pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: God


by Leave a comment

The Relationship

In Exodus 33 God decides to take a little break from the Israelites.  He tells Moses that an angel will accompany them instead.  But Moses does not like the plan.  Its kinda like having Michael Jordan on your team and him telling you he’s sending his four-year-old niece instead next game.

For Moses, it is about that personal relationship he has with God and also about the corporate relationship the people have with God.  The relationship is with God, not an angel.  To Moses, no substitute will do.  An angel instead?  No thanks.

Put in the same situation, we should react the same way.  Today we view God as three ‘parts’ of one person – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Our personal faith is tied to God.  This relationship is the one thing that determines how we live our life.  Jesus told us that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Our faith grows as our relationships with God deepens and we in turn become a greater part of the community as well.

As a community of faith, we are also bound up in this same relationship.  How we live as a community of faith is determined by our relationship with God as well.  And in the community of faith we find support, encouragements, correction, and learning.   We honor Jesus’ second command most often as a community – to love neighbor as self.  As a body of believers we are intertwined and interconnected not only with each other, but also with the greater world outside our church walls.

Scripture reference: Exodus 33: 12-23


by Leave a comment

Focus in on God and Good

Paul encourages us to stand firm in the Lord and to rejoice in the Lord.  He directs us to go to God with our prayers and petitions.  This brings the peace of God upon us.  Paul also reminds us to do our part – to think about what is true, noble, right, pure, admirable, and praiseworthy.  Simply put, he calls us to focus in on the good.

How we look at the world really affects how we live our life.  For example, if one spends a lot of time complaining, then life is generally unhappy and what they focus on is dominated by bad thoughts.  Loving God and neighbor is a difficult task when all are against you.  On the other hand, when one focused on God and all the good in the world, then life is generally happy and content.  “Life” still happens but the issues and situations carry less weight because God carries the bulk when we focus on Him.

Also, as we fill our minds with what is true, noble, right, … then there is less time for evil or impure thoughts.  As we focus in on the good and God, then He guards our hearts and minds so that our energy and efforts dwell on God and His plans for us in the world.  And the God of peace will be with us.

Scripture reference: Philippians 4: 1-9


by Leave a comment

Home Again

It is a little amusing how God and Moses play the game we play as parents.  Sometimes, when a child does something especially good (or wrong), we often recognize them as MY son or daughter (or as YOUR son or daughter when it is something wrong).  In Exodus 32, the Israelites are Moses’ children because they have sinned and created an idol.  God is intent on destroying them.  It is easier when they are someone else’s children!

But Moses draws God back, reminds Him that they are His children.  He connects them to God through Abraham, Isaac, and Israel and the promises and covenant made with them.  And God remembers, softens, and relents.

Do you think God and Jesus do this with us?  When we sin or create distance between God and ourselves, does God look toward Jesus and say, “Look what you brother/sister is doing”?  When we repent and draw near to God again, does Jesus look to God and point out what good children God has?  In reality they are like good parents – sad when we do wrong and proud when we do right.  Like good parents, they love us unfailingly through it all, always pleased when we return home again.

Scripture reference: Exodus 32: 7-14


by Leave a comment

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


by Leave a comment

Open and Willing

Ah, Monday morning.  Welcome to the new week!  Some people face Monday full of expectation, hope, and wonder at what God has in store for them in the week ahead.  The rest of the people… well, they should wish for the same thing.

For most of us, our week ahead will be much like last week in the sense that our ‘job’ is probably the same.  The structure of our week and the tasks ahead remain mostly the same, but the details and the interactions will be a little different.  For most of us, it is in the small things that we encounter God and the possibilities He lays before us in the coming week.

In Psalm 106 we read, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His love endures forever.”  We worship and know a mighty God.  He has big plans for us this week.  Who in your day today or in the week ahead can you share this wonderful truth with?  May our eyes be open and our hearts willing to meet God when and where He provides those opportunities in the day and days ahead.

Scripture reference: Psalm 106: 1-6

 


by Leave a comment

Bearing Fruit

God’s love is unfailing and unending.  His pursuit of us is constant.  God’s mercy and grace is a constant stream flowing to our souls.  His patience is vast.

In Matthew 21 we find the parable of the vineyard owner.  He plants a vineyard and rents it to some tenants.  This scenario parallels God’s creation of His kingdom and we are the tenants who inhabit it.  We are not owners and this earth is not our final destination.  We exist here for a short time.  Eternity will be spent elsewhere.

As we live out our lives, God expects us to bear fruit.  As His children, we are called to care for those in need, to give out of the abundance that He blesses us with.  Like the servants who came to the vineyard for the owner’s share of the fruit, God sends people into our lives that we can yield some fruit to.  Maybe it is something physical like food or shelter or clothing, maybe it is our time that we give to others.

May we hear the warning in this parable and not be like the wretched tenants who want to keep it all for themselves.  May we see that all we have is from God, the owner.  May we seek to build His kingdom by allowing our blessings to flow out to others, bearing them up in love, grace, and mercy.

Scripture reference: Matthew 21: 33-46


by Leave a comment

Allow His Voice

This morning I hear wave after wave of rain as it lands on the windows, buffeted by the wind.  In the quiet of the early morning, the rain is an audible presence.  A few days ago the sunrise broke over the horizon in a beautiful fashion.  The streaks of light and glow of the sun came forth in the stillness of the morning.  God and all of that creative ability shines forth in so many of the things in nature.  We can connect to God so easily in the beauty and stillness of creation.  To sit alone under a tree listening to the birds sing or to sit on a rock listening to the crash of the waves can renew and refresh our soul.  We can come into tune with God in these moments.

Sometimes though, we struggle with silence or the lack of noise.  We turn on the radio or TV or make small talk to fill the void of sound.  But if we always surround ourselves with noise, it is easy to miss God’s still, small voice.  In daily prayer time, allow God a moment or two.  Give Him a space to speak into your life.  In your time of reading and study, do the same.  God has so much to offer into the silence if we only slow down and seek out His voice.  Allow His voice to speak to you.  It may be to reveal something, to give you guidance, or simply to say, ‘I love you, my child.”

Scripture reference: Psalm 19: 1-6


by Leave a comment

Signs, Warnings, and Guidance

God issued the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness.  He was seeking to give the a road map to life as a follower of God.  Some laws pointed them to the only true God (no idols!).  Other laws were warnings against using His name in vain, against stealing, murder, coveting, and so on.  One law even reminded them to take a sabbath rest and to connect to Him on that day.

Thousands of years later these rules still apply and we still struggle with some of them.  Well, maybe we struggle with most of them.  At times we allow idols to rule our lives – the idols of money or power or recognition or gossip.  We can chase after these idols.  At times we may take more than we need or deserve and maybe do not always give 10% of our time or money back to God each day.  We can hold a pretty tight grip on these things.  At other times we may even be jealous of what another has.  We can cast a longing eye at their new boat or their spouse or their musical or athletic ability.

Yet God does not give up on us.  The Holy Spirit continues to place signs, to nudge us, to speak truth into our lives.  As we learn to heed and to listen to these things, God refines us.  Our path gradually becomes more aligned with the path that Jesus walked.  Our footsteps stray and wander less as we grow in our faith and continue to become more and more Christ-like.  The path can be challenging and Satan will always continue to place temptations before us.  Yet God is always there, cheering us on, always pouring His grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness into us.  May we trust and lean into His strength and guidance as we seek to continue on our journey of faith.

Scripture reference: Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, and 12-20


by Leave a comment

Where Did You See Him?

Stop for a moment and think about where you saw God present yesterday.  Gather a few snapshots in your mind of those scenes.  As I smile over the ones in my mind, is occur sot me that this is a spiritual discipline that we should practice more often.

I saw God yesterday in William’s eyes and heard it in his voice as he shared his story with me, as we took a few minutes to connect.  I saw God yesterday in the children who simply beamed and giggled as the tumbled and slid down the slide in the inflatable.  The joy in their eyes was uplifting.  God was present in our Youth as they lovingly shepherded and helped the kids in line, in the hay, or in the inflatables.  God was present in the volunteer who quickly gave another caramel apple to the child before a tear could form over the apple the child just dropped on the ground.

Where did you see God yesterday?

God is present in the joy, in the laughter, in the smiles and giggles, in the simple kind gestures.  He is present in so many ways and I am so thankful for His presence.  Glory to God!

Scripture reference: Philippians 2: 1-11


by Leave a comment

Through Reading and Prayer and Action

When we read and pray through the Bible, we are making  choice to spend time with God and Jesus.  We see God’s power, might, love, mercy and sense of justice revealed as we read and pray through the Old Testament.  We also draw closer to our creator and become more in tune with God.  Even Jesus spent time reading and praying through the scriptures in the synagogue.

In the New Testament we encounter Jesus, God made flesh.  In reading and praying through the New Testament we come to know the compassion, forgiveness, grace, and love of neighbor – parts of God that Jesus more fully revealed to us.  Through Jesus Christ we gain a more complete understanding of who God is and who we are called to be as a child of God and as a disciple of Christ.

As we read and pray through the scriptures, the Holy Spirit comes alongside us to help us understand, to gain insights, and to live out our faith.  The Holy Spirit also bring sus the words to teach our faith to our children and as we share our faith with the stranger.  The Spirit guides us as we live out our faith through acts of mercy and compassion, helping us to live out the love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and power we find in God and in Christ Jesus.

As we read and pray through the scriptures, we not only come to know and understand God and Jesus better, but also to sense our own personal call to share our faith with the broken world in which we live.  By sharing our faith, we express both an act of worship to God and an act of thanksgiving for the many ways in which He blesses our lives.  In James 4:8 we read: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you”.  May we draw near so that we may draw others near as well!

Scripture reference: Psalm 78: 1-4 and 12-16