pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: hope


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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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Trust and See

A bloom appears in the desert.  Hope rises up our of the midst of despair.  New life stirs as the dust of a tragedy settles.  In all things God works for the good of those who love Him.

God never promised us that life would always be happy and easy.  He did promise us that life would be blessed.  He promised us that His mercies and grace would be new every morning.  He promised that His love would endure.  It is with these promises that we can walk through our times of despair, trial, and tragedy.

As we grow in our faith, God builds us up to be able to go through bad things and to still stay connected to Him.  Jesus is for us that living water that keeps us connected to God.  In our passage for today, Paul speaks of commending themselves in every way – even in the trials, beatings, imprisonments, and hunger.  In these types of things our faith will allow us to rely on God’s grace as well.  Paul ends this section of scripture with these words: “having nothing, yet possessing everything”.  At times we feel totally lost, yet still have our faith and that is everything.

In the good and bad times we rely on God.  He alone has the love, strength, and grace to see us through. These qualities of God are always present but we most need them in times of trial.  Trust in Him and cling to faith – there we will see that God is good.  He is good because His steadfast love endures forever!

Scripture reference: 2 Corinthians 5:20 to 6:10


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His Love Never Fails

God’s love never fails. While it is true that tongues will become still and knowledge will pass away, God’s love will always remain.  Paul ends this chapter in his letter to the Corinthians with the reminder that faith, hope, and love remain with us, but that the greatest of these is love.  It is knowing how deep and wide God’s love is that allows us to hold onto our faith and to keep hope even in our hardest trials.

Since the moment we were formed, God’s love surrounds us.  His love continues to be with us daily, giving us comfort, strength, and protection.   We see His love surrounding many in the Bible.  A few examples are when He guided the people through the sea as He protected them from the Egyptians; when He kept David safe as Saul pursued him; when He comforted Jesus in the wilderness; and when He gave Stephen strength in his time of persecution and stoning.  And these are just a few examples.

Paul also writes of setting aside childish ways and becoming mature in our faith.  This is what we continually do on our journey of faith.  As we grow in our faith, we learn to trust in God a little longer, to hold onto our hope a little tighter, and to rely on His love a little more.  It is a process though.  We are never suddenly right where we want to be in a growth process.  It takes time.  We experience a setback here and there.  But we must keep going forward and striving to grow in faith, hope, and love.

God’s love never fails.  May we ever keep this locked in our hearts and written on our minds as we continue on this journey of faith.  Blessings!

Scripture reference: 1 Corinthians 13: 8-13


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In Prayer

When we go to God in prayer, we do so with no guarantees.  We bring to God the desires of our hearts and our hopes for friends, family, and the world.  Often we pray for a certain situation or for some conflict to be resolved.  But sometimes, when we are in a season of personal discontent, we do not know what to pray for.  We sense some imbalance or uneasiness in our lives, but we cannot quite put our finger on it.  So we pray for things like guidance, direction, wisdom, discernment.

Usually when we pray, we pray with a certain hoped for answer in mind.  We pray for someone who is sick and we hope for healing.  We pray for someone who needs work and we hope for a job.  We pray for someone who is in a struggling relationship and we hope for reconciliation.  Even when we are in a season of discontent, most of the time when we pray we do so with an idea of what we would like the answer to be.

Funny thing about prayer though – it is God who answers our prayer, not us.  His  vision for our life and our world is so much bigger than our limited view.  His vision and plan for us and our world is focused on an eternal ending.  We often struggle to see with this lens.  But sometimes we do see an answer to a prayer or we begin to understand how God is at work in the midst of it all.  This is a holy privilege.

At times our prayers are also affirming and uplifting.  Like God’s response to Jesus’ prayer after His baptism in today’s passage, at times we too sense God’s presence, love, and affirmation.  We can almost hear Him saying ‘well done’.  We sense a guiding hand or we are blessed with affirmations that encourage us to continue to walk the path that God has placed us on.  In prayer we connect to God and He connects to us.  May we pray often.

Scripture reference: Luke 3: 21-22


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Giving Thanks and Looking Forward

2015 ends today.  Tomorrow is the start of 2016.  Today is Thursday.  Tomorrow will be Friday.  In one sense, today is just another day.  While all this is true, there is still something special about the coming to the end of one year and the anticipation of a new year about to come.

People often celebrate at the end of the year.  As people of God we too should celebrate all that He has done to touch our lives in the past year.  As we look back over the year, may we offer our thanks to God for the guidance, blessings, and love He has poured out upon us.  May we also give thanks for the opportunities we have had to share His message and His love with others.  And lastly, may we give Him thanks for the times when His strength and love were all that carried us through.

As 2016 is about to dawn, we also must look forward to the new year.  We wonder what all God has in store for us.  We wonder how and where we will grow in our relationship with God and anticpate the ways He will use us in 2016 to be His light and love and hope in our world.  May we enter into the new year as eager disciples, seeking to draw ever closer to God in our walk of faith and seeking to be ever more like Jesus in our walk in the world.

Scripture reference: Psalm 147: 12-20


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Christ’s Peace

“And he will be their peace.”  Many people in our community and around the world would love for peace to reign in their lives.  People do not expect life to be perfect.  We all know life naturally has its ups and downs, its joys and trials.  But people need peace in the midst of it all.  People need a rock upon which to weather the storm and also upon which they can share their joys with others.  People need Jesus.

Micah spoke to a people in the midst of a trial.  It was one of many times that the people of Israel had turned from God and were feeling the consequences of their choices.  Yet even in the midst of this trial, God was present.  He was never gone.  The people waited and longed for God to act and restore them.  God remained their hope and peace.  Knowing that made the trial endurable because there is light at the end of the tunnel.  No matter how far away, light is still there.

Jesus himself offers this same light.  As His time on earth drew near to a close, He offered these words to His disciples: “My peace I leave you.”  He knew the struggle ahead as they adjusted to His physical absence.  Jesus also knew the light was coming.  He knew this peace would be restored with the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus’ promise of peace is to us as well.  We can claim this peace as His followers.  His promise was not short-term, but to the end of this age.  Many in our worlds are seeking peace.  As His followers, we are called to share this peace.  As Christ reigns in our lives, may we allow His light and love to shine forth, bringing Christ’s peace to those in need.

Scripture reference: Micah 5: 2-5a


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Listening and Seeing

The prophet Micah is like all of God’s other prophets.  He speaks the word that God gives him to speak to the people.  While much of the time the prophets are warning the people of the consequences of their sins and calling them to repent, sometimes the prophets also spoke of the hope in and the promise of God’s faithfulness.  Such is the case with our passage today from Micah.

Since the life of Jesus, Christians read this section of Micah like many other prophecies found in the Old Testament.  As Christians we read the Old Testament not only as the history of the people of Israel and our faith, but also as a book that points to the New Testament and ultimately to Jesus.  When Micah writes of a leader who will come out of Bethlehem and speaks of him as one who will shepherd the flock, our mind immediately links up with the story of Jesus’ birth and life.  Micah also connects Jesus to long before His birth – “whose origins are of old, from ancient times.”  These words echo the message we find in the opening lines of John’s gospel.

The prophets, Micah included, also always provide hope and remind us to believe in the promises of God.  God is always at work in our lives and in our world.  In hard times that can be difficult to remember.  But Micah reminds us of the promises and that in hard times we most need to rely on God’s presence and call upon His strength.  Micah also reminds us that we must seek God’s word and see God in our daily experiences.  This day may we have a heart that listens and eyes that see God.

Scripture reference: Micah 5: 2-5a


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Faithful Trust

Love and faith seem to conquer fear.  Isaiah writes, “I will trust and will not be afraid.”  There is an implication here that we can simply choose to not feel fear by placing our trust in God.  If you follow this logic out, we get to a place where fear and faith are almost opposites.  For some, this raises the question: does having fear exhibit a lack of faith?

To me fear is an emotion.  It is our natural reaction to coming upon a snake in the tall grass.  But it is also our concern or worry about having enough money or whether or not we will get into the ‘right’ school.  Like all emotions, we cannot banish fear or worry.  But we can choose what to do with them and how much power we will allow them to have.

In this discussion then, faith is an action or a verb.  When we feel fear or worry we can choose to engage or employ our faith.  Like the Israelites in exile, they could place their trust in God and live this way, or they could allow fear to rule.  In faith we too can choose the saving power and authority of God.

When we choose to be faithful, we can see and experience the Spirit’s power and presence in our lives.  In faith we can face our fears or even the unknown and know that God is our hope, our salvation, our rock.  In belief and with faith, we know that no matter what, God is for us and will remain present to us.  We can live with His promise: fear not, I am with you.

Scripture reference: Isaiah 12: 2-6


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Past, Current, and Future

After a period of silence, Zechariah can again speak.  Filled with the Holy Spirit he begins to share a prophecy about his son John.  In his prophecy he connects the past and the future.  Zechariah begins by recalling God’s mighty acts in the past.  He tells of God’s redeeming acts, of the prophets God sent to guide and lead the people, and of God’s rescue of the people from their enemies.  Zechariah ties all of these acts into the old covenant.

In remembering God’s mighty acts Zechariah reminds the people and us of who God is.  He reminds them and us of God’s faithfulness by recalling all of the ways that God has shown love to His people.  Zechariah is building up the base knowledge so that it can be the foundation of the future.  It is reassuring and it provides hope for the future.  It reminds the people and us of who we are in God.

In Advent we wait with longing and expectation for the coming of Christ.  There is definitely a future aspect to Advent, yet it is also rooted in the past.  Our current and future hope rests upon Jesus.  It is surely built upon the foundation of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.  His free gift of eternal life and the unending forgiveness of our sins provides our hope and lays out our future.  Because of His great love we can now live free from captivity to sin.

Our future and our eternity is also with Jesus.  We live here and now looking forward to and longing for the moment we see Jesus face to face.  This day and every day we live fully in His promises and also awaiting the fulfillment of His promised return.  Our foundation is sure in Jesus.  Our day today is secure in His hands. Our future rests with Jesus as well.  Thanks be to God.

Scripture reference: Luke 1: 67-75


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God’s Presence and Promise

Jeremiah was writing from a prison cell.  At times he must have felt like the situation was hopeless.  Yet in the midst of this bad situation, he heard God’s promise to send a just and righteous ruler to lead Israel.  In his time of trial, God brought Jeremiah a word of hope.

As Advent nears, our longing builds for the coming of Christ, which we celebrate on Christmas Eve.  Advent calendars count down the days for children and visions of school vacation and presents dance in their heads.  To be honest, as adults we looked at the vacation schedule long ago as we too anticipate some time off.  But it is also undeniable that as we wait, in Advent, the longing builds within us for the night to arrive when we all gather together, when we sing the familiar songs, and when we celebrate our Lord and Savior’s birth.

While almost all have a sense of waiting, many feel this sense of longing as well.  But for some, there is also a sadness hanging over this season of joy and hope and love.  If within the last year trauma or loss has occurred, then the Advent season brings struggle as well.  If it is the first Christmas after the loss of a loved one or after a divorce or job loss or after a serious illness, then there is pain, grief, and hurt as well.  In these times and with these emotions, God can feel distant.  It is important for those struggling to be reminded of God’s presence and His promises.

For some battling these sad emotions, they can connect to God and find hope and love and peace.  For those that are struggling may we be aware and may we find ways to come alongside them and to bring God’s presence and promises to life through our words, actions, and presence.

Scripture reference: Jeremiah 33: 14-17