensitized me more to the Spirit’s convictions and promptings.

In living connected to and aligned with God, I more easily see the world and its needs as He does.  I come to know that God loves all people equally.  It is His will to come to those in need and to do all we can for them.  It is His will that His name be made known to the ends of the earth.  It is His will to live in a harmonious relationship with each of us.  This day, O Lord, may I live in step with You.  This day, O Lord, may I be your servant in all the places you put me today.

Scripture reference: Psalm 14


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Christ Alone

Television, alcohol, work, Facebook, drugs, internet, books, hobbies, texting, shopping.  The list could go on and on.  Transparency, honesty, vulnerability, commitment, trust, openness.  The list could go on and on.  These two lists are related.  The first list contains some of the ways we try to replace genuine community.  The second list is both our fears of and the reasons to be in an authentic faith community.

Being together in an authentic faith community allows us to feel connection to God and to each other.  In community we can experience hope, love,mercy, forgiveness.  In community our faith comes alive.  From this strength gained in community, we can see the Word of Life alive in our world.

We can see Christ alive in many ways.  We can taste it in the meal lovingly prepared for a family in need.  We can hear it in the laughter of a small child who has found joy in a gift.  We can touch it as we accept the hand extended in friendship or in the hand reaching out for forgiveness.

To be fully alive in Christ and to see Him actively engaged in our world. we must at times et aside the lures and cares of the world to invest both in our personal faith and in the community of faith.  We must be willing to risk ourselves as we enter into genuine community with one another as the body of Christ.  We must be willing at times to give or serve when we really do not feel like it or think it an inconvenience.  But the more we choose to be alive in Christ, the greater our joy and love becomes.  Jesus Christ overcame the world with love.  This too is the path we are called to walk.  Christ alone is the way, the truth, and the life.

Scripture reference: 1 John 1: 1-4


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Baptism and the Holy Spirit

Baptism is both an individual and a communal experience.  Whether it is the parents during an infant baptism or the individual in a believer’s baptism, when on is baptized there is a claiming of the personal connection to God through His son Jesus.  At the same time, in both baptisms, there is a communal component as well.  With baptism one is welcomed into the community of faith.  As a community we love, care for, and encourage one another as well as guiding, correcting, teaching, and holding each other accountable.

In Acts 19, when Paul offered Christ’s baptism to some new believers, the Holy Spirit came upon them.  The Holy Spirit is also part of the communal and individual aspects of entering into a relationship with Jesus Christ through our baptism.  The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in each of us and begins to lead and guide us in many ways as we live out our day to day lives.  The Holy Spirit is also present in community as well.  The presence of the Holy Spirit can be felt in worship, in times of prayer, in the sharing of the message, and in the singing of songs.

Through our baptism we connect to Jesus and we become connected to our community of faith.  The Holy Spirit enters and works in our lives to develop and grow our faith and to deepen our relationships with Christ and with our fellow believers.  May we allow and seek the Spirit’s presence in our lives.  May we be sensitive to the presence of the Holy Spirit as it seeks to live in, to breathe through, and to gently guide us day by day.

Scripture reference: Acts 19: 1-7


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Two Sides of Faith

Faith is at once both personal and corporate.  Most of the time we live out our faith in isolation but we gather periodically with other believers.  Each day we seek to connect with God through prayer, reading His word, and in reflection upon His word.  This connection and relationship shows as we live out our life on a daily basis.  At times we also gather with other believers – perhaps on a Sunday morning for worship, maybe at another time in a small group or class.  These gatherings encourage, equip, strengthen, and support us in our relationship with God.

Much is the same in our two faith lives.  Daily we come before God, laying our sins before Him, seeking to be cleansed.  Daily we offer our thanks and petitions, seeking His presence in our life.  Daily we read His word, seeking to find how He speaks to us that day in the words we read.  As we gather together, these practices are done again, but this time as a fellowship of believers.  Although on one level, the acts are the same, there is meaning and value and much is gained from our time together.  In the songs, the message, the communal prayers, we are united as one.

Both aspects of our faith are essential.  One fuels and builds the other up.  They work together to help us on our Christian journey.  As we seek to grow in our faith, may each day bring us blessings through our connection with God.

Scripture reference: Psalm 105: 1-6 and 37-45


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Story of Faith

As Christians, we are a people connected to each other and to God.  Our common connection point is His son, Jesus Christ.  As our overall faith and individual denominations have developed, others have become a part of the story too.  People like Paul and Augustine are common to us all.  We also have unique people in some of our stories – Martin Luther for some, Calvin for some, Wesley for some.  Each helps us to define our faith and to understand Jesus’ message and how it affects our personal lives.

Within our own stories we also have people who were or are significant.  Maybe it was a grandparent or a parent or a particular pastor.  Maybe it was a friend or a mentor.  These important people have helped us grow in our faith and also connect us back to the root.

It all connects back to Jesus, for His story is the story we must all share with others.  Our own faith story is woven in with His story, and that is what makes our story wonderful and amazing.  It is the call of every Christian to connect others to Christ, to make Him a part of their story too.  We must share our story  of faith with others to draw them near to Christ, to help them feel His love too.  Your story is great and awesome.  Share your story every day with anyone willing to listen!

Scripture reference: Philippians 1: 27-30


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Natural Connection

Do people of faith always feel connected to God and to other Christians?  Do we always feel like we are part of the family?  At times I think we all feel disconnected from God and from our community of faith.  We are never truly disconnected, but at times we feel like it.

As life tosses us about we can wonder if God is present in the midst of the storm.  We do not see Jesus walking on the water towards us.  As emotions of sadness or loneliness sink in, we question if He is there.  We do not see His hand reaching out to pull us up out of the turmoil.  As we pass through difficult seasons in life, we sometimes look around but fail to recognize Him.  We do not see Jesus in the people God sends our way.  Yet we feel apart from God only in our own minds – God and His love are always present.

In these trials, how do we maintain contact with God and our community of faith?  It starts long before the storm, before the sad emotions, before the season.  If we spend time reading, praying, studying, we build up that “reserve” that will carry us through the trials.  The more we know God, the more natural that connection becomes.  If we spend time in fellowship and in caring groups within our faith community, then we are known and we know others in ways that will sustain us in the trials.  Just as we can learn to sense when another needs us to walk alongside them, others too will come to sense when we need that as well.  We train for the race so that we can run it with perseverance, with strength, and with God’s presence.

In Psalm 31, verse 3 we read: “You are my rock and my fortress; for Your name’s sake You lead me and guide me.”  When we know Him as rock and fortress, trials are so much easier to walk through.

Scripture reference: Romans 11:1-2a