pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: Jesus


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Heart Revelations

Reading: Luke 12:32-34

Verse 34: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Jesus begins today’s passage by saying, “Do not be afraid, little flock, your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” It brings God joy to see people becoming part of the kingdom of God. This verse also touches on how God loves to care for and give to those in the family of God. (This aspect connects back to what Jesus is saying in the previous section.) God is happy to have you and me in the family!

In verse 33 Jesus encourages us to sell our possessions, giving the proceeds to the poor. Taken literally and completely, this would be very challenging to me. If honest, I’m not quite to that point. Maybe some day I can get to this point. In the meantime I’ll continue to work on not being closely attached to my things. In doing so I’ll become better at giving to those in need.

Jesus speaks of storing up treasures in “purses” in heaven. These items, of course, are not tangible things like money or cell phones or jewelry. What then do or can we store up? I think Jesus is talking about our godly actions and the relationships affected by these actions. As is the case in about all Jesus says or does, there is a connection here too. For example, when I am willing to be generous with my time, I can form a relationship with someone. Maybe it is helping someone who struggles with money to make and keep a basic budget. This process can lead to a relationship that allows me to share the good news, guiding them to accept Christ. The treasure is one day rejoicing in heaven together.

Our passage closes with these words: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If we were to mentally review each day’s choices and actions, what would be revealed about what we treasure in our hearts? Would our heart reveal a deep and abiding love for God and for all of God’s children? Day by day may our hearts belong increasingly to God.

Prayer: Lord God, you challenge me to grow day by day in my love for you and for all I encounter. It is a challenge I desire to meet. Show me the way. Amen.


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Enough?

Reading: Luke 12:13-21

Verse 19: “I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry.'”

Photo credit: Conner Baker

This week’s parable is about greed. It begins with a younger brother asking Jesus to help him get his share of the estate now. Jesus states that he’s not in the arbitration business and gives a warning against greed. For emphasis Jesus states that life isn’t really about having abundant possessions. Many today would look at Jesus like this man must have. So Jesus tells a story to illustrate his points.

In the parable a rich man has a really, really great harvest. What to do? His barns are not big enough to hold all this blessing. So he decided to build bigger barns. Store more! Then he says to himself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry.” Celebrate and party and enjoy life! He has reach some magical goal.

In one way we are like this man. We store up and we store up. We get more and more stuff. We sack away more and more money in the bank or retirement fund. In another, more critical way, we are different. Most of us never reach the point of “enough.” We gather and store and sack away but never feel like we quite have enough. That feeling has an underlying cause. We don’t truly believe that God will be enough. We don’t quite trust that God will provide for all of our needs. One day our life will be demanded too. Will we be rich enough towards God?

Prayer: Lord God, when those doubts and worries creep into my mind, remind me that your love never ends. Help me to trust into your plans for me, both now and into the future. Let me rest in that. Amen.


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Authentic and True

Reading: Colossians 3:5-11

Verses 9-10: “Since you have taken off your old self… and put on the new self…”

Continuing on in Colossians 3, Paul fleshes out the “old self” to “new self” transformation. He begins by giving us an overview of what actions we must die to in order to become new in Christ: “sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed.” Paul then gives us a list of emotions or emotional responses that we must also die to: “anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language.” Both of these lists are far from complete. Paul implores us, telling us that we “must rid ourselves” of all of these kinds of evil. To live in these ways is not to live in the way of Christ.

In verse 9 Paul begins by saying “Do not lie to each other.” He knows it is easy to look nice and shiny and good on the outside. That’s what he did for years. That’s what he was all about back in his Pharisee days. Today, with pretty minimal effort, one can look like a Christian. Until we have an affair… Until we join in the gossip during fellowship hour… Until we cheat on our taxes or business ethics… Until we slander our leaders… Until we lose our cool at work or with one of our children… If we’re honest though – if I am honest – the greater struggles are within my heart and head. I too easily slip into being judgmental and critical, into jealousy and pride. All inside the privacy of my heart and head. This is the self that we – that I – must die to daily.

On our own this is impossible. We do have hope. As he closes this part of the letter to the Colossians, Paul reminds us that when we are renewed in the knowledge of Jesus Christ there is no Greek or Jew, no… When we live an authentic and true Christian life we see one another as God sees each of us: beloved, worthy, forgiven. In this place, “Christ is all and is in all.” May we each work towards this beautiful vision for our world day by day, each beginning within our own heart and head.

Prayer: Lord God, sanctify me within. When the old self rises up or begins to surface, light up the Holy Spirit within me and burn away all that hinders the image of Christ in me. Guide me to live an authentic and true faith in all ways. Amen.


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New Reality, New Life

Reading: Colossians 3:1-4

Verses 1 and 2: “Set your hearts on things above… set your minds on things above.”

Paul begins Colossians 3 reminding us that we have been raised with Christ. This is obviously not a physical resurrection but a spiritual resurrection. When we become willing to die to self and the sin that self generates, then we are made into new creations, alive in Christ. Continuing on we see into the mind of Jews living about 2,000 years ago. They conceptualized heaven in the sky, hell beneath the earth’s surface, and the earth in the middle. At least mentally, this remains how many today “see” or understand this concept.

Continuing, Paul invites us to “set your hearts on things above… set your minds on things above.” Paul invites us to not hold fast to earthly things but instead to focus on heavenly things. Paul focuses next on the parts of us that connect most directly to Jesus Christ – our heart and our mind. Once we die to self and proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit fills our hearts with Jesus’ living presence, making us new in Christ. The indwelling presence guides and leads us, filling both heart and mind with the things of God and of Jesus Christ, making us more and more like Christ.

Paul next speaks of a new reality: we are then “hidden” in Christ. This is not a worldly, physical reality. The body is still here and we can very much experience death and suffering and trial, much as the early Christians did. Paul is speaking again to a heavenly reality. This earthly life will cease, yes. But true life has already been won. It is found in Christ and is lived out daily here on earth. One day, when we transition to our eternal and true home, wherever it “is,” we will then experience the fullness of Christ’s glory. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for making me new in Christ. Thank you for claiming me as one of your own and for living in my heart and mind. Day by day, new mercies by new mercies, draw me deeper and deeper into your love. Amen.


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Living Water and Word

Reading: Psalm 107: 8-9 and 43

Verses 8-9: “Give thanks to the Lord for unfailing love… God satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”

Photo credit: Fuu J

Today’s three verses from Psalm 107 invite us to consider and heed how God gives to the children of God. The psalmist first invites us to thank the Lord for unfailing love. This is not a human love – a love that is fickle or easily turned inward. God’s love for us is a love that is steadfast and unchanging. God’s love flows from a heart that is so deep that we can only begin to fathom the endlessness of God’s love.

In verse 9 we read of God giving to fill our thirst and our hunger. We often pray “and give us this day our daily bread.” God can certainly be a provider of bodily sustenance. But what if the psalmist is speaking of more? What if the psalmist is speaking of the living water of Jesus Christ that springs up to eternal life? What if the author is speaking of the living word – the Bible and the Spirit of Christ in our hearts? Satisfying this hunger sustains us in and through all of life. Yes, it is right and good to give thanks for the bodily sustenance that we receive from the Lord. But how much moreso for the spiritual sustenance that is offered to us daily by the Lord?

This day may we first seek the water and food that does not perish or fade. May we seek to be filled with the things of God this day – the imperishable and everlasting love of the Lord our God.

Prayer: Lord God, fill me with your holy word today. May these words sink down deep and fill me with joy, peace, hope, mercy, grace, kindness, compassion, and light. Guide me in the way in which I should go. Use me to be Christ to the world. Amen.


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Life Abundant

Reading: Colossians 2:16-19

Verse 19: “The whole body, supported and held together by it’s ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.”

The second half of our Colossians passage invites us to focus in on Jesus Christ as our hope and strength. Paul says, in essence, don’t worry about what the world does or thinks. These things are but a “shadow.” The reality of what really matters is found in Jesus Christ. Paul says to ignore those with false humility, those who brag about their faith. They have “lost connection” with the source of faith: Christ. Paul closes this section by reminding the Colossians and us, “The whole body, supported and held together by it’s ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.”

The church, the “body,” is held together by “ligaments” and “sinews.” In reality, this is true. But in the analogy that Paul is making, what are the ligaments and sinews of the body called the church? I would argue today that the ligaments are our acts of piety – serving one another, caring for the needy, praying and worshipping together. The sinews are our acts of mercy – practicing mercy and grace, offering forgiveness and reconciliation, personal study, prayer, and fasting. When lived out individually and as a body of Christ, the “body grows as God causes it to grow.”

To grow both spiritually and physically, the body must live out faith, striving to bring others to faith, inviting others to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This begins by loving others as Jesus first loved us. This leads to radical hospitality and genuine fellowship. Relationships flourish as life abundant is shared in Christian community. This day and every day may this be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, bless the body today. Wherever and however your people gather this day, may their worship be glorious and their fellowship rich. In all hearts turned to you, draw them deeper into their love for you and for one another. May your kingdom come. Amen.


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A Glorious Love

Reading: Colossians 2:6-15

Verse 13: “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive in Christ.”

Our passage begins with Paul encouraging us to live in Christ, “rooted and built up in him.” Paul implies an ongoing, continually growing relationship. Jumping to verse 9 we are reminded that we have been given “the fullness of Christ” – the one who was “the fullness of God… in bodily form.” The fullness of God in Christ that we have been given is the Holy Spirit. This receiving of Christ’s Spirit transforms us, empowering us to put off “the sinful nature.” This, of course, is also an ongoing, continual process as we die to our sin over and over. The sinful nature is ever at work in our flesh. But, thanks be to God, so is the Spirit!

In verse 13 we read, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive in Christ.” When there was no hope for us, when we were as lost as lost can be, Jesus Christ rescued us as he “took it away” by “nailing it to the cross.” This act of love is what rescues us again and again, casting off our sin and the guilt and shame connected to it, making us alive once again in Christ. It is a glorious love that Christ has for you and me! Freeing us, we claim victory over the world and all earthly powers.

This glorious love that we experience is not a love experienced by all people. There are some who do not know Christ. We are sent to these to offer hope and rescue. There are some who long to know this freedom that we find in Christ yet are trapped or held back by society and the labels and systems that we create. We too are sent to these, armed with the triumph of the cross, empowered to help them break free of these earthly powers, inviting them to experience transformation and redemption in and through Jesus Christ. Living out the fullness of God in Christ in us, today may we seek to guide others to know the power of being alive in Christ.

Prayer: Lord God, it feels so good for the chains to fall to the ground, to experience the freedom of life with you. In all I do and say and think today may I reflect your glorious love to the world. Amen.


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Ask, Seek, Knock

Reading: Luke 11:5-13

Verse 9: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Today’s second portion of this week’s passage from Luke 11 begins with an illustration. A man has an unexpected guest. He has no bread so he goes to a neighbor, asking for bread. At first he is denied – “I can’t get up and give you anything” – but the neighbor relents because the friend at the door was so persistent. He was bold in his asking.

Continuing on, Jesus says, “So I say to you, ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.‘” Jesus is encouraging us to be bold and persistent. Begin with prayer. Ask God. Tell God the desires of your heart and the needs of your life. Ask God where you can be used today. Then turn to scripture. Seek encouragement if that’s what is needed. Maybe it’s assurance or direction or guidance that you need. They’re all in God’s word. Seek holy input. Lastly, take action. Knock on a door, send a note or a text, serve at a local organization, mow a neighbor’s lawn. Allow the asking and seeking to guide your doing. Be bold and live out what you’ve prayer for and found scriptural support for. Be persistent and trust in God. God is faithful.

This pattern applies to this week’s theme of reconciliation. Whether it is the hard work of personal transformation (reconciling oneself to God) or the challenging work of forgiveness (reconciling ourselves to another or to God) or the difficult work of social reconciliation (fixing or creating new and just systems), we begin with prayer, turn to scripture, and then take action. Rooting and founding our efforts in our relationship with God is essential to building the kingdom here on earth. Day by day, may we work to make it so.

Prayer: Lord God, I ask that you would daily guide my life. As I turn to your word and particularly to Jesus Christ, the living word, show me the way to live and be your light and love in the world. Then put me to doing. Use me as you desire as we seek to build your kingdom here on earth. Amen.


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Pray (and Live) for the Kingdom to Come

Reading: Luke 11:1-4

Verse 2: “Your kingdom come.”

Photo credit: Aaron Burden

As we turn to Luke 11, we see that this week’s theme of reconciliation continues. In the opening 4 verses we read Luke’s version of what has become known as “The Lord’s Prayer.” (The longer version is found in Matthew 6.) In this prayer example that Jesus gives, forgiveness is a key feature. Jesus teaches the disciples to ask God to forgive their sins “for we also forgive.” There is an indication that we are to forgive others if we desire for God to forgive us.

The art of forgiveness can be tricky. Sometimes, usually most often, our apology is sincere and earnest and the one we hurt or offended accepts it and our relationship enters the reconciliation phase. But once in a while our apology is rejected. Perhaps the hurt was too deep to forgive. Perhaps there are other factors, such as past history with us or past experiences outside of our relationship. Some of the time the other person needs more time and space to process the situation. It is hard when reconciliation does not come. Yet we cannot force it. We must offer grace nonetheless. This is something God alone supplies.

In verse 2, after acknowledging that God’s name is holy, Jesus teaches the disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come.” At the point of Jesus’ time on earth the world had already become much less than God intended it to be. So, after the salutation, Jesus first instructs the disciples to pray for the kingdom of God to come. When we pray this we are asking that love and justice, grace and mercy, compassion and forgiveness, generosity and reconciliation be the new norms in our world. Looking at our world today, what a radical prayer this is. Yet it is so needed. So as Christ followers may these three words be both our intent and our resulting action as we pray and then live out these words. May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, things roll on as they are, day by day. Same old, same old. Until change is made, sometimes forced. May I be used today as a part of breaking your kingdom into this world. Amen.


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Choose

Reading: Luke 10:38-42

Verse 40: “Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.”

Photo credit: Robert Bye

At the end of Luke 10 Jesus visits the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Martha, we read, opens her home to Jesus. Her home would become a favorite and regular place to stop on the way in and out of Jerusalem. They would become good friends.

As Jesus and his disciples relax and settle in, Mary joins them as Jesus begins to share with the group. We assume Lazarus was there too. Mary makes the choice to be in Jesus’ presence. Martha does not. In verse 40 we read that “Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” Sleeping quarters must be made ready, there is a meal to provide – so much to get ready! Martha feels responsible.

We too can feel responsible. There are always deadlines and things that need done. We too can feel really busy. After all, it is what our world expects. Busyness is highly prized in our culture. It’s a sign of success and productivity. So we fill our lives and our schedules, not leaving a free moment. We can easily become like Martha. I’d really like to go to church but I have so much to do. Sure, I’d love to serve on that team, but I don’t think I can free up that one hour a month. Sorry, all 168 hours each week are spoken for.

While things like work and sleep and time with family and friends are all important, even necessary, Mary chose the “better thing.” She was intentional about taking time to be in Jesus’ presence. Jesus acknowledges Martha’s busyness and reminds her that “only one thing is needed” – time with the Lord. Each day may we choose as Mary did.

Prayer: Lord God, help me to keep margin in my life. Guard my heart and mind against busyness. May you be my priority. Amen.