pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: experience


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Places, Spaces, and Faces

Sometimes it is hard to get out of our boxes.  In many ways we settle into routines and ways of doing things.  Too often we allow stereotypes to determine how we see situations and people we encounter.  Our past experiences can also cloud our expectations for the here and now and for the future.  As creatures of habit with good memories I think we often miss out on God’s presence and work in our world.

When Jesus visited his hometown to preach and offer signs of His glory, He encountered this.  As the people realized who He was – just a carpenter’s son who they saw grow up an ordinary boy and young man – their amazement turned to doubt.  The teachings and miraculous signs did not continue in this environment.  The people allowed their experience and expectations to get in the way of experiencing God.

I wonder how much I miss out on because I am so tightly packed into my little box.  How many opportunities do I miss to share God with others and to experience God through others each day?  How often do I allow my judgments and low expectations to become roadblocks to being present in meaningful ways?  Yet rarely is anything in my day ever more important than moments experiencing God’s presence.  But I do not always reflect this with my thoughts, actions, and words.

May I learn to better live a simple faith and to walk on a slower path.  May I learn to live fully in each moment and person God places before me.  May my faith, heart, and eyes be like that of a child – eager to find love and joy in all the places, spaces, and faces I encounter today.

Scripture reference: Mark 6: 1-13


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Witness, Testify, Pray

The Apostle John is known for presenting God as “love” and for using love as the foundation of our faith.  For John, Jesus is God’s love lived out here on earth.  Christ is the example, the reference point, the proof of how great this divine love really is.

Belief in Jesus’ teachings, works, death, and resurrection lead us to desire a relationship and to be open to knowing Christ.  Specific experiences with His presence and continued work in the world draw us into relationship with Jesus.  Once we personally accept Him as Lord and Savior, His Spirit comes to dwell in us and we become increasingly filled with His love.  As we become more and more filled with His love, it begins to overflow into the live of those around us.  We become a living testimony to Jesus’ love and a are a witness for others.

Our witness and testimony alone are  not what allows others to have a relationship with Jesus.  We are not capable of this; only the work of the Holy Spirit and the presence of Jesus will draw one into a relationship with Him.  We can point others toward Christ and we can plant seeds that build the desire for a personal relationship but it in only through divine action that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is formed.

As we live out our life of faith and love the world and those around us, God will place people upon our hearts.  We must be a witness and a testimony to them.  But do not stop there.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in their lives and for the living Christ to make His presence known in their lives.  Trust in God to do a mighty work in them.

Scripture reference: 1 John 5: 9-13


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This Amazing Love

“God’s Love and Ours” is the title to the section in my Bible that contains 1 John 4: 7-21.  It is all about God’s and Jesus’ love for us and our love for our fellow man.  It is about how our love ought to reflect His perfect love.  The word ‘love’ appears over 25 times in this passage.  Seems that this love thing must be important in our lives.

If we were to look at Jesus’ ministry and to come up with one word to describe it, that word would be love.  In all He did love was at the core.  In all He did.  This example that Jesus set for us is the goal of our lives.  It is how we shine our light.

God’s love also continually pours out upon us.  His love can be found in us and all around us.  If we were to analyze our day, we would find many “God sightings” sprinkled throughout our day.  Some of these would be points where we experienced God’s love for us, some would be points where we shared His love with others, and some would be points where others shared His love with us.

A lot of the time we take this amazing love for granted.  Sometimes I am sure we do not even notice it.  Our days can be so busy that by the time we get to the end of the day, we just want to relax.  But it is important to acknowledge and give thanks for His love.  Whether in your mind or on a piece of paper, take a minute right now to consider where all you experienced God’s love yesterday.  Smile and give thanks.  Repeat each day.

Scripture reference: 1 John 4: 7-21


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Relentless Love

Do miracles really happen?  Miracles really do happen.  Do they really still happen?  They really do still happen.  God and His Spirit are still active in the world.  They do not only work through miracles but they also work through people like you and me, making a difference in everyday life.  God still answers big audacious prayers (and small ones too), still heals people of ‘incurable’ and ‘terminal’ diseases, and still restores relationship that were long ago dead.

Why does God continue to do such works?  It is through our encounters with the divine that our faith grows and that we come to know the nature of God more and more.  When Peter healed the beggar at the gate to ‘perfect health’, it was great for the man.  But the higher purpose was to give Peter an audience to share the story of Jesus with.

Another reason we continue to experience God through a variety of means in real ways is to counter our doubt.  Doubt and questioning continue to pull at us and to creep into our lives.  Yet our God continues to and will continue to pursue us.  His longing for each of us is to form and mold us into just the person He created us to be.  He has a plan for our lives.

Sometimes we don’t always hear His voice and some of the time we make decisions or choices we shouldn’t.  We get off track.  We drift.  We lose touch with our faith.  But our God never gives up.  Another person comes along or we encounter God through an event or other experience.

In His relentless pursuit of us, God never, ever gives up.  Through whatever means necessary He continually works to shape and mold us into just who He created us to be.  That is just how much God loves us.

Scripture reference: Acts 3: 12-19


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Resurrection Faith

As Christians we are called to walk in the light of Christ and to share that light with those in darkness.  Sometimes we ourselves wander off the past and into darkness but Jesus is faithful – He always calls us back to the light.  The path we are to walk is lit by the love of Christ.  When we are on track and living as a disciple of Jesus, in that light we have fellowship with Him and with one another.

We live in a world that is increasingly in darkness.  We live in a world where less and less of each successive generation is involved in a faith community.  Roughly 30% of the current millennial generation is part of a community of faith.  Only 50% of the previous generation is part of such a community.  This is the world in which we live.  Many, many people do not know Jesus; some have never even heard the name.

It is into this world of darkness that we are called to cast His light.  We cast the light by offering unexpected love and kindness.  We share the light by offering unlimited forgiveness.  We bring light into people’s lives through acts of extreme service.  In other words, we do the things that Jesus did.

People in our world who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus do not want to hear about our faith.  They want to see it lived out.  They want and need to see how this Jesus makes a difference in our lives and how He can make a difference in their life.  Once people see and experience our resurrection faith – a faith that is willing to do whatever is needed – then they too will be drawn to the light and the Spirit will begin to work in their lives as well.  It is the Spirit that does the real work. Our call is simply to share our resurrection faith.

Scripture reference: 1 John 1:5 to 2:2


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What Greater Gift?

The stories of the Bible are our stories of faith.    In them we come to understand past relationships with God, to see His mighty actions in the world, and to see what it looks like to walk the faith in the flesh, as Jesus did.  As we come to love God, we feel the need to pass on the story of faith to our children and other family, to our friends and coworkers, and to the stranger we meet on the street.

The faith experiences we each go through personally and those read and hear about are also a part of the faith story we each have.  God continues to be active in our world.  The personal side of our faith is the part others can most often see and also the part they can initially best relate to as well.  When we share our faith from the heart, we can deeply touch another’s life because here they can see the power of Christ in action in the real world.

We should be drawn to share what we love, desiring for all to come to know God and His amazing love.  Whether through Biblical stories or through the stories of our life, we are called to make disciples of all people.  What greater gift could we offer our neighbors that we are supped to love?

Scripture reference: Psalm 78: 1-4