pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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God’s Will

Reading: Hebrews 10: 5-10

Verse 7: “Here I am… I have come to do your will, O God”.

Much of the Old Testament covers the when, what, how, and why of the sacrificial system that atoned for sin. Chapter after chapter details this system. In many ways temple sacrifice was a core element of the Jewish faith. Yet, sprinkled here and there in the Old Testament are verses like the one that Jesus quoted from Psalm 40. When an offering or sacrifice became just a motion they were going through, it displeased God. When the same sacrifice was given over and over because the sin was repeated too, it displeased God. The act of atonement had to include repentance in the heart.

At times I have been guilty of this too. I have asked for forgiveness without a full commitment to repent of that sin. I felt guilty enough to confess but not enough to change. I have gone to church or MYF or men’s group because I was supposed to, had a poor attitude the whole time, and left just as empty as when I came. I have helped my neighbor or the stranger I met not because I wanted to or was led to but because it was my “job”. We have all been there (or close to there).

In verse 7 Jesus quotes Psalm 40, saying, “Here I am… I have come to do your will, O God”. This is reminiscent of Samuel and others who responded faithfully when God called. Samuel and many like him had a heart willing to follow God and His ways. This too was the heart of Jesus. His purpose was to do the will of God. All day, every day. Jesus lived with a heart ever centered on God’s will. It showed in all He did and said. Jesus exemplified obedience and this allowed Him to be God’s love and mercy lived out to the fullest. May we go and be like Jesus, doing God’s will always.

Prayer: Lord, prepare me to be your servant each and every day. Mold me, shape me, refine me to follow Jesus’ way. Help me to become less each day so that my life glorifies you more and more. Amen.


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Saved

Reading: John 3: 16-17

Verse Seventeen: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him”.

Not to condemn but to save. Not to seal our fate but to show us the way, the truth, and the life. Not to stand far above us in judgment but to live within us as friend. Not to be unknown but to be fully known. “For God so loved the world…”. He took on flesh, lived among us, was crucified and rose so that His Spirit could continue to live on in each of us.

God’s purpose in Jesus is to make His love known more completely. As we journey through life, our faith changes and grows. We become more and more who God created us to be in Jesus Christ. In doing so, God takes all of us – who we are and what we have experienced – and molds and remolds us day by day, reshaping us into who He wants us to be. Through God’s great transforming power we are made into a new creation so that we can be change agents in other people’s lives. God created us to use us for the transformation of others and of the world.

How will that look today and tomorrow and the next day? How will God take each of us and use us to build the kingdom here on earth? How will God use us to share the good news of salvation and hope that is offered through a relationship with God’s Son, Jesus Christ? All of this is done through us and through our story. The change that God has wrought in us is the change that He can work in others. If we share our story with others, it opens the door for God to go to work in their lives as well.

Not to condemn but to save. Not to hate but to love. Not to separate but to draw together. May we be Jesus’ light and love in the world today and every day, helping others to be saved. Amen.


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Looking Within

The first part of Psalm 51 is a confession of our sinful state.  By our nature we are prone to sin.  By our nature, we are weak and struggle to stay out of sin.  By His nature, God loves us unconditionally.  By His nature, God seeks to always bring us back to wholeness and to a right relationship with God.  Our sins stand between us and God alone.  In His great compassion God will blot out our sins, our transgressions, our iniquities.  For our part, we come to Him and repent.

In the middle part of the psalm comes our plea: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and restore a steadfast spirit within me”.  These words will be spoken over and over and over tomorrow.  They are familiar words on Ash Wednesday.  And just as the Lord’s Prayer is not just for Sundays, these words are not just for Ash Wednesday.  These familiar words should be our plea to God every day.  They admit our dependence on God.  We cannot win this battle on our own.  We need God to create a pure heart within us and to help us be steadfast to His ways.

The psalmist follows this plea up with a request to not be cast from God’s presence or for God to not take the Holy Spirit from us.  The psalm continues with these words: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me”.  God is the one in action, the one who can do these things.  In our acts of repentance we need both God’s presence and the Holy Spirit’s guidance.  After we repent of our sins, then God alone can restore us.  God alone can grant us a willing spirit, one seeking to follow His ways.

At Lent begins tomorrow, today I must look within and seek to identify my ungodly choices, my poor habits of faith, my sins.  May God grant me the will and the strength to come before Him in repentance, seeking His mercy.  Lord, melt my stubborn and prideful heart.  Mold me into who You desire me to be.  O God, fill me with Your presence and with the Holy Spirit.  And then use me, use me to love You and to love those You love.  Use me as You will, O God.

Scripture reference: Psalm 51: 1-17