pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: offering


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Trust It to the Spirit

We are called to give ourselves as a “fragrant offering” as we live out a life of love.  The scriptures call us to love and give of ourselves as Jesus did.  As I think of what this means, my mind comes to the Christ who accepted all.  He took all comers no matter their station in life of the condition of their soul.  Whomever Jesus crossed paths with, He loved and gave of himself.

But, to be honest, sometimes I struggle with who God puts before me.  In some cases I judge too quickly and that makes it hard for me to fully hear their story and to then offer all I can.  In other cases I feel inadequate to offer anything because the situation seems so overwhelming and daunting.  It can be hard to engage when my limited faith leads me to feel I am an insignificant, small part of a solution.

I must remember that our hope and life is tied to God.  Nothing is dependant on me.  God is a god that can do anything.  Our God is love unending and life eternal.  When we offer ourselves, fully believing these truths, then we too can be a fragrant offering to all we meet.  We must faithfully offer all that we can when we can and trust the rest to the work of the Holy Spirit.

Even Jesus did not have instant success all the time.  The rich young man walked away.  Maybe the Holy Spirit continued to roll Jesus’ words around in his heart and maybe he changed.  He healed ten lepers and only one returned to offer thanks.  It took Nicodemus a late night visit and some time but eventually he came to believe in Jesus.  Many of his fellow Pharisees did not.  We will encounter people just like all of these.  Their conversion is not in our hands.  In all cases we must love and offer of ourselves.  Our God is big.  No one is beyond His reach.  We must do as we can and trust the rest to the work of the Holy Spirit and to God.

Scripture reference: Ephesians 5: 1-2


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Bread of Life

Jesus, the bread of life, the bread of heaven, wants to feed us.  His food is for our spirits.   Jesus desires to pour into our hearts both to fill us with His joy and to sustain us in the hard days we all face.

The crowd in the story today is almost the same crowd who ate of the fishes and loaves the day before.  They have been physically fed by a miraculous work of Jesus and they are back wanting more.  Like us sometimes, they ask, “What must we do?”  But Jesus has no requirements.  There is no ticket to punch.  He simply wants to give us the bread of life.  Out of His great love for us, the gift of life is offered to all.

Jesus simply invites us into His presence to be fed.  We can ‘fill up’ in many ways – in worship, in prayer, in praise, in study.  At the table of the Lord we are fed.  His spirit and presence fill us up.  Oddly enough, over time we come to the place of desiring to offer our thanks. The ‘must’ becomes ‘can’ as we ask, “What can we do?”  As we are filled we come to want to share the bread of life with others through word, acts of mercy, and acts of kindness.This is our grateful response to Christ’s great love being poured into us.

As we ourselves continue to come to the bread of life, we grow to become more and more like Christ.  Out of His great love for us we are led to love others more.  In our churches, in our places of work or school, in our social settings, in or homes we will have opportunities to lead others to the table of our Lord.  This invitation is one of the greatest offers we can offer another.  This day may we find one who is lost and bring them to the table.

Scripture reference: John 6: 24-35


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So Others May Simply Live

We often struggle with the question of “How much?”  It is a question that goes both ways.  How much do I keep for myself, storing it up in the bank?  How much should I give to the church and other charitable organizations?  It is a fine line that is difficult to define or explain.

Could one pay their bills and give the rest of what one has left away at the end of each month?  I suppose one could but it would cause problems when one needs new tires or when a child hits a growth spurt and needs new clothes.  But on the other extreme one does not need millions in the bank either.  In reality, most of us live between these extremes.

Another reality is that most of us live with much more than we need.  We live in abundance.  We live with an excess of food, cars, televisions, clothes, bedrooms in our homes, and on and on and on.  Can we learn to live with enough so that others may simply live?

To do so requires trust and living in community.  We must trust God and each other.  We need to learn to live relying on God to provide and trusting that others will come along side us when we need them to.  We must learn to live in true community, being sensitive to and responsive to the needs of others in our communities.  We must be OK with saying ‘no’ when it is appropriate or when we have nothing to give but still be willing to offer empathy or to help another to other resources.  May we learn to live with less so that others may simply live.

Scripture reference: 2 Corinthians 8: 7-15


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All in All

When the Israelites ask the prophet Samuel to appoint them a king, they are living fully in the world.  How quickly they have forgotten God’s defeat of Pharaoh and His leadership of them into the Promised Land.  How quickly they have forgotten the leadership of God’s agents – Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Samuel.  They want to be like the rest of the nations around them, so they say, “Give us a king!”

At times I walk a similar path with God as I live fully in the world.  My life does not always fully reflect my pledge that “Jesus is Lord.”  In the little daily struggles it is not always to Jesus that I first turn.  Often I try to rely on myself or turn to others to deal with the day to day issues.  Maybe in the ‘big’ stuff I am a little better.  Maybe just a little though.  It is in the larger crisis that I realize sooner that I am less in control and I tend to turn to Him quicker.  This is especially true when I have hit bottom or feel as if I am at the end of my rope.  Yet Jesus is not who I always turn to.

When I say and claim “Jesus is Lord” my thought process and my heart need to reflect this.  It is just not turning to Him in times of trial either.  It is in choosing to give to another without hesitation and without questioning.  It is to offer the best of my day to Jesus and not what I have left at the end.  It is really about giving Jesus every area and little corner of my life.  May I be willing for Jesus to be by all in all, my everything.  Strengthen me Lord Jesus.  Bend me to Your will.  Make me yours.

Scripture reference: 1 Samuel 8: 4-9


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Sheep with Good Hearts

In the parable of the sheep and the goats, the sheep are almost unaware of all the times that they helped another in need.  The acts of sharing love and offering care were just such a natural part of their lives that they didn’t notice how often they were in ministry to others.  I can almost seeing the lightbulb going off as they realized how much they had come to be like Jesus.

For many of us, it can be hard to help someone else as an equal.  The danger is in wanting to think how good we are for helping someone who is less fortunate  that ourselves.  It is so important to avoid the power relationship that we can so easily perceive.  Jesus met each person right where they were at and offered what He could then and there.  We are called to do the same.

When we encounter someone in need, the attitude we choose makes such a difference.  To offer empathy and understanding and encouragement, to give purely out of love, is what is expected.  If we can empower them as well, all the better.  Often a person wants to offer something and maybe it is as simple as sweeping the walk.  Maybe it is offering them a gift card to a store instead of showing up with a bag full of clothes and toys that you thought their children would like.  Either way, when we approach the situation as Jesus would, then we are starting with a good heart and pure motives.  Trust Him to guide you from there!

Scripture reference: Matthew 25: 31-46