pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: glory


by Leave a comment

In Desert Seasons

Reading: Psalm 63:1-8

King David finds himself in a desert season.  During our lives, we will find ourselves in just such a place as well.  These times of trial and struggle will come and go; perhaps now is just such a season.  David’s beautiful words give us encouragement and advice for when we find ourselves in a desert season.

David begins by expressing the thirst he feels in the desert.  In the times we find ourselves in a trial, we too must admit our need for God and then we must seek His guidance and presence in our lives.  To reinforce this, David recalls how he saw God’s power and glory in the sanctuary.  To remember how God has always been there in our times of need reassures us that He will be there again.

Next, David does something that may seem odd when one is in a desert place – he praises God.  In verse three he writes, “Because your love is better than life”.  It is such a powerful and moving statement.  We come to God in praise because of His gift and promise of eternal life.  We know that no matter what this life brings, our ticket to eternal life in glory has already been bought.  There is no better reason to praise!

Lastly, David ends with “my soul clings to You”.  Although it can sometimes be hard to sense God’s presence in the midst of a trial, we must nonetheless cling to God.  We are promised that His love never fails and that He has only good plans for us.  In the midst of it all, may we cling to Him knowing that it is Hi slight at the end of the tunnel and that it is really His arms alone that will carry us through.


by Leave a comment

Growing

In our relationship with Jesus Christ we can be doing one of three things: we can grow to be more like Him, we can stay where we are, or we can become less like Him.  In Revelation 3:16 Jesus warns us that if we are lukewarm, He will ‘vomit’ us out.  Another word for lukewarm would be stagnant and no one wants to be stagnant.  The path of becoming less like Jesus is the path of sin and that only leads to death and destruction.  Paul instead urges us to seek to grow from “one degree of glory to another” as we strive to grow in our faith.

As Moses’ face reflected God’s glory, our lives should also reflect God’s glory that is within us.  The love that Jesus has for us is the love that we should reflect to others.  He challenges us to love others as He first loved us.  As we grow in our faith and in the depth of our understanding of Jesus, we come to know more and more how deep and vast and wide His love is for us.  As we grow in this way, we are in essence moving from one degree of glory to the next as our lives come to reflect His love more and more to those around us.

This transformation that is occurring in us should be noticeable to those in our lives.  If we are growing in our faith, others should see this.  The love and compassion we exhibit should slowly grow.  The care and understanding we offer should slowly become greater and greater.  The depth of mercy and forgiveness we extend should be ever-increasing.  In all aspects of our lives we should be seeking to become more and more like Christ.  This day may we strive to grow a little more in our faith, growing so that we may know Jesus more, reflecting His glory in increasing measure.

Scripture reference: 2 Corinthians 3:17 to 4:2


by Leave a comment

Shining

Paul reminds us how Moses’ face would shine after he had spent time with God.  It was a physical reminder of the Israelites direct connection to God.  So in those moments when Moses was still aglow, the words he shared from God must have carried a little extra weight.  Paul also points out, however, that the Israelites were also quick to forget God’s words and to turn away.  The light of God’s glory quickly faded for some of the people.

Jesus’ gift to us is the Holy Spirit.  Paul parallels the glory of God shining on Moses with the glory of the Holy Spirit dwelling in each of us.  When we have the Holy Spirit living within us, then we too can shine God’s glory out to those we encounter.  God’s light and love dwelling in us should be a constant glow that radiates from us through our lives in the many ways we share our faith and hope with others.

But we too can be like the Israelites.  We too can mask the light within at times as we make poor decisions and sinful choices.  In these times we are like Moses putting that veil over God’s glory.  We too can become stubborn or unwilling to allow the light of the Holy Spirit that is within to guide our steps.  God can place opportunities before us and the Spirit can nudge us towards them and we can still turn away.  We can sometimes be too good at rationalizing or making excuses.

The good news is that the Spirit’s light never goes out and it continues to work in us.  Sometimes it convicts us and steels us for action when the next opportunity comes.  Sometimes it softens our hearts and makes us more willing the next time.  May we learn to be ever open to allowing the Spirit free reign so that God’s glory will shine forth from us for all to see!

Scripture reference: 2 Corinthians 3: 12-16


by Leave a comment

Experience God

Reds, oranges, and yellows slowly fill the sky as the sun begins to break forth over the horizon.  At the end of the day, the occasional purple or blue may mix with the reds, oranges, and yellows as God says ‘good night’ and brings rest to the earth.  The beauty, power, and majesty we find in sunrises and sunsets is spoken in every language in every place on earth.  “Their voice goes out into all the earth”, declares the psalmist.

As a Youth growing up in Connecticut, I can remember going out early to a rural turkey farm early on Easter morning.  We would arrive when it was still dark.  It was always cold.  As we waited in only the calm sounds of nature, one could sense God was near.  Slowly the sun would creep up and begin to warm our silent faces, simply watching God’s handiwork unfold.  Once the sun was risen, we would join in song, prayer, and the Word for our Easter sunrise service.  The sunrise was always like God’s welcoming presence coming amongst us.

We were very intentional about awaiting God’s entrance and His presence on those mornings.  Sometimes life can just become so busy that opportunities like this are gobbled up.  We can work and work and work and become so consumed that we miss the beauty of God’s voice calling out to us as it echoes through nature.  We miss those still moments where God is trying to consume us with His power and beauty and majesty so that He can refresh and renew our spirits and our souls.  It is a shame we so often miss it.

“The heavens declare the glory of God” reminds the psalmist.  May we more often make the time to experience the things of God.  Let it begin today.

Scripture reference: Psalm 19: 1-6


by Leave a comment

Our Worship

What kind of worship do you think God likes best?  Yes, I did ask that.  I think God most likes the worship that brings all the glory and honor to Him.  That may happen in a lot of different styles and settings and experiences.

Ezra read from the scriptures and the people listened attentively.  They raised their hands up toward heaven, seeking to connect to God.  They bowed their heads low, seeking to demonstrate their obedience and submission to God, to His holy Word.  In prayer they laid low to the ground.  All of these gestures were done to bring honor and glory to God alone and to indicate the conditions of their hearts – hearts fully committed to God.  But this is not the only way on can worship God.  David danced in the streets as he worshiped God.  Jesus went alone up on the mountain to worship God.

In our churches, our worship can vary greatly too.  It amazes me how many ways we can worship God and bring our praises to glorify God.  Musically it can be a stirring organ or a rocking praise band or a beautiful piano gently playing a song.  Vocally it can be a moving choir or a single voice lifted beautifully in praise or it can be a whole congregation raising the roof.  Prayer can be vocal with hands lifted high or it can be kneeling at the rail with head bowed low in reverent silence.  The Word can be read together or it may just be the liturgist.  The variances in tone, gesture, inflection, pace, and so on can be great even within one sermon.

God desires our worship to reflect the condition of our heart.  Does our individual worship on a Sunday in church reveal a faith fully committed to God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength?  Does our worship fill us so completely full of God that we have to go through the week ahead pouring Him out to all we meet?  This is the worship God desires.

Scripture reference: Nehemiah 8: 5-6


by Leave a comment

For the Common Good

“For the Common good” is why we are given gifts.  It is part of the concept of being one big family or of being one body with many parts, each working together.  Our varied and unique gifts are meant to unite us as we come to learn what we each can offer to the whole.

In life we each face situations.  Sometimes we can maneuver through them on our own.  In other cases, we are a little more pressed and the gifts and skills God has given us are not quite enough.  In these times we need to call on others whose gifts will help with our situation.  There are two byproducts of this system God designed: as individuals we experience humility as we rely on others.  As part of the body we come to value and appreciate others for their role in the larger community of faith.

For us to play a role in this system, we must know what our gifts are.  The list in today’s reading includes teaching, discernment, healing, prophesying, and speaking in and interpreting tongues.  In Romans 12 is another list and in Galatians 5 we find a list of the fruits of the Spirit, which can also be seen as gifts we possess and can share with others.

For some of us, our gifts are revealed through our passions.  For example, one drawn to working with young people discovers their gift for teaching.  Often we “do” what we are gifted at or with.  For others, it takes effort and sometimes trial and error to find their gifts.  And, uniquely, for some their gifts are totally different than what they do for a living.

Whatever the case, we are each called to use our gifts for the common good.  May God’s Spirit work in us to reveal our gifts if we do not know them.  If we do, may God provide opportunities for us to exercise our gifts today, for the common good and for God’s glory.

Scripture reference: 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11


by Leave a comment

All the Praise and Glory

At Christmas it can be easy to get into the receiving mode.  Although Christmas is really about the birth of Christ, it can be easy to slip into this mode.  Today’s passage begins by listing all we receive in and through Christ.  Through Jesus Christ we are blessed and adopted as children of God.  In Jesus’ blood we find the forgiveness of our sins.  Through Jesus’ perfect life and example we have come to know God’s will.  In Christ, through a personal relationship with Him, we receive the gift of our eternal inheritance.  In this list we find much that we “get” from Christ.  But that us not the point of the passage.

Paul’s first point is to remind us why we receive so much.  His answer is rooted solely in one thing: love.  We are part of God’s family, washed clean in Jesus’ blood, and promised eternal life because God loves us deeply.  It is a love that sees all of our flaws and sins and tendency to be independent yet loves us unconditionally anyway.

Paul’s second point is to reveal our correct response to all that God has given: to praise His name.  In doing so we turn all the attention to God.  God is at the center of it all and our praise needs to recognize and acknowledge God as our all in all.  In doing so we become less and He becomes more.  It is as it should be.  To Him be all the glory and praise forever and ever!  Amen.

Scripture reference: Ephesians 1: 3-14


by Leave a comment

Work for God

Do you work for God or for yourself?  In the reading of this psalm, if you work for yourself, you are working in vain.  Since the beginning of humanity, it has been God’s intent for us to work.  Right away He set Adam to work caring for the garden.  As ones created in the image of God, we are made as creators and laborers.  Our work is for a purpose and that purpose is greater than ourselves.

When we do our work apart from or without God, it is in vain.  When our work becomes addictive or compulsive or all-consuming, it is far from God.  On the other extreme, when our work is lazy or shoddy or resentful, this too is far from God.  When our labor is all about us and cares nothing for God or those around us, then it is easy for it to become these bad things.

Instead our work must be done for God.  The purpose of our labor needs to be aligned with God.  On a basic level our work must provide for ourselves and for our loved ones.  But it must also bless those around us.  Part of this idea again goes back to how we work.  When we are joyful, hard-working, honest, encouraging, supportive, and so on, we bless those we work with.  The other part is that the fruits of our work become the tangible ways in which we bless those in need.

For some, our ‘work’ is school or what one does in retirement.  The goal is still the same: to honor and bring glory to God through how we ‘work’.  Each day may God and His purposes be the focus of our labor.  Each day may we bless others through our labor and the fruit of our hands.

Scripture reference: Psalm 127


by Leave a comment

Wisdom

The author of proverbs parallels the characteristics of a noble and good wife with wisdom.  Through the way this wife manages her household and through how she conducts herself, she is revealed as one full of wisdom.  Her wisdom is shown and revealed in how she lives out her life.  The writer knows that the goal cannot be to simply obtain wisdom but that it must make a difference in our lives and that it must be lived out.

Wisdom is to be lived out in several ways.  The wise one goes to work, acts with kindness and common sense, spreads justice and mercy, and serves and honors those around them.  Wisdom cannot be passive but must be active and must engage the world around us.

There is much wisdom in the Bible.  Jesus and many others offered lessons on how we are to live our lives and how we are to live out our faith.  By spending time in the Word, we gain wisdom.  Once we learn something though, it is just the beginning.  It only becomes ‘real’ and useful when we apply it to how we live our lives.  Once we do this, we in turn grow wiser in our daily decisions.  This is one way we allow our light to shine in the world.

We must be in the Word daily.  There we find the gems that help us to walk our path of salvation in a way that is a little more aligned with God’s plans for our lives.  As we gain and live out God’s wisdom, we bring honor and glory to God.

Scripture reference: Proverbs 31: 10-31


by Leave a comment

In All we Say and Do

Words can be so powerful.  Just with simple words one can describe a scene in such great detail that you almost can see a snapshot of it in your mind.  Words can also be chosen and delivered carefully for very specific purposes.  With just the right words we can encourage, uplift, and comfort.  In the same way we can edify, strengthen, and build up one another.  Words are powerful.

Each of us can recall times when someone said just the right thing at just the right time.  In those words we found healing or renewal or a lift in our spirit.  We can still remember those words.  In a similar way we each have used our own words to come alongside another in need.  The Holy Spirit often nudges and leads us to these opportunities.  Our role is to be open to the guidance and to be a willing voice.

On the flip side of all of this, the tongue can also be powerful in negative or harmful ways.  James is well aware of the human condition and rightly warns us to be careful with our tongues.  Commentary writer Patrick Harden puts it well: “Sins of the tongue are the hardest to avoid.”  Just as we’ve all been stung or hurt by words, we too have all stung or hurt others.  And in almost every case we have felt the Spirit’s nudge or heard the voice whispering to us to choose a better way.  In our journey of faith, may we learn to follow as led and to heed as warned so that we my bring honor and glory to God in all we do and say.

Scripture reference: James 3: 1-5a