pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: intertwined


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God Is There

Reading: Matthew 2:13-23

Verse 18: “A voice is heard… weeping and great mourning… refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

Photo credit: Tyler Milligan

Today the story of Jesus’ early days continues. Although Jesus and family flee to safety, many families are not so fortunate. As is still the case today, Jesus’ life is intertwined with ours. Herod, out of anger and fear, has all the baby boys under two killed in and around Bethlehem. This act fulfills a prophecy from Jeremiah 31 that, in part, speaks these words: “A voice is heard… weeping and great mourning… refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” Families and neighbors cry and grieve for the lost children. In their grief, God draws near.

Today in our world children are still the victims of senseless violence. Whether it is a school shooting or a bomb dropped on a neighborhood in Ukraine or gang violence in the city or another tragedy around our southern border, families and neighbors weep and mourn for lost children this very hour. Just as the people of Bethlehem refused to be comforted, so too do mothers, fathers, friends, and neighbors today. To shed tears is to remember, to honor, to celebrate a life. To mourn is the hold on. Weeping and mourning are part of the grief process. Our tears bring healing in time. Our tears are also a reminder of God’s presence with us.

When tears do not stop, when the pain does not cease, when sleep will not come, the only thing we can do is to hold onto God’s presence. There we can sense and feel God’s love for us, right there in our grieving. God is there and understands because Christ walked through the pain and sorrow and brokenness of this world. God is there with us. May we hold onto Immanuel, God with us.

Prayer: Lord God, comfort, o comfort all who are grieving and hurting. Be present to all who mourn, whatever the situation. Enter into their lives just as you entered into this world. Be present in the pain and sorrow. Pour out your love and tender, healing mercies. Bind up what the world has torn apart. And, Lord, lead me to offer presence and peace, comfort and strength, light and love to those who mourn and weep. Amen.


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Each Day

Reading: Romans 6: 1b-11

Verse 8: “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him”.

Once we take on Christ, we die to self and are made into a new creation. There is a temporal and an eternal aspect to our new self. Yesterday we read about Christ’s defeating of sin and our call to walk in a new way. Sin is still something we struggle with from time to time, but it is no longer our way of life.

In verse eight we read these words: “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him”. The temporal application of this is in our day to day lives. It is living each day following Jesus and modeling the love for God and others and the obedience to God that both exemplified his life. It is living with hope and peace, with joy and contentment, with trust and assurance. A life lived in Christ reflects him to others. The eternal application is that one day we will live eternally with Jesus Christ – if we live day to day with him now. Professing and living with Jesus as Lord of your life on earth is intertwined with a life in eternal glory. Now, there is no set number of days one must live as a follower of Jesus Christ in order to enter heaven. In Luke 23 we see that the thief on the cross only followed for a few hours. But once we know Jesus – who he is and who he can be in our lives – it is then that following becomes becomes the requisite for both life here and for entrance into the life to come. May we each live fully with Christ today!

Prayer: Lord God, help me to walk closer with you. Guide my heart and mind to be in tune with yours. Draw me ever more obedient to your example, to your love and grace. Amen.


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Love God and One Another

Reading: Psalm 15

Verse 1: “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill”?

The opening questions in verse one of today’s Psalm deal with who may be in God’s presence. The broad answer to these questions is “anyone”. But it is not that simple. While it is true that anyone can be in God’s presence, not all are able to. Anyone who is in a right relationship with God can be in his presence. But if we are separated from God because of the sin in our lives, then we cannot be in a right relationship with God. This Psalm is intended to help worshippers look within, to confess and repent of the sins they bear, before they enter into God’s holy presence.

Verses two through five give us a short list of who may or may not enter God’s presence. Those who are blameless, righteous, and who speak the truth – “even when it hurts” – are welcome into God’s presence. Those who slander or gossip, cast slurs, or lend with usury (high interest) are not able to stand in God’s presence. This, of course, is a short list. There are many more ways to do right in God’s eyes and there are many more ways to sin. But the list does serve to get us thinking about the condition of our relationships with God and with one another. We must consider both because they are intertwined.

This is not just an Old Testament or just a Biblical times issue. In the New Testament, for example, Jesus says not to come to the altar of God if there is an issue between you and another. Jesus instructs us to set that right before coming to God. We reflect this idea in communion, confessing and repenting of our sins before coming forward for the cup and the bread. In our own personal prayers we should also practice confession before bringing our requests and thanks to God.

This idea of righteous living is at the core of how one is able to come into God’s sanctuary or into his presence in any other place or time. Righteous living is based upon our love of God and of one another. Our love of God is reflected in how we love one another. How we love one another reflects how we love God. These two loves are intertwined and inseparable. In the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus teaches that everyone is our neighbor. The Psalm ends with “he who does these things will never be shaken”. Loving both God and one another, may we never be shaken.

Prayer: God of love, speak into my heart this day. Where I am not loving you or others, convict me. Where self or pride or arrogance are limiting my ability to really love you or others, strip that sin away. Show me, Lord, how to be love to one and all, to you and to each I meet. Amen.