pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: nudge


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Step Out

Reading: Acts 16: 9-12

When was the last time you felt God calling you to do something or when you felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit?  Depending on how in tune we are to our relationship with God, the guidance and nudges and whispers can come frequently.  These connections are like everything else in our lives: the more we try and allow ourselves to hear and sense God, the better we become at sensing and hearing His presence and guidance in our lives.

In the text today, Paul has a vision calling him to a new place of ministry.  He had been struggling with where to go next so this vision would have been like an answer to prayer.  For Paul the call was clear as day.  They get up in the morning, pack up, and head out for Macedonia.  New place, new people, new challenges.  Lots of unknowns.  Paul did not hesitate.  As one deeply in tune with God and the Spirit, God spoke and Paul went.

God sometimes calls us in a similar way.  He puts a call upon our heart and we feel the tugs to respond.  Or maybe it comes in an almost audible whisper from the Holy Spirit or in a nudge we can almost physically feel.  There is no denying that we all sense, feel, hear God’s calling and leading.  And there is no denying that at times we ignore, dismiss, … this call and leading.  We allow the fears, doubts, and unknowns to keep us in our safe, comfortable, easy place.  Step out.  We need to step out in faith and with the confidence that God goes before and that the Spirit walks alongside us.

We were each created to be used by God.  Each of us was created with our own gifts and talents for a purpose.  As we allow God and the Spirit to move in our lives, we are freed to experience and share the amazing power of God transforming our lives and the lives of those around us.  Step out and step into God’s plan for your life.


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Lead and Leading

Parents often try to nudge or encourage their children to try or do something they think their child will enjoy or benefit from.  Sometimes a parent sees something in their child and tries to develop that skill or gift.  And a lot of the time the child responds with some resistance!  This is the case in today’s passage.  Mary nudges Jesus to exercise the gifts He has.  He responds with basically “not now”.  Maybe those things she treasured in her heart and perhaps a thing or two she has observed since then are promoting her to ask Jesus to perform a miracle and to begin His public ministry.

Sometimes in our lives we too are encouraged, invited, nudged… by others.  Maybe it is our parents.  Maybe it is our spouse or a coworker or a friend.  People often see gifts or talents we have that sometimes we do not.  At times we too can do the same for others in our lives.  It is a wonderful thing to see and affirm the God-given gifts we see in each other.

Often the nudge or encouragement comes from the Holy Spirit.  We see or find ourselves in a situation and we can almost physically feel the guidance to do or say something.  In other instances we can hear the voice whispering to us.  It may be in the moment or it may be later as we reflection our day or as we spend time in prayer.  These “too late” or after the fact prompts prime us for action the next time out.  It is still God at work in us.

God always continues to be active and involved in our lives and in the world.  He encourages all followers to use the gifts and talents He gave us through the nudges, prompts, … of the Holy Spirit and those around us.  We too at times invite, nudge, … others.  In all cases, may we be willing servants of His kingdom, whether leading or being lead, all for the glory of God.

Scripture reference: John 2: 1-5


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In All we Say and Do

Words can be so powerful.  Just with simple words one can describe a scene in such great detail that you almost can see a snapshot of it in your mind.  Words can also be chosen and delivered carefully for very specific purposes.  With just the right words we can encourage, uplift, and comfort.  In the same way we can edify, strengthen, and build up one another.  Words are powerful.

Each of us can recall times when someone said just the right thing at just the right time.  In those words we found healing or renewal or a lift in our spirit.  We can still remember those words.  In a similar way we each have used our own words to come alongside another in need.  The Holy Spirit often nudges and leads us to these opportunities.  Our role is to be open to the guidance and to be a willing voice.

On the flip side of all of this, the tongue can also be powerful in negative or harmful ways.  James is well aware of the human condition and rightly warns us to be careful with our tongues.  Commentary writer Patrick Harden puts it well: “Sins of the tongue are the hardest to avoid.”  Just as we’ve all been stung or hurt by words, we too have all stung or hurt others.  And in almost every case we have felt the Spirit’s nudge or heard the voice whispering to us to choose a better way.  In our journey of faith, may we learn to follow as led and to heed as warned so that we my bring honor and glory to God in all we do and say.

Scripture reference: James 3: 1-5a


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Boundaries

Social boundaries can be hard to cross.  Maybe your first experience with boundaries came on the playground in elementary school.  Maybe it was in the middle school cafeteria or audition room or athletic court.  Maybe it occurred in a different area or at another stage in life.  Being on one side or the other of a social boundary is something most of us have experienced.

As we grow into adulthood, the social boundaries do not get any easier to cross.  The imaginary lines we draw in our minds can be as tough to cross as the Berlin Wall.  Sometimes we treat the boundaries with the same level of fear as spiders or death.  Yet God, through the work of the Holy Spirit, continues to nudge and whisper into our ears and hearts.  And we can ignore, but that voice just does not go away if you are really working to live out your faith.

Maybe the nudge is to invite the new family who does not speak much English over for dinner.  Maybe it is to stop and offer some food to the man with the sign.  Maybe it is to be the first to welcome the couple who is different from everybody else in your congregation.

James encourages us to walk across that boundary, to quit judging others, and to get out of our comfort zones.  If one is really working to grow in one’s faith, they feel the nudges and hear the whispers of the Spirit.  If we can get outside our box and engage those across the boundary, then we begin to fulfill God’s command to truly love our neighbors as ourselves.  That first step can be hard, but go ahead, take it.

Scripture reference: James 2: 1-13


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Works of Faith

Sometimes I feel a little like Cornelius.  I sense the need to be closed to God than I am.  Yet on my own I cannot seem to close that gap that I feel.  Like the centurion, I sometimes need someone to explain and guide me so that I can draw closer.  Perhaps at times you feel this too.

At other points in my faith journey I have ‘randomly’ experienced people and events that drew me closer to God and deeper in my faith.  I was not specifically seeking these out, but God blessed me with them.  The times we encounter God can happen at any moment and in any circumstance.  Perhaps you have experienced these too.

God can meet us both in the expected and in the unexpected.  We can find Him in church and in Bible study.  We can find Him in the repair ship and in line at the grocery store.  It is amazing how many ways the Holy Spirit can move and work in  our lives to draw us closer to God.

At times we too can be instruments of God or of the Holy Spirit.  Those promptings to say just the right thing, the nudges to help someone, the feeling to seek another out for a cup of coffee – all can be works of faith.  Being sensitive to these things is the first step.  Being willing to follow is the second step.  Being willing to take action is the third step.  May we all be willing instruments of God’s hand and the Spirit’s lead this day and every day.

Scripture reference: Acts 10: 44-48


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Led by the Spirit

Philip was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, a place that is usually unsafe, especially alone.  He followed the Spirit’s lead.  In our own journeys of faith how often have we felt the nudge to go somewhere we questioned?  In those times when we allowed our inner fears to trump the nudge, each of us probably missed an opportunity to share our faith.

As Philip drew near to the eunuch, he heard him reading from Isaiah, “.. led like a sheep to the slaughter…”  Again led by the Spirit, Philip engaged the man in conversation.  How many times has God opened our eyes to someone who was wrestling with a passage of scripture or some other challenge life has brought their way?  Here to we each probably felt the nudge or heard the still, small voice saying “Go.”  Again we maybe missed the chance to share our faith or to bear another’s burdens as we chose to flee instead of to go.  We allow all the questions and doubts to again trump the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Philip was not seminary trained, he was just Spirit-led.  He did not have some extra-special connection or pipeline to the Holy Spirit. He had the same connection we have – through our relationship with Jesus Christ.  Philip trusted the nudge.  Philip was committed to sharing the good news.  In this instance he forever changed a man’s life.  This week we will all probably have the opportunity to share our faith.  May our faith allow us to make the same decision Philip made: to go where the Spirit leads and to trust in our Lord and Savior.

Scripture reference: Acts 8: 26-40