pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: evil


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For Such a Time

Esther became queen essentially by winning a beauty contest.  The old queen fell into disfavor with the king and was deposed.  The King of Persia was a powerful man – his words could make or break any and all.  While Queen Esther was obviously beautiful, she was also Jewish.  This was her little secret in the royal court.  The Jewish people had been living in captivity in Babylon for years and many lived in the capital city of Susa.

Esther and her uncle Mordecai were just two of thousands living there.  He had raised her and was like a father to her.  Haman was a higher-up in the court.  All were supposed to bow down and to honor Haman but Mordecai refused.  This greatly angered the proud Haman and he convinced the king to issue a decree to be rid of these disobedient Jews.  The decree went out and the date of execution was set.

Mordecai convinced Esther that she alone could save her people.  After praying and fasting for three days, Esther did go to the king.  It was risky – it was punishable by death to approach the king uninvited.  Mordecai’s words must have been echoing in Esther’s head as she approached the king: “And who knows but that you came to royal position for such a time as this?”

Esther stepped up and saved her people from an evil man’s plot.  Because of her faith in God she was willing to take a risk.  She stepped out in faith after praying and fasting, after entering into God’s presence.  Esther was just an ordinary person that God had placed there for “such a time as this.”  In each of our worlds there are things that are not right, things that are unjust and unfair. Maybe the wrong does not affect you or your kin, but you see it.  Perhaps, just perhaps, God has placed each and every one of us right where we are so that we too may step out like Esther to bring God’s justice and righteousness and love to those around us.

Scripture reference: Esther 7: 1-6 and 9-10


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Guard the Tongue!

As human beings we are created with quick and gifted minds.  We can create and solve and figure out all sorts of imaginative inventions and complex designs and perplexing problems.  We can learn to do many different tasks and hone specific skills.  We can even learn to speak multiple languages.  Our minds are amazing creations.

“No one can tame the tongue” states James.  There are many, many instances each day where we can prove him right.  Sometimes it is us that does so, sometimes we observe others doing so.  The list of words uttered that I wish I had not said is quite a long list.  We all have similar lists.  But if one were to look at the list chronologically, hopefully one would see a pattern emerging.  As one grows in the maturity of one’s faith, you would hope to see increasing gaps between the items on the list.  A growing and developing faith should exhibit itself in how we speak to and treat one another.

James indeed does pose the question of how can we praise God with the same tongue we curse our fellow man.  It is a good question.  The simple and correct answer is that we cannot do this.  But the reality is that we do struggle with controlling our tongue.  Sometimes our amazing brains are too quick and out of our mouths comes something that should not.

At the point of hurting or harming another with our tongue, first we must offer a sincere and humble apology to all offended.  Second, we must look within and go to work at taming the tongue better.  Third, we too must be merciful and gracious when we are stung or hurt.  We are all on the same journey to draw closer and closer to God, to become more and more like His Son, Jesus.  Each day may we guard our tongues so that our light can shine brightest into the world all around us.

Scripture reference: James 3: 5b-12


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God Is Better

Our culture has become adept at bending the truth.  We are good at telling people what we think they want to hear and at ‘working’ statistics to support our viewpoint.  It is easy to say this is who we are and then to go act in a different manner.  Larger society has become very gray.

It was no different in Jesus’ day.  The Pharisees came out to see Jesus and wanted to challenge Jesus and the disciples because they were eating with ‘unclean’ hands.  They had not undergone the ceremonial cleansing of their hands before they ate.  The word ‘ceremonial’ is a tip-off.  In the opening line of His response, Jesus calls them hypocrites and quotes from Isaiah about their lip service and fascination with the rules.  We hear “smack, smack, smack” but the Pharisees were wondering who Jesus was talking about.

Jesus goes on to teach that it is not what we put into ourselves that makes us unclean but it what comes from our thoughts and words that make us unclean.  We sin and become unclean when we have evil thoughts, when we utter lies and unkind words, when we engage in immoral behavior, and when we allow envy, greed, jealousy, and malice into our hearts.  When we work to be holy and to live a righteous life and to keep evil far away, then we are right with God and we are ‘clean’.

People today are pretty good at wading through the smoke screens and half-truths served up so commonly today.  And we must make no mistake about it – God is pretty good at it too.  We cannot fool God.  When we come before Him with sin in our lives – and sinful we are – we must confess, repent, and seek His strength for the battle.  In His great love we find mercy and grace.  He refines us and gives us strength.  Allow Him in, lean on Him a little more, hear His voice, and go forth in Christ, seeking a closer walk with God.

Scripture reference: Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, and 21-23


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God’s Presence and Will

It is common in the church today to hear that these are dark days.  The world is full of greed, the lust for power and control, the idea that the individual is supreme, and tragedies such as war, disease, and oppression.  While much of this is true, dark days are not common only to our time.  For those that lived through world-changing events, such as the Depression or the World Wars, their times were certainly filled with dark days.  This could be said of many events in mankind’s past.  For the Ephesians that Paul was writing to, the days were filled with persecution and they lived within a pagan culture.  These were dark days as well.

As each generation of Christians face the dark and evil days in which they live, the questions are the same: how will we face these days? And, how will we respond?  Today our answers are just as important as they were during the bubonic plague of Europe or during the more recent AIDS epidemic in Africa or at any other time in the church’s history.

Some voices call for the Christian to retreat within the walls of our churches and homes, to live largely in isolation.  Venture forth only when absolutely necessary.  Other voices call for more aggressive measures such as protest, boycott, and other forms of condemnation.  Through these and other political actions these voices call for Christians to play the world’s game of power and control, just with our own Christian agenda.

Paul’s advice to the Ephesians was to understand God’s will.  Christians never were or are called today to run from the world.  Nor are we called to fight with the world.  Instead we are called to follow Jesus.  Jesus’ life was God’s will lived out in the flesh.  We too are called to live as God’s presence in the world sharing His love, goodness, mercy, righteousness, truth, justice, and forgiveness.  We face each day knowing God’s presence in and will for our lives.  We respond by sharing God with others.

Scripture reference: Ephesians 6: 18-20


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Sharing the Light

As light and dark are opposites, there is a sharp contrast between the two.  Biblically speaking, the light represents God, Jesus, and all other things holy and righteous.  The dark represents Satan and his minions and all things evil and sinful.  Once we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are choosing to walk in the light.  Although it is our intent to always “be in the light”, at times we slip and walk in darkness or at least in the shadows.

Paul contrasts the light and dark with a few illustrations laid out as choices.  He urges us to be wise instead of unwise, filled with the Spirit instead of with wine, to be understanding instead of foolish.  In each case it is choosing to follow Christ’s will for our lives instead of pursuing our own selfish desires.  When we veer off the path of light we are often chasing temporary pleasures or the things of this world with no eternal value such as power, wealth, or possessions.

We are called to be light.  We are called to be in the world but not of it.  Our light is to shine out into the darkness.  One light in a dark room makes an amazing difference.  As people of faith we choose to pursue goodness, righteousness, and truth.  We seek to share these things with others in our lives, sharing the light within that cannot be overcome by the darkness.

In our pursuit of being light, the Spirit is the essential traveling partner.  The leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit is the only thing that allows us a chance to stand in the battle between good and evil that rages inside of us.  At times we will stumble or even fall, but the Spirit will always guide us back to the light.  Because of God’s great love for us, we never need to remain in the dark.  We are beloved children of God, always welcomed back into relationship with Him through Christ’s atoning work on the cross.  This day, shine the light!

Scripture reference: Ephesians 5: 15-20


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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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Each Day

Some of the challenges our world faces seem massive and insurmountable.  Some of the things that occur in our world seem so full of hate and evil that they are hard to comprehend.  When I think of myself against this backdrop, I feel small and powerless.  In these times I long for Christ’s return when He will make all things new and our new world will know no hate, no war, no pain, no injustice.

But as we look at our world today, sometimes we wonder where God is in the midst of all this or maybe we question how these things could be a part of His plan.  We begin to doubt.  In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians be opens by reminding them of God’s ultimate plan for the world as a means to counter the doubt beginning to rise in them.   Paul reminds them that all things in heaven and earth will be brought to wholeness and unity in Christ.  He also reminds them that they are part of God’s redeeming work in the world.  We too are part of this plan, part of His work.

I may not be able to end global hunger, but I can help feed hungry people in my community.  I may not be able to rid the world of evil, but I can work for justice and equality in this place.  Each of us can play our part in His plan.  The Holy Spirit will empower us to be difference makers in our little corners of God’s kingdom.  The Spirit also reminds us of our call as children of God and the Spirit works in and through us to hep bring God’s plan into being.  Each day we are closer to Christ’s return.  Each day we must live out our faith, knowing we each can make a difference for Christ.

Scripture reference: Ephesians 1: 9-14


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Able and Strong

Evil exists in our world in many forms.  It can be in the actions of people who have come to believe all of Satan’s lies.  It can be in the emotions that rise up in us: greed, envy, lust…  It can be in the unkind thoughts we have and in the cutting words we spew.  In many ways Satan is trying to turn us away from God, to divert our attention.

What can we do?  To whom can we turn?

As Jesus taught in the synagogue the people sensed His authority.  The demon in the man called out and acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God.  In our own battles with the forces of evil, do we turn first to Jesus Christ and make the same acknowledgement?  We must, for only He can save.  Our only chance in this battle is to call upon His name and to claim the power and protection that He brings.

Whatever our hurt, whatever battle we are fighting, whatever temptation is pulling at us – it matters not.  Jesus is able.  Jesus is strong.  Jesus is waiting for us to turn to Him and to admit our need because we cannot do it alone.  Then we too can call on the powerful name of Jesus and find healing, comfort, relief.  Step into His presence today and find rest.

Scripture reference: Mark 1: 21-28


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Ears to Hear

Jesus ends the parable of the sower with these words: “He who has ears, let him hear.”  On the surface I thought, ‘all of us have ears so everyone is included’.  But going a bit deeper I realized that although we all have ears, we do not always really hear.  Often people are talking but are not being heard.  Often God or the Holy Spirit seeks to speak into our lives, but we don’t always hear them all of the time.

Jesus sowed good seed into the disciples and those He interacted with all the time.  But many people walked away scratching their heads or dismissing what Jesus had to offer.  We continue to be sown into through the reading and study of the Word, through hearing the Word proclaimed, through Christian fellowship, and so on.  But Satan also sows seeds – seeds of evil and of temptation.  As we grow in our faith, we need to develop attentive and in-tune ears to hear God’s voice while tuning out the voices of evil.  There is both a lot to hear from God and a lot to tune out from Satan!

May we learn to listen long and hard, with compassion and patience, to Him who reigns both now and forevermore!

Scripture reference: Matthew 13: 36-43


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Living in the Grey

In the beginning God created both the light and the dark.  He separated them into two distinct things.  Yet in between we find a grey area.

As I sit and look out the window at a beautiful sunrise, I can sense God in it.  In our way of categorizing things, we often attribute light to goodness.  For example, “Jesus is the light of the world.”  Conversely, when there is no light, we see darkness as evil or bad.

Before I go to sleep, I can step out onto the deck and see all of the stars.  Yet in the dark of night, I too can see God’s presence.  The vastness of creation reveals a bit about God.

And where do we fit the ‘grey’ areas – the early morning just before sunrise – it is light or dark?  At the end of the day as the shadows grow long – is it yet day or has it become night?

I often live life in this grey.  Not humbled or broken enough to be in the dark, knowing my full reliance on God.  Yet sometimes so in the presence during prayer or worship that I barely know I exist.  Mostly though, I live between these two extremes of light and dark, struggling to yield control of my life, not quite trusting all the way, being lukewarm.  Lord, draw me to you, that I may be fully yours all of the time.  Amen.