pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: love


by 3 Comments

Generous Fruit?

Reading: Luke 3: 7-18

Verse 8: “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance”.

John the Baptist begins his teaching with a challenge, calling out the “vipers” and in the crowd. The general thought is that John is addressing the religious leaders who have come out to see him. They came not to repent and be baptized but to see just what John is up to and to ridicule him and his message. “Just who does he think he is?” would be their primary thought. John, who knows that he has been sent by God, is not intimidated or threatened. He directly addresses their arrogance and sense of privilege, warning that the ax is already at the root. Many have come to John, heard his message, and have repented and been baptized. The proof is in the pudding. John challenges the religious leaders to do the same, saying, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance”. In other words, it isn’t enough to just say you have faith; it must be visible in your life and in the lives of those you minister to.

Before we jump on the Pharisee and Sadducee condemnation bandwagon, we must first look within ourselves. Do our lives of faith bear kingdom fruit? Do our lives draw others into relationship with Jesus Christ? John gives some practical examples of what this looks like. For some, it is clothing the naked and feeding the hungry. For others it is not using your position of authority to take advantage of others, but to treat all fairly and equally and justly. For others it is being content with what you have, not getting into the race to have more and more. In doing so, it allows others to have some.

This season of the year is a time when many are generous. Is it just to keep our spouse and children and good friends happy and satisfied? Or is it to spread the love of Jesus Christ to just one more person and then to one more person after that? Do we seek ways to give gifts that do not come wrapped up in pretty paper? If we do, then we will bear fruit in keeping with repentance. May it be so for us all.

Prayer: Giving God, guide me to those in need of hope as well as the basics of life – food, shelter, clothing. Help me to be a blessing in all the ways I can to all the people I can, shining your light and love into their lives. Amen.


by 1 Comment

Mighty to Save

Reading: Zephaniah 3: 14-18

Verse 17: “The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save”.

Today we read from the book of Zephaniah. He was a prophet in a time when God was judging the nation. Zephaniah lived and spoke about 600 years before Jesus was born. The first chapters of Zephaniah are about doom and gloom and judgment. The people of God have been living in sin. In chapter three, he begins to speak of a better future for Jerusalem. There is still some wrath and consuming fire coming, but there is also hope in God calling His people back. The people will be purified. The remnant will be meek and humble and honest. God will protect such people.

Our passage today begins with God saying, “Sing, O Daughter of Zion, shout aloud, O Israel”! Zephaniah signals a new day coming, a time of gladness and rejoicing. He proclaims that the Lord is with them. There is no need for fear. Verse 17 reads, “The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save”. Yes, indeed, the Lord is mighty to save! God will delight in His people, He will quiet their groaning and dry their tears with His love, He will rejoice over them. It is a future of hope and joy and love and peace. It sounds a lot like Advent. Each Sunday we celebrate one if these characteristics of God.

Zephaniah’s message to the people is that salvation is near. God remains their God and He will redeem His people. Fast forward about 2,600 years or so. The message is the same: God is mighty to save! God is with us. Hallelujah and amen!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for continuing to redeem your children and to love on us in so many ways. We all need mercy and compassion. I am so grateful that you are mighty to save. Thank you God! Amen.


by 1 Comment

Trust in God, Our Salvation

Reading: Isaiah 12: 2-6

Verse 2: “Surely God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid”.

Life can bring us all kinds of ups and downs. In the midst of Advent and the holiday season, even then, “life” affects us. In church yesterday, on the second Sunday of Advent, we had two prayer cards for families who lost loved ones, one for a surgery, one for a man who had to place his wife in an Alzheimer’s unit, and one for a grandson. It felt like a lot. Yet for each of these families affected, it feels much more profound and impactful.

As I read and reflected on today’s passage, I realized that Isaiah’s audience must have felt some big emotions too. As Isaiah spoke these words to the people, the powerful empire of Assyria was bearing down on their part of the world. In what felt like a tide sweeping across the earth, the Israelites were awaiting the first waves. As what surely felt like impending doom crept closer and closer, Isaiah offers these words of hope: “Surely God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid”. Yes, folks, trouble is on the way. But God is greater. Isaiah’s message to Israel is the same message to us: trust in God.

For those feeling sadness or loss or even uncertainty during this time of the year, this is an important message to hear: trust in God. Trust that God will lead you through, and He will. Trust that God will bring you the strength that you need, and He will. Trust that God will give you discernment and will bless your decisions, and He will. God is surely your salvation.

Isaiah closes our passage for today encouraging us to “shout aloud and sing for joy”. He is encouraging the people and us to celebrate God’s faithfulness in the past. In doing so we are strengthened for the day today. To all who are hurting or worried or struggling this Advent season, remember, God loves you, God is trustworthy, God is your salvation. Trust in God. Amen.

Prayer: Lord, I pray for those who are down, those who are blue, those who need your loving presence, your hope, your grace. Please be present to them, O God of our salvation. Thank you. Amen.


by 1 Comment

Love, Discern, Fruit

Reading: Philippians 1: 9-11

Verses 9-11: “This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more… that you discern what is best… may you be filled with the fruit of righteousness”.

In our passage today, Paul offers a prayer for three things that are connected. One leads to another; one depends on the two proceeding it. These three play out in our lives of faith.

Paul begins by praying that the Philippians’ love “abound more and more”. This is the picture of love in our lives. The day we marry or have a child, we think we can’t possibly love our spouse or that child any more than we do that day. Yet we most certainly do. The same is true in our relationship with God. And the same is true of our love of the stranger. Christ’s love within us leads us to someone in need and as we share the same His love with them, our love of them begins to grow.

Love leads to discernment. When we know how our spouse or child or neighbor ticks, it is because our love for them has grown. It leads us into understanding them. Understanding them and our relationship with them is what allows us to look past faults, sins, and even wrongs against us. This discernment allows us to continue to love them and sometimes to love them even more. It is this knowledge built upon love that leads us to action – “to be filled with the fruit of righteousness”, to use Paul’s words.

When we come to love and know someone, we know their situation, their struggles… This allows us to become humble servants at times. This produces fruit – pure and blameless because it is not about us but is about doing the work of the Lord and bringing Him the glory. The more we love God, the more we know God, the more we are led to be His light and love in the world. It is a connection that we are blessed to be a part of and we are blessed when we are participating in it. May it be so for each of us.

Prayer: God of love, help me to love you and all of your creatures more today than yesterday. May love lead to knowledge and knowledge to service, producing kingdom fruit. Amen.


by 1 Comment

Horn of Salvation

Reading: Luke 1: 68-75

Verses 69 and 72: “He has raised up a horn of salvation for us… to show mercy… and to remember His holy covenant”.

Zechariah’s prophecy that comes to us today in Luke 1 begins with, “Praise be to the Lord”. His son has been born, fulfilling the promise of the angel. It is a personal experience to go along with all of Israel’s experiences of God being with them and loving them. God was present in the time in slavery, in the time in captivity, and in all of the other hard places that the people have found themselves. Added to that are the many experiences with God blessing the people when they turned to God – the sea parted and the giant fell, the fire consumed the offering and the rain once again fell from the sky.

In our passage today, the first half of Zechariah’s song, he speaks of the redeemer who is about to come. Zechariah says, “He has raised up a horn of salvation for us… to show mercy… and to remember His holy covenant”. Jesus Christ will be that horn. Through Jesus Christ, God will show His people mercy. Through Jesus Christ, God will remember His covenant to love His children and to always be their God. In and through Jesus Christ, the people of God will be able to “serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness”. The Savior will restore people through the forgiveness of sins, making us holy and right with God each time we repent and seek His love and grace.

Prophets often brought change and usually challenged the status quo of their day. They called the people away from sin and back into right relationship with God. Jesus Will and certainly continues to do this – calling us to walk the way of the cross. This day may we each help one more person to know the “horn of salvation”, Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord God, may my words and actions reveal Jesus to all I meet. May what they see lead them to want to know you. Amen.


by 3 Comments

Love Overflow

Reading: 1st Thessalonians 3: 9-13

Verse 12: “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and everyone else”.

As Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica in our passage today, he is writing to the community of faith. Throughout the Bible, God is about community. In the beginning, God lived in community with Adam and Eve. As the Bible progresses, God’s love story reveals that community is the way we are to live out our faith. Much of our faith continues to be practiced in community. Our sacraments focus on being a part of the community of faith.

Our culture today has a mix of community and individualism. Most of the things we do are done in community – family, school, sports, work. But within these is a sense or valuing of individual success or achievement. We hear things like, “they wouldn’t be the company they are without…” or “they would not be the greatest team ever without…”. In our culture we raise individual success over the group’s or team’s success.

In a way the same can be said of people in the Bible. For example, we could say that without Moses the Israelites would either still be wandering around the desert or they would have returned to Egypt. In the Bible, no individual is more important than Jesus Christ. No one was a better example of obedience to God. No one loved God and neighbor like Jesus did. Yet these individuals were different than the individuals that rise to the pinnacle of their fields today. Moses and other important Biblical leaders, and especially Jesus, were not about self and individual glory. They were about living in relationship with God and with their communities. They were not just leaders, they were humble servant leaders.

Above all, Jesus’ life revolved around love. It is the focus of our key verse today: “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and everyone else”. During the season of Advent, may we spend time each day in the Word and will the Lord our God, growing in love. And may that love overflow to each other and to the stranger that we meet as well. May it be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Dear God, may love be evident in our community of faith – in the ways we worship you and in the ways we love each other. May that love flow out into our homes, into our neighborhoods, into our schools and work places, so that all will know the love of Christ this Advent season. Amen.


by 3 Comments

Holy and Blameless

Reading: 1st Thessalonians 3: 9-13

Verse 13: “May He strengthen your hearts so that you will be holy and blameless… when our Lord Jesus comes”.

In our passage today, Paul is writing to a persecuted church. The Christians suffered for their belief in Jesus Christ. Paul is writing to encourage them to keep the faith. In a world that is often attacking their faith, it must have been hard to always be light and love to the world.

In our country, persecution is not widespread. I do not fear going to church tomorrow nor do I try and keep my identity as a pastor secret. Even so, even in America, at times Christians do face forms of persecution and do suffer for their faith. This is part of the times in which we live. We are now living in between the fall of man and the restoration of all things when Jesus returns in final victory. As followers of Jesus we do have the model that Jesus himself lived out. He gave us the example of how to live a life obedient to God regardless of the cost.

The Christians that Paul was writing to also relied on the witness and teaching of Jesus. They also turned to the Word as well. The Thessalonicans kept the faith because they knew the promises and trusted them. Through faith they lived with God’s love, grace, mercy, and hope. Through faith they were blessed with God’s presence, strength, comfort, and assurances. They daily lived out verse 13: “May He strengthen your hearts so that you will be holy and blameless… when our Lord Jesus comes”.

When our lives become stressed and the voices of discord and unrest and questioning and even persecution arise, may we too remember and cling to the promises. When suffering comes our way because of our faith, may we rejoice as we welcome God’s communion with us, walking by our side. In the persecution and suffering, in the trial, may we fully rely on God, walking holy and blameless in His sight – not on our own but fully in God’s power and might.

Prayer: Lord – thank you for your abiding presence in the good and in the bad. You are always near. Thank you Lord. Thank you. Amen.


by 3 Comments

Perfection?

Reading: Psalm 25: 8-10

Verse 9: “He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His ways”.

Sometimes I wonder why God engages us. Over and over I sin – yet God continues to love me. The good words of the psalmist remind me of why. He begins with, “good and upright is the Lord”. God loves us because of who He is, not because of who we are. God keeps His promises. God promises to always engage us – God will be our God always; God will never leave or forsake us; God’s mercies will never end.

Through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, God continually instructs the sinners. The Holy Spirit convicts us and leads us to repentance when we do sin. The Holy Spirit and God’s Word also work in us to teach us more about God and our faith, to do good works, to love our neighbors, to live faithfully. In verse 9 the psalmist writes, “He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His ways”. God guides the humble. If we think we know it all or if we are arrogant or, worse yet, if we think we have ‘arrived’ on our faith journey, then we are not humble. Humility is required for the continued walk of faith.

Our section of today’s Psalm closes by again reminding us that God is loving and faithful to those who obey. When we keep the commands of God, then we experience God’s love and faithfulness. God does not bless the wayward. God does help the prodigal to return home, to a right relationship with God, so that He can bless us. Thankfully, God is never done with us.

The process of God continuing to work in us to be more and more like Jesus Christ is called ‘sanctification’. This refining process draws us in and leads to our becoming more holy. John Wesley called this process “going on to perfection”. Jesus was perfect. The goal of our faith is to become more and more like Christ. I think we only become perfect when we stand beside Him in eternal glory. But for now, in this life, may we seek to draw ever closer to Jesus Christ, the perfector of our faith.

Prayer: Lord, even as I acknowledge my imperfections and admit my failures, I ask you to make me more and more like Jesus today. Make me a better witness, a deeper follower, a more willing servant. In all my seconds, minutes, and hours, may I shine your light. Amen.


by 1 Comment

God My Savior

Reading: Psalm 25: 1-7

Verse 5: “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long”.

Today’s Psalm reminds us that we live in relationship with God. For our part, we trust God, we place our hope in God, we seek God’s love and forgiveness. For God’s part, God protects us, God teaches us, God guides us, God forgives us, and God loves us. One quickly notices that God does more than we do!

How we live in relationship with God reflects this as well. The psalmist writes “I lift my soul” and “in you I trust” and “show me” – indicating a reliance on or need for God. There is also a call for protection from enemies.

In verses 4 and 5 we find the heart of the relationship. These verses express our deep need for God’s instruction. They begin by asking God to show us how to love like God, to treat others as God does, to do as God does. They seek to know God’s paths – the roads to those in need, to those who are lonely, to those who are hurting or broken. Verse 5 sums it up well, asking God to “guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long”. All day long.

The psalmist recognizes God as his Savior. This becomes the focus of verses 6 and 7. The psalmist calls upon God to remember God’s “great love and mercy”. It is with and because of these that the psalmist asks God to “remember not” the sins and rebellious ways that he has practiced. These are also our cries to God. In our struggles with sin, we too beg God to “remember not”. This section closes by asking God to remember us in love, drawn from God’s goodness. This too is a good request for us to make: think of us in love today, O God, poured out from your goodness. Remember not our sins but love us in your great mercy. Thank you God.

Prayer: Lord, I join the psalmist today, asking you to lead and guide me, to show me your ways. May all I do and say honor you and bring you glory. And when I stumble, when I fail, please pour out your mercy and grace and love upon me. Thank you God my Savior. Amen.


by 1 Comment

Promises

Reading: Jeremiah 33: 14-16

Verse 15: “I will make a righteous branch sprout from David’s line, he will do what is just and right in the land”.

Chapter 33 begins with the promise to restore Israel. God promises to heal Israel and to bring them out of Babylonian captivity. They will return to their homeland and rebuild what was destroyed. God promises that the sounds of joy and laughter will return and the fortunes of the land will be restored. God will again bless them with flocks on the hills – all under God’s hand.

God speaks into their immediate situation to remind them of the promises that were given to their ancestors. The promises of healing and restoration, of forgiveness and love, are still there. God always keeps His promises. God’s side of the covenants to Abraham… are kept by God regardless of the failings and sins of His children.

In our passage today, God speaks of a ruler or king who will come, saying, “I will make a righteous branch sprout from David’s line, he will do what is just and right in the land”. As Christians, we read these words and think, “Jesus”! However, the people who received these words from the prophet Jeremiah probably did not think “Messiah”. They would simply think of a king like the great King David – one who was strong and powerful, one who brought peace and justice to the land. The idea of a good king ruling over a restored and free people back in the Promised Land would have been how Jeremiah’s audience would hear this promise from God.

Chapter 33 goes on to reiterate the promises of God to establish an heir of David on the throne and of the covenants that will continue like the day and night, each going on at their appointed times. Many, many years later and scores and scores of kings later, there is a true King on the throne of God’s people. The family looks a bit different. But the reality is that Jesus is Lord over God’s people. The Righteous One came from David’s line, just as we can read these into today’s passage. With Jesus came not only healing and restoration, forgiveness and love, but salvation as well. Thank you Jesus! Thank you God for the gift of your Son, Jesus.

Prayer: Lord, we still cling to your promises. Use me to bring the hope and light and love of the good news and its saving power to all I meet today who are lost or hurting or broken. For my King, I say thank you too! Amen.