pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: eternity


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We Are Messengers

Reading: Malachi 3: 1-4

Verse 1: “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me”.

Malachi closes out the Old Testament with a reminder and a warning and a call. These three are interconnected. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are reminded that Jesus will suddenly come; therefore, we must be ready to stand when He appears. We are warned – Jesus will refine and cleanse, purifying us. Will we make the grade? We also find a call. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are to spread the good news to prepare all people for the coming of the Lord.

The first two are inward. When Jesus comes “like a thief in the night”, will we be ready or will our faith be asleep? Jesus calls for us to be ready. He expects to find it well with our souls. If so, we will survive the refining process. It will only purify us. It will not destroy us. It will be the final cleansing before we enter eternity. If, day by day, we seek to be in a right relationship with Jesus, repenting as need be, then we have no worries.

The last message we hear in our passage is outward. We cannot practice the first two just to live in our own ivory tower, in “holy solitary” as John Wesley put it. That is not God’s purpose for us. Verse 1 again reminds us: “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me”. In Malachi we can read this as John the Baptist. Yes, it does speak of John. But it also speaks of you and me. We too are messengers of the good news. We are phase 2, so to speak. We await the return of Christ. As we wait, we use our voice to prepare the way for the Lord bless in the lives of those who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This should lead us to the question: who are they?

In verse 5, Malachi identifies a few and Jesus certainly does as well throughout His ministry. We are called to the widows and the fatherless, to the aliens, to the lost, to the broken, to the poor. If we just look around a bit, we will find them. They are in all communities and in most neighborhoods. We will not likely find them in our ivory towers or at our Sunday morning country clubs. They are across the street or alley; they are on the other side of town.

Messengers are sent to proclaim the news. You and I, we are sent to those who do not know the good news of Jesus Christ. May we engage those who do not know Jesus. May we be the gospel and may we share the gospel with those on the margins, with those on the fringes. In doing so, we prepare the way before Jesus, so that He may enter in.

Prayer: Lord, make me a messenger, as hands and feet of Christ, as well as love lived out loud, drawing all to the Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.


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Abide

Reading: Psalm 22: 25-31

Verse 29: “All who go down to the dust will kneel before Him”.

Today’s passage from Psalm 22 has both a present and a future sense to it. Overall the Psalm is about worshipping and abiding in God’s presence. Verse 26 reads, “they who seek the Lord will praise Him”. What we find when we seek God does lead us to praise God. The psalmist also writes of a future time. Verse 30 reads, “future generations will be told about the Lord”. The continued telling of and living out of our faith will help future generations to know God and to have faith in Him.

In order for us to tell of and to live out our faith we have to have a relationship that abides daily in Christ. To do so, we must practice our spiritual disciplines. This begins with daily time with God. Each day we need to spend time in the Word and in prayer. Finding a time and space each day to abide in God keeps Him always at the center of our life. When God is whom we abide in, God is who flows out of our life through our words and actions. Both how we live our life and the stories of faith that we share help our families and the “future generations” to know of and to have a personal relationship with the Lord.

Worship and thanksgiving are also means to abide in the Lord. When we gather to praise and pray and hear the Word proclaimed we are renewed and strengthened for our personal faith journey. Corporate worship is an essential faith discipline that connects us not only to God but also to each other. A personal part of our worship is our thanksgiving. Taking time to name and give specific thanks for the work of God in our lives helps us to stay in love with God. This essential helps us to abide even deeper in God and His love.

When we abide daily in faith, then we are assured of His presence each day in our lives and we also live with an assurance about our eternity. Both are blessings of nourishing our relationship with God daily. Verse 29 reminds us, “All who go down to the dust will kneel before Him”. The word ‘all’ is pretty inclusive. So this week may we live our faith out loud so that all we meet will experience the light and love of Jesus Christ in their lives too. May Christ brightly shine in us so that others may invite Him to abide in them as well.


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Strong and Loving

Reading: Psalm 62: 9-12

Verses 11 and 12: “O God, you are strong… O Lord, you are loving”.

There is a shift as we move into the second part of our reading from Psalm 62.  Verses five through eight were all about placing our trust in God and today’s passage begins by reminding us of our limits and shortcomings as human beings.  The psalmist reminds us that no matter how rich or poor we think we are, no matter how important or lowly we think we are, it does not matter because we are simply a breath.  Soon we will be no more.  For the psalmist, this means that all of our hope and trust must be in God alone.  The things of this world and our pride will not last and they will not save us.

The Psalm reminds us that we are all equally powerless before God.  Even though we know deep down that we really cannot control much in this life and that when our time comes we cannot delay it in any way, we still turn to things like riches and position to determine our worth.  We also tend to compare ourselves to others to feel value.  And too often when we feel that we do not compare well, we turn to judging others as a means to elevate ourselves.  Things have not changed too much since the Psalm was written.

Our passage today comes near to a close with these words: “O God, you are strong… O Lord, you are loving”.  In the face of our pettiness and frailty, we are reminded of the eternal truths of God.  God remains strong and loving in all ways and at all times.  When we can choose to focus on God’s goodness and strength and love, then we can rest content in who we are as a child of God.  When we know God in this way, the things of this world pale.  Yes, we are but a breath, but we are a breath that has been breathed by God.

As our passage closes, it speaks of rewarding us accordingly.  When we walk this life with a deep and abiding trust in God’s strength and love, then we are assured of our eternity with God.  Our future does not get any better than that!  Each and every day may we trust into the only thing that truly lasts – the Lord our God.


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God Rescues

Reading: Psalm 13

Verse Three: Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death.

The psalmist, David, is in need of God’s rescue.  He is being put hard to the test by his enemies and it seems that God’s reputation is on the line.  As a man well-known for relying on God and being blessed by God, defeat would appear to be either the consequences of sin in his life or that he has fallen from God’s favor as king.  In any case, David is certainly feeling as if he is out of God’s presence and care.

The is a feeling of desperation in David’s voice.  In verse three he says, “Look on me and answer”.  Sometimes we too approach God in a similar manner.  We feel as if we deserve an answer and we can even feel as if we deserve the exact answer we want.  We can also have the ‘how can you let this happen to me, God?’ attitude.  David then says, “Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death”.  Death is a pretty final step.  David feels as if this is the option if God does not intercede on his behalf.  He is very hard-pressed.

As we fast forward in the faith story, we have a different take on the finality of death.  Our resurrected Lord has conquered this foe too.  Even death could not hold Jesus.  In Him we find the promise of eternal life, so we do not fear death in the same way that David did.  Yet none of us really wants to die either – we love our families, friends, and other aspects of life in the here and now.  But ultimately our hope in eternity arches over anything life can throw at us.  In the end, God does rescue David and his heart rejoices.  May w too rejoice in the God who rescues no matrer what the day brings, knowing that we too rest in God’s hands.


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Our Great Example

Reading: Psalm 72: 1-7

Solomon’s Psalm today seeks God’s presence and guidance in his reign.  He asks to be able to judge with righteousness and to bring justice to the afflicted.  Solomon asks God to help him save the children of the needy and to crush the oppressors.  Solomon requests a long reign and for it to be like the blessings of rain falling on a field.  He asks that God’s blessings allow the righteous to flourish and for prosperity to abound.

Solomon desires to be such a good leader!  He comes to God with these requests, knowing that his prayer is aligned with God’s will.  Solomon knows that all the good kings before him have looked out for the needy, have wanted prosperity for the people, and have sought a time of justice and peace.  All of this is God’s desire for the people too.

Our point of contemplation is this: do we want to reign our own lives with these same ideals?  Should all within our realms of influence be affected by us in these ways that Solomon is praying for in his kingdom?  I believe so!  We are called to care for the needy and to stand up for the oppressed.  We are called to help end injustice and to bring peace to all.  We are called to live righteous lives and to share God’s blessings.

Yes, Solomon is a good example for us to follow.  But we have a far greater example in Jesus.  In Jesus, we find our best example of what it looks like to live God’s love out each day.  Jesus was more like us in one important way – He lived a common life down amongst humanity.  The things Jesus did and taught are things we can do and teach.  His life is a life we can pattern ours after.

And Jesus is also divine.  Thus, He was without sin.  He lived a ‘perfect’ life.  This allowed Jesus to be more than an example.  This perfection allowed  Jesus to go to the cross as the sacrifice to take away the sins of the world.  Through this gift you and I have the way to eternal life.

Yes, Jesus is a great example for our daily lives.  And, yes, Jesus is also the way to peace in this world and in the world to come.  Thank you Jesus for being our past, our present, and our future.


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Love Eternal

Reading: Luke 20: 27-38

It is odd that the Sadducees ask Jesus a question about relationships in heaven when they themselves do not believe in the resurrection.  They thought long and hard about how to ask a question with a hypothetical problem whose circumstances are based solidly in the Law of Moses.  The hypothetical location of this problem is heaven.  No one, including us, really knows exactly what heaven will be like.  The exception is, of course, Jesus.  He has been there in heaven so he can answer their ridiculous question from a position of authority.

I can picture Jesus’ smile turning to a grin as He begins to answer their question.  He begins by explaining that our earthly relationships will be secondary at best in heaven.  The only relationship that will matter in heaven, Jesus says in essence, is that we are the children of God.  In other words, the only relationship that will really matter in heaven will be our relationship with the Lord.  It will be true in the eternal but it is also true here in the temporal.  Relationships with spouses, family, friends, and so on makes life here much more pleasant and enjoyable.  But many here have these relationships but no relationship with God.  For these, their eternity will be much different than for those who claim a personal relationship with Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Jesus explains to the Sadducees that to God we are all alive, whether living or dead.  This is clearly true now.  Jesus says it will also be true in heaven.  The constants are God’s love for us and our status as children of God.  Although we do not clearly know what we will be like in heaven, we do know that some representation of us will be with God if we have a personal relationship with Jesus while here on earth.  At least the part of us that has a relationship with God will remain alive with God in heaven.  To me, this is our spirit or soul.  But this is a guess at best.  What we do know is that God’s love never ends and that it remains the same here on earth as it will one day be in heaven.  For God’s unfailing love and eternal claim bonus ad children of God, we say thanks be to God.


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Bringing Christ 

Reading: Colossians 1: 24-28

One of the reasons Christ became flesh was to be like one of us.  Jesus Christ walked the earth in a human body and set for us an example of how we are to live.  Once we come to the point of accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, then His Spirit comes to dwell in our fleshy bodies.  With the indwelling of Christ in us we know the hope of our eternity.  We know that once Christ dwells in us and lives in us, that one day we too will experience resurrection and will rejoice in the hope of eternal life in the heavens.  This is wonderful news for all believers.

Paul also writes of suffering.  He rejoices in what he has suffered in order to continue advancing the gospel.  Paul is always ready to suffer for others.  He is so willing to do so because Jesus Christ first suffered for him.  Through the ultimate suffering on the cross, Jesus provided the path to our hope of glory, to eternal life.

Once we come to have Christ in us and to live our lives in Christ, we begin to take on and then seek to emulate all aspects of Christ.  Suffering is one aspect of Christ that we, like Paul, are called to take on.  As His followers we too must be committed to suffering as Christ suffered.  It is a willingness to both suffer for and to suffer with those who suffer.  It is a willingness to have less so that another may have some.  It is a willingness to enter into relationships with those who suffer and to walk alongside them to alleviate some of the suffering.  It is a willingness to give one of the things we hold most dear: time.

In willingly offering ourselves in suffering for another, we bring Christ himself to those most in need.  As Paul wrote, we share Christ so that “we may present everyone perfect in Christ”.  It is living out our great commission to bring all people in all nations to kneel at the foot of the cross.  This day and each day may we embrace each opportunity God brings to suffer as Christ suffered, all for the building of the kingdom and all for the glory of God.


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Wisdom

Reading: Psalm 8: 1-4 and 22-31

God’s wisdom calls out to us, seeking to fill us with an understanding and awe of God.  Wisdom calls out from many places to all of mankind.  There are many worthy things she wants to share with humanity.

Wisdom has existed since the beginning – she was there before the formation of the earth and before time began.  Before there were oceans and land, mountains and sky, wisdom was there.  She saw the creation of all things, therefore she understands God’s power and might.  This is part of what wisdom desires to share with us.

Wisdom also wants us to be filled as she is, day by day delighting in God’s presence and power.  Day by day wisdom rejoices in His presence and marvels at His creation.  Day by day she delights in mankind, made in God’s image.  Wisdom recognizes the power and might of God and offers her praise and worship.

This day may we also draw upon wisdom, seeing the power and might of God in the creation and in each other.  Through this, may we too offer our praise and worship.


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Eternal Yet Present

Reading: Revelation 22: 1-5

This final chapter of the Bible provides a beautiful image of heaven.  God and Jesus seated on the throne will be the center piece of the city.  All will serve and worship them and all will be marked as their children.  Out of the throne will flow a beautiful river, crystal clear, carrying the water of life.  Along the banks of this river will stand the tree of life.  The tree of life will bear twelve crops in the twelve months and the tree’s leaves will bring healing to all nations or peoples.  The light and warmth that basks this scene will come from God.

Revelation 22 indeed paints an amazing picture of the new heaven.  It is a place one is drawn to, a place one yearns to be present in.  The promises of complete healing, of being constantly in God’s presence, the beauty that will be the new Jerusalem – all draw one towards eternity.

Yet this idea of finally getting ‘there’ can distract us from this life.  While living with one eye on eternity can help keep us focused on how we are called to live in this world, all of our focus on eternity can cause us to look past what God has placed before us in this life.  On the other extreme, if life here is instead consumed by making the next step up the ladder of success, God has almost no role in our life.  When we are focused almost exclusively on the next promotion, the next new car or home, the next gadget, then the role of God in our life is minimal or nonexistent.

May we instead live life with the knowledge of our eternal home in mind while being fully present and attentive to God’s hand at work in this life.  May we trust in His plan and in His love both in this life and the next.


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New Jerusalem

Reading: Revelation 21: 10 & 22-27

In our community, and perhaps in yours, there is a large diversity of places of worship.  There are not only a variety of Christian denominations but other faiths as well.  In a smaller community the diversity is probably less and in a larger city the diversity is probably greater.  Diversity implies a positive.  Diversity adds variety.  Diversity can also bring out our differences and can create divides.  Yet we must remember that our call is to go out and make new disciples of all nations.  When we do this, we must do this in love.

Today’s passage speaks of a time when all will worship God alone.  When the new Jerusalem comes down, it will be heaven here on earth.  There will be no places of worship because all everywhere will worship God alone.  His glory will light up the city all the time; there will be no night.  In God there is no darkness.  The city’s gates will never be closed.  The text says that nothing impure will enter the city.  All in the new Jerusalem will be holy as He is holy.

One of my favorite parts of confirmation every year is our trip to a large city.  We visit a mosque, a synagogue, and an Orthodox Church.  At each house of worship we meet with the leader who shares about their faith and answers any questions we have.  Each visit builds our understanding of others who are not like us in our beliefs.  It also offers us an opportunity to talk to about why we believe what we believe.  It is a great experience that enriches my life and my faith every year.  After each stop I pray for God’s word in Christ to one day be revealed to them. Knowing God’s plan for eternity, may we pray for all not on a journey towards the new Jerusalem to join us on our walk as God calls all of us heavenward.