pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: love


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Walk Where He Leads

In her deep distress and anguish, Hannah prays.  She cries out to God with groans and sighs and the silent moving of her lips.  I can picture her maybe shifting from foot to foot; perhaps her head is bobbing in a steady rhythm as she prays.  Hannah is so lost in her prayer that Eli, the priest, assumes she is drunk.

One can also get lost in God because you are so in love with Him.  King David, filled with the Spirit, danced and sang before the Lord.  Almost as if to some of the horrified onlookers, David said he would become even more undignified than this.  In a huff of embarrassment or disgust, some stormed away.

Although the content of their prayers are on the opposite end of the spectrum, Hannah and David have much in common.  First and foremost is their absolute passion for God and their relationship with Him.  Second, they pour out their hearts in reckless abandon – they do not care one bit what others think – it is just them and God.

On occasion one enters into this space.  Maybe it is during a hymn or song and suddenly tears arr streaming down the cheeks and the heart is filled with the presence of God.  Maybe it is when one steps out for God and offers an act of compassion or mercy for another.  Afterwards, one looks back and thinks, ‘I can’t believe I did that.’

This day may we each encounter God in a special, life-changing way.  Allow God to lead.  Walk where He leads.

Scripture reference: 1 Samuel 1: 9-20


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Prayers and Promises

At times we wrestle with a deep ache inside.  Sorrow and dreams that never come to be are two of the things in life that we all face at times.  It can be that moment we realize we are not going to make the team or get that position or promotion.  It can be when a relationship ends or when one we love passes on.  The deep ache inside is very real.

Hannah longed for a child.  Peninnah, the other wife, had borne Elkanah children and was more than willing to point this out to Hannah.  Elkanah loves Hannah more.  Peninnah’s unfulfilled dreams was to be the love of Elkanah’s life, but she was second in his heart.  To soothe her ache she lashed out.  But the ache remained.  Human solutions and efforts do not heal such aches.

Hannah chose instead to bring her ache to God.  In prayer she poured out her heart to God.  In faith she turned to the only one who can truly bring us the healing we need.  God heard the prayers of His faithful servant.  God’s response filled Hannah’s ache and brought her hope.

God may not bring us the job or the child or the spot on the team.  He may not restore the relationship and seeing our loved one who has gone on waits for us to join them in eternity.  But God does respond to the prayers of the faithful servant.  If we allow How to, He will restore, heal, and pour His love into us.  The promise is not to give us all the desires of our heart.  The promise is to be present, to dwell in us, to fill us with His love, to give us what we need.  For this great love, thank you God.

Scripture reference: 1 Samuel 1: 4-8


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Offering the Gift

After His resurrection, Jesus entered heaven.  As the unblemished One, He sits at God’s side.  In that role He “appears for us in God’s presence”.  The crucified Son offers His self-giving love on our behalf to bring us forgiveness of our sins.  His death on the cross was a ‘once-for-all’ sacrifice.

God is holy, pure, truth.  Sin is far from God.  God could not even look upon His own Son on the cross as Jesus bore the sins of the world.  And God is love.  Out of His love for Jesus and for us, the crucified Christ was made the risen Christ.  He passed through death and into eternal life, providing a means for us to do the same.  Through this ultimate act of self-giving, sacrificial love, Jesus opened the gates of heaven wide.

In doing this, however, Jesus did not remove sin from this world.  Sin is a part of our human condition.  It must remain so if we are to be able to choose Jesus.  And choose we must.  Believing cannot be forced.  Faith is an act of our free will.  In order to walk the path that Jesus set as our example, we must have the ability to exercise our will and to daily choose this path.  This is necessary to offer ourselves in sacrificial, other-centered service to others.  If it were forced it would not be sacrificial or self-giving.  Just as with Jesus Christ, there is a cost.  We give of ourselves to serve another.

The gift Jesus gave on the cross and as He entered heaven is a great gift.  This day, may I offer what I can of this gift to all I meet, as Christ lives and shines in me.

Scripture reference: Hebrews 9: 24-28


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God Partner

God is a giver.  God is a creator.  God calls us to partner with Him, to work along with Him, and to be faithful to Him in how we give and create.

God, as creator of life, gives us children as a gift and as our heritage.  Within the miracle of birth, we have a role to play.  Together with God we collaborate and cooperate, but it is God alone who plants the divine spark within us.  Then as parents, teachers, mentors, and as fellow Christians, we work together with God to nurture this spark into a life lived for God.

God, as creator of new life, gives us opportunities to be in ministry to those around us.  Again, we do this in collaboration and cooperation with God’s guidance and efforts.  Just as we seek to bring our children up in the faith, we also seek to share our faith with others.  In our work and social circles we are called to respond to the opportunities God provides.  Sometimes this is to bring healing or hope; sometimes to bring encouragement or blessings; sometimes to build up or to help; or, sometimes to simply be present or to listen.

God prompts us through the Holy Spirit to recognize and respond to His activity in our lives and in the world.  When we do so, we partner with God to bring and make His divine love real in the world.  Through us, our colleagues and friends can begin to experience self-giving love – both God’s and ours – as their initial call to faith or as a way to again begin to walk with God in their life.  In this, our role is vital.  Lord, make me willing and obedient to Your call today.

Scripture reference: Psalm 127


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Part of God’s Story

Jeremiah 29:11 promises us that God has plans for each of us, plans for good.  God also allowed free will into the world so we each have the choice to live into God’s plans or to follow our own plans.  For any of us, we seek to live our lives as a child of God but we also venture down our own roads from time to time.  As we mature and grow in our faith, we learn to stay attuned to God’s plans and purposes for our lives more and more of the time.

The Bible, or God’s story, is filled with ordinary people doing small things to remain faithful who are used in extraordinary ways.  Today’s story features two widows and a farmer.  Through their simple acts of self-giving love they become part of the lineage of Jesus.  Another story features a shepherd boy, the youngest in the family, who slays the giant and eventually becomes king.  One of my favorites is about the fishermen, tax collector, .. who become the disciples and come to change the world forever.  Each of these ordinary people became part of God’s story and are a part of our story as well.

God also calls each of us to be a part of His ongoing story.  Each and every day God brings before us opportunities to serve others with self-giving love and to share our story with others.  Sometimes the small things we do or the little pieces of our story that we share make a big difference in another’s life.  Many times we do not know about this affect or impact.  At other times the whisper of the Holy Spirit is harder to hear or we find it easier to ignore.  We must be attuned to the whispers and nudges and must seek to live into the will of God.  We must be open to those whispers and nudges even when our first reaction is to ignore them or to think, ‘Really?’  The Lord requires of us the same things  he did of Naomi, Ruth, Boaz, David, te disciples… – trust and obedience.  We must remember that God has us each in the palm of His hand.  Lord, make us willing and obedient to the call to be your loving servant today.

Scripture reference: Ruth 3: 1-5 and 4:13-17


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Just Like Ruth

Ruth was faithful to both Naomi and to God.  She is a great example of the self-giving love we are all called to offer others.  Ruth puts the needs to Naomi far above her own.  In the end, she finds another who offers her this same kind of sacrificial love.  It is no wonder that Ruth and Boaz are part of the family tree that will one day produce Jesus.

In marrying Ruth, Boaz offers both her and Naomi kindness, protection, security, and a sense of belonging.  For two women living as widows with no kin to care for them, this must have been a great relief to them.  But this was not just some act of God.  Boaz was drawn to Ruth when he saw her in the field, working hard to glean grain for herself and Naomi.  He was drawn to her even more when he heard her story and what she had done for Naomi.  Ruth remained faithful and through this both her and Naomi’s lives were redeemed.

Our faith journey is much like Ruth’s story.  At times we will experience suffering and walk a hard road.  But we will not be alone, God will be there too.  At times we too will offer ourselves to another, giving our sacrificial love to them, following the example of Ruth and of Christ.  At times we too will experience redeeming love as God will enter into our brokenness.  In times when we most need God’s redeeming love, it will be there to redeem and restore us.  And just as Boaz stepped in and negotiated for Ruth, Christ will step in and intercede for us before the throne of God.  And just as Ruth was faithful, so too must we be faithful.

Each day we are called to offer ourselves to God and to others, living as His example of sacrificial love.  May it be this day.

Scripture reference: Ruth 4: 13-17


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Other-Centered

True love for others is revealed in who the love is focused on.  Some people will say they truly love others but their actions and motives behind them is focused only on themselves.  Others will reveal how much they love others because their actions and motives focus on others.  As human beings we fluctuate between these two, with God always calling us to love others and the world calling us to love ourselves.

At times our circumstances will cause us to focus on ourselves.  For example, Naomi had lost a husband and two sons, so she was in ‘survival mode’.  The grief and pain were so great she could not look outward.  But as time passes and she heals, her focus again looks outward.  She desires to bring security and love to Ruth.  Even though it will draw Ruth away from her, Naomi considers Ruth’s needs and life before her own.  Her love is shown in this sacrifice that she is willing to make.

Today each of us will face choices where we can offer some of yourself for another.  Will we choose to be self-centered or other-centered?  Will we be giving or holding onto what we have?  God calls us to follow Christ’s example of serving others.  In telling us ‘the first shall be last’ isn’t Jesus saying that in God’s economy, we must think of ourselves last here on earth?  Lord, help me to give of myself in all ways that I can today.

Scripture reference: Ruth 3: 1-5


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Where You Go

The famine passes in Judah and Naomi decides to return to her homeland.  She urges Orpah and Ruth to stay in Moab, to remarry, to start life over again.  It is certainly within the realm of possibilities – both are young enough to do so.  To go against Naomi’s wished and to instead move to a foreign land would be a risky and challenging move.  Naomi knows this as she herself made the same type of move just ten years ago.

Often we too are faced with a similar choice – to stay in the comfortable, know place or to step out into uneasiness and the unknown.  It is easy to stay comfortable.  Orpah chooses to stay with her people.  But Ruth decides that she will go.  Her love for Naomi makes her willing to be that stranger in a foreign land.

Where is your ‘foreign land’?  Is it taking the time to sit and have lunch with the homeless person who asked you for $5 for lunch?  Is it going to that part of town to replace the kitchen faucet for a single mother with lots of young children?  Is it going to the jail to visit and share the love of Christ with an inmate?

Ruth said to Naomi: “Where you go, I will go.”  Christ calls us to go to many places where His light is dim and His love is unknown.  But He always goes with us.  May we, like Ruth, say to Christ and live out those same words: Lord, where you go, I will go.

Scripture reference: Ruth 1: 6-18


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Faith and Mystery

The book of Job has a happy ending.  Job’s suffering ends and God restored him beyond all he had before.  Job is blessed with large herds, many sons, and beautiful daughters.  He lives for 140 years as a very blessed and dies full of life.  One could say all ends well but our questions are left unanswered.  We do not know why Job had to endure this trial.  We do not know Job’s take on what happened either.  In the end we see that God remains mysterious.  For our faith, this mystery is essential.

Try as we might, mankind cannot explain all that is in the world.  There is much that has been figured out but we only seem to be able to go so far.  Great minds have studied and observed and analyzed and calculated to learn much.  We can split atoms and see far into space.  We can trace the evolution and extinction of many species.  We can replace hearts and we can restart hearts.  Yet there is much that cannot be explained by scientists, doctors, mathematicians…  Events and things that happened and happen remain a mystery.  In our world miracles still occur and a shrug of the shoulders is the best explanation that can be offered in intelligent response.

There is still mystery to God as well.  There are may questions that cannot be answered.  The ‘why’ questions of life and death and illness remain as do the ‘how’ of miracles that occur.  There is much we do not know of God.  But there is also much we do know.  God is love, compassion, peace, comfort, understanding, forgiveness, mercy, grace.  He has plans for each of us and those plans are good.  Yet there is still much mystery and this is also good.  Faith and hope are still required of us in our relationship with God.  Faith draws upon trust and experience.  As we live out this life in relationship with God, our faith grows.  In faith and hope, we live with the mystery of God because above all else, we know that God is love.

Scripture reference: Job 42: 10-17


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Our Great High Priest

Jesus is our great high priest, perfect in all ways, full of mercy and grace.  He is one who can sympathize with our human weakness yet is still perfect Himself.  Jesus is holy and blameless and pure – set apart from sinners in this, yet also interceding on our behalf.  What great love the Father has lavished on us through His Son!

Unlike human priests (and pastors) who sin and struggle with life, Jesus forever remains our great high priest.  Jesus will live and serve forever – at least until He returns!  In His role as the great high priest He gives us access to the Father.  He is the conduit through who we can begin to know God.  Jesus also intercedes on our behalf to bring about our salvation.  Lastly, in His time here on earth, Jesus gives us the example of what God’s love lived out looks like.

What does all of this mean for you and me in our daily lives?  It means we have a savior who we can go to and draw strength from at any time and for any need.  It means we have a friend who is on our side.  Even though He sits enthroned beside God almighty, He still intercedes before God on our behalf.  Through the strength He gives and through the intercession He provides, He makes our salvation possible.  On our own we would surely fail.  And Jesus provides us the perfect example of how to live.  Although we will never attain perfection, still we strive to love God and neighbor as Jesus loved them.  Oh perfecter of our faith, oh great high priest, lead us this day and every day!

Scripture reference: Hebrews 7: 23-28