pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: love


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Just One Step Past

What a wonderful image of the early church – gathering daily to hear the Word proclaimed, to worship, to fellowship to break bread.  They gave freely to one anther as there was need.  In Jesus’ name miracles were occurring and each day others were drawn into their community of believers.   When I think about the early church, the word ‘family’ comes to mind.

Then I thought, is this the word we would each use to describe our own church?  Or is it only a ‘church’ – a group that gathers once a week on Sunday mornings? A nice time to worship, to hear the Word proclaimed, to enjoy a little casual fellowship.  Or are there ‘families’ that some are involved in?  Do some dive in and become a part of a small group, a covenant group, a life group, an accountability group?  It is to this small group that an extra commitment is required.  It is one step past Sunday morning.

Yet when one chooses to take that extra step one usually finds the loving support, the personal encouragement, the heartfelt concern, the genuine fellowship, that we all need and crave.  If you haven’t taken that extra step, please do.  I know it is one more thing to fit into your busy schedule.  But it is worth the step.


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Calling All Sheep!!

The church I serve is the downtown area of a small city in a rural state.  We are in and amongst some sheep that are not like our ‘average’ sheep.  Most of the flock comes from neighborhoods where they must drive to church.  The body is made up of many loving sheep from lots of the different pastures around town.  But when we come together we form one body.  Gathered there and when apart, we all strive to listen to the same One voice of Jesus.  In His voice we find nurture and protection, guidance and conviction, strength and comfort, love.

Occasionally ‘another’ sheep wanders into our enclosure on a Sunday morning or on a Wednesday night.  Sometimes, to the casual observer, they are hard to identify as not being of our flock.  In other cases, it is easy to see they are not part of the regular flock.  But do we realize that almost all of these sheep are seeking to hear the same One voice we are there to hear?  On Wednesdays some of these ‘other’ sheep are there trying to find a warm meal and to be in a safe places for a little while.

As the Good Shepherd, his voice calls out to us all.  Not just to some – to all!  As we find ourselves next to a sheep that is different from ‘us’, may we NOT look them over with the “What are you doing here?” look in our eyes.  Instead, may we show them the same love we would show our own spouse or son or daughter.  He is calling them too.  There is no one Jesus wants to see outside the fold.  Why should we?


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God Always Present

Psalm 23 is one the best known psalms.  It is a psalm many know by heart.  It is a passage that assures us of God’s grace and love for us.  It is a passage that speaks of God’s constant and steady hand upon us as we walk on our journey of faith.  It is a passage that speaks of God blessing us and a promise of His goodness and mercy as we live with God in our hearts.  It is a psalm of thanksgiving.

Yet it is also a psalm that brings great comfort and peace.  It is a psalm that reminds us that God is present beside the still waters and in the green pasture.  It is also a passage that assures us that in our dark and sad times, God is there too.  In the dark valleys we need him more than ever, as He is always there.

For all of these things, His presence in both the good and in the bad, we give thanks.  Romans 15:13 reads: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him; so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy spirit.”  Hope does not disappoint, for God is always near.


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From the Heart

What one word would you use to sum up who Jesus was and is?  Would it be messiah or savior or healer or king?  True, He is all of these. For me, the word would be love.

What are the keys to our faith?  Is it worship, giving our tithe, serving on a committee, maybe helping with the Youth program?  Certainly all of these are means to growing in our faith, but according to Peter, the key is to love one another and to love God.

What if each day we evaluated our faith journey through the question: ‘Am I loving God and neighbor more deeply from the heart?’  Sometimes this is hard to evaluate on a daily basis, but I think if we spent some time thinking on this question, we will find the little ways in which we did love more deeply from the heart.

If we spend hours reading and studying our Bible, are faithful in attending worship and in our giving, and if we serve here or there – we can please God and we may grow in our faith.  But if we are doing these things out of duty or obligation but not out of love, we are lost.  We are lost because although we may grow in our faith, the love doesn’t spill out for God and into other people’s lives.  We must lovingly give ourselves away to truly grow deeper in our faith.


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More Than Enough for Me

In times of pain or sorrow, stress or anger, we like to have someone to go to, to talk with.  Life just seems better when we have someone to bear and share our burdens with.  Often times this is with a friend or a couple of friends, but God wants in on the conversation too!

Reading Psalm 116 this morning, I am reminded of the song “More Than Enough for Me.”  It speaks of God being in our every moment and knowing all of our needs and emotions.  The psalmist cried out to God and just knows that because of His great love for her, He will hear her cry.  And like the psalmist, we too can know God in this way.

And what then is our response?  Out of our recognition of and in response to His great love for us, out of ourselves we offer praise, worship, service, and sacrifice.  When we are loved our natural response is to love back.  That great love of God flowing into us in turn becomes love flowing out of us into other’s lives.  The chorus from that song goes, “Jesus you’re all I need, You are more than enough for me.”  He is all we need.  He is more than enough.  So let’s share a little!


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He is That Big

Standing on a beach, looking out across the ocean, it seems like you can see forever.  Despite our natural vision ending at the horizon, we  know the ocean goes on.  It extends beyond what we can see yet we know there is more out there.

If one just stays still and looks out across the water, all else seems to disappear.  We loose sense of the breeze and the warm sand and even of the waves landing on the beach.

As we look out into our faith and look out to find God, one begins to sense something like the ocean.  Our faith can be as vast as the ocean.  Our faith can have no visual end.  Our God is that big.

Yet in that vastness we can find God at any point or at any place.  When the waves of life start landing on our shores, we can find God.  When the breezes start to toss us about, we can look into our faith and draw near to God.  When the sand beneath our feet start to shift and seem to be getting unstable, we can seek God out.  Our God is that big.  He is always everywhere and anywhere to uplift, to encourage, to comfort, to heal, to call us forward, to call us out, to cleanse us of our sins, to love us.  Our God is that big.  Thanks be to God!!


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One Things Remains

Do we live a comfortable faith?  Do we live our faith without too many fears?  I think we can.  But we can choose to live a risky and dangerous faith too.

We can choose to play it safe.  Even though we pour ourselves out in Sunday morning worship and are quite devoted in our quiet, personal times with God, we choose not to risk out in public.  We can be a “good” person at work at school, … but not necessarily be a Christian there.  Isn’t it easy?

Should faith be easy?  In 1 Peter 1 we are told that our trials and tests will refine and purify our faith.  Easy doesn’t refine and purify.  Easy coasts.  Easy is comfortable.  Easy is stagnant.  Easy doesn’t lead others to Christ.

May our faith be risky, dangerous, bold.  May our faith be living, exciting, growing.  Because even in the trials one thing remains.  His love never fails.  His love never ends.  His love never gives up on us.  May we not live an easy faith.


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From Doubt to Love

Have you ever been a second late to a really funny happening at work or at home?  Have you ever looked away from the game at just the moment the ‘big play’ happens?  The laughter or cheers draws you to the fact that you just missed it.  Then you want ‘instant replay’, right?

Oh doubting Thomas!!  Thomas is the first one to be called to believe in the risen Lord on faith alone – without seeing Jesus.  I don’t think Thomas thought all the others were lying to him, he too wanted to see Jesus for himself.  Can you blame him?

Jesus again appears to the disciples and this time Thomas is there.  And Jesus, ever the same, meets Thomas where he is at and offers him just what he needs.  As always, no judging or condemnation.  Oh loving Jesus!!

We relate to Thomas, often wrestling with doubt, often questioning.  That is natural.  It is good for our faith.  We relate to Jesus too, but if you are like me, could do so more often.  Jesus simply offered what was needed to the one before Him.  He calls us to do the same.


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The Master Gardener

Perhaps it was no coincidence that Mary Magdelene mistook Jesus for a gardener.  In many ways Jesus was and is a gardener.

Jesus taught and continues to teach through stories, parables, examples, and healings.  Within each are little seeds that are planted in our hearts and minds.  Each time we read the Bible we glean insights from his words, often times a new insight from a passage we have read before.  One day these seeds will sprout.  In the meantime the gardener works the soil, tending to it so that one day it can nurture good growth.  The gardener continues to turn over our soil with His words, making us into the soil that will produce a crop.

As we grow, He prunes us as well, to shape us into the best disciple we can be.  Sometimes the gardener prunes off parts of us that hinder our growth as disciples, cutting off a little pride here, a little jealousy there, a bit of anger right there…  At other times He prunes to encourage growth in our faith lives.

All the while He is also teaching us how to garden.  Through His example and work in our lives, we come to understand how we can help others on their walk of faith.  We can share the stories from the Bible and from our own walks of faith.  We can tend the soil and encourage growth in those we know.  We can also prune when needed.  But the greatest lesson we learn from Jesus is to garden with love.  It is to produce growth and to encourage that the seeds produce a crop in our garden and in the gardens of those we meet along the way.  Happy gardening!!!


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The Master’s Sandals

John 13:34 – “A new command I give you: love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

Ephesians 4: 32 – “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

 

I loved the show “Undercover Boss” – anyone else?  It was a great show.  If you’ve never seen it, the basics of the show was that the owner of a company would take an entry level position that usually involved some pretty basic ‘grunt’ work – and it was often dirty and disgusting and physically requiring.  Sometimes the boss could not even do the job and was fired!  But without fail the boss ended up seeing how important and hard-working these ‘lower’ level employees were and how underpaid or disrespected they were.  It was usually a very humbling experience for the company owner.

As Jesus knelt and washed the disciples feet, many of them must have felt very uncomfortable.  It was always the disciples who would wash the rabbi’s feet – never the other way around.  It just wasn’t how you do things.  But Jesus had a point.  The point is for us as well.  Serving others has no limitations or requirements or hierarchy.  None!  Just like the lower level employees in the TV show, all people are important.  All people matter.

True service is much more than helping out a good friend.  It is much more than taking the time on a lazy Saturday afternoon to help out at the thrift store.  A true servant’s heart does anything at anytime for anybody.  When we truly love one another, then we are walking in the Master’s sandals.