pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: love


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With Us Always

In Matthew 28, Jesus gives his last instructions: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”.  Jesus goes on to promise that He will be with us always, to the end of the age.

We are invited to baptize in order to bring all aspects of God into the new believer’s life.  God empowers, Jesus redeems, and the Holy Spirit sustains.  Just as a new believer needs all three, we too need all three to do our ‘work’ in the world.  No one can do it alone.  And we must not forget the last part of Jesus’ command: teach them to obey all of Jesus’ commands.  We are not called to simply bring people to Christ, but to also teach them about being like Christ in their world.  We too often forget the second half of Jesus’s great commission.

To make disciples and to teach them we must allow ourselves to be vessels of God’s redeeming love.  But if all we do is give, soon our well will run dry.  We too must allow ourselves to be poured into and filled by God’s love.  Once we ourselves are filled them we can go forth to disciple and teach.  Jesus promises to be with is always, to the end of the age.  This promise gives us the confidence to go forth in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  May all three fill us up and send us out!!


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Created and Called

As a church or community of faith, what does it means when Paul calls us to “aim for perfection”?  Does that means that the worship and message on Sunday will be flawless?  Does that mean that the church will be beautifully decorated and that the coffee and cookies will be fantastic?  Or does it mean that the church will be a loving and welcoming place that feels like home?  Or is all this and more?  The target is indeed high but we are created in His image.

Paul also calls us to be of one mind and to live in peace.  All families disagree at times and have fights at others, right?  While true, it is not what we are aiming for.  It sounds like quite a challenge!  Yet each body of faith must be of one mind in terms of their purpose for being and in their mission in the world.  On a basic level, each and every Christian is called to ‘make disciples of all nations’.  Each and every church also has its own unique purpose and mission in the community in which it exists.  While each body of faith’s ‘work’ may look different from church to church – here the purpose and mission are also basically the same – to be Jesus’ hands and feet.

“To live in peace with one another”.  Begin with respect and an open mind and loving heart tuned to other’s needs above your own.  Our former and current ‘saints’ have much wisdom, experience, and insights to offer.  Seek them out, include them in the church.  Our ‘new’ friends to the faith are in need of love and encouragement.  Draw them in and give them all you have to offer.

Paul concludes 2 Corinthians 13 by reminding us that the God of love and peace will be with us.  This is a great comfort and reassurance because we all could use a little more love and peace.  We are created in His image and called to be like Him.


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Healing Our Hearts and Minds

In Psalm 104 we read of God’s loving care for the earth and all its creatures.  God’s Spirit brings life to the animals, birds, plants, trees, waters, mountains, and even to us. His absence brings death to all these things.  All He creates is good.  All that is lost He mourns.

In our care of His creation we have done much that is wrong or bad for the earth and its creatures.  But we are leaning and beginning to rights our wrongs and to live with more attention to creation.  God’s Spirit guides us here too if we listen.  We can trust the Spirit’s leading and the Spirit’s lead to bring our efforts to fruition.

In our care for all of mankind, we still have some progress to be made.  In a world that produces much more food than it needs, no one should be starving.  In a world full of vast medical technology, no one should be dying of diseases that are preventable and/or curable.  In our nation of amazing resources and huge wealth, no one should be living in poverty.

Please pray with me today for God to continue to nudge us with the Spirit and to continue to bring healing to our hearts and minds so we can truly love all of His creation.


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He Loves Us!!!

Satan is crafty and wise.  He is skillful.  And he is always on the prowl.  The angles and means of his attacks are actually quite impressive.  Satan uses many voices to plant fear, doubt, anxiety, guilt, lust… in our heads and hearts – some from inside our own heads, some from the voices of those we know, some from society and the media.At every chance he is working to build up our pride, our stubbornness, our individualism.  All with one goal – to pull us away from God.

But God doesn’t pull back.  He simply invites us into a relationship.  He says, “Here I am, come.”  He offers us love, no strings attached.  God is our true friend.  These things never change.

In our faith we need to be vigilant and alert to Satan’s attacks.  But just as sure as the attacks are to come, we can be even more sure of God’s love and care.  When we call upon  the saving name of Jesus, then Satan will flee.  God will strengthen us and will help us to be steadfast and firm.  God will never fail us because He loves us too much to allow that to happen.


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He Loves Us

Jesus said that if we love Him we will obey His commands.  Do you suppose He meant ALL the time?  Or just some of the time?  We know the answer to this question.  Hard as we might try, we cannot always obey.  Here is where vision runs smack into reality.  But we try.

God must have known this since the time of Adam and Eve’s sin – that mankind will always be a struggle.  Yet His love is so vast that He found a way to always allow us to renew our relationship with Him.  He first sent His Son so that we would know the way, the truth, and the life – as He intended us to live.  Then God allowed His Son to die as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Yes, He loves us.

Yet the story doesn’t end there, good as it is.  Because He remembered that we struggle.  So God sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, to lead and guide us.  The advocate brings us back to that way, truth, and life and helps us to share the good news of Jess Christ with others.  Yes indeed!  He loves us.


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Faith and Action

In the US we practice our faith in relative safety and peace.  Sure it may cost us a ‘friend’ here or there or an invite to the ‘big’ party.  But it is pretty unlikely that we’ll see scores of girls kidnapped from the local Christian school or that militiamen will attack our church one Sunday morning.  Yet many around the world face these or similar dangers and still practice their faith because they know the ultimate reward that God has in store.
Could we live such a brave faith?  Willing in any and all circumstances to do what God is calling us to do?  Could we bravely walk into the cafeteria or break room and share our faith with whoever is sitting there?  Could we give a little more than is comfortable to help a person in need?  Yes we can and great is our reward too.  Through our actions and words we can bring hope.  We can be the light and love the world so desperately needs.
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”. We can both live out from these words and help others to come to know the truth of these words in their lives.  May we live a brave faith.


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Peaceful Trust

What is the largest crowd you have ever actually been a part of?  Was it at a big arena concert or maybe at a game?  For me it was several years ago in Washington, DC, when I went to be a part of Promise Keeper’s ‘Million Man March’.  I was just one of about a million people gathered there that day.  It was incredible to look out at the sea of humanity and to realize that I was just one part of it.  When I think about that huge group, it pales in comparison to how many people inhabit the earth.  There are now 7,000 people for every one of those million men gathered that day in DC.

Yet God knows, cares for, and loves each of those 7 billion people on the earth.  Do they all love Him back?  No, but that doesn’t matter to God.  He loves them all equally because  they are all His creation.  He loves them all.

It is hard to fathom that despite the fact that we are each just one of seven billion, God loves each and every one of us.  Yes He does!  What a mighty God we serve.

It is because of this great love that we can trust Him with our lives.  His plan for us is so much better than any plan we could muster.  Because God’s steadfast love endures forever, we can trust Him to always have the best in mind for us.  Because His love never fails, we can trust that He will see us through the valleys and will bring us up the other side.  We can trust into God and into Jesus’ words: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)


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The Reality of Eternity

Jesus told His disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”  He also told them that no one comes to God except through the Son.  Just as these words are meant to encourage and strengthen the disciples, He meant the same for us.  Jesus wanted all to know that the path to eternity led through him.  For the disciples, soon Jesus would die and He wanted them to trust in His continuing presence.  He was going on ahead of them to prepare a place for them – a heavenly home.  As they continued the work that He had begun, He wanted them to work in the peace and comfort of the reality of eternity.

Jesus knew, as He spoke these words, that His disciples – both the 12 and us today – would face trials and would be asked to go into uncomfortable situations and places.  He asks us to trust into His “everlasting fellowship”.  The earthly Jesus is now the eternal Jesus, calling us to know Him more and more through how we engage Him in study and Word and prayer and in how we participate in His mission in the world.  His call is today and every day, in the here and now.  To know is to love,  To love is to serve.  To serve is to know.

As we continue to grow in this cycle that Jesus calls us to, we step closer to that reality of eternity.  For some of us, we are a part of bringing the new creation to this place where we dwell.  Some may see the new creation come right before their earthly eyes.  For others, while we share in the building of the kingdom here on earth, we are bringing ourselves closer to our eternal glory.  We will be a part of the coming of the new creation.  It matters not.  We are all part of the same plan.  Thank you Jesus!


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Faithful and True

Have you ever done something or ventured somewhere with a guide or expert that you never would have alone?  If I were to go white-water rafting or skydiving or up Mount Everest, I would want a pretty skilled guide right there with me, leading and showing the way.  Imagine stepping to the door or the airplane and hearing your guide say, “Hope I packed the parachutes right, today was my first time packing a chute.”

In your walk of faith have you ever stepped outside of your comfort zone or made a ‘leap of faith’?  When we do these things we do so with the confidence that He is right there with us.  He walks right alongside of us – ready to catch us when we stumble, ready to show us the way when we feel a little lost, ready to whisper in our ear just what needs to be said, ready to give us courage when we begin to have doubts.  He is our rock, our comforter, our expert guide.

Knowing He is always by our side gives us the confidence and knowledge to step up or out for Him.  He will never leave us, He will never forsake us.  May we walk boldly, for He is faithful and true.


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At the Gate

Jesus is often known as the ‘Good Shepherd’.  On one level it is an odd choice – in Jesus’ day it was one of the lowliest jobs you could have.  It was hard work.  It was lonely work.  It was thankless work.  It was dangerous work.  Your sheep were in almost constant need of care and protection.  You lived outside with them day in night, in the cold, in the rain, in the wind, in the scorching sun.

Yet in many ways the analogy makes perfect sense.  Tending to a fellow Christian can be hard and lonely work.  In parts of the world it can be dangerous.  Some people require lots of care.  You may have to go out in the middle of the night or during a snowstorm to be with them.

Yet I have a feeling that none of this would have even slightly bothered Jesus.  Anytime, anywhere, anyplace is His motto – He loves us that much.  His love is so great that He would lie down His life for us – again and again and again.  Like a shepherd lying down before the gate each day to keep his sheep safe, Jesus lays down at the door to our heart each day and says, ‘Satan, you shall not enter.  This one is mine’.  And safe and secure, we say ‘Thank you Jesus!’