pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: God


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God Always Present

Psalm 23 is one the best known psalms.  It is a psalm many know by heart.  It is a passage that assures us of God’s grace and love for us.  It is a passage that speaks of God’s constant and steady hand upon us as we walk on our journey of faith.  It is a passage that speaks of God blessing us and a promise of His goodness and mercy as we live with God in our hearts.  It is a psalm of thanksgiving.

Yet it is also a psalm that brings great comfort and peace.  It is a psalm that reminds us that God is present beside the still waters and in the green pasture.  It is also a passage that assures us that in our dark and sad times, God is there too.  In the dark valleys we need him more than ever, as He is always there.

For all of these things, His presence in both the good and in the bad, we give thanks.  Romans 15:13 reads: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him; so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy spirit.”  Hope does not disappoint, for God is always near.


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Practice, Practice, Practice

In order for a famous musician to offer a great concert, they practice.  They begin with scales and other exercises and they practice their score.  In order for a dance to shine on the stage, they must build their bodies and practice skills as well as the actual routine.  The musician and dance both put in much for that relatively short time on the stage.  They do so that they will seem like ‘naturals’ on the stage.

Do we live our life in such a way too?  Do we read the Bible daily to gain knowledge and to find that little nugget each day that we can take with us and live with that day?  Do we seek God’s presence during prayer throughout the day?  Do we offer Him praise in both  the good and the bad?  Do we practice our disciplines so that living our faith is the ‘natural’ way that we live our life?

Or are we a little lacking on our daily homework?  Is our practice insufficient for the important moments when God calls upon us to be His disciple each and every day?  Or are we ready?  Have we put in the time so that when another in need stands before us, that it just seems natural to offer what is needed?  It is not for our glory that we serve.  It is not so that the person walks away thinking how great a person we are.  It is so that the person walks away thinking how great a God we serve.  It is so that light that shines in us draws them to the Light of the world.  That is why we practice.


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Walking Along Our Road

Do you remember when you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior and entered into a relationship with Him?  It may be a moment you can name and date – a ‘born again’ type of experience.  It may have been a gradual shift from the stories of Noah and Jonah to coming to know and believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins.  In either case, from the point of decision forward, one is never the same person again.

Often this prompts the awareness that we need to change and we begin to try and live more and more for Christ.  At first we notice and work on the ‘big’ and obvious sins in our lives.  These obvious ones usually fall away quickly.  And as we grow in our faith, we begin to see the less obvious sins in our lives.  Ridding ourselves of these sins can be harder – they often have deeper roots and reside within us where others cannot see them as easily and where we can try to keep them tucked away.  Yet there is hope.  For in and through Christ, we can begin to conquer these deeper sins as well.

As we live into Christ, we are drawn to share our joy and also to enter into other’s pain. We grow to risk greater for our Lord and Savior.  As we risk and step out in faith, we move a little further along our journey of faith and a little deeper in our relationship with Christ deepens.  May your walk be good today!!


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Arriving Sooner

As the two disciples walked towards Emmaus, the loss of Jesus was heavy on their hearts, but the story of Jesus being alive provided some hope.  As I read these verses in Luke 24 I can gear some excitement in their voices as they ponder the possibility.  But there is still a little doubt and confusion because they don’t fully understand that it is all part of God’s plan.

We have all been there – in the midst of some heartache or struggle – questioning why and feeling oh so lost.  And then suddenly He is right there, walking alongside of us, right in the here and now.  And like Jesus walking along the road to Emmaus, He too speaks into our situation and we begin to come out of our sorrow or confusion.  God’s plan starts to come into focus.

We begin to see again that we are part of God’s plan, and we continue to walk on.  But we walk with a new warmth in our heart for that little taste of heaven has put a little bounce in our step.  As we continue on our journey of faith, the taste of heaven becomes a taste for heaven as God becomes a 24/7 part of life instead of a here and there part.  We become a part of helping heaven being a part of this life.  And like the two on the road to Emmaus, we wonder why we didn’t “arrive” sooner!


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He is That Big

Standing on a beach, looking out across the ocean, it seems like you can see forever.  Despite our natural vision ending at the horizon, we  know the ocean goes on.  It extends beyond what we can see yet we know there is more out there.

If one just stays still and looks out across the water, all else seems to disappear.  We loose sense of the breeze and the warm sand and even of the waves landing on the beach.

As we look out into our faith and look out to find God, one begins to sense something like the ocean.  Our faith can be as vast as the ocean.  Our faith can have no visual end.  Our God is that big.

Yet in that vastness we can find God at any point or at any place.  When the waves of life start landing on our shores, we can find God.  When the breezes start to toss us about, we can look into our faith and draw near to God.  When the sand beneath our feet start to shift and seem to be getting unstable, we can seek God out.  Our God is that big.  He is always everywhere and anywhere to uplift, to encourage, to comfort, to heal, to call us forward, to call us out, to cleanse us of our sins, to love us.  Our God is that big.  Thanks be to God!!


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Breathe In, Breathe Out

As the disciples hid in the room following Jesus’ death, I wonder what the strongest emotion was – fear of the Jews, sorrow and grief over the loss of Jesus, confusion about what to do next, uncertainty about hearing Jesus is alive, shame for abandoning Him?  Each of the disciples was probably feeling a mix of at least a few of these emotions.

Then suddenly, Jesus is standing right there.  Speaking right into all of the emotions that the disciples must have been going through, He offers them His peace and shows them his nail-scarred hands and feet.  He first restores their friendship and then removes any doubt with a physical sign.  Jesus is saying, “It’s OK” and “See, it’s me!”

Jesus then breathes on the disciples the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.  He shares with them His power.  The disciples are then charged to go out and offer forgiveness of sins to those who seek forgiveness.  The disciples can go forth and unbind others from the sins that hold them down.  Just as Jesus entered that room and offered the disciples peace and relief from all that was keeping them bound up, the disciples can now too offer that to others.  Like the disciples being able to walk from that room of hiding out into the open, with forgiveness others can walk from darkness into the light.

The Holy Spirit, through Jesus’ power, offers us that same gift.  We can breath in the Holy Spirit, receive forgiveness, and breathe out God’s love.  As His disciples today, we can help others to become unbound from what keeps them hiding in that small, dark room.  We may not be able to forgive their sins, but we can certainly share the One with them who can forgive their sins and restore them.  May we allow the Holy Spirit to be ever-present with us so that we can breath in and breathe out.


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Strength and Refuge

God is often seen as our strength and our refuge.  We sometimes pray most ardently when life has taken a turn for the worse and when we feel we have nowhere else to turn.  And yes, He  hears our prayers.  Psalm 16:2 reads, “You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.”  It is important to remember His blessings as we struggle or wrestle with His answer to our prayer.

At times when all is well in our lives, we can drift away from God and come to rely and trust more in ourselves and our own abilities.  We can also look to other things or people as well.  Whether it is self or medical technology or some other earthly power, we are looking to a false idol.  Verse 4 reads, “The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods.”  It is not that God is punishing us for turning to something else for our strength and refuge, it is that we lose that contentment from God being our strength and refuge – during the good and the bad times.  It is just that in the bad times we notice the lacking more.

God is our strength and refuge.  The psalmist assures us that God assigns us our cup and portion and that God keeps us secure.  We are also reminded that in Him we have a ‘delightful inheritance’.  Psalm 20:4 reads, “May God give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.”  May the desire of our hearts be to live fully with God as our strength and refuge!


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The Call of Jesus

Judas betrays Jesus first in his heart, then later in action.  Was he forcing Jesus’ hand to prod Jesus into becoming the powerful, earthly king that Judas longed for him to be?  Maybe this was Judas’ goal and he cared little for 30 pieces of silver.  Or was Judas filled with greed and saw this as an opportunity to make a little money?  Maybe part of Judas thought Jesus would get out of this jam too. Either way, Judas was guided by Satan, the great deceiver.

But how could one so close to Jesus come to betray Him?  How could one of the twelve think that Jesus had come to sit on an earthly throne?  How could… But each of the twelve does deny or betray Jesus in the end.  Even Peter, the Rock, flat out denies Jesus three times in the courtyard.  All of the disciples scatter and go into hiding after the crucifixion.  Most don’t even go to the hill of Calvary to see Jesus draw the last breath and to die for the sin of the world.

Maybe this was just the lot cast to Judas, cast by powers far beyond him.  We know that Judas doe snot live long afterwards.  Was it guilt or remorse that drove him to take his own life?  Or was it him wanting to be reunited with the risen Lord?

When I think of my life, I realize how often I deny or betray Jesus.  I do every time I say that I want to be the one in control.  I do ever time I won’t fully hand over the reigns to Jesus.  I do every time I turn away from one I could help.  I do every time I choose not to see Jesus in the eyes of those in need.  Yes, sadly the list could go on. What does your list of denials and betrayals look like?

But thanks be to God!!  His mercy and love and forgiveness never fail.  God is right there to pick us back up, to dust us off, to give us a little hug and pat on the back, and to send us right back out there to be His light and love in our world.  May our eyes and ears and hearts be better attuned to hearing and answering the call.  Thanks be to God!!


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Who Are You Today?

What would it be to be there in Jerusalem that day Jesus rode in on a donkey?  Could you imagine being there and not knowing what was to unfold in the next week?  We read the Palm Sunday story through the eyes of knowing what is to come on the cross.

But imagine if you were just there!  Imagine if you were one of the disciples sent ahead to get the donkey and her colt.  And they were just where he said they’d be and you simply get them and bring them to Jesus.

Imagine if you were just in the huge crowd that day.  You’ve heard a few stories about this Jesus and here he is processing into the city.  People are cheering and laying down their cloaks and also palm branches.  Can you feel the excitement?

Imagine if you were a Pharisee!  Standing atop the wall, watching all of this unfold as you reviewed the plan your crew has been hatching to be rid of this Jesus.  And in he rides to cheering crowds and shouts of “Hosanna!”

There were lots of people.  There was lots of excitement and anticipation.  There was a lot of hope.

Think about the day ahead of you with Jesus.  Which one of the three are you?  The hopeful disciple?  The curious onlooker?  The Pharisee who just wants to be rid of this Jesus?

If you are the first, think about how you can share this hope.  If you are the onlooker, how can you know more?  If you are the last, may you meet lots of the first today!  God bless!!!


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Martha, Martha… Martha!!

When we first meet Martha in Luke’s gospel she is too busy with the work to come sit at Jesus’ feet.  She is upset with her sister Mary who is ‘just’ sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to him teach.  Are we sometimes like this version of Martha?  Too busy to see wh or what God places before us?  Of worse yet, do we see it yet think we are too busy and rush right past to get to what we think is a more important meeting, event, project, task..?

But sometimes we are the Martha we find in John 11, the story of Lazarus’ resurrection.  Martha comes to Jesus in her grief and acknowledges Him as the Messiah, the Son of God.  She professes that Jesus and God are connected, that God will do whatever Jesus asks.  But I don’t think that Martha is thinking Jesus will resurrect Lazarus at this point.  I think she is making this profession because she knows her faith is what will get her through this difficult loss.  Most of us have been there.  After questioning why God has allowed something to happen, we turn to Him and acknowledge His Lordship in our lives.  Our faith carries us through.  Yet it is a faith that is always there.

At times we display this rock-solid faith displayed by Martha.  We truly know Jesus as Lord of our life.  We acknowledge that all we have and all we are is His.  As we draw near to Easter, when we celebrate Jesus’ victory over death, may we have faith like Martha – fully walking with God, living in that faith that is always there.