pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: Holy Spirit


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Bold as Peter

Reading: Acts 5: 27-32

In life we often face decision points.  One choice leads to this outcome and the other choice leads to that outcome.  This choice may anger or alienate or negatively impact this person or group and that choice will do the same for that person or group.  Even though in our heart and mind we come to what we think or feel is the ‘right’ choice, not everyone will necessarily agree.

Often these choices are not big and impactful, but at times they are.  In these situations, the pressure to make the ‘right’ decision can be huge.  This is especially true when both choices have a number of positives and negatives.  But in some cases there is a clear correct choice.  Yet even these are not always free of possible consequences.  Such was the case when the apostles were again called before the Sanhedrin.

The apostles had been instructed to stop teaching in the name of Jesus.  What they were teaching did not please the Jewish religious authorities because it was a way different from their way.  The apostles were drawing people to Christ instead of to Judaism.  Peter’s response is awesome: “we must obey God rather than men”. What a tough statement to argue against!  Who could know more than or argue against God?!

The obvious answer to this question is one we must remind ourselves of when the voice of the world or the voice of self competes with the voice of God.  In these times that will surely happen, we must trust in the voice of the Holy Spirit, in what we read in the Bible, and in the promises of God to love and protect and bless us.  May we be as bold as Peter.  May we obey God.


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Wouldn’t We?

Reading: John 13: 21-33

“One of you will betray me”.  That must have been quite the bombshell.  These twelve men have  invested three years of their lives in following Jesus.  They have stuck with Him, certainly at a personal cost to their families and other relationships.  It has been a sacrifice in other ways as well.  Yet at twelve have remained with Jesus to this point.

In our hearts and minds, we each think we are devout to Jesus.  Until we are not.  How often our faith life is moving along solidly and in an instant we have said or thought something that brought instant conviction?  Surely not I, Lord.  As life is cruising along well and we feel connected to the Son, we do something and the remorse and guilt come flooding in.  Surely not I, Jesus.

In most cases when we have been tempted or stumble into sin, we recognize it quickly.  When we are sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we realize our sin quickly and repent and seek forgiveness and restoration.  Then and there we are brought back into a right relationship with God.

We all are never really far from, “One of you will…”. And like the disciples we can also get lost in our own worlds.  When we ourselves are wrestling with temptation or sin or when we have sinned and are struggling with the guilt or our own inability to forgive ourselves, we can be like the eleven – so lost in the ” Is it I?” question that we do not notice the evil around us.  The eleven were so inwardly focused that they did not notice Judas leaving.

If we were there we would have noticed and gone after him.  Wouldn’t have we?  Wouldn’t we?  Maybe.  It is too easy to think of someone who used to come to church.  In our own struggles may we realize that all struggle.  In this realization, may we become more aware of our brothers and sisters in Christ, being vigilant to love and care for one another.  May we each seek out and help the lost or wandering sheep back into the flock.


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Being Fruitful

Reading Luke 13: 1-9

The world is sometimes filled with tragedy and sorrow.  You do not have to watch the news too long to feel the urge to turn off the television.  In today’s passage the people come to Jesus with a story of death and tragedy and are seeking help to make sense of it.  Jesus instead bring sup another story of loss and sorrow.  He warns us that tragedy can strike us all and that we must therefore repent, lest we will perish.  Jesus is implying that death will come to us all; it is up to us how we choose to live our lives between now and then.  Will our lives lead us to perish to hell or to rise to eternal life?

Jesus goes on to tell the parable of the fig tree.  The owner comes for a third year and again finds no fruit on the tree.  He instructs the gardener to cut it down.  The gardener asks for one more year.  He will tend to it and water it and fertilize it in an effort to help the tree bear fruit.  In this parable we are the fig tree.  Year after year Jesus pours into us through the Word, in worship, in small groups, …  He yearns to see us bear fruit.  The Holy Spirit works on us also, pruning and fertilizing and guiding us along so that we are more able to bear fruit.

As we continue to grow in our faith, we will bear fruit as we mature, just as the tree will.  As we touch the lives of others, bearing fruit and shining the light and love of Jesus, we will bring hope and comfort amidst the darkness and tragedies of this world.  It is through our witness and love that others will come to know Jesus, the only source of strength, healing, and understanding in the midst of pain and sorrow.  As we are fruitful and faithful witnesses, we are living for and pointing others toward the one and only way to true, eternal life: Jesus Christ.

 


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All in All

Readings: Isaiah 55: 1-5 and 1 Corinthians 10: 1-5

Even though the Israelites wandered around the desert for 40 years, they were well cared for. God had led them out of 400 years of slavery and had rescued them from Pharaoh’s army. He had provided manna, quail, and water when needed. He was constantly leading them from the cloud and pillar of fire. If not for their times of disobedience, it would have been a nice, relatively short journey. In their disobedience is a lack of trust in God.

Even though we too wander off from time to time and become lost in the wilderness of our sin, we too are well cared for by God. Through Jesus Christ we have been redeemed from slavery to our sin. In the time we spend in worship and personal study we are fed by the Word. As we go through our daily life we are guided and led by the presence of the Holy Spirit. We too are blessed richly by God. We too are a chosen people.

In my life it can be very easy to take for granted all of the ways God blesses and cares for me. I think that can be true for many of us living in a modern and free country. So we too must heed Paul’s warning. We too must not get complacent and take God and His blessings for granted. We too must not accept where we are but ever seek to be continuing on our journey of faith.

In order to not fall into complacency let us stay in regular contact with God. In our times together may we daily offer our sincere thanksgiving for His many blessings and also delve into the Word so that we are always growing to be more and more Christ-like. If we pursue God with all of our hearts, He will become our all in all.


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Things That Satisfy

Reading: Isaiah 55: 1-5

Today we hear an invitation to come to God to be satisfied.  Isaiah calls us to the waters that will satisfy our thirst.  He calls us to come and eat without cost.  Isaiah is calling us to come and find salvation and blessing, to enter the reign of Christ.

The passage is full of actions we must take.  “Come” is not the only one.  Isaiah also urges us to listen to what fills out soul, to spend what we have on things that truly satisfy, and to eat of the good that God offers.  When God invites us to partake of all this, Isaiah asks, why do we still seek what does not ultimately satisfy?  It is a good question to ponder.  It is one we wrestle with.

The things of this world can be alluring and enticing.  Satan is excellent at dangling that which draws each of us in before our eyes in a number of ways.  He works at those insecurities and doubts, deftly trying to pry them open just a bit wider all the time.  He nudges us into thinking more of ourselves and less of others as we play the blame and judgment games.

In the season of Lent, may we be increasingly aware of all that has appeal but that does not satisfy.  May we heed the voice of the Holy Spirit ad it warns, convicts, and corrects.  May we draw close to our Lord and Savior to drink and eat of the living water and the bread of life that He alone offers.


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Daily Word

Reading: Philippians 3: 18-19

To live in our society and culture, it takes a great deal of self-discipline to stay on the path Jesus calls us to.  In order to live as the person God calls us to be, we must live in a way that is faithful to our role as follower of Christ.  In order to do this, we must practice the things that draw us to following Him.

Paul refers to those who are living self-indulgent lives as “enemies of the cross”.  This is a bold term.  But it is an accurate statement as well.  In Matthew 12 Jesus states that if we are not for Him, then we are against Him.  From Jesus’ point of view there is no middle ground.  Yet in reality, this is most often where we try to live.

The practice of spiritual disciplines is where we begin to prepare ourselves to live as citizens of heaven.  For us to live as God desires, we have to know what that means.  First of all, it means being in the Word.  It means cracking open our Bibles every day and reflecting on His Word.  This needs to be a systematic approach.  Whether it means using a devotional or a reading plan or simply starting on page 1 and reading through to the end does not matter.  But we must read our Bibles daily and study and digest the Word.  To do so daily with intentionality requires discipline and commitment.

We cannot live as “enemies of the cross” and be in the Word daily.  When self-indulgence rears up, we must say “Away from me Satan”!  One more hour of TV, games, or online…?  Hit the snooze button again…?  Just catch up tomorrow…?  I’ll just read it later…?  No, no, no, and NO!  May each of our days be centered in the Word.  May we allow Jesus Christ to grow to be the Lord of our life!


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All the Days

Reading: Psalm 27: 1-4

David begins by declaring that the Lord is his light and salvation, his stronghold.  He twice asks, ‘whom shall I fear?’  In David’s opening lines, there is an offering from God that we too can claim.  The God of David who offered him light, salvation, and strength is our God as well.  When we choose to claim these offerings as well, we too may ask: whom shall I fear?

Life will bring us challenges and issues that we all have to face or work through.  As followers of Christ, though, we go about this not from an earthly perspective but from an eternal one.  When we know that God is our salvation and that our lifetime here is just preparation for eternity, then our trials here bear much less weight.

We also do not walk alone.  In life’s lows, people we count as friends often rally around us.  If they are fellow believers, they also lift us up in prayer and seek God’s help or healing or intervention.  The Holy Spirit and Jesus also intercede on our behalf before the throne of God.  The Spirit and Jesus are always on our side, keeping us ever before God.  Even when our struggle is just within us and no one else knows our struggle, they are coming before God constantly on our behalf.

Today’s reading ends with a beautiful request.  David writes, “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”  David knew how important it is to have God as our focus, as our center, as our everything.  May we also live as David lived, always seeking God, always asking each day to dwell in the presence of God, our Lord and King.


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Looking Within

The first part of Psalm 51 is a confession of our sinful state.  By our nature we are prone to sin.  By our nature, we are weak and struggle to stay out of sin.  By His nature, God loves us unconditionally.  By His nature, God seeks to always bring us back to wholeness and to a right relationship with God.  Our sins stand between us and God alone.  In His great compassion God will blot out our sins, our transgressions, our iniquities.  For our part, we come to Him and repent.

In the middle part of the psalm comes our plea: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and restore a steadfast spirit within me”.  These words will be spoken over and over and over tomorrow.  They are familiar words on Ash Wednesday.  And just as the Lord’s Prayer is not just for Sundays, these words are not just for Ash Wednesday.  These familiar words should be our plea to God every day.  They admit our dependence on God.  We cannot win this battle on our own.  We need God to create a pure heart within us and to help us be steadfast to His ways.

The psalmist follows this plea up with a request to not be cast from God’s presence or for God to not take the Holy Spirit from us.  The psalm continues with these words: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me”.  God is the one in action, the one who can do these things.  In our acts of repentance we need both God’s presence and the Holy Spirit’s guidance.  After we repent of our sins, then God alone can restore us.  God alone can grant us a willing spirit, one seeking to follow His ways.

At Lent begins tomorrow, today I must look within and seek to identify my ungodly choices, my poor habits of faith, my sins.  May God grant me the will and the strength to come before Him in repentance, seeking His mercy.  Lord, melt my stubborn and prideful heart.  Mold me into who You desire me to be.  O God, fill me with Your presence and with the Holy Spirit.  And then use me, use me to love You and to love those You love.  Use me as You will, O God.

Scripture reference: Psalm 51: 1-17


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Listen

Listen up!  Listen here.  Would you just listen!  How many times have we heard these words coming from parents, coaches, teachers, spouses, and bosses over the course of our lifetimes?  I would guess this number far outweighs the number of times someone has thanked us for taking the time to listen.  In the midst of casual conversation we often find our mind drifting to a different focus.  Worse yet, in an argument we are often considering what we want to say next instead of listening to the other person.  When caught not listening, often we get the dreaded question: what did I just say?

I think Jesus often felt this way with the disciples.  So often it seems they just do not get what seems so simple to understand.  Must not be listening!  It is no wonder that God’s instructions to Peter, James, and John is to listen to Jesus.  His instructions to us are the same.  Just listen.  How often do we hear or read the Word but don’t really listen to them?  When we listen to them they take root in our lives and cause growth to occur.

God is always trying to speak into our lives.  Whether through the Bible, the message given on a Sunday morning, the wise words of a friend or mentor, or through the whisper of the Holy Spirit, He is always speaking into our lives.  And just as in all other conversations, the key is to really focus in and understand what God is saying to each of us.

Where is God calling you?  How is He speaking into your life?  What direction is He guiding you?  What does He want you to do for Him?  May our ears be open, our minds tuned in, and our heart be welcoming to all that God had for us this day.

Scripture reference: Luke 9: 34-43


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Shining

Paul reminds us how Moses’ face would shine after he had spent time with God.  It was a physical reminder of the Israelites direct connection to God.  So in those moments when Moses was still aglow, the words he shared from God must have carried a little extra weight.  Paul also points out, however, that the Israelites were also quick to forget God’s words and to turn away.  The light of God’s glory quickly faded for some of the people.

Jesus’ gift to us is the Holy Spirit.  Paul parallels the glory of God shining on Moses with the glory of the Holy Spirit dwelling in each of us.  When we have the Holy Spirit living within us, then we too can shine God’s glory out to those we encounter.  God’s light and love dwelling in us should be a constant glow that radiates from us through our lives in the many ways we share our faith and hope with others.

But we too can be like the Israelites.  We too can mask the light within at times as we make poor decisions and sinful choices.  In these times we are like Moses putting that veil over God’s glory.  We too can become stubborn or unwilling to allow the light of the Holy Spirit that is within to guide our steps.  God can place opportunities before us and the Spirit can nudge us towards them and we can still turn away.  We can sometimes be too good at rationalizing or making excuses.

The good news is that the Spirit’s light never goes out and it continues to work in us.  Sometimes it convicts us and steels us for action when the next opportunity comes.  Sometimes it softens our hearts and makes us more willing the next time.  May we learn to be ever open to allowing the Spirit free reign so that God’s glory will shine forth from us for all to see!

Scripture reference: 2 Corinthians 3: 12-16