pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: grow


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Intercessor One

Reading: Romans 8: 26-39

Verse 26: We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us.

Paul knew that we, as humans, are weak.  He knew from his own faith journey that living the life of faith cannot be done on our own.  Through his own life, Paul has discovered that the Holy Spirit is an essential part of one’s faith.  It is only through the power and presence of the Spirit in the life of a believer that one can overcome our human weaknesses.

A key role the Holy Spirit plays in our lives is that of intercessor.  The Spirit works as an advocate for us, coming before God with prayers on our behalf.  When we do not know what to pray for or how to put our mess into words, then the Spirit takes over.  Verse 26 speaks of this: “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us”.  In this way, the Holy Spirit is always bringing our needs before the throne of God.

The second way the Spirit prays for us begins with God searching our hearts.  In doing so, our weaknesses and shortcomings are revealed and the Spirit prays for these “in accordance with the will of God”.  In this way the Spirit helps to form and shape us into the person God created us to be.  Through this prayerful transformation process, we grow to become more like Jesus, the image of God.  As our faith grows and we become more mature in our faith, we become justified through the saving work of Jesus.  In our humanity we will always be weak.  Therefore we will stumble and fall now and then.  In these moments, the love of God again enters in and we are made righteous by His grace.  It is through Jesus that our weakness is made spiritually strong.  Through all of this the Holy Spirit continues to lift us up in prayer, to bring our needs before God, and to reveal in us what needs to conform more to the likeness of Christ.  Thank you God for the gift of the Holy Spirit.


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Living Stones

Reading: 1 Peter 2: 2-10

Verse Five: You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a royal priesthood.

God desires to always be at work in our lives.  God is always looking to build us up, to ever draw us closer to the image of His Son.  But we don’t always cooperate.  Sometimes we halt the building progress.  Sometimes we even tear down what God has built.  Sometimes we wander far and become a total reclamation project.

Peter is the author of today’s text and is a disciple we relate well to.  At times he jumps all in for his faith and does amazing things.  He was the one who climbed out of the boat and walked on water.  And at other times Peter stumbles and falls.  Peter was the one who swore total allegiance to Jesus and later denied knowing His three times that very same night.  In Peter we can see how God kept working on him, kept growing his faith.  In Peter we also see the “rock that made them fall”.

As we look back over our faith journeys, we too can see how we, “the living stones”, are constantly being shaped and formed and reshaped and reformed by God as a “spiritual house to be a royal priesthood”.  As we reflect on our lives of faith, we also can surely see times when we too “rejected the stone” or when we were “out in darkness”.  Just as Peter did, we too experience being called back into the “marvelous light” of Jesus.  As we journey and grow in our faith, we continue to become more and more like Christ.  It is a wonderful journey.

It is a journey that God starts us on and it is a journey that God keeps us on, constantly seeking to be at work in our lives.  No matter what, God continues to lovingly work on us and to call us ever closer to the image of His Son.  When we stumble, God lovingly picks us up and continues us on our journey.  As children of God, “now you have received mercy”.  For God’s love and grace, we say thanks be to God.


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Milk

Reading: 1 Peter 2: 2-3

Verse Two: Like newborn babies, seek pure spiritual milk.

In this short passage, we find an essential of our faith.  At times it often seems newborn babies always want to eat.  Yes, they do sleep for short periods of time and do require moments to get clean diapers, but when awake and clean again they want to eat.  The milk is good and warm and sweet and is pleasing.  Their little growing bodies need the sustenance.  In our faith journey, we should be like the newborn babe.  We should wake up each day craving and hungry for the Word of God.  It should be something we continually pursue so that our little growing faith can continue to develop.

A mother’s milk is good and warm and sweet and pleasing.  It is also just what the baby needs to grow well.  It is pure and contains the nutrients as well as other things that help spur their growth and improve their health.  After day two of life the baby does not begin to look for something else to sustain and nourish it.  The baby instinctively returns to its loving mother.  The Bible and the words contained therein are our pure milk.  We are to come​ to it day after day to grow in our knowledge of God.  Like a mother’s milk, the Word tastes good and warm and sweet and is pleasing.  It provides what we need to nourish our faith.  In this sense, it helps us to grow as believers.  The Word also strengthens us and encourages us in times of trial and distress.  The Word is our “pure spiritual milk”.

A good mother knows the baby must continue to drink pure milk to grow and mature.  Our Father knows the same is true for us concerning our time with the Word.  Both our earthly mothers and our heavenly Father give to us out of love.  Both nurture us along so that we can grow and develop and come to be all we were created to be.  For both our earthly mothers and our heavenly Father, we are grateful.


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Journey

Reading: Psalm 16: 7-11

Verse 8: Because He is my right hand, I will not be shaken.

David fully trusts in God.  This second half of Psalm 16 is a testament to that trust.  It is built upon both positive experiences and upon trials.  It is a trust and faith built upon relationship.  The relationship that David has with God is one God desires to have with you and me as well.

Our relationship with God begins with living as God intends.  Like David’s relationship, God will offer us counsel and instruction.  We also must play our part by reading and meditating on His Word and by engaging our faith in worship, in small groups, and in service to others.  We must also learn to live with hearts attuned to the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  The Spirit is always at work, whispering, nudging, pulling, convicting, reminding.  The Spirit helps us to walk the walk and it keeps the words and ways of God ever on our hearts and minds.

David experiences such a closeness to God that he refers to God as his “right hand”.  He feels as if God were physically a part of him.  That’s closeness.  David finds great joy in this as he declares, “I will not be shaken” and goes on to rejoice over how glad this makes his heart.  David expresses this unshakable security because he knows that God is always near and that God will never abandon him.  The Psalm concludes by again acknowledging God’s leading him to the “path of life”, with joy at being filled with God’s presence, and with the promise of eternal life.

God calls all of humanity to such a great relationship!  For followers of Jesus Christ, we are always on the journey to draw closer to God.  As we grow closer to God, our trust grows and our ability to hear and follow improves as well.  The fears and doubts of the world slowly give way to more faith and trust in God.  It is a process.  It is a journey.  As we live out our faith today, may we be aware of those who are starting the journey and of those who are seeking and searching.  May we be helpers on the first steps of their journeys, loving and encouraging them as we continue on our journey as well.


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Human Yet All-Powerful

Reading: John 11: 1-45

Verses 25a and 26 – I am the resurrection and the life… whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

Today’s passage reveals many aspects of who Jesus is.  In each stage of the story, our understanding of Jesus deepens.

In the beginning of the story, we see a Jesus who is intimately connected to human beings.  He did not just dwell here but was connected in human relationships as well.  He is in ministry doing God’s will far away yet these two sisters send for Jesus to come attend to a personal need – their brother and one of Jesus’ close friends is very sick.  These ladies are good friends of Jesus and think nothing of asking Him to drop whatever He is doing to respond to their plea for help.  This connection is again reinforced in verses 35 and 36, where Jesus weeps and those there note how He loved these friends.  Jesus was intimately connected to His good personal friends.

What happens next may at first appear to contradict this.  Jesus does not go right to Bethany.  He stays where He is.  He even reveals after two days that now they can go because Lazarus has died.  Jesus plainly tells the disciples that Lazarus had to die so that all can see Jesus’ glory and can come to believe.  Jesus is acutely aware of the end game.  It must have been hard for the human side of Jesus to allow the grief and pain to come upon His dear friends.  After all, He could have healed Lazarus from afar, from right where He was.  Yet Jesus knew God’s plan and was obedient to it.  Jesus knew that in the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, God’s glory would be revealed and the faith of many would be strengthened and others would come to believe too.  In case this part of the story, we see how Jesus sometimes allows those He loves to walk through the valleys for the purposes of strengthening one’s faith or to help one find faith.  He loves us that much.

As the story unfolds, we see the Jesus who can do anything.  He raises Lazarus from the grave even though he has been dead for four days.  He tells Martha (and us) why: “I am the resurrection and the life… whoever lives and believes in me will never die”.  He is this for us too.  As our journey of faith unfolds, Jesus comes to live more and more in our hearts as our belief in Him grows.  Our human yet all-powerful friend, Jesus, leads us to eternal life as well.  For this great gift of God that we have in Jesus, we say thanks be to God!


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Reap

Reading: John 4: 27-38

Verse 35b: I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields!  They are ripe for harvest.

The disciples return just as Jesus finishes His initial conversation with the Samaritan woman.  It is an unusual scene by the norms of the day, but the disciples have seen Jesus engage any and all time after time.  He does not appear to be a man with any barriers.  The woman heads back to town to tell others of her encounter with Jesus and people from town head to the well to meet Jesus.  As the disciples have returned with food, they offer Jesus some.  His response puzzles them: “I have food to eat that you know nothing about”.  Staying on the surface level, they wonder if someone else has brought Jesus some food.  Further explanation is clearly needed.

Jesus then explains that the true ‘food’ that feuls Him is to do the work of God.  Perhaps knowing that the townspeople are heading their way, Jesus says, “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields!  They are ripe for harvest”.  Jesus and the disciples are about to be joined by people who are searching for the Messiah, the Savior of the world.  Jesus has down the seeds, now the harvest is at hand.  He tells them that the hard work is done – He planted faith in the woman who has in turn planted seeds in the people who approach.  The disciples will now “reap what they did not work for”.  Where do we fit in the story?

First, Jesus’ call to look to the fields applies to us.  There are many in our lives ‘ripe’ for the truth and saving grace of Jesus Christ.  It is our role to help people to the well so that they can drink of the ‘living water’ that Jesus offers.  Second, we need to be ready to reap what the Holy Spirit works in someone’s heart once they accept Jesus as Lord.  This “work” is the work of the Spirit.  We can only plant seeds and inspire searching.  God alone makes the seeds grow into faith.  Lastly, we need to be ready to step in and walk alongside that new believer, nurturing and guiding their growth.

As we look at those in our lives, who is searching, who is ripe to meet Jesus Christ?  What can we do today to sow seeds of faith?  How can we be ready to reap and walk with those new to faith?


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Be Holy

Reading: Leviticus 19: 1-2

It is tough to be holy, yet God calls us to be just that.  To be in the most intimate relationship possible, we must be as like God as we can be.  Holiness is one characteristic of God that seems hard to fully grasp, nevermind live out each day of our lives.  More often than not, we are not capable of being holy on our own.  By ourselves we simply are not capable of being holy all the time.  We can freely share our money and possessions with those we love, but we struggle with giving to the stranger.  We can love those who love us, but it is another story with ‘him’ or with ‘her’ – those we do not like even slightly.  On our own, our holiness only goes so far.  We know that God’s holiness has no end and no boundaries.  This is the holiness we are called to.

God knew from the beginning that we are not capable of always being holy.  God began with the law, a set of guidelines on how to live in relationship with God and with each other.  The Ten Commandments grew over time to be a huge list – but they were more do’s and don’ts than a way to be holy.  In time, God sent Jesus to show  humanity how to live a holy life.  Jesus gave us the example of what God’s love and holiness look like lived out every day.  But the example is not enough.  To help us in our daily walk with Jesus, God sends us the Holy Spirit – the constant presence that helps us to be holy, the constant presence that helps us care for the needy, to love the stranger, to offer mercy and forgiveness to all who wrong us.  With the power and presence of Holy Spirit, we begin to be holy as God is holy.

We cannot, however, simply rely on the Holy Spirit.  We too must play a role. We too must put in the work because it is hard to be holy.  We must commit to our own spiritual growth.  We must spend time in prayer and in the Word each day.  We must be in community to worship the Lord our God and to offer one another fellowship and encouragement.  We must daily confess our sins, repent, and seek His renewing touch.  It is through all of these means of grace that we can draw near to a God who is holy, becoming more like Him ourselves.


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Focus

Reading: 1 Corinthians 3: 1-9

Paul spent a year and a half with the church in Corinth.  He established the church and spent the rest of this time teaching them how to live as Christians in a pagan culture.  After laying what he thought was a solid foundation and moving on to other missionary work, Paul now realized the church in Corinth is struggling.  He hears how they have lost their focus on God and are squabbling over which human leader to follow.  Paul identifies their spiritual immaturity and accurately asks, “are you not worldly?” as they fight amongst themselves.

Paul tries to reframe their focus and to get them moving forward and growing in Christ again.  He knows he had a role in developing the church, but Paul also firmly believes that only God has the power.  He also knows that Apollos has a role to play as well.  Paul sees Apollos as a fellow worker, not as competition, as the church in Corinth does.  Paul reminds them of all of this with the great line we find in verse six: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow”.  Paul seeks to return their focus to God and to the things of God.

In reading this passage, we too are reminded of our need to stay focused on what really matters, on the only thing with the power to transform lives: God.  In our churches and ministries, we need our energy focused on God and doing God’s work in our world – not on the color of the new carpet or on the style of worship or on any other earthly matter.  As the body, when we focus on heavenly things, we grow in faith and God will bless our efforts.

There is also a personal level to Paul’s call to focus on God.  Do we as individuals remain connected to God and stay focused on His will in our lives or do we allow other things in, drawing us away?  We must be aware of the pull and lure of outside voices and must remain dedicated to our own faith practices.  It is when we falter within that we are more prone to see division rather than unity in the larger body.  May we tend well to our own souls so that we may be part of the larger body’s aim for the same goal: a living, breathing, active, growing faith in Jesus Christ.


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Heaven Is Near

Reading: Matthew 4: 12-23

Isaiah declared “a light has dawned” in a prophecy he wrote hundreds of years before Jesus lived.  It has been read and looked for ever since.  Matthew proclaims the prophecy fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.  The light of Christ that began to shine about two thousand years ago continues to shine to this day and will shine forever.  The light of Christ dispels darkness, reveals our sins, and guides our way.  The light also brings warmth and love to our days and healing and hope to our hearts.

Jesus declared, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near”.  In the light there can be no darkness, so we must repent.  The kingdom is here, so we must repent , we must change our sinful ways, we must walk as a child of the light.

To repent can be difficult.  To repent can be hard.  To repent can be work.  When we choose to repent, we can be in for a long battle.  Part of repentance means looking deep within ourselves and truly seeing who we are.  Part is also learning to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit that brings conviction when we are tempted and when we sin.  Part of repentance is being in the Word, so we fully understand what the call to be a Christian entails and expects of us.  We are blessed when we repent.  The blessings of repentance are a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ and a better version of ourselves.  When we repent and change our ways, we are being transformed and are becoming more like Christ.

Christ calls us to repentance, but He does not stop there.  His call is also an invitation to walk with Him.  He calls us to repent of our greed, our lust, our judging… and offers us peace, contentment, joy through our relationship with Him. The great healer will take our greed and replace it with generosity.  Our lust will be overcome with love of God and love of neighbor.  Jesus will transform our need to judge into a need to offer understanding, compassion, and justice.  It does not stop with these few things.  Jesus desires to transform all of us to be just like all of Him.

This day, may we search within and repent of all that is dark, seeking to walk fully in the light of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.


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Saved

Reading: Psalm 80: 1-3

The psalmist cries out to God, “come and save us”.  This is a familiar prayer to us as well.  Most often when we pray this prayer (or one that is similar), we are seeking God in the here and now.  We are in the midst of something and we would like God’s help.  We want God to enter our situation, to intervene, to make things better.  God’s response may not be to do exactly what we want it to ‘fix’ the situation, but through prayer we certainly find peace, comfort, strength…

In a bigger sense of the word, we are “saved” once we accept and profess that Jesus Christ is Lord of our life.  Once we claim Jesus as Savior, we are living in a state of being “saved”.  This means we have the promise of eternal salvation through our personal relationship with Jesus.  This status does not change.  Through this relationship Jesus claims us as His own and we are then forever living in a state of salvation.

For the remainder of our days, we live knowing our final destination, yet always working to grow in our love of God and neighbor.  Once we are “saved” it is not the end point but rather the beginning of the journey.  Once we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are then ever living to become more and more like Jesus.  We grow to love others as Jesus lived others.  We grow to offer mercy and forgiveness more readily, like Jesus did.  We grow to place others ahead of self, like Jesus did.

As we move along the journey to become more and more like Jesus, we become more and more attuned to the needs of the world.  We see feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, standing against injustice, speaking truth into darkness, … as the stuff of everyday life.  As His hands and feet, we share Jesus’ love with many.  As we continue on our journey of faith, may we share bountifully.