pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: love


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New But Unchanging

Reading: Mark 1: 21-28

Verse 27: “What is this? A new teaching – and with authority!”

The people who have been listening to Jesus talk are amazed by both His insights and by the authority with which He teaches. They asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching – and with authority”! Jesus is revealing the scriptures perhaps in a new way, but He is teaching from an old source. We do not know what scroll Jesus is teaching from, but even if it was the newest it is at least 400 years old!

Have you ever read a passage of scripture that you thought you knew fairly well only to discover something fresh or unnoticed jumping out at you? I often wonder how I missed that the last time I read the passage. Have you ever sat down on Sunday, heard a familiar passage read, thought ‘here we go again’, and then had the pastor apply it in a whole new way? Once in a while it even feels like he or she is preaching just to you. Have you ever done your small group homework, come to class feeling confident in your preparations, and then been amazed by someone else’s different but spot-on insights? Yes, indeed, the Word of God is alive and, therefore, it often feels new to us in amazing ways.

Yet at its core, the message of the Bible does not change. The Bible is God’s ongoing love story with generation after generation of sinful and often disobedient children. It seems that no matter what we do, God’s love for us remains steadfast and true. As Jesus enters the story, we gain a fuller understanding of God’s love. In Jesus, we see what God’s love looks like lived out between us. Jesus gives us the model to follow. At the conclusion of Jesus’ earthly time, we see what the ultimate gift of love looks like as Jesus dies for you and me. It was Jesus’ final act of love and service. Through the grave defeated the power of sin and death and made a way for us all to inherit eternal life.

While the Word can be new to us every time we delve in, these core truths remain the same. Our faith foundation will always rest upon God’s love. Yet we are still blessed to experience that love in new ways every day. Thanks be to God for new but unchanging living Word.


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Authority

Reading: Mark 1: 21-28

Verse 22: “The people were amazed at His teaching, because He taught them as one who had authority”.

Our passage from Mark 1 centers on Jesus’ authority. Authority is something we learn about early in life. As children, our parents have authority over us. Our parents are authority figures who love and care for us and who want the best for us. The next person we meet with some authority in our lives is usually our teacher. They too have a love for children and are focused on helping us to grow into intelligent and responsible young people. Soon enough we meet others who have authority in our lives: coaches, bosses, instructors. Although it can happen earlier in life, it is here that we begin to experience authority figures who do not have our well-being as the top priority. They begin to focus on things like success and performance and achievement. During the course of our lives, we certainly will encounter people with authority that we disagree with or even dislike. We may encounter authority figures who abuse their power or somehow else negatively impact us, altering our view of authority.

As Jesus teaches in the synagogue in Capernaum, those in the audience quickly recognize an authority to His teaching. Verse 22 reads, “The people were amazed at His teaching, because He taught them as one who had authority”. We have probably all had teachers or bosses who taught with authority because they were experts in their field. Jesus is an expert in His field: God. As Jesus teaches, a man possessed by demons calls out to Jesus and identifies Jesus’ authority: “You are the Holy One of God”. This man knows Jesus’ authority because of who Jesus is. As the Holy One of God, Jesus has ultimate authority. Using this, He casts out the demon. This adds a new level of authority for those in the synagogue that day – even evil spirits over Jesus.

In today’s passage, Jesus’ authority is recognized for what He knows, for who He is, and for what He can do. It is a complete authority. In our lives, do we recognize Jesus’ authority completely? Or do we try and keep a little control for ourselves? May we surrender completely to Jesus’ full authority, giving all of ourselves to Jesus today.


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Compassionate Love

Reading: Jonah 3: 1-5 & 10

Verse Ten: “He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened”.

Today we pick up the story of Jonah part way through.  Jonah has already been told to go to Nineveh, fled the other direction, been tossed into the sea during a fierce storm, been swallowed by a fish, prayed to God, and was vomited on to dry land.  This is Jonah 1 and 2 in a nutshell.  Our passage today begins with God speaking a second time to Jonah, instructing him to go to the great city of Nineveh to give a message which calls for their repentance.

Nineveh is a great city with over 120,000 residents.  Our passage tells us that it takes three days to visit the city.  We also learn that it is a city of wickedness.  God calls Jonah to go to save the city from destruction.  This is the first indication of God’s compassionate love.  God desires for the city to turn from its evil ways.  God’s compassionate love is also shown to Jonah as God is willing to tell him a second time to go to Nineveh.  God could have let Jonah drown and found another messenger.

Jonah goes to Nineveh and preached, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be over turned”.  The people believe God and a citywide fast is declared by the king.  The people also put on sackcloth as a sign of their repentance.  The king led the people to do this in hope that God would be compassionate and would relent.  In verse ten we read, “He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened”.  God delivered the second chance that He wanted to give the city.  The story does not end here either.  God still has some work to do with Jonah.  Even though God’s purposes for Nineveh have been completed, God still loves Jonah and goes on to show that.

In the continuing work that God does with Jonah we come to see that God not only gives Jonah a second chance, but also a third…  God does not give up on Jonah.  He continues to bring Jonah along, ever shaping him into who he was created to be.  This is a beautiful thing about our God.  He continues to do the same thing for each and every one of us.  In His great love, God works and works and works to help us along our Christian walk.  He never gives up on us.  It is a beautiful thing.  Thanks be to God for His never-ending compassionate love for you and for me.


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Strong and Loving

Reading: Psalm 62: 9-12

Verses 11 and 12: “O God, you are strong… O Lord, you are loving”.

There is a shift as we move into the second part of our reading from Psalm 62.  Verses five through eight were all about placing our trust in God and today’s passage begins by reminding us of our limits and shortcomings as human beings.  The psalmist reminds us that no matter how rich or poor we think we are, no matter how important or lowly we think we are, it does not matter because we are simply a breath.  Soon we will be no more.  For the psalmist, this means that all of our hope and trust must be in God alone.  The things of this world and our pride will not last and they will not save us.

The Psalm reminds us that we are all equally powerless before God.  Even though we know deep down that we really cannot control much in this life and that when our time comes we cannot delay it in any way, we still turn to things like riches and position to determine our worth.  We also tend to compare ourselves to others to feel value.  And too often when we feel that we do not compare well, we turn to judging others as a means to elevate ourselves.  Things have not changed too much since the Psalm was written.

Our passage today comes near to a close with these words: “O God, you are strong… O Lord, you are loving”.  In the face of our pettiness and frailty, we are reminded of the eternal truths of God.  God remains strong and loving in all ways and at all times.  When we can choose to focus on God’s goodness and strength and love, then we can rest content in who we are as a child of God.  When we know God in this way, the things of this world pale.  Yes, we are but a breath, but we are a breath that has been breathed by God.

As our passage closes, it speaks of rewarding us accordingly.  When we walk this life with a deep and abiding trust in God’s strength and love, then we are assured of our eternity with God.  Our future does not get any better than that!  Each and every day may we trust into the only thing that truly lasts – the Lord our God.


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Love

Reading: Psalm 139: 13-18

Verse 13: “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb”.

God is a vast God.  God created the world and all living creatures.  God continues to be active and present each day.  God’s love is unending, God’s mercy always overflows, and God’s forgiveness pours forth from the throne unceasingly.  As vast as God is, though, God is also intimately connected to each of us as well.  Verse thirteen speaks of how God has been connected to each of us since our beginning: “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb”.  God personally formed each of us.  Personally.  God really loves and values each and every one of us as!

In the beginning of time God spoke a word and created.  God set stars among the sky that are so numerous that we cannot count them.  Yet God knows each one by name.  This is amazing power and might.  But is was all done at once.  God spoke and it was.  That’s power.  For you and me and for each of the billions and billions of people who have lived and who are now alive, God knit us together.  We are each formed by hand, so to speak.  We are “fearfully and wonderfully made”, true, but we are also individually made.  Each of us is a unique creation of God’s mighty hand.  I think that is more amazing than any part of the creation story.

Even though we are formed by God’s hands, at times we separate ourselves from God.  We choose to sin or we may even deny our relationship with God.  We are imperfect and human.  God is not.  Into our sin, God sends grace and mercy and forgiveness.  God says, “I love you still”.  In those times of separation or denial, God continues to seek us out, to call out to us, to love us.  God could just create another person and hope for better results, but does not.  We are each the most important creation there is.  That’s how big God’s love is.

While I am thankful for this love, I know that it cannot stop there.  It is a love that must be shared with others.  This day, O Lord, may I be your love to another.  May it be so for all of us.  Amen.


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Fully Known

Reading: Psalm 139: 1-6

Verses One and Three: “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me… You are familiar with all of my ways”.

Our Psalm today speaks of a deep intimacy with God.  It reminds me of a best-friend relationship where you finish each other’s sentences and you seem to have this connection so you know what the other person is thinking.  But when I think of God, to have such a relationship could only be one-sided.  I could never know God so completely.  Yes, we can know God well and our knowledge of and intimacy with God can grow as our faith develops, but there will always be so much more to God that we cannot even begin to fathom.

Our psalmist opens with this line:  “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me”.  The Psalm goes on to say that God knows our every coming and going.  God knows all of our thoughts and all of our actions.  Verse three finishes with, “You are familiar with all of my ways”.  God knows everything there is to know about us.  God could finish our sentences even if we only gave God the first word.  It is both a beautiful and a scary thought to realize that we are this well known by God.

It is beautiful because it means that God is constantly aware of us.  That means God rejoices when we love or serve or care for anther.  It means God knows when we extend mercy or grace or forgiveness.  It is beautiful because it means that God knows all of the desires of our heart and knows our prayers before we ever put them to words or even think them.

But these thoughts are also scary.  God knows the impure or unkind thought before it is ever fully formed in my heart and mind.  God knows all the things that I have done and said that I told myself were just my little secrets – no matter how big or how small.  Not only does God know my sins, but God knows all of my fears, all of my doubts, all of my questioning, all of the times I was less than God created me to be.

It is a deep, deep intimacy that God has with us.  God knew us before we were ever formed in the womb and God knows us inside out all the time.  We are fully known.  In that thought, I realize how little I know of God and God’s love.  In spite of knowing all about us, God loves us anyway – the good and the bad fully included.  It is a glimpse into the depth of God’s love for you and me.  All we can say is thanks be to God.


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Trust

Reading: 1 Samuel 3: 1-20

Verse 17: “What was it He said to you?  Do not hide it from me”.

No one likes bad news.  No one likes to hear bad news.  No one likes to be the bearer of bad news.  We can all relate to what unfolds in today’s scripture.  For Samuel, he is young and inexperienced with hearing from God.  The bad news pertains to his mentor, who is old and in failing health.  For Eli, the first news is unspoken: the torch has been passed.  God will now speak through another.  Eli mush have known that God spoke something to Samuel and because Samuel did not come right away to share the news, that the news must not have been good news.

Both Samuel and Eli could have sat on the bad news.  Both could have waited it out – maybe God could bring a new word.  Eli is old and failing, but he remains faithful to God, in spite of his failure to deal with his sons.  Eli calls Samuel and begins with, “Samuel, my son”.  I can envision Eli putting his arm lovingly around Samuel and looking deeply into his eyes as he says these words.  Eli then encourages Samuel to share, saying, “What was it He said to you?  Do not hide it from me”.  Samuel tells Eli all that God had said.  As a witness to his faith, Eli acknowledges that this will be done according to God’s good will.

What can we learn from this passage?  The first lesson comes from Eli – help the bearer of bad news to know that it is OK to share the news that they have been entrusted with.  Also from Eli we can see the example of receiving bad news knowing that God is and will be present in and through it.  The third lesson we learn comes from Samuel – trust in God for the strength and courage to share what He has given us to share.  In all of this we are called to learn from Romans 8:14: “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God”.  He loves us and will care for us.

Our God is just and loving and true.  We can trust into all that God has for us and for our lives.  May it be so.  Amen.


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Opened Wide

Reading: Galatians 4: 4-7

Verse Seven: “You are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir”.

Today’s text is a great reminder of the depth of God’s love for us.  Prior to the coming of Jesus, there was one relatively small group of people who were blessed to be in the family of God.  A small band of twelve tribes were the “chosen people”.  But then, “when the time had fully come, God sent His Son”.  It was then that the door began to open for you and me.

In God’s wisdom the time had come to establish a new covenant.  It was not quite the extensive makeover that came with Noah and the flood, but what God had in store was a pretty radical shift.  But even the sin that had come into the world through Adam survived that flood.  Humanity remained under the law of sin and death.  So God sent His Son to “redeem those under the law”.  That is you and me and all of humanity.  God sent Jesus to a pretty big crowd of people.

As Jesus ministered to those He met, a couple of things became clear.  First, Jesus cared for and loved all people.  It did not matter who or what you are or were, Jesus loved you just as you came.  There were no hoops to jump through, no boxes to check off, no barriers to keep people out.  Second, Jesus was a humble servant who was obedient to God alone.  From washing feet, to welcoming sinners, to touching the unclean, to healing the hurt and broken and damaged, to going to the cross – Jesus offered all He could.  Why did Jesus do all of this?  To make a way for you and me, so that we “might receive the full rights of sons”.

Full rights means we are in.  We are part of God’s family and part of His plan of salvation.  As a child of God, we are loved and cared for, protected and provided for.  As a child of God, we are privy to the Holy Spirit and to the gift of eternal life.  Before Jesus, we would just be another Gentile on the outside looking in.  But with Jesus, we are now a part of the family.  Jesus was such an amazing gift to the world.  Jesus is such an amazing gift to you and me.

Paul concludes our passage today with these words: “You are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir”.  Through His blood we have been set free from our slavery to sin and death.  Through His love we have been made children of God.  The door has been opened Wide so that all may enter in.  Praise be to God!  Thank you Jesus!


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Forever Love

Reading: Hebrews 1: 1-12

Verse Eleven: “You remain the same, your years will never end”.

Our passage from Hebrews speaks of the eternal and Christ’s place upon the throne.  Both are timeless.  In the passage there is the intertwining of the past and the future as well.  Over all of this and over all of creation, Jesus reigns.  Verse eight says, “Your throne… will last for ever and ever”.  He was there at the creation of all things and He will be there into forever.

Creation and all that is created, however, is limited.  There is a time span to all crated things – the sun, moon and stars, the mountains and oceans, you and me.  We are reminded of this in verse eleven: “They will perish”.  This idea of our finite nature seems appropriate as we come to the end of a year today.  Tomorrow will be the start of 2018.  There is some excitement in seeing a new year and there is some value in taking stock of our past year, but in reality Monday will be much like today in many aspects.  It is much like the difference I felt when I was 48 years and 364 days and how I felt when I was 49 years old.  In many ways, life simply goes on.  So too does God.

God was there in the beginning and will be there today and tomorrow.  In fact, He will be there forever.  And He will remain faithful and true and loving each and every day.  Verse twelve sums it up nicely: “You remain the same, your years will never end”.  God’s love for you and me will remain the same today, tomorrow, and into forever.  So as we begin a new year, let us rejoice in our God who remains the same always – loving us dearly, calling us His children, saving us by His mercy and grace.  Thank you God!


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Love Well

Reading: Galatians 4: 4-7

Verse Seven: “So you are no longer a slave, but a son [a daughter]; and since you are a son [a daughter], God has made you also an heir”.

When? “…when the time had fully come”.  It happened when the time was just right for what the world needed, a time that could only be known by God.  What?  “…God sent His Son”.  Only Jesus could do what needed done.  Only One sent from God’s side could take on flesh and dwell among us.  Why? “…to redeem those under the law”.  In offering himself as the perfect sacrifice, Jesus poured out His blood to redeem us from our sins that are made known through the law of God.  How? “…God sent the Spirit of the Son into our hearts”.  Because the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts, we are aware of when we sin and are led to repent and seek God’s forgiveness.

Jesus came once for all.  It is through the new covenant of His blood that all can be saved.  It is a covenant based on love that is without limits and without price.  It is a covenant that will wrap any and all who call on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in grace.  It seems an offer too good to be true, doesn’t it?

Some people feel this way.  Because of the choices they have made or because of the circumstances they found themselves in or because of the abuse or injustices they faced – some feel this offer isn’t really for them.  They feel unworthy or too far outside of God’s love and grace.  To these, may we be the love and light of Christ.  To those who feel outside of God’s love, may our witness to God’s love bring them closer to God’s love.  Sometimes it is easier to accept love from a fellow human being than it is from an all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect God.  So may we be the ones to first offer love and grace to those who feel outside of His love.  In doing so, they too will one day come to see the live we offer as God’s love.  Then they will begin to live into verse seven: “So you are no longer a slave, but a son [a daughter]; and since you are a son [a daughter], God has made you also an heir”.  All need to experience God’s love and to know that they also belong to the family of God.  Christ came once for all.  May we live well today.