pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: Lord


by Leave a comment

Exalt and Worship

Reading: Psalm 99: 5-9

In today’s Psalm, we see four aspects of God, each requiring or provoking a response from the faithful.  Each of these aspects of God continue to be a part of our faith today.  Each is essential to a full relationship with God.

Verse five reminds us that God is holy.  In God, there is only good.  In God there cannot be any wrong or evil doing.  It is the spark of the divine in each of us that makes all of humanity have a natural bent towards doing good in the world.  Our response is to exalt the Lord and to worship our God.

Verse six speaks of calling on God.  Moses, Aaron, and Samuel are but a few who called on God.  There are many more who turned to the Lord our God in prayer.  Each came before God with honest and sincere hearts and prayers and “He answered them”.  Our response is to do the same.  We are called to regular communication with God, in the pattern of these great examples.

In verse seven we are prompted to remember God’s statutes and decrees.  The Bible is God’s guidance and directions for how to live as He intends us to live.  Our response remains the same: be obedient to God’s ways.

Verse eight recalls the struggle we all face: sin.  We will all experience temptation and at times we will all sin.  This verse reads, “you were to Israel a forgiving God”.  This remains one of God’s core characteristics.  God loves His children and constantly seeks to restore us to a right relationship with Him.  Because of this desire, our God is a loving, merciful, forgiving God.

Verse nine contains our response.  It is a reminder of what this passage opened with.  In light of all that God is, the psalmist again calls us to exalt and worship the Lord our God.  May our lives today be filled with our praise of God, worshipping the Lord our God in all we do and say and think this day.


by Leave a comment

What Does the Lord Require?

Reading: Micah 6: 6-8

The first five verses of Micah 6 bring God’s charges against Israel.  God has laid out His case.  In verses six and seven, Micah gets in the act.  He muses about what would appease God, about what would be enough to ‘even the score’.  Micah wonders if a thousand rams would be enough.  Or maybe 10,000 rivers of oil would do the trick.  He next wonders if maybe the firstborn child being sacrificed would do the trick.  Just as Micah knew, we too know.  It is not about our sacrifices or our giving or about anything else we can do; it is all about our personal relationship with God.  So Micah gets direct and is right on point.  Micah asks what does God require of us?  Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God.  For Christians today, in Jesus’ life and witness we see meaning and an example of how to fulfill these three requirements.

We are to act justly.  Most simply put, this is to love neighbor as self.  This means to do what is right in all cases.  This means we speak up when others are being wronged.  This means we hold each other accountable.  Of course to do all of these things, our heart must be right with God.  We confess and repent when we sin, we accept rebuke when needed, we work to always align our will with God’s will.

We are to love mercy.  This means we extend ‘loving neighbor as self’ to really be loving others as Jesus first loved us.  On the cross we find what loving mercy really means.  To love mercy means to accept others as they are.  This is how Jesus dealt with all He met.  So we must forgive others when they wrong us, whether they deserve it or not.  We walk alongside and love those in need.  We choose to adopt and follow policies and stances that seek to promote the well-being of the entire community.

We are to walk humbly with our God.  This begins by surrendering our lives to God, by living each day with Christ as our Lord.  This means seeking and allowing God to guide our actions, thoughts, words, and deeds.  This is giving God the control and being obedient to humbly walk where God leads.

“What does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”.  May it be so today and every day.


by Leave a comment

Called

1 Corinthians 1: 1-9

There is a definite focus on “call” in today’s passage.  Paul opens with his call “to be an apostle of Jesus Christ”.  He then reminds the church in Corinth of their “call to be holy”, right along with all others who “call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”.  This culture of call is one that is present throughout the Bible and is alive and well today.

Before Paul there is a long list of those called in the Bible.  Noah was called to build an arc.  Jonah was called to save Nineveh.  Moses was called to lead his people.  Job was called to endure much while remaining faithful.  Joshua was called to lead into the Promised Land.  Rahab was called to risk her life for God’s spies.  Fast forward and we find simple fisherman and unpopular tax collectors alike called by Jesus.  Almost all of the people that God called are much like us – normal, ordinary people.  Some were even outcasts and others were hated by their siblings.  Some served for just short periods and others served for years.  Some were even like Paul, who as Saul killed many Christians in his attempts to stamp out the new church.  The long and short of it is that God can and will continue to call any and all for service in the kingdom.

In addition to calling us, God also equips us.  Paul reminds us that in Christ we have been “enriched in every way” and that we “do not lack any spiritual gift”, that God has already given us what we need for the tasks at hand.  Paul then shares a promise: “He will keep you strong to the end”.  And lastly, Paul shares, “He has called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord”.  Pretty good company as we answer God’s call on our lives.

We are each called and equipped by God to go forth into the world with Jesus Christ.  May we faithfully answer the call this day.


by Leave a comment

God’s Love

Reading: Hebrews 1: 1-12

Tomorrow we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  In this one act, God shows us how much we are loved.  We are shown the depth of God’s love in a number of ways.  We are told that heaven is a place where there is no pain, no tears, no hurt, no evil.  “Paradise” is a word associated with God’s dwelling place.  That God would leave heaven and choose to live amongst us here is one way the birth reveals the depth of God’s love for us.  God’s choice to put on flesh and walk amongst us sinners reveals a love that is hard to understand.

Verse three states, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory”.  As our Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus reveals the compassionate heart that beats in heaven.  Rather than be the Lord or King that He could have been, Jesus instead chose the role of humble servant.  With a wave of His hand or a whisper of His voice Jesus could have wiped out all evil and injustice.  With a thought He could have removed the Romans.  Instead Jesus became like you and me, demonstrating God’s love through simple acts of mercy, friendship, compassion, and love – in ways you and I can follow and practice.  He became like us so we could be like Him.  Oh how He loves us!

These are just two reasons we celebrate the love of God revealed in the birth.  But in knowing the end, we are also amazed at the birth.  How hard it would be to bring a child into this world knowing that they would die a horrific and unjust death.  What an amazing love that God would send Jesus knowing that the cross loomed.  As a parent we would do all we could for our child to avoid that death.  God did all He could to insure that Jesus would go to the cross.  It is a love I cannot fathom.  Yet for this love, I say thanks be to God.


by Leave a comment

One Day

Reading: Psalm 98

The psalmist solemnly reminds us that the Lord “will judge the world in righteousness and the people with equity”.  It is a truth we know: one day we will all stand before the judgment seat to be deemed worthy of heaven or to be condemned to hell.  We do not know the when or the how, but we know that the who and what we are now is not forever.

God will first judge in righteousness.  There will be truth in how we are judged.  The simple question that is illustrated in the parable of the sheep and the goats will be the one Jesus asks us: “Do you know me”?  It is the hope and prayer of every Christian that when Jesus looks back over the course of our lives, that He will see we knew Him.  It will be revealed in how we lived out our daily life.  It will be revealed in how we treated our neighbor and the stranger in our midst.  It will be revealed in how we used the gifts and talents and blessings God gave us to help build the kingdom here.

God will also judge with equity.  Loving God and loving neighbor can look like and be a lot of different things.  There is not just one way to love.  By judging with equity God will look at each of us uniquely.  If I was given the gift of teaching, did I teach others about God and faith?  If I was placed in a situation to help the person on the street, did I?  If I was feeling the call or nudge to go to a friend in need, did I respond?  We will each be judged by our own lives, not against some set standard.

When Jesus asks, “Did you know me?” may our answer be a joyous “Yes”!  And may our Lord and Savior say, “Yes indeed – welcome home”!  May we live each day so that one day this will be.


by Leave a comment

Grace and Peace

Reading: Romans 1: 1-7

Paul opens with a thought: “set apart for the gospel”.  We are called to this.  We are called to be different from the secular culture and the worldly values by which so many live.  We are called to Christian witness in a post-Christian time.  Jesus did say that the road is hard and the way is narrow that leads to eternal life.  It is work, at times, to hold fast to the faith we profess.  Although narrow, the way is open to all who choose to live with Jesus as Lord.

In Rome, Caesar was lord.  To call upon Jesus Christ as Lord was to be set apart.  As we we’ll know from our own daily struggles to keep Jesus #1, there can only be one Lord.  So to profess Jesus is Lord implies that Caesar is not.  This was risky back in Paul’s time.  Today many think it a bit risky to profess Jesus Christ as Lord all the time and in all aspects of our lives.  This can be risky to our jobs, our friends, our hobbies, our money, and, perhaps most significantly, to our self.

As a church we can choose to be set apart.  We can have doors that are open to any and all instead of just to some.  We can offer communion to any and all who seek to be made new instead of just to those who meet our qualifications.  We can invite and welcome the whole community into our sacred spaces instead of just our church members.

As individuals, we can take these ideals and apply them to our lives as well.  W can engage any and all as we live out our lives as slaves to the gospel.  We can welcome all guests who come to our places of worship and to the events we put on or host.  We can invite all of our neighbors, coworkers, and classmates to be a part of our communities of faith.  Our lives too can have open hearts and open doors.

Paul writes, “grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”.  May we choose to live as disciples and apostles each day, bringing peace and grace to the world, to any and all we meet.


by Leave a comment

The Way

Reading: Isaiah 35: 1-10

John the Baptist calls out and encourages us to make our lives straight pathways for the Lord.  It is a matter of repenting of our sins and living a righteous life.  Today’s passage from Isaiah speaks of this same way of life.  Isaiah proclaims that the glory of the Lord will be revealed.  The blind will see, the lame will leap, the mute will shout, and the deaf will hear.  God will restore us to wholeness.  God redeems and restores us so that we can walk “the Way of Holiness”.  God calls us to journey on this path, to walk in the Way.

In the New Testament, Jesus laid claim to this prophecy from Isaiah.  Jesus stated, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”.  Jesus established that the only way to eternal life was through Him.  More specifically, through a relationship with Him.  Isaiah proclaimed that the wicked will not walk this way.  There will be no fools or ferocious beasts on this road.  The prophet tells us that only the redeemed, only the ransomed of the Lord, will walk this path.

God wants all people to walk this path.  But God will not force anyone to walk the way of holiness.  Many will choose to walk a different path.  Jesus stated that the Way is narrow and that it is a hard road to walk.  Satan and the lies of this world constantly work to pull the saved off of the Way of Holiness.  Our human flesh is weak and we are prone to temptation and sin.  But evil will never triumph over good.  Jesus has already fought that battle.  On the cross, Jesus forever defeated sin and death.  Even though we stumble, once we claim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are His.  Nothing can change that, nothing can separate us from the love of God we find in Jesus Christ.

Baby Jesus is coming soon.  We await with anticipation and expectancy.  The world senses this.  The world senses the possibilities of hope and promise that comes in Christ.  May we, as ones on the Way, help others to see the path that God also calls them to, drawing them into His love.


by Leave a comment

Each Day

Reading: Romans 13: 11-14

Paul writes to the church in Rome with some urgency.  As time has elapsed since Jesus’ resurrection, they need some encouragement.  Early believers thought Jesus would return soon – surely in their lifetimes.  But as year after year ticks by, their mindset began to change.  For many, “when” became “will” Jesus return?  Some in the church in Rome have begun to drift.  Paul’s words to “wake up” reflect this idea.  Paul writes, “our salvation in nearer that when we first believed”.  While is is true for the Roman church, it is also true for us.

Paul calls the church in Rome to faithful living each day.  “The night is nearly over” implies again that again that Christ is coming soon.  Or at least that they should return to living that way.  He urges them to put aside sin and to “put on the armor of light”.  The people must have been straying a but from the faith.  The list of actions Paul mentions are things more common to secular Roman culture.  Paul is calling the church away from this lifestyle and back to following Christ faithfully each day.

Living today we too have much that we can turn to for pleasure and gratification.  Just like the Romans, we too can engage in wild living and a loose lifestyle.  The more modern temptations of the TV screen and internet are readily available and offer a degree of privacy.  Even more private are our thoughts of jealousy and judgment and envy and freed that can so easily pop up and cause us to sin in our hearts.  Our focus on faithful living day by day can be quite a challenge.

So, Paul’s words speak to us as well.  We must constantly be aware of the efforts of Satan and work daily to stay out of “darkness”.  We must always be ready, always seeking ways to be in the “light” instead.  It is a daily battle.  It is a daily choice.  Each day, may we also “clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ”.  If we begin each day in Christ, our hearts and minds are better prepared to meet the assaults of the day.  We are better prepared to honor God with our choices and decisions.  Strengthen and encourage us each day, O Lord our God.


by Leave a comment

Gather

Reading: Psalm 122

Psalm 122 is a song of ascent.  It is a song that would be sung as one traveled to Jerusalem to participate in one of the major religious festivals.  The song was sung to help the pilgrim enter the right frame of mind for worship.  Today, it would be like singing “Joy to the World” as you drive to church on Christmas Eve after working a ten hour shift at the mall.  The pilgrims who would sing the Psalm are reminding themselves of the joy of worshipping God in the temple.  They are also remembering the significance of the holiday.

Soon enough the airwaves, internet feeds, and television channels will be filled with all things Christmas.  Sale ads, incredible offers, silly shows, and Christmas specials will all remind us that the season of shopping is upon us.  And somewhere in there almost all people will remember, in spite of all our consumer culture says, that there is a “reason for the season”.  Come December 24 many will stream into sanctuaries all over the world, in small towns and big cities, to celebrate the birth of Christ.  They will be much like the pilgrims coming to the temple in our Psalm.

The high festivals and Christmas share much in common.  Both focus on what God has done for us.  Both draw a wonderful body of believers together to praise and worship God.  Both celebrate God’s love for us.  Both give a glimpse into the connection all people have with God.  Both bring people from all walks of life together in the name of the King.

May we joyously gather throughout this Advent season with one and all to truly worship the Lord our God.  It is a time to sincerely welcome all who seek to know the King.  With open hearts and minds, with the joy of the season all around, may we join as one this holy season.


by Leave a comment

Coming Soon

Reading: Isaiah 2: 1-5

Today’s reading paints a picture I long for.  Isaiah speaks of going up to the mountain of God so that we can learn his ways in order to walk his paths.  It ends with a great line, “Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord”.  All humanity longs for a sense of peace, for a sense of well-being.  We find this by faithfully living our daily lives in God’s presence.

In our lives and in places around the world, peace and contentment do not always rule the day.  On a personal level, we all deal at times with issues of health and rocky relationships and other trials.  In the world, violence and oppression and injustice are everyday occurrences in some places.

On a personal level, when we learn God’s ways we are better equipped to walk through the storms of life because we know that God is present to us.  God’s light guides our path and we live with a confidence that no matter what the world brings, we know that ultimately we are in God’s hands.

But there is much sorrow and pain and brokenness is our world.  For me to begin to understand how this can be ‘fixed’ is simply beyond me.  Yet I know it is well within God’s care.  In today’s passage we find comfort and reassurance that God has a plan.  Verse four is one of great hope for me.  One day God will settle disputes between peoples.  They will then “beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks”.  Instruments of war and violence will become implements to feed one another.  People will provide for one another’s basic needs and famine will be no more.  A time of peace is coming.

Advent is just around the corner too.  It is a time when we prepare for the coming of the Prince of Peace.  Humbly we ask, O Lord Jesus, come soon.