pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: Jesus


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Ever Closer

Reading: John 14: 25-27

When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, we are made a new creation.  We are born again, not of flesh and bone but of the Spirit.  When we can claim this new birth, offered and paid for through Christ’s work on the cross, we are justified.  Being justified or made right with God means that the punishment we deserve for our sins is forgiven.  Once we are justified we are now part of God’s new creation.  Through the power of the cross, and out of God’s unending and unwavering love for us, His forgiveness is given over and over again.  Just as His mercy is new every morning, so too do we become new creations each day.

As our new selves we are freed from the chains of sin and death so that we can begin to grow into the new creation.  We are no longer tethered to the things of this world so we can begin to grow daily in our relationship with Christ.  We can start to become the person God created us to be.  We learn more and more who Christ is and who He calls us to be as we grow in our faith.  To do so we need to be taught and guided and redirected at times.  To help us on our journey, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives.  When we proclaim Jesus and Lord, the Spirit enters into our being and becomes our teacher.

Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would do two things.  It would first teach us all we need to know and that it would bring us peace.  On our journey to become more and more like Christ, there is much we need to learn.  The Holy Spirit is our constant companion, revealing, reminding, correcting, guiding, and teaching us as we move along the path to spiritual maturity.  On this journey we also come to understand better and better that God’s love for us never fails.  We come to know that we can do nothing to make Him love us more or to love us less.  This brings peace.  Peace to know that when we struggle and even when we fail, He still loves us.  His mercies never fail.  This day may the Spirit draw us ever closer to Jesus, the perfector of our faith, the one true way.


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New Creations

Reading: John 14: 8-17 and 25-27

In today’s passage, Jesus promises the disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Like most of us, Philip wants the gift now.  He asks Jesus to show them the Father.  And in a familiar pattern, Jesus patiently explains that He has been showing them the Father all along.  Jesus explains that the words and the works are because the Father is in Him and He is in the Father.  Then Jesus tells them again of this gift of the Holy Spirit.  With this gift the disciples will experience the indwelling presence of God and Jesus within them.  And not only will it be in the disciples, but the Spirit will allow them to do even greater works than Jesus did.  The presence of the Holy Spirit is just one more step in bringing the new creation into being.

Jesus was also a step.  In His example and in the works He did, Jesus began the process of making all things new.  In His teachings He showed a new way, a better way – the way of love.  In truly loving others, we reveal the true nature of God.  Jesus also began the new creation by restoring people.  For some it was a physical restoration: the blind see, the lame walk, the mute speak.  For some, like the lepers, there was also an emotional healing as they were restored to the community as well.  For still others, the restoration was the first steps to returning to a relationship with God.  Jesus was making all things new, providing a glimpse of what the new heaven and earth will be like.

Jesus continued this work with the gift of the Holy Spirit to the disciples at Pentecost and to all who have called on Him as Lord and Savior ever since.  The same Spirit dwells in each of us, giving us the power to reveal the new creation that is in motion.  Through our lives, words, actions, and deeds, people in our lives can begin to see, understand, and experience what Jesus offers: to be made a new creation.  May we be willing servants in the building of His kingdom here on earth.


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Breath of New Life

Reading: Psalm 104: 24-34 & 35b

When God created the world, He gave the breath of life to all living things.  Each day since then, He has breathed new life into each that is born.  But for humanity, God has taken one more step.  For all who call on His name, God offers grace.  He breathes the Holy Spirit into each who professes their faith in Christ and makes each a new creation, children not of the world but children of God.  As a child of God we continue to live for a time in the world, but we are no longer of this world.  As heirs of Christ, we now belong to Him and heaven is our destination.

Once we claim Christ and He claims us, the Spirit comes and dwells in us.  We begin to live as free people, no longer chained to the desire to acquire more, to rise higher, to seek the approval of man.  Instead we are freed to give, to love, to serve.  In the body of Christ, we experience life abundant.  As the body of Christ we find support, encouragement, guidance, help, and fellowship in Him and in each other.  In our interactions with the world we meet many people who do not know Jesus as king.  The body of Christ is an inclusive body.  In Him there is no Jew or Gentile, no this or that.  The peace and joy we know in Christ is ours to share so that all can come to know the way of the cross.

As a redeemed people we are called to make disciples of all nations.  This task is the task of every Christian.  Sometimes we do this directly as we go to those in need and meet their needs.  The need can be physical, emotional, spiritual, or relational.  We do as Christ did and simply offer all we can.  Sometimes our witness is by how we live our lives.  The light of Christ within us should shine forth so that all see it and are drawn to it – eventually wanting to know how they can have that joy, peace, contentment, and love in their lives.  They come to desire that God breathes the breath of new life into them as well.  In all we do and say this day, may we bring God the glory!


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Love, Unity, Love

Reading: John 17: 20-26

In the prayer we read for today, Jesus is praying for His disciples and for all disciples who will follow in His footsteps.  He is praying for those who call on Him now and He will be praying for each generation of disciples who follow Him until He returns.  Jesus prays for unity, love, and a connection to God.

Jesus prays that we may be one.  He is praying for a big ‘we’ here.  He prays not only for a disciples connection to Him, but also for a connection to God.  It is through knowing Jesus that one comes to know God.  Jesus then takes this a step further in praying for the unity of all believers with one another.  In the immediate time it was for His disciples as they were about to face losing Jesus and for the new church that would emerge and grow in the midst of persecution and trial.  And Jesus is praying for each disciple who will follow and become a part of building His church now and in the future.  Unity in the body of Christ remains essential to the growth of the kingdom.

Jesus also prays that His disciples be known for love.  It is love alone which brings unity.  It was love alone that guided all that Jesus said and did.  It is love alone that connects disciples past, present, and future into a personal relationship with Jesus and therefore with God.  It is love alone that should guide how the world comes through Jesus as we witness to our faith.  When the church is love, the church shares Jesus in a most powerful way.  When non-believers question why someone is loving them in an unexpected, radical way, Jesus is beginning to work in their hearts.

This day may we find ways to be love.  Maybe it will be as the body in worship and fellowship.  Maybe it will be with a stranger who crosses our path, either in church or later in the day.  May the love of Christ that is within us pour out into all we meet this day.


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Come!

Reading: Revelation 22: 12-14, 16-17, 20-21

Today’s reading comes from the last chapter of the last book of the Bible.  To me it is full of hope and promise; it is the ‘why’ to living as a faithful follower of Jesus Christ.  At the very beginning, in Genesis 1, there is the same sense of hope and promise as God creates the world and all that is in it.  God created in perfection, with each act being deemed ‘good’.  To me this not only speaks of God’s desire for His children to find joy, peace, contentment, and love in this life but also of His ultimate promise of what will once again be.  In this we find our hope.  In the closing words of the Bible, we are invited to return to and to participate in the return of Jesus, to enter the new paradise that will come with His return.

Jesus identifies Himself in today’s text as the beginning and the end. He was there at the start of creation and will be there again when all is restored and made new.  Sometimes though, we look at the blip of almost 30 years as Jesus’ only time here between the first and last of times.  But in reality He is always present here on earth.  Through the actions of the Holy Spirit and through the lives of His followers, Jesus is a constant presence here in our world.  The invitation to ‘Come!’ is one we as His disciples need to continue to call out to all who are thirsty and in need of the free gift that Jesus Christ offers.

This free gift that comes through faith in Jesus is the first step to living into the joy, peace, contentment, and love that God desires each of us to find.  Through the blood that He shed on the cross we can find grace and mercy to lay our sins and burdens down so that forgiveness washes them away and restores us to a right relationship with God.  This allows us each day to be clean and pure and Holy.  This allows us to face the temptations and struggles of life knowing that every day Jesus continues to say, ‘Come!’  As we live in this reality and hear this call every day, may we too call out to others, inviting them to ‘Come!’ and to know Jesus.


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His Witness

Reading: Ephesians 1: 15-23

Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesus is that the Holy Spirit would bring wisdom and revelation to the church so that they would know Jesus better.  Paul lists three reasons why he is praying this prayer: to know the HOPE of salvation; to know the riches of the larger church; and, to gain a sense of His power.

It is one thing to know who Jesus is.  A good teacher.  A man with the power to perform miracles.  A moral example.  Yes, Jesus is all of these things.  But to know Jesus more, to the depth of calling on Him as Lord and Savior, requires faith and belief that He is the Son of God.  Once our ‘knowledge’ of Jesus has reached this place, then we begin to live for Him and not for self, knowing that our salvation, the eternal rescue of our spirit, rests firmly in His hands.

As we become a part of a community of faith we become richer.  The fellowship, worship, mentoring, accountability, and love of the faithful makes our lives so much better.  In turn we too can discover and offer the gifts that God has bestowed upon us to enrich the lives of the church and the world in which we live.  These experiences of sacrificially giving of self to others and receiving from others unconditionally opens the way for us to begin to sense His power at work.  It is through these acts of love and sacrifice that we begin to truly live as Jesus lived.  As we connect others to Him, we ourselves deepen our relationship with Jesus as well.

May we be His witness and example today, growing in our knowledge of Jesus Christ by following Him in all we do today.


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Freed by Jesus

Reading: Acts 16: 16-34

Today’s text is one of liberation.  The slave girl is set free from the spirit that has possessed her for many years.  The jailer is set free from an oppressive system that has kept him boxed in.  For many of us and for many in the world, freedom is elusive as we are held captive to someone or something.

For some it is the situation they are in.  Addictions to drugs or alcohol control the lives of many people.  For many more, though, the addiction is less visible or it is harder to identify, but it is there, controlling their lives.  For some it is the addiction to power or being in control.  For some it is a secret addition to pornography or sex.  For some it is an addiction to beauty or popularity.  And for some it is their addiction to technology or the latest, greatest, best new whatever.  When our focus is on the things of the world or on ourselves, we can be controlled so easily.

So what or who can set us free?  It is the same thing that set the girl and the jailer free: the power of Jesus Christ.  Giving all of our concerns to Him sets us free.   Loving what Jesus loves and loving as Jesus loves us shifts our focus from what we want to what we can offer.  Finding our contentment in our relationship with Jesus means we do not feel the need for stuff or position or recognition.

May we yield all to Him so that in Him we may find the strength to live each day as a child of God, bearing witness to His light and love, to His joy and peace.


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Eternal Yet Present

Reading: Revelation 22: 1-5

This final chapter of the Bible provides a beautiful image of heaven.  God and Jesus seated on the throne will be the center piece of the city.  All will serve and worship them and all will be marked as their children.  Out of the throne will flow a beautiful river, crystal clear, carrying the water of life.  Along the banks of this river will stand the tree of life.  The tree of life will bear twelve crops in the twelve months and the tree’s leaves will bring healing to all nations or peoples.  The light and warmth that basks this scene will come from God.

Revelation 22 indeed paints an amazing picture of the new heaven.  It is a place one is drawn to, a place one yearns to be present in.  The promises of complete healing, of being constantly in God’s presence, the beauty that will be the new Jerusalem – all draw one towards eternity.

Yet this idea of finally getting ‘there’ can distract us from this life.  While living with one eye on eternity can help keep us focused on how we are called to live in this world, all of our focus on eternity can cause us to look past what God has placed before us in this life.  On the other extreme, if life here is instead consumed by making the next step up the ladder of success, God has almost no role in our life.  When we are focused almost exclusively on the next promotion, the next new car or home, the next gadget, then the role of God in our life is minimal or nonexistent.

May we instead live life with the knowledge of our eternal home in mind while being fully present and attentive to God’s hand at work in this life.  May we trust in His plan and in His love both in this life and the next.


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New Jerusalem

Reading: Revelation 21: 10 & 22-27

In our community, and perhaps in yours, there is a large diversity of places of worship.  There are not only a variety of Christian denominations but other faiths as well.  In a smaller community the diversity is probably less and in a larger city the diversity is probably greater.  Diversity implies a positive.  Diversity adds variety.  Diversity can also bring out our differences and can create divides.  Yet we must remember that our call is to go out and make new disciples of all nations.  When we do this, we must do this in love.

Today’s passage speaks of a time when all will worship God alone.  When the new Jerusalem comes down, it will be heaven here on earth.  There will be no places of worship because all everywhere will worship God alone.  His glory will light up the city all the time; there will be no night.  In God there is no darkness.  The city’s gates will never be closed.  The text says that nothing impure will enter the city.  All in the new Jerusalem will be holy as He is holy.

One of my favorite parts of confirmation every year is our trip to a large city.  We visit a mosque, a synagogue, and an Orthodox Church.  At each house of worship we meet with the leader who shares about their faith and answers any questions we have.  Each visit builds our understanding of others who are not like us in our beliefs.  It also offers us an opportunity to talk to about why we believe what we believe.  It is a great experience that enriches my life and my faith every year.  After each stop I pray for God’s word in Christ to one day be revealed to them. Knowing God’s plan for eternity, may we pray for all not on a journey towards the new Jerusalem to join us on our walk as God calls all of us heavenward.


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Mentors

Reading: John 14: 25-29

As we go through life, especially when we are younger, we find people that mentor and shape us.  They are people who  see something in us worth investing some of themselves in.  They usually are older and have been through a little bit more of life so they carry wisdom and expertise with them.  They are kind and loving and sacrificial people.  Mentors help us navigate our careers, our families and relationships, our faith.  If we have been mentored we are likely to become a mentor ourselves.

Jesus himself was a mentor.  For the disciples and undoubtedly others who followed Him, Jesus mentored many in their faith and how to live it out.  Indirectly Jesus continues to mentor each of us as we read His Word and apply it to our lives.  But Jesus also knew that the disciples and eventually we would need more than memories or the written recording of them.  He knew we would need an active and alive presence to continue to mold, shape, and guide us.  So Jesus gave mankind the gift of the Holy Spirit.  To all who call on Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Spirit comes and dwells within them.  Once there the Spirit is the constant presence of Jesus, reminding us and teaching us about Jesus and the example He set.

As we think about the people who have poured into our lives, at some point we must also begin to become aware of those around us who could use someone to mentor and shape them.  Other people have poured into us so that one day we too could pour into others.  As we seek this our may we be open to how the Spirit guides and leads us in this as well, always remaining a willing and humble servant.