pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: faithful


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Mercy’s Promise

God promises to always be with us, to never leave us.  Yet at times we can question this as we feel all alone and seem to have lost touch with our creator.  But we must remember His promise as it is always us that creates the separation or the distance.

It can happen in big things and in little things.  In Exodus 32 Moses has been gone up the mountain just long enough for Aaron and the people to start worrying.  Moses is their connection to God.  The solution?  Gather up all the gold and make a new god to worship and be led by.  Seems crazy now but at the time I’m sure it make perfect sense.

It can happen in our lives too.  We can easily allow ourselves to be drawn into conversations and activities that have God nowhere in sight.  When we suddenly realize where we’ve wandered to we ask, “How’d we get here?!”  Thankfully we serve a merciful God.  He says, “Yup, I’m still here” and “Welcome back my child”.  And just like that we are back in a right relationship with our creator.  Praise be to God!!

Scripture reference: Exodus 32: 1-6


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Good Habits and Techniques

When things aren’t going well it is our natural tendency to want to change things.  While this is a good idea for a baseball player whose swing has developed a hitch, it is not a good idea in our faith life.  Mired in a hitting slump, the ball player and his coaches try to figure out what has changes so that they can fix it.  This is a mechanical or physical process that can be studied, analyzed, and corrected.

Like a batter practicing good habits and techniques, or faith life ‘works’ best when we are practicing good habits and techniques in our daily study and prayer life.   In the times that we stay in tune with God, we find pleasure and contentment in His world.  The sunset or sunrise contains a beauty we see as His.  Our interactions with other people is filled with the love of Christ.  Life is good.

But sometimes life brings us a curve ball.  In these cases we must work at not developing a hitch in our spiritual life.  When life brings us the difficult, we must remain faithful and try.  We must resist the temptation to turn to something or someone other than God.  God’s love is eternal and true.  As we remain true in our walk with Him, He will always see us through.

Scripture reference: Exodus 17: 1-7


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He Is Faithful

As the wandered in the wilderness without water, the Israelites began to grumble against God and against Moses.  without this basic necessity for life, they were getting testy.  God heard their cry and responded through Moses, bringing forth water from a rock.

How often do we too feel abandoned or question God’s presence?  How common is it to question whether or not He cares when we are walking through a difficult situation in life?  Sometimes in the depths of the valley it is hard to see God’s light and to remain faithful to Him.  Through it all, though, He is faithful to us.  Through it all, He is always right there.

When we look back on our trials, we can usually see how God was there and how He helped or guided us.  As we reflect on and are thankful for His help, we are strengthened in our faith.  Then He is closer when we walk through the next valley or trial, for we know Him more.  God uses our experiences to draw us closer to himself.  We must remain faithful, for He is always faithful.

Scripture reference: Exodus 17: 1-7


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An Amazing Love

All along our journey of faith there will be times when we are separated from God, adrift in our faith.  The circumstances of life will draw us away, both in the good and in the bad times.  Sometimes when life is really going well we can start to take the credit or we can get comfortable with our faith and suddenly God has a back seat.  We can feel that we don’t seem to ‘need’ God at times.  Other times, after being in a long struggle, we can come to a point where we question God’s presence or we may wonder of our prayers are being heard.

As the food that they had brought with them from Egypt began to run out, the Israelites began to grumble against Moses and Aaron and, ultimately, against God.  They could still remember the pots full of food from their days as slaves in Egypt and they longed to be filled again.  Our loving God heard them and sent manna and quail, but with some instructions.  If they took more than they needed, then it would be rotten.  God wanted to meet their need, not to spoil them.  Once they saw God’s provision, their faith in Him was restored.  But eventually they will fall away again.  And again.  And again.  And again.

We are just like the Israelites.  As my friend Kent likes to say, “One more time around the mountain!”  Yet the amazing thing is our God.  He never  leaves us.  No matter how many times we have to circle back around, He is always right there.  It is only us that chooses a time of separation.  And over and over and over and over again, when we seek Him, God is right there.  His great love for us is amazing.  It is a love that never ends, that never fails.  It is an amazing love!!  Praise be to God!!

Scripture reference: Exodus 16: 4-15


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Still at Work

The Bible is our history book.  There are many people and stories that we recall, study, and know by heart.  They teach us who God is, what we are called to be like as people of faith, and show us examples of faithful witness.  As we look back into our history book of faith, we can see God at work in the lives of the people and places in the stories and accounts.

Since the time of Jesus and the disciples, faithful servants have continued to teach us what faith is and how we are to live in our world as disciples of Christ.  People like Martin Luther, Calvin, and Mother Teresa continue to explain and define who we are as a people of God.  We can look back on their lives and see the hand of God at work here as well.

In each of our denominations and local churches, our histories contain people and events that have shaped us.  For example, John Wesley had tremendous influence on the Methodist and Wesleyan movements and churches.  In our local churches it is a beloved pastor or a lay members viewed as a ‘saint’ plus significant local events that define who and what we are as a congregation.  And through all of these local people and events, we can see God at work too.  He continues to be present and active in our world.

People very likely look at your life too.  Maybe it is your student or your patient or your coworker or your exercise classmate.  Each of us is part of the story of God at work in our world.  He is still at work.  As we live as salt and light in the world. we are co-laborers with Christ.  May we labor well!

Scripture reference: Psalm 105: 1-6, 23-26, and 45c


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Claim All That He Offers

“Keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” – Romans 12: 11-12

It can be hard to always love others.    It can be hard to always be ‘Christian’ towards others.  It can even be hard to treat our brothers and sisters in Christ with love all the time.  These words of Paul provide us with some insights and guidance for how to love all in a manner worthy of Christ’s love.

‘Keeping our spiritual fervor’ involves staying in love with God – one of Reuben Job’s ‘Three Simple Rules’.  When we are in love with God we naturally want to serve others and to meet the needs we can meet.  We stay in love with God by practicing our spiritual disciplines – worship, prayer, study, fasting, …

When we are ‘joyful in hope’ we are living into the belief that Jesus will be there for us.  We are expectant that He will be present to us and as we live with hope in our hearts, we are filled with joy.  When we are ‘patient in affliction’ we are living into the belief that although we endure for a moment, that Jesus will be there when we reach the other side or the end of our present situation.  In the midst of trial, we know that He is there with us and will be there always.  This allows for patience.  With patience we can gain much from the trials of life.  When we are ‘faithful in prayer’ we are living into the belief that through talking with Jesus we draw nearer to Him and draw strength from Him.

Though these four practices we equip ourselves to better love all we encounter each day.  This blessing from Hebrews 13 is also ours if we claim it: “May the God of peace equip you with every good thing that you may do His will, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.”  He wants to equip us with spiritual fervor, joyful hope, patient enduring, and a faithful prayer life.  May we claim all that He has to offer as we live daily with Christ.

Scripture reference: Romans 12: 9-21


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To the Best of Our Ability

All that we have is a gift from God.  Our talents and abilities are gifts that we must use with humility, grace, and love.  We are not to use what we have been blessed with to lord it over others or to take advantage of people or situations.

As Joseph was riding along that trade route to Egypt, a new slave to Midianite merchants, I wonder if he saw it as God’s work in his life.  As they saw Joseph disappearing into the horizon, I doubt the brothers we thinking of how God’s plan was just beginning to take shape.  Often in the midst of things we too fail to see God at work in our lives.

When Joseph first exercised his gift to interpret dreams, he angered his family.  Yet later in Egypt this ability would allow Joseph to rise up in importance.  When used as God intended, Joseph’s gift was used to build up and to do good.  And yet even then Joseph probably only saw this as a personal success, not as a part of God’s bigger plan.  But Joseph was faithful and continued to do as God led him to do.  Because of this, he would eventually he would see God’s big plan.

What gifts and talents has God blessed you with?  In what ways are they being used to build God’s kingdom now?  Are you using you gift to the best of your ability?  May we learn to use what God has blessed us with, trusting Him and the plan He has for our life.

Scripture reference: Genesis 37: 1-4 and 12-28


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Faithfulness and Love… and Patience

In Romans 9, Paul is in sorrow over the Israelites not seeing Jesus for who He was  – the Son of God, come to redeem the world.  It is a situation where he sees it, has the same background knowledge as them, and does not understand why they do not see it.  Have you ever been one either side of one of these situations in your life?  Maybe you were in the role of Paul and tried and tried to get someone to understand, but just couldn’t.

In this story it is God who is ultimately in this role.  The story also extends out past this current moment in the Bible.  And in this we see something amazing about God.  We can see God covenantal faithfulness and His steadfast love.  Despite all in the Old Testament and all that Jesus said and did, most of the Israelites do not come to understand who Jesus was and is.  Yet God continues to pursue the people of Israel even to this day!

Often I think it is the same with me.  After all of these years of walking with Christ, I still fall short.  At times my sin is that I think I am the one in charge.  Sometimes I take the credit.  Other times it is a thought or word that holds my sin.  But thank God for His faithfulness and love!  Sometimes I can’t imagine why He chooses to stick it out with me.  But He does.  Thank God for His patience too!

Scripture reference: Romans 9: 1-5


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Confidence Forward

Have you ever taken the time to look back over your life to see God’s fingerprints on it?  Do you see how He guided you to this job instead of that other one and how you were blessed there?  Or maybe there was a challenge there – see how it forced you to grow and mature?

Can you see all the other decisions and event sin your life were God is there too?  Maybe it is the college you went to, the  major you ended up with, the person you dated or married, or the places you lived.  Maybe it was the college you did not go to, the person you did not date, and so on.  Maybe it is in the birth or a child or in that heart-wrenching loss.  Maybe it is that divorce or breakup, in that firing, or in that addiction.  As you take time to look back over your life, can’t you see that God was in each and every one of these points of your life?

As we look back and see how God led, directed, and loved into our lives, we gain a confidence to move forward.  In this reflection we build a reserve to know that He will be there in our next difficulty, decision, or event.  We know God will continue to be a part of our lives because He loves us so.  “The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.” (Psalm 145:9)

Scripture reference: Psalm 105: 1-11 and 45b


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Faithful and True

We are called to spread God’s word and love.  Jesus compared the discipling of others to seeds and yeast.  In Matthew 13 the small mustard seed grows into a large plant that is home to many birds.  The ‘yeast’ that we work into the ‘dough’ spreads out and causes all of the dough to rise to new heights.  As we spread God to those in our worlds, we help them to grow in their faith.  It is neat to watch another grow in their faith.

But sometimes we have to wait.  The seed does not sprout overnight and the yeast takes time to work.  Sometimes it is hard to wait.  Although we can see and feel other ways God’s kingdom is being built, at times we can hone in on one person or one situation in our life.   It then becomes hard to see big picture that God is painting.

We must learn to wait patiently and to continue in our labors.  We are only the labors – God and the Holy Spirit are what cause the seed to sprout.  We know that the Father is faithful and true.  He is our hope and our strength.  In Hebrews 10 we find encouragement: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur on another on toward love and good deeds”.

Scripture reference: Matthew 13: 31-33