pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: God


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Make It Yours

Where are you God?!  That is the cry of Israel in Psalm 80.  Catastrophe has struck and, therefore, they question where God is.  Surely He is not present, or this would have never happened.  Been there before?

In the midst of tragedy the Israelites beg God to turn His face to them and to shine on them.  Once God looks on His people, He will see their hardship and He will restore them.  He will stop the suffering at the hands of their foe.  Ever sought this?

Verse 17 asks God to let His hand ‘rest upon the son of man’, the one He raised up.  If so, the promise is they will not turn away but will call on His name – after God revives them.  A familiar if-then bargain!  Sound familiar?

The relationship we are called to is 24-7-365.  It is the same in the good and in the bad and everything in between.  God is always present to us.  His love and mercy are always available.  Make it yours each day.

Scripture reference: Psalm 80: 1-7 and 17-19


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Change

Change is hard and forced change is even harder.  In times of change we feel uncertain and emotions can rule the day.  Sometimes we wish we could just go back to the way thing were or we wish we could just disappear.  When it gets bad and we realize that we cannot handle it anymore on our own, we turn to God.

Change feels threatening and makes our world feel unstable.  We like routine and to feel secure.  All of us like someone by our side in times of stress and God fits the bill perfectly.  He wants to bring us peace, comfort, strength, presence.

In the midst of change we often seek someone else to blame.  (It is like this when we sin too!)  When our situation doesn’t improve, we can really blame God and others.  It is hard to point the finger in the mirror.  Yet when we can manage to step away for a moment and to draw a breath in, then we can begin to trust into our God who so desires to be in relationship, who so desires to pour love and guidance into our lives.  Change can be big and scary, but God is bigger and stronger.

Scripture reference: Isaiah 64: 1-9


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Shout for Joy and Sing

Do you feel blessed by God?  Sometimes that is a hard question to answer.  Maybe in some ways one feels blessed while in other ways, not so much.  Life naturally brings is hard moments when it is hard to see God’s blessings.  Yet, in the big picture, we are so blessed by God in so many ways.  We are indeed blessed.

In Psalm 65, David reminds us that those God chooses are blessed by the things of His temple.  We too have the opportunity for these blessings.  Each Sunday is a chance to receive God’s blessings, poured out in song, prayer, and word.

David also reminds us of another of God’s blessings.  In verse five we are reminded that God is the “hope of all the ends of the earth.”  Or hope lies in Christ and the power over death that He won on the cross.  By the blood of the Lamb, God offers us the forgiveness of our sins.  What a blessing indeed!

God blesses each of us in so many ways.  In ways large and small, He provides.  For all of His blessings, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, I am thankful.  This day may we shout for joy and sing as an offering of our thanksgiving to our Lord God Almighty!

Scripture reference: Psalm 65


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Amazing Love

As I think about my children, my wife, my parents, I am thankful for their love.  Two night ago we went to a concert with some of my Youth.  The singer of one of the bands spoke of a song that he wrote for his dying grandpa and he encouraged us to remember to tell those who we love that we love them.  Abby, my daughter, came running up and gave me a big hug.  It was so special.

In this simple act of love, I caught a glimpse of God’s love for us.  It was so simple and pure, yet also so powerful.  We have a God who loves and treasures us more that we can imagine or fathom.  This love is there to lift us up when we are down.  It is there to lift us higher when we soar.  We cannot do anything to make God love us more and we cannot do anything to make Him love us less.  His love is that amazing.  Thank you God for your great love!!

Scripture reference: Ephesians 1: 15-19


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Gifts or Assets?

Each opportunity that God lays before us come with some degree of risk.  If the opportunity is to share our faith story, we risk rejection or maybe ridicule.  If the opportunity is to help someone in need, we risk being a frequent ask.  If it is trying a new ministry, we risk failure.

Each of these things calls for us to risk something.  Anytime we invest ourselves or our talents, there is a chance we will gie something away.  This is a good thing.  We are often not ‘losing’ something but are giving to another and it blesses us both.  But for many of us and many in the church, we are averse to risk.

God blesses us all abundantly.  In reality, all is His.  For some the blessing is financial, for others it is an abundance of time.  Each of us also have talents and skills that He has blessed us with.  Each of us have gifts to offer.  How we look at these gifts from God largely determines what we do with them.  Do we see the gifts as just that or do we see them as assets?

Assets are to be managed and kept safe.  Gifts are to be used and to be given away. For a moment think about God and manna, deliverance, land, provision.  Think about Jesus and healing, kindness, love.  Now, do you have gifts or assets?  May we give to others richly, blessing them as God has blessed us.

Scripture reference: Matthew 25: 14-30


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Faithful Followers

During my quiet time in the morning I can focus pretty well on God.  As I read, pray, ponder, and write faith is at the center.  But as the rest of the day unfolds, I can lose that focus on God for periods.  He pops back in here and there, but I should seek His presence and direction on a more regular basis.

It is easy to plunge into the day, seeking to check things of my “to do” list instead of seeking Him.  It is easy to get caught up in a “what if” moments instead of getting lost in Him.  It is easy to wallow in indecision instead of bathing in His guidance and direction.  Each of these is a choice.

So how do we choose wisely and in a way that honors God and develops our relationship with Him?  Paul offers us some suggestions in 1st Thessalonians.  First, prepare ourselves for the day by putting on faith and love as our breastplate and the hope of salvation as our helmet.  Arm ourselves with God as w begin to face the day.  Come back regularly as we feel a chink developing in our armor.  Second, encourage and build each other up.  Knowing we have support and having the right outlook goes a long way towards helping us walk the path that God intends for us.  This day, through His strength and through the support and with the prayers of our Christians brothers and sisters, may we be the faithful followers we are called to be.

Scripture reference: 1 Thessalonians 5: 6-11


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Ours to Invest

In the Parable of the Talents, the three servants had a choice in what to do with what they were given.  Two chose to risk a little and work the gift and it grew.  One chose to bury the gift in the ground.  The two were rewarded for their efforts and the one was scolded and tossed aside.

Each of us are also given much.  We may not have huge sums of money to invest, but we all have gifts and skills that God blessed us  with AND we all have time.  The question we face is this: how will we invest what God has given us?  God has given us what has been called “divine capital” to invest, but we get to choose how or even if we are going to invest it.

Are your gifts invested or are they buried?  Are you active in pursuing God and your faith or are you just warming a pew every once in a while?  God’s call to us is to be invested in our faith, in the lives of others, and in the building of the kingdom.  And the best news is that God is right here, ready to assist us as we invest.  Just like in the parable, God wants to see us use what we have so that it will grow.  Happy spending!!

Scripture reference: Matthew 25: 14-30


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In Each Moment

Shortly after Christ’s death and resurrection, the believers starting asking “When?”  As in, when will Jesus return?  The early thought was that He would return in their lifetimes.  It turns out ‘soon’ is longer than 2,000 years!!

Paul’s response in 1 Thessalonians still applies today as we are still waiting: what does it matter?  He tells them (and us) to live as a child of the light and nothing else matters.  It is still true today – if we are fully living out the faith that Christ calls us to, then “when” doesn’t matter.

But we like to procrastinate, don’t we?  Live fully for Christ each moment of the day?  I can start that next year or maybe the year after that.  Yet the reality is that the only time that we are guaranteed is right now and we’re not even sure we will make it through the day.  So why wait?  Paul tells us that Jesus will come like a thief in the night, at an hour unexpected.  The only way to be ‘ready’ is to live each moment like it might be our last – loving God and neighbor with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Scripture reference: 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-5


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Allow Him

Think about a time when you felt trapped in a situation or when you felt that you were being treated unjustly.  If it got desperate you were looking for any way out.  At that point you would have taken a hand or a piece of good advice from about anyone.We’ve all been there.  And if we cried out to God for help, He was right there to share the burden or to maybe send relief or show a way out.  In need, we seek Him.

Yet in our day to day, how often we simply go it alone.  Even when it gets a bit hard, we put our head down – not to pray but to barrel through, to try and do it on our own.  God so wants us to seek Him, to be our all in all.  God will even send people across our paths that can offer a hand or a good counsel, but how often we miss them.  It is sometimes hard to look up when our head is bent down.

If we come to God each day with all of our thanks and with all of our needs, then we are more open to seeking His presence and allowing Him to lead in our lives.  The more we choose to honestly connect, the better the connection, the more in touch with God that we are.  Allow Him to draw near and to help carry that burden.

Scripture reference: Judges 4: 1-9


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God as Center

Psalm 123 is a song that the people would sing as they made their way to worship.  They would seek God’s mercy and hand of protection as they prepared their hearts and minds for a time in the presence of God.  The psalm speaks of the people looking toward God as we would look towards someone we trust completely; perhaps your parent or spouse fills this role, perhaps it is God.

For most of us, our world is busy and full of things that compete for our time and energies.  It can be a struggle to carve out space to gaze upon God each day.   But to do so is essential.  In that time and space, as we gaze upon our God, we find renewing of our souls, a calming of the things that swirl around us, and a focus on the things that really matter.  Then as we face the day and all of its things that tug and pull, then God goes with us and is present in the midst of it.

When God is the focus in our personal quiet time each day, then He walks with us all day long.  We begin to see Him in places we wouldn’t normally and in the people and events of our lives.  In those moments of blessing, we are able to connect with God, to be in His presence, and to share Him with others.  As God becomes the center of or lives, His presence will be in all we do and say.  Through this, others will be blessed as well.

Scripture reference: Psalm 123