pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: free gift


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Promises

In today’s psalm is the root of the promise that our faith rests upon.  God promises David that a descendant of his will always be on the throne of Zion, God’s chosen resting place.  Jesus was the last in David’s human line.  The resurrected Jesus completes the ‘forever’ part of God’s promise as He leads us from beside God’s throne.

In Jesus we see God’s love poured out as He kept this promise.  This should be no surprise as God always keeps His promises.  Just as God chose Zion, through Jesus Christ He chooses you and me as well.  We are each God’s beloved children.  But sometimes we forget that.  Sometimes we turn our relationship with God into a relationship like our other human relationships.  Sometimes our relationship with God digresses to bartering, dealing, if-then statements.  If I go to church, then God will…  If I help my neighbor, then God will…

But God does not promise us an if-then relationship.  He does not love us more or less based on our actions, words, and deeds.  He simply loves us.  He simply loves us.  The gift of salvation offered through Jesus Christ is God’s unmerited, no-strings-attached, free gift to us, His children.

Jesus was and is the embodiment of God’s love.  This is why Jesus brought and offered this gift for you and me.  When we are tempted to slip back into the wheeling and dealing relationship, we must remember Jesus’ example of perfect obedience to the Father’s will.  When we want to pick and choose when to be a Christian, we must remember how Jesus loved all who came to Him, no matter the time of day or season.  And when we question, when we falter, we must remember Jesus’ promise as well: I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.

Scripture reference: Psalm 132: 10-18


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Defining Jesus

In Matthew 21, the religious leaders want to know where Jesus gets his authority.  He hasn’t been through the hoops, He isn’t one of them.  But is important to know why they are asking the question.

Just the day before Jesus came into Jerusalem to shouts of “Hosanna!” and the city was full of excitement.  He proceeded to the temple and drove out all the sellers and money changers.  Then the blind and the lame came to Him and He healed them.  Normally to be healed or cleansed of sins – commonly thought to be the reason one was blind, lame and so on – one had to buy sacrifices and bring them to the priests so that they could perform the rituals.  But Jesus had driven out the sellers.  His touch was free.  Not only was Jesus not one of them, He was operating counter to their rules and was disrupting their economic system.  They wanted to trap Him and be rid of Him.

Sometimes we too struggles with these issues.  We question whether or not Jesus leads, for often we want to be the ones in control.  We question whether of not we (or sometimes it is another) are worthy of Jesus’ love or forgiveness or… but we are all worthy because it is a free gift.  We do nothing to earn grace, mercy, love, forgiveness.  Sometimes we try to trap Jesus too, seeking to have our will done instead of His.

May we come to see what the religious leaders could not – that Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth.  And may we come to do what they could not – to truly worship Him as Lord and King.

Scripture reference: Matthew 21: 23-27


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A Great Mystery of Faith

One of the things universal to mankind is our proclivity to sin.  In our daily lives, temptation is all around us.  We can do certain things that makes us less likely to sin, but Satan is always at work.  Even for those that do not have a belief in God, they too have an innate sense of right and wrong.  Sin is all around us and the world’s messages are ‘just go for it’ and do whatever feels good.  But these are not God’s messages.  His message is to be like Jesus.

One of the things that is offered universally by God is grace.  His mercy and the grace offered is available to all.  His prevenient grace rests upon each and every person.  His mercy is a free gift that cannot be earned.  It is a birthrite to be claimed by all through faith in Jesus Christ.  Once a child of God, His mercies, grace, and forgiveness flow freely.  Once a child, His grace works to sanctify us, to make us daily more like His son Jesus.

God’s grace is one of the great mysteries of faith.  God’s grace is present with us from the beginning.  Once we enter into relationship with Him, we are changed, born anew.  Although we are still bent towards sin, we are bought with Jesus’ blood and begin the daily battle to ‘sin no more’.  This is a battle that we sometimes ‘lose’ but, thanks be to God, His mercies are new every morning.  Each and every time we seek His forgiveness, His grace pours down like rain.  We are washed clean and made new.  Thank you Lord for this great mystery of faith!

Scripture reference: Romans 11: 29-32