pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: insight


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Sweeter Than Honey

Reading: Psalm 119:97-104

Psalm 119:103 – “Your word is so pleasing to my taste buds – it’s sweeter than honey in my mouth!”

Today’s reading is the thirteenth section of Psalm 119. This longest Psalm is an acrostic, each section using a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The 22 sections of this Psalm use that letter as the first letter in each verse in that section. Sadly, this is lost in translation.

What is not lost in translation is the psalmist’s love for God’s instruction. As we read these eight verses we can feel how in love the writer is with God and with God’s word. The scriptures are ever on the psalmist’s mind, bringing wisdom and understanding, insight and guidance. Because of this steadfast commitment to God’s word, the psalmist does not walk on “evil paths” and does not deviate from following the Law. This deep and faithful attention to God’s word brings great joy and contentment to the psalmist.

In verse 103 we read, “Your word is so pleasing to my taste buds – it’s sweeter than honey in my mouth!” While one cannot literally taste words – any words – we can relate to how the psalmist feels. At some point we’ve all received a note or a text or a card that has touched our heart, making us smile really big inside or making us feel like we were wrapped in love. Scripture holds this same power. We can read a passage and feel joy or assurance or peace. We can feel God’s love and grace in the words we read. As we daily turn to God’s word, may it richly bless us as it does the psalmist. May it be so!

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for your power and grace and love that flows throughout the Bible. We rejoice in the ways that your word touches our lives, carrying us through a struggle, comforting us in our pain, encouraging us in our steady walk of faith. We praise you for your living and active word. Amen.


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Incomplete Understanding

Readings: Job 32 through Job 37

‭Job 32:8 – “But the spirit in a person, the Almighty’s breath, gives understanding.”

Photo credit: Nathan Dumlao

Elihu speaks today. He has listened to the words of Job and his friends. He has waited to speak because he is younger. In the opening verses we see what drives his words. He is angry with Job because Job thinks he is more righteous than God. Elihu is angry with the friends because they wrongly assumed Job to be sinful, preventing them from finding an answer to his suffering. Elihu claims a divine source for his words, saying, “But the spirit in a person, the Almighty’s breath, gives understanding.” It is also this spirit within that enlivens Elihu’s speech.

Elihu tells Job that God is greater than anybody – Job included. He reminds Job that God “speaks” in many ways: dreams, visions, pain, illness. He reminds Job that prayer leads to a response from God. Elihu reminds the friends that God is not evil and that God sees all human steps. Evil doers cannot hide from God. But the divine consequences for their actions is not always immediate. Elihu says that our good and our bad does not affect God but does impact those around us.

Elihu closes by reminding all four that God does prompt people to turn from their sin. To turn from sin brings plenty and contentment. To ignore God, it brings death – at some point. His windy and winding speech wraps up with a picture of how wondrous, powerful, mighty, and just God is. So much so that God will not respond to humans. How surprised he will be when God speaks next from the whirlwind. Clearly Elihu’s understanding of God is not as complete as he thinks.

Prayer: Lord God, as we walk with you we do gain insight; we come to know you more and more. As we journey, help this to continue as we seek to know who you are. The ‘what’ isn’t so important. And, Lord, even though we hold some truths about who you are, because we do not and will not ever know the whole picture, guard our tongues lest we demonstrate the limits of our knowledge. Amen.


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Love Well

Reading: Philippians 1: 3-11

Verse 9: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.”

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Paul begins his letter to the church in Philippi with a prayer. Paul was a man of deep prayer. He had long been a Pharisee – a man with a great understanding of the Old Testament scriptures. In his powerful encounters with the risen Christ he had been transformed, made into a new creation in Christ. Paul became his new name. The shift from Saul to Paul symbolized his new calling to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the Gentile world. Saul the Jew became Paul the Christian.

Paul begins his prayer with words of thanksgiving and joy. Paul celebrates the ongoing partnership in the gospel. He shares his confidence that God will complete the good work begun in this group of believers. Paul shares that his joy comes from knowing that they all share in God’s grace together. These words, this prayer – all things we too can pray for and with our own communities of faith.

In verse nine Paul offers these words: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.” Paul’s prayer centers on the love of God becoming more and more abundant in the lives of these believers. Loving God and loving others is our primary witness to our faith. These two are intertwined, interconnected. But note what this love is founded upon: knowledge and depth of insight. For Paul, knowing Jesus Christ and understanding his call upon our lives is what fuels our ability to love. It is not some “make others feel good” type of love. It is not some “look how well I love” type of love. It is a love founded upon understanding Christ’s example and upon understanding our call to make disciples of all people. Living into this kind of love allows us to discern how to love best, how to be pure and blameless in our love, and how to be filled with the fruit of righteousness. As we seek to love well today, may it bring glory and praise to God.

Prayer: Lord God, use me as a conduit of your love today. Help me to understand the depth of your love and to model and reflect that love to the world. In this way may others come to know you and your love. Amen.


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God Speaks

Reading: Genesis 28: 10-19a

Verse 17: “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God”.

As today’s passage opens we find Jacob leaving home, headed for Haran, the home of his mother’s family. Jacob is fleeing in fear because he stole the birthright from his twin brother Esau. By returning to the ancestral lands, he will first be safe and, second, Isaac and Rebekah hope he will find a wife from among the relatives. They hope that God will provide a good wife, just as he had done for Isaac.

At the end of his first day’s journey, Jacob finds a stone for a pillow and lays down for the night. In his sleep, God brings Jacob a vision and a message. The vision is a stairway or ladder from heaven to earth. The angels are coming and going. God stands at the top. From there he gives Jacob a message. God first reiterates the promise made to Abraham and Isaac. This land will be covered by many of your descendents and they will be a blessing to the earth. God then gets personal, saying to Jacob, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go”. With confidence and with assurance of God’s presence in his life and in his future, Jacob will travel on. But first he responds by saying, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God”. In the morning Jacob builds a small pillar to remember and commemorate this place.

In the middle of nowhere, in a very ordinary place, God became present to Jacob. It is not with big fanfare; God is just suddenly and simply there. It could have been on day two or six of the journey. But it was at the beginning because that is when Jacob needed it most. God also appears along our journey. Sometimes it is in a way that is similar to Jacob’s experience. Through a thought or insight or maybe through the words of scripture or of a friend, God speaks into our lives. Often it is an after-the-fact realization. Looking back or reflecting on an experience, we can see God’s fingerprints. It is because we have the same promise as Jacob’s. Jesus said and says to all of his disciples, “I will never leave you or forsake you”. He will be with us forever. So we too can journey on today, knowing that Jesus goes with us. Thanks be to God. May it be so.

Prayer: Leading God, it is so awesome that you came to Jacob at just the right time. I am grateful that you do the same for me. Sometimes it isn’t in my time but in yours – which is always best. Continue to walk with me day by day. Amen.


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A Verb

Reading: John 14: 15-21

Verse 21: “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me”.

If I only had one word to describe God or Jesus it would be “love”. A one word description is woefully short, but all of God’s teachings and actions, all of Jesus’ too, can be traced back to love. Just as a one word description is left wanting, we have two earthly models that describe divine love. Marriage gives us a small glimpse into the love of Jesus for his church and parenthood yields a tiny insight into God’s love for us, his children. In these two models, when lived out really well, we begin to understand divine love. As we do, we learn that love is a verb, not a noun.

As Jesus is soon to leave this earthly place, he wants to comfort and reassure his disciples. He knows the fear and isolation they will soon experience. Instead of leaving them as “orphans”, instead of asking them to live with just memories of his love, he promises the gift of the Holy Spirit. The disciples have spent most of three years with Jesus. But they were not with him 24/7. They were with him most, but not all of the time. In the Spirit, Jesus promises to be in them “forever”. Because of this constant presence, they will then realize that “I am in the father, and you are in me, and I am in you”. This intimacy is based upon love. In verse 21 Jesus says, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me”. Love is revealed in following Jesus’ teachings. Remember, love is a verb. How will you live out Jesus’ love today?

Prayer: God of love, thank you for your indwelling presence of love. The Spirit reminds me to love and of when I am failing to be love. It calls me to follow you. May I love well today. Amen.


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Ever Growing, Ever Reflecting

Reading: 2nd Corinthians 3: 12-18

Verse 18: “We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory”.

Paul connects back to our passages from Exodus 34 and Luke 9. He uses the language connected to Luke 9 and the transfiguration of Christ to help us understand that we too are transformed day by day as we grow closer to Christ. He uses the veil language of Exodus 34 to speak of how some things remain hidden from people. Paul is looking at this Old Testament passage with his Christian eyes. This is a common practice for many in the New Testament, including Jesus. Jesus quoted the prophets and parts of the Law and then went on to explain how He fulfilled those words or to talk about divorce and other topics from the Old Testament. Jesus always sought to deepen our understanding and therefore our faith. Paul likens the veil that Moses had over his face to cover up God’s radiance to the Jews’ hearts that are veiled to Jesus Christ. To Paul, if one does not trust in Jesus Christ, the veil remains. If one professes faith in Christ, then the Holy Spirit comes and lives in that believer. The Spirit would lead and guide the life of the believer.

The Holy Spirit is our continued remover of the veil. When we choose Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit dwells in us as Christ’s living presence. With this presence, we gain new understandings and insights into the faith we profess and live out. We do not know it all at once. It is an ongoing process. This is what Paul writes about today. He writes, “We… are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory”. Day by day we grow in faith. As we do we reflect more and more of Jesus Christ out into the world. Each day we should strive to grow closer to our Lord and Savior.

Paul’s New Testament eyes are eyes we continue to see through. Over the ages we have relied on the lead and guidance of the Holy Spirit. At times this has led to changes in the church and in how we understand and interpret scripture. For example, at one point in our history we used the Bible to justify slavery. Even though those verses remain in the Bible, our context and our understanding has led to a new understanding concerning owning another human being. This process happens at different rates and in different ways for different people and churches. For example, there are things in my life that I now see as sin that I did not see as sin when I was less mature in my faith – pride, judging… This is a process that I want to continue within myself. In doing so I am growing and becoming closer to God, reflecting more of His light.

As individuals and as churches we continue to turn to the Holy Spirit for guidance and direction and understanding. Collectively we also turn to the Word – both written and revealed – to grow in faith and to reflect His light and love out into the world. May it ever be so.

Prayer: God of all creation, you are eternal, just as your love for each of us is eternal. I beg you to continue to reveal your will and way to me and to our churches. Be loud and clear in our lives. Lead us, O great God. Amen.