pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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More and More

Reading: 1st Corinthians 13:8-13

Verse 12: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we will see face to face.”

Yesterday we looked at the first half of chapter 13, where God’s covenant love calls us to practice love in many ways. Practicing these do’s and don’ts empowers us to love one another well. Today’s passage begins with a bold statement: “Love never ends.” Paul is talking about love in a general sense, not about our own ability or capacity to follow the ideal set forth in verses 1-7. Since God is eternal, love is eternal.

As we get into the next portion of today’s text Paul reminds us that earthly things, even our gifts, will pass. Prophesies, speaking in tongues, knowledge – they will all cease. Maybe Paul is also saying that love is the thing that we will take with us into eternity. Or maybe love is what carries us on into eternity.

In verses 9-12 Paul speaks of the change within us as we practice and practice and practice loving well. As we mature in the living out of our faith, “the imperfect disappears.” Our childlike faith – the ways we talked, thought, acted – is gradually replaced with a maturing faith. In verse 12 Paul writes, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we will see face to face.” Here and in the rest of the verse, yes, Paul is speaking about eternity, of when we transition into heaven. But this is also a process worked out here on earth. As we grow in our practice of love we see more and more of Jesus in ourselves and in others. We grow to love Jesus and neighbor more and more.

Paul closed by reminding us that in this process towards becoming more and more like Jesus we have faith, hope, and love. Faith in the one who loves us unconditionally, hope in the daily walk and in the life to come, and love to lead and guide us. The chapter closes with this statement: “The greatest of these is love.” How true. It is what we live out, revealing God to others. May we love well today.

Prayer: Lord God, fill me with your love. Make me more and more like Jesus each day. Work in me to see and love as Jesus did. Amen.


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Growing in Our Love

Reading: 1st Corinthians 13:1-7

Verse 7: “Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Today and tomorrow we will walk through 1st Corinthians 13. This passage is often used at weddings as it speaks of love in beautiful, flowing language. A wedding, however, was not Paul’s context for writing these words. This passage continues the topics of the past two week’s readings in chapter 12. Here Paul spoke of unity in the church and of using the gifts of the Holy Spirit to build the body of Christ and the kingdom of God. Paul ends chapter 12 with these words: “And now I will show you the most excellent way.” The way is the way of love.

In verses 1-3 Paul speaks of Christian values, practices, gifts done without love three times. Each time he states that any of these wonderful things done without love results in being or gaining nothing. Without love these things are like that lame, heartless apology we were forced to give as kids because mom or dad was making us say that we were sorry. Each time we heard something along the lines, “Say it like you mean it.” If we can speak in tongues or utter amazing prophecies but have not love, we gain nothing. If we know all about the Bible or if we have faith enough to move a mountain, but have not love, we gain nothing. Faith without love is simply going through the motions, like saying “sorry” when we didn’t really mean it. Love is what gives our faith and the practice of our faith roots, purpose, power.

In verses 4-7 Paul describes what ideal, God-like, covenant love is and is not. Even though there is a playfulness to Paul’s words here, there is also great meaning and power. Love should not be envious or boastful, proud or rude, petty or self-seeking. Note that all of these focus on self, on “me.” Instead, Paul calls us to the most excellent way. Love should be patient and kind, rejoicing in truth. Love should be “always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Paul is calling us to love others as God loves us, as Jesus loved us. While our imperfect nature finds us falling short of this picture of covenant love, God’s covenant love always remains, always calls us back towards loving as God loves us. Day by day may we hear the call and respond, growing daily in our love for God and for one another.

Prayer: God, thank you for this beautiful and awesome reminder of your love and for your plan for how we are to love one another. Each day help my love to be more like your love. Amen.


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Deeper, Stronger

Reading: Job 42: 1-6

Verse 5: “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes see you.”

Job has lived a righteous and upright life. God allowed Satan to test Job’s faith. He remained faithful. Job’s wife and friends add to his suffering with accusations and condemnations. Job longs to have an audience with God, to state his case. God responds to Job in a long speech that leaves Job humbled and with a new understanding of God. Today we read Job’s response.

Job begins by acknowledging that God “can do all things” and that “no plan of yours can be thwarted.” Job has taken in the immensity of God’s power and the depth of God’s creative might. In the complexity of the created world and in the detailed order of animal life, God has done some amazing and awesome work. God speaks of the behemoth and the leviathan – two creatures with great power that are feared by humanity. These creatures are far outside of man’s control but well within God’s. God asks, “Can you make a pet of him?” No, God, certainly not. In response Job says, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me.” Job recognizes his place in God’s world. Along with all of humanity, Job realized that he was not the center of all things.

Job has been changed by this encounter with God. In reality Job knew God and followed God’s ways at least as well as any other human being on the earth. God lifted him up to Satan as an example of faith. But as God spoke out of the whirlwind, Job came to know God in a deeper and more intimate way. In verse five Job declares, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes see you.” Job had worshiped and followed a God that he thought was powerful, awesome, worthy of his praise. Now Job sees God in a clearer way. Job now knows that God is all these things and so much more. His connection to God is now so much deeper, so much more profound, so much stronger. Job’s faith in God has grown. As we delve into the word, as we allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide our lives, as we strive to follow Jesus’ example, our faith will grow deeper, the connection will become stronger. May it be so as we walk closely with the Lord our God day by day.

Prayer: Lord God, like Job, the more I know you, the longer I walk with you, the more awed and amazed I become. My faith journey has been filled with moments when I’ve come to know you more intimately, to love you more deeply, to praise you more sincerely. Continue to journey with me, ever allowing my eyes and heart to see and know you more clearly. Amen.


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Always Teaching, Always Working

Reading: Proverbs 1: 28-33

Verse 33: “Whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm”.

Photo credit: Patrick Fore

In the second half of this week’s passage from Proverbs, Wisdom seems upset that the ‘fools’ are not listening to her. She says that when trouble comes they will call out but she will not listen, they will look for but not find her. Today some would call this ‘tough love.’ Although unpleasant in the moment, sometimes the best lessons come from the natural consequences of our poor decisions. Solomon understands that because the simple “did not chose to fear the Lord” then it follows that “they will eat the fruit of their ways.” The fruit will be bitter and sour. It will be hard to swallow.

Being far from perfect we will find ourselves in unpleasant spaces. We will find ourselves there because of something we’ve said or done or because of something we’ve left undone or unsaid. As we walk through the consequences of our choices we hopefully learn along the way. If so we come to understand that the next time we’re in a similar situation we will try to handle it another way. Although Wisdom is upset, she still teaches in these moments if we are humble and if we seek to learn from our failures and mistakes. This is part of the maturation of our faith and of us as individuals. In our faith life this is part of the process of being made more and more into the image of Christ.

In the last verse Wisdom offers hope: “Whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm”. Life will still happen. We will still experience loss and pain, change and more. When seeking God’s wisdom, when striving to be aligned with God’s will and ways, we walk with assurance and with hope. We walk without fear. Wisdom is always teaching, always working for good. What lessons will we learn today or this week?

Prayer: Lord God, you never abandon us, you never give up on us. You remain present in the highs and lows and in all the places in between. Thank you for your faithfulness. Continue to shape me and to refine me this week, O Lord. Amen.


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In the Mirror

Reading: Mark 7: 20-23

Verse 20: “What comes out of a man [or woman] is what makes him [or her] unclean.”

Photo credit: Elisa Ph

Earlier this week we read about looking in the mirror and forgetting what we look like as soon as we go. We considered how we sometimes just glance or do not even want to look at all. Today Jesus holds the mirror right in front of us, compelling us to look intently, to see the potential for sin within all of us. In verse twenty Jesus says, “What comes out of a man [or woman] is what makes him [or her] unclean.” This reiterates what Jesus spoke of earlier in Mark 7 and what we’ve touched on the last two days.

The list Jesus provides in verses 21 and 22 is long and sordid. While perhaps the first few are easier to read past, the list hits home on at least a couple of counts as we ponder it. “Sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery” – some pretty serious stuff. Yet things we are all capable of. As the list continues, “greed, malice, deceit…”, we see things we are very capable of and, in fact, are things we struggle with. I see two things on the list that I battle with most days. You too must see one or two or more that you are tempted by and struggle with on a regular basis. Again, what we allow into or do not allow into our hearts really matters.

To be able to counter or withstand these temptations and struggles we must fill our hearts with godly things. We do so by reading and meditating daily on the word of God, by regular participation in worship, by seeking to live each day following the example of Jesus. Doing these things we fill our hearts with love, peace, joy, hope, mercy, grace, forgiveness, kindness, humility, self-control… We can look into this mirror daily. As we do so we grow in our faith and we begin to see Jesus within our image more and more. Day by day may we strive to grow more and more like the Lord. May it always be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, I want to be more like Jesus in my heart and in my life. Draw me daily to the word of truth and fill me with the word. Use all of my life as worship of the king, sharing his example with all I meet. Amen.


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Always Greater

Reading: 2nd Corinthians 6: 1-13

Verse 10: “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, yet possessing everything”.

Much of today’s passage centers on the hardships of faithful service to the Lord Jesus Christ. For Paul and the early followers, suffering for one’s faith was an honor, a privilege. It represented walking as Jesus had walked. To be worthy of suffering as Jesus suffered meant you were really living out your faith. But it was not just suffering for suffering’s sake. There was fruit too.

These moments of hardship often brought Paul and others to the point of breaking, to the place of surrender to God. That moment of giving in to God, of turning it all over to him, was the moment that grace and love came flooding in. When we too get to that point of recognition we too cry out to God for help in our time of trouble. It is then that we often receive God’s favor and are reminded of the salvation that is always ours from the moment we claim it. In ways we do not understand or see at the moment, God carries us through.

When we pause later to reflect, to express our gratitude to God, then we see how his power was at work in and through that situation. Our faith grows as we recognize God’s faithfulness. As these moments occur again and again, we become more and more assured of God’s faithfulness. We begin to better understand Paul’s words in verse ten: “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, yet possessing everything”. Hardships and trials come, but we grow to know that God’s grace and love are always greater. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Faithful God, no matter what life brings, you’re always greater. Thank you for the ways that your love and grace have carried me through. You are an awesome and amazing God! Amen.


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Small Seeds

Reading: Mark 4: 30-34

Verses 31-32: “It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed… it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants”.

Today we continue in Mark 4 with the planting of seeds. Yesterday we heard the call to scatter seeds of faith, trusting God to root, grow, and mature both our faith and the faith of others. Yesterday we heard that we are all called to plant seeds. Perhaps knowing that his audience then and that followers down through the ages would question or even balk at their ability to do this, Jesus continues with today’s parable.

Jesus begins by asking, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like”? Well, it is not what we or the world think. Jesus shares this illustration: “It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed… it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants”. He chooses the smallest of all seeds. And yet the tiny seed produces a large plant which blesses the birds of the garden. Small gifts… big results. That is God’s kingdom at work. In the kingdom of the world, we think size matters. Larger bank accounts, bigger houses, fancier clothes – big seeds. But what difference do these things make in areas that really matter? None. It is the faithful, small gifts and actions that really build the kingdom of God. It is the many small words and humble actions of faithful followers that build the kingdom of God. Yes, you may hear a wonderful sermon today and you may be moved by the beautiful music. But if your time in church does not lead you to be Christ’s light and love in the world for the rest of the week, then how did worship matter?

The Holy Spirit gifts all believers. All of us have gifts to use in the building of God’s kingdom. How will you use the gifts and talents that God has given you to plant seeds for the building of the kingdom here on earth?

Prayer: Lord God, use me today to be a part of transforming the world. May I begin today with each I meet, pouring your love and grace into their lives. Amen.


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A Gift from God

Reading: Mark 4: 26-29

Verse 28: “All by itself the soil produces grain – first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head”.

Photo credit: Noemi Pongracz

In today’s parable Jesus compares the growth of faith to the planting and raising of a crop. In faith and trust we scatter seeds of faith through our words and our witness. We hope that the seeds take root in our children, in those we share faith with, and in the strangers we meet. In the literal sense we also plant seeds. In the back yard we planted seeds in beds and large tubs and pots. We hoped that plants would grow, yielding carrots, lettuce, potatoes… It is a small labor of love. We go out each day to water, to weed, to tend the plants. And they grow!

One small row is beans. Of the dozen or so seeds that I planted, about half are now tender young plants. My beans are a good reminder of two things. First, not all seeds take root and grow. Second, I am not responsible nor can I take the credit for the growth. The same is true when we plant or scatter seeds of faith. In verse 28 Jesus says, “All by itself the soil produces grain – first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head”. There is a mystery to seeds of faith taking root in someone; there is a miracle when God grows that faith into maturity. All is a gift from God. While we do and must play a role, it is God who starts, develops, grows, matures, and sustains our faith. Thanks be to God!

Prayer: Loving and tender God, thank you for the gift of faith. Yes, you call me to sow seeds and may I ever be faithful. Yet you alone are the giver of life and faith, of growth and relationship. Use me today Lord to scatter seeds of faith. Amen.


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Hope Eternal

Reading: 2nd Corinthians 4:13 – 5:1

Verse 16: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day”.

Photo credit: Aron Visuals

Paul begins our passage for today and tomorrow reminding us that because we believe in eternal life, we must speak of it. As ones who believe that God raised Jesus Christ from the grave, we also believe that we too will be raised. For Paul, we are to speak about this belief so that God’s grace may reach more and more people. As more and more people come to believe, God’s thanksgiving overflows.

These are important words to believe and to speak for our time and culture. Our post-Christian culture sees death as the enemy and goes to extraordinary means to stave it off. There is a pervading fear of death in our society. Even though our reality is that each day we are one day closer to our death, human beings will do much to try and thwart, to counter, to deny this reality. While even those who believe love life and want to have a long, good life, we do not fear death nor do we fight it’s coming when it is our time. We know a deeper truth in all of this. Paul writes of it in verse sixteen: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day”. Hope. Our hope is founded on our belief in resurrection, in eternal life. There is more – much more – yet to come. And what will come is more wonderful – much more wonderful – than the best that the world has to offer.

Paul knows that this earthly tent, this body, is wasting away. It becomes more and more true for all who live into old age. Yet. Yet God remains at work in us to the very end, making us new every day, growing and developing the part of us that speaks what we believe, the part that overcomes and moves beyond this temporary world. As we live to the full today, may our lives speak of the hope eternal that grows in us day by day.

Prayer: Loving God, you renew me day by day, bringing me closer to your love. May my thanksgiving overflow into the lives of all I meet today. Amen.


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The Family of God

Reading: Romans 8: 12-17

Verse 17: “Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ”.

Returning to Romans 8 today we see the fruit of being a child of God. Once the Spirit dwells within us we are adopted into God’s family. We find our worth and value in God. We find our sense of belonging in Christ and in our faith community. We come to know our home is with the Lord.

Paul extends the idea of adoption to the benefits of being in God’s family. In verse seventeen he connects these dots, saying, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ”. Once we are accept our place as a child of God, we are inheritors of many things. We receive the same abundant love and mercy and grace that is found in Christ. We receive the peace, strength, and commitment to the other modeled by Jesus. We receive forgiveness of sins and life eternal. These blessings will, at times, lead us to “share in his sufferings”. There are times when our inheritance leads us to take up our cross or to love the other completely. There will be a cost. This too is part of our inheritance.

As we live into our inheritance we begin to see more as Christ sees. We grow to see all people as worthy of our love, our acceptance, our time. We stop seeing things that divide and differentiate. We begin to live out Jesus’ unconditional and generous love. We become a part of building the kingdom of God here on earth.

As we consider our place as a beloved child, may we be led to truly understand and live in ways that bring all people into the family of God.

Prayer: Lord God, it is so good to be in your family. Use me today to help others understand how deeply and unconditionally loved they are. Amen.