pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: faith


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In Our Moments

Have you had someone suddenly mad at you or suddenly lost a friend and had no idea why?  In that moment, you were probably stunned, sad, angry, hurt.  Sometimes you figure it out and become friends again, sometimes you do not.  Sometimes you just never know.

Hagar was Sarah’s maidservant.  Sarah was barren and advanced in years, but desperately wanted a family.  So Sarah convinced Hagar to sleep with her husband Abraham to bear them a child.  I imagine it was hard to  bear a child for a man who would never love her, who already had a wife he loved.  But she did.  I imagine that Hagar felt like she had done something special for Sarah and Abraham.

Fast forward a few years and now Sarah is pregnant and bears Abraham a son named Isaac.  Sarah becomes jealous and protective and wants Hagar and her son Ishmael sent away into the wilderness.  Abraham is unwilling but God reassures him of he plan and he sends Hagar and son out into the desert with some bread and water – presumably to die.  As this happens, can you imagine what is going through Hagar’s mind?  Do you hear her thinking, “But after what I did for you…?”

After they run out of water, Hagar walks off a little way from Ishmael and resigns herself to death.  She cannot bear to be near him and to hear his cries for water.  Hagar is in anguish.  But then suddenly a strange thing happens.  God sends an angel who asks her, “What is the matter?”  What a question!  God provides water, reassures her, and continues to watch over them as the boy grows up.  It all turns out OK for them.

Has God ever asked you, “What is the mattter?”  Has God ever entered into your brokenness?  You and I are blessed – always just a prayer away from God’s presence.  Yet sometimes we too are like Hagar – too broken and distraught to even offer up a prayer.  In these moments God will seek us out too.  Our God is a God of love.  A God who will seek out to lost and the broken.  Praise be to our God!!


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We Too Will Be Blessed

Do you recall a time when you let go of something that you did not have to, in order to be in a better place or situation?  Maybe it was a house or a town, maybe it was a friend or someone you were dating, or maybe it was a job or volunteer position.  The promise or call of what lay ahead drew you forward.  Yet there is still some pain in the letting go.

In times of decisions like these, we need to spend time in prayer with God and to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  When we have wrestled with the decision with God at our side and the Holy Spirit leading us on, we move forward in a much different manner than if we go it alone.

Like Abraham, when God told him to send Hagar and Ishmael (his firstborn son) out into the wilderness, we too can move forward with God at our side.  Despite the pain of watching them walk away forever, into a wilderness, Abraham knew this was God’s plan and he trusted and obeyed.  He did so because he knew God is faithful.  He knew God’s promise is to never leave us.  He knew God’s promise is to always love us.  Upon His promises we too can walk forward with confidence and assurance.  And we too will be blessed.

Scripture reference: Genesis 21: 8-21


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He Loves Us!!!

Satan is crafty and wise.  He is skillful.  And he is always on the prowl.  The angles and means of his attacks are actually quite impressive.  Satan uses many voices to plant fear, doubt, anxiety, guilt, lust… in our heads and hearts – some from inside our own heads, some from the voices of those we know, some from society and the media.At every chance he is working to build up our pride, our stubbornness, our individualism.  All with one goal – to pull us away from God.

But God doesn’t pull back.  He simply invites us into a relationship.  He says, “Here I am, come.”  He offers us love, no strings attached.  God is our true friend.  These things never change.

In our faith we need to be vigilant and alert to Satan’s attacks.  But just as sure as the attacks are to come, we can be even more sure of God’s love and care.  When we call upon  the saving name of Jesus, then Satan will flee.  God will strengthen us and will help us to be steadfast and firm.  God will never fail us because He loves us too much to allow that to happen.


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Waiting on Glory

In this life is joy and sorrow, elation and suffering.  All of us go through the ups and downs of life.  At times our choices and decisions bring sorrow and suffering upon us.  Suffering can take the form of caring for a family member dying from an illness.  Suffering can come in how people treat us because of our faith.  Suffering can come from the decision we make based upon our faith in Jesus Christ.  All of these things are part of the cost of following.  All of these things also test us.  Despite the testing being difficult, it will help us grow in our faith.

Peter tells us that we should rejoice in our suffering for Christ because that will bring us a greater joy when His glory is revealed.  By accepting and embracing the sufferings, we can draw closer to Christ, the source of our strength.  In times when we rely on Him, we become less and He becomes more.  In this we begin to see His glory revealed.  It is only a glimpse now, but we begin to see what it may be.  And, in the end, He will make our joy complete.


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Faith and Action

In the US we practice our faith in relative safety and peace.  Sure it may cost us a ‘friend’ here or there or an invite to the ‘big’ party.  But it is pretty unlikely that we’ll see scores of girls kidnapped from the local Christian school or that militiamen will attack our church one Sunday morning.  Yet many around the world face these or similar dangers and still practice their faith because they know the ultimate reward that God has in store.
Could we live such a brave faith?  Willing in any and all circumstances to do what God is calling us to do?  Could we bravely walk into the cafeteria or break room and share our faith with whoever is sitting there?  Could we give a little more than is comfortable to help a person in need?  Yes we can and great is our reward too.  Through our actions and words we can bring hope.  We can be the light and love the world so desperately needs.
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”. We can both live out from these words and help others to come to know the truth of these words in their lives.  May we live a brave faith.


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Peaceful Trust

What is the largest crowd you have ever actually been a part of?  Was it at a big arena concert or maybe at a game?  For me it was several years ago in Washington, DC, when I went to be a part of Promise Keeper’s ‘Million Man March’.  I was just one of about a million people gathered there that day.  It was incredible to look out at the sea of humanity and to realize that I was just one part of it.  When I think about that huge group, it pales in comparison to how many people inhabit the earth.  There are now 7,000 people for every one of those million men gathered that day in DC.

Yet God knows, cares for, and loves each of those 7 billion people on the earth.  Do they all love Him back?  No, but that doesn’t matter to God.  He loves them all equally because  they are all His creation.  He loves them all.

It is hard to fathom that despite the fact that we are each just one of seven billion, God loves each and every one of us.  Yes He does!  What a mighty God we serve.

It is because of this great love that we can trust Him with our lives.  His plan for us is so much better than any plan we could muster.  Because God’s steadfast love endures forever, we can trust Him to always have the best in mind for us.  Because His love never fails, we can trust that He will see us through the valleys and will bring us up the other side.  We can trust into God and into Jesus’ words: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)


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Kinda Exciting Out Here

I kinda like being comfortable.  I like it when things are ordered and moving along as planned.  It is nice when things move along smoothly.  Do you like it when things are comfortable and ordered and all seems good?
Yet it is dangerous to live on cruise control.  When we are just cruising down the rut it is sometimes hard to see what is going on outside of our little trench.  And isn’t a little excitement OK sometimes?  Isn’t it invigorating to feel the tension of the unknown or the “what if”?
In John 14 Jesus states that He is the way, the truth, and the life.  To know Jesus is to know God.  It raises the question in my mind: how well do I know Jesus?  Do I really know enough of Him?  Or am I on cruise in my relationship with Jesus?  Or do I read the Word with questions?  How will I know Him better today?  How will this word cause me to grow?  To trust Him more?
No one is ” there” yet.  All of us have room to grow, to know Him better, to trust Him more.  To seek these things brings us to the edge of the unknown.  Step out – it’s kinda exciting out here.


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Sharing the News

Stephen was the first of many to die for his faith in Jesus Christ.  Many more have died in the name of Jesus over the centuries.  Some will die today, some will die tomorrow, and so on.  It even happens on a rare occasion here in America. There are Christians out there willing to die for their faith today.

Relatively speaking, we live in a country where it is pretty safe to share our faith.  Certainly in the public arena the worst things we face are rejection, scorn, and maybe a helping of ridicule.  In some work environments the subject of faith is ‘taboo’ and to talk about our faith may risk our job.  In some settings we may find ourselves ostracized or unwelcome anymore because we chose to speak about our faith.

Yet despite the relative safety we generally don’t like sharing our faith.  Maybe we will share our faith in just the right setting with just the right person at just the right moment.  There are definitely these times and it is joyful to God when we take these opportunities.  But most of us are not an “anytime, anyplace, anyone” type of person when it comes to sharing our faith.  It is my prayer that my mighty God and amazing Savior fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit and empower me to share my faith with any and all that I meet to the end of my days.  Will you make this your prayer too?


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A Heavenly Gasp

Does your family have any unique practices or traditions – a special dish at the holiday season, a quirky birthday celebration, something you do every Easter…?  Maybe you don’t understand it or even understand where it came from, but you go along because that is what is expected.  Then at some point, someone says something like, “Hey, this year instead…” and you gasp!  Or sometimes the tradition or practice fades because you moved away and one Easter morning you realize you don’t ‘x’ anymore and you feel like something is suddenly missing. As a Christian family we get our traditions and practices from Christ.  He is our firm foundation, our Cornerstone.  We are called to be His “living stones” – to live our lives in a way that brings Christ to the world.  Like our family traditions, we find our identity in Christ. Sadly, like some of our own family traditions, sometimes we don’t always fully understand or even like some of the Christian traditions and practices that we are called to.  Sometimes we fail to live them out.  For example, do we always embrace tolerance and practice respect?  Do we always love our neighbors as ourselves?  Sadly, not always.  At these points the gasp does not come from us. But the good news is that we are precious to Jesus.  Despite our human limitations, He continues to build us into His holy nation, a people called to God.  We belong to Him.  Our journey is simply growing more and more like Jesus every day.  And despite ourselves, we do.  It is through Jesus.  Thank you Lord!!


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From the Heart

What one word would you use to sum up who Jesus was and is?  Would it be messiah or savior or healer or king?  True, He is all of these. For me, the word would be love.

What are the keys to our faith?  Is it worship, giving our tithe, serving on a committee, maybe helping with the Youth program?  Certainly all of these are means to growing in our faith, but according to Peter, the key is to love one another and to love God.

What if each day we evaluated our faith journey through the question: ‘Am I loving God and neighbor more deeply from the heart?’  Sometimes this is hard to evaluate on a daily basis, but I think if we spent some time thinking on this question, we will find the little ways in which we did love more deeply from the heart.

If we spend hours reading and studying our Bible, are faithful in attending worship and in our giving, and if we serve here or there – we can please God and we may grow in our faith.  But if we are doing these things out of duty or obligation but not out of love, we are lost.  We are lost because although we may grow in our faith, the love doesn’t spill out for God and into other people’s lives.  We must lovingly give ourselves away to truly grow deeper in our faith.