pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: presence


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Patience That Never Ends

Moses come down the mountain with God’s Holy Law as found in the Ten Commandments.  His face is literally radiant from His time with the Almighty.  Trip number one was interrupted by the people encamped at the foot of the mountain when they decided to make and worship a golden idol.  They did so while they could see God’s glory just outside of camp.  It is amazing that His presence could be so close yet they turn to a false god.

In reality we are the same.  Right in the middle of worship, have you ever had an unkind thought about the family coming in late or the song that was selected or the pastor’s message?  In the Holy presence of God one can go directly from saying the Lord’s Prayer to questioning or judging the words used in the morning prayer.  Even while in worship, our lips can bring praise but out hearts are far from God.

The same is often true for other times in our lives.  After a moving morning devotional time, we can get in the car and curse a fellow driver.  After spending a few minutes in awe praising God for the beautiful sunrise, we can turn and yell at our child for getting up a few minutes late.  How quickly we can praise God one moment and absolutely drive Him nuts the next.

And what is God’s response to all this and what does it reveal about God?  He sends Moses down the mountain one more time with the stone tablets.  He forgives us for the zillionth time.  Over and over and over He says, “Close, but… let’s try this again”.  I am so thankful that God’s patience never runs out.  How great is the Father’s love for us!  Imperfect as we are, He loves us anyway.  Thanks be to God!

Scripture reference: Exodus 34: 29-32


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Our Promises Too

The story of Jeremiah’s call is the call story many of us receive as well.  Like Jeremiah, God knew each of us before He formed us in the womb.  Like Jeremiah, God has a plan and a role for each of us to play in building His kingdom.  Like Jeremiah, God gives us the gifts, talents, and skills needed for the task.  And like Jeremiah, for most of us, our first response is, “Who, me?”

Who could blame God if He got angry when we respond this way?  It is kind of insulting that we question the omnipotent and omnipresent Creator of the universe and all that is in it.  But God is patient.  The only things that exceed His patience, in my opinion, are His grace and His love.  But He is patient.  When we ignore or deny the call or when we refuse to recognize or acknowledge the gifts and talents He had blessed us with, God just continues to nudge and prod and whisper and to bring before us people and opportunities until we choose to begin walking the path He has laid out for our lives.

We are not the first to question, deny, or run from our call.  Before Jeremiah there were people like Noah, Sarah and Abraham, and Moses – just to name a few.  There have been people like Esther, David, and a slew of others just like us who have taken their turn asking, “Who, me?”. Just as He was with all who have come before and required more than one ask, God was patient and used each one according to His plan.

If you are hesitant to answer God’s call, remember the promises He gave Jeremiah.  They are our promises too.  The first is: do not be afraid.  The second is: I am with you.  The third is: I will rescue you.  His promises are true.  As we live into God’s call upon our lives and as we boldly step out in faith, may we remember and hold onto these promises.  They are our promises too.  As we do so, He will bless us on our faith journey.

Scripture reference: Jeremiah 1: 4-10


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Experience God

Reds, oranges, and yellows slowly fill the sky as the sun begins to break forth over the horizon.  At the end of the day, the occasional purple or blue may mix with the reds, oranges, and yellows as God says ‘good night’ and brings rest to the earth.  The beauty, power, and majesty we find in sunrises and sunsets is spoken in every language in every place on earth.  “Their voice goes out into all the earth”, declares the psalmist.

As a Youth growing up in Connecticut, I can remember going out early to a rural turkey farm early on Easter morning.  We would arrive when it was still dark.  It was always cold.  As we waited in only the calm sounds of nature, one could sense God was near.  Slowly the sun would creep up and begin to warm our silent faces, simply watching God’s handiwork unfold.  Once the sun was risen, we would join in song, prayer, and the Word for our Easter sunrise service.  The sunrise was always like God’s welcoming presence coming amongst us.

We were very intentional about awaiting God’s entrance and His presence on those mornings.  Sometimes life can just become so busy that opportunities like this are gobbled up.  We can work and work and work and become so consumed that we miss the beauty of God’s voice calling out to us as it echoes through nature.  We miss those still moments where God is trying to consume us with His power and beauty and majesty so that He can refresh and renew our spirits and our souls.  It is a shame we so often miss it.

“The heavens declare the glory of God” reminds the psalmist.  May we more often make the time to experience the things of God.  Let it begin today.

Scripture reference: Psalm 19: 1-6


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The Gift of the Holy Spirit

Baptism marks us as a child of God and brings us into His family.  In the early church and in non-infant baptisms today, it is also an affirmation of one’s own faith in Jesus Christ.  In all cases of Christian baptism today, one is baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  In our text from Acts, this was not the case.  The new believers had been baptized but had not yet received the Holy Spirit.

John and Peter go to the newly baptized believers in Samaria to offer them the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Through prayer and the laying on of hands, these new members of the family of God receive the Holy Spirit.  To invite the Holy Spirit to come and dwell in them was essential.  For them and for us, the Holy Spirit is the living presence of Jesus Christ in our lives.  This presence guides and leads us to live life as a follower or imitator of Jesus.  The life of one indwelled by the Holy Spirit is a life that bears fruit in the world and shares the light and love of Christ with others.

The Holy Spirit also acts as a connector or unifier.  It leads and guides us all in the same way, bringing us together as the body of Christ.  Much as baptism brings each new believer into the one family of God, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit imparts into each of us a common DNA, making us one in Christ.

This day may we invite the Holy Spirit to be active and present in our lives.  This day may we attune our ears and hearts to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  This day may our hands and feet be receptive to the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Come Holy Spirit, come!

Scripture reference: Acts 8: 14-17


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The Voice of God

The psalmist speaks of the power and strength found in the voice of the Lord.  He sees and feels it in the thunder and lightning and wind of a powerful storm that shakes the ground and twists the oaks.  We are also reminded that out of this same might God gives His people strength.  Yet God is not always just in the powerful and amazing.  We too must remember that He whispered to Samuel in the still of the night and was the still, small voice that called to Elijah on the mountain.

At times we too can see God in the natural world.  One can sense His power in a storm and one can also see His presence in a sunset.  Our God is all around us when we take the time to seek Him out and when we are attuned to His presence.

But sometimes, in the midst of our own personal storm, it can be hard to find God.  Sometimes God is not even the first place we turn.  Some may turn to drugs or alcohol and some turn to self-help books.  Some turn to a friend and some choose to withdraw.  Ultimately though, God is the solution.  Yet even though He is all around us, at times He can be hard to connect to.  In these times we must simply spend time with Him.  Read the Bible.  Even though one feels alone, pray.  Experience His love by going out and serving someone in need.

Or maybe you are the friend or even just an observer of someone struggling.  Pray for the one in need.  Ask God’s presence and power and strength to come into their life.  Be with them.  You will not be the solution but your presence and prayers and listening ear are helpful.  But above all, pray.

Scripture reference: Psalm 29


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Prayer Invite

Within each person is a spark of the divine.  This is what causes us to see God in our world and to have an innate pull within us to connect to God.  As John began to baptize in the wilderness, people started to wonder if he was indeed the Messiah that they were longing for.  John must have sensed this and Jesus’ imminent coming as he announced that he was not the Messiah but that the One was indeed coming.  John’s call to repent and to live a righteous life was to prepare the way for Jesus.

As we awaken and face each new day, are we like the people on the river bank?  Are we heading into our day expecting to see and experience God at work in our lives and world?  Do we face each day with the expectation that God can and will be present and active in our lives?

It is God’s desire to be present to and active in our lives each day.  So how do we invite God in and learn to live with eyes that are focused on seeing God?  It begins with us as it began with Jesus – in prayer.  After He was baptized, Jesus prayed to God and the Holy Spirit descended on Him.  Prayer is our initial point of connection to God as well.  Prayer draws us into relationship with God.

Sometimes we can lose our sense of expectation.  Life can get routine and we fail to see God in the ho-hum of the day to day.  But God is always there.  He desires to play the lead role in our life, but He does not force His way in.  Today and each day may we begin in prayer, inviting God to be present to us throughout our day.

Scripture reference: Luke 3: 15-17 and 21-22


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Our Prayer Life

Who or what do you most often pray for?  At this point, who or what is your main prayer focus?  Are these things constants or do they change?  If these answers do not come pretty quickly, consider how you could develop a deeper, more consistant, more meaningful prayer life.  If your prayers seem to focus on just a few people or items, please consider for a few minutes the people in your life and the situations in your world that would benefit greatly from being lifted up in your prayers.

One of the most powerful ways that we can pray for another is to invite the presence of the Holy Spirit into their lives.  In Acts 8 the people of Samaria have been baptized.  John and Peter go to them and pray over them and invite the Holy Spirit into the lives of these new believers.  The Samaritans receive the Spirit as a result of these prayers.  Just like the people that John and Peter prayed for, those that we pray for can be opened up to the presence of the Spirit.  They must still receive this gift, but our prayers can begin this process.

When we go deep in prayer, we are also inviting the Holy Spirit to be present with us.  When we invest time and energy into our prayer life, it is like any other practice or relationship – it grows.  And if we allow space and invite God to be present, the connection we have can reach new levels and can impact us powerfully.

In closing, let us return to the second question.  There are people and situations that I pray for daily. This is a good thing.  But in our prayer lives we must also have a few people or items that we focus on for a time or a season.  To do so we must be sensitive and seeking.  If we do this, God and the Holy Spirit will lay these prayer focuses upon us.  Then we have the holy and awesome privelege of lifting another person or situation up in intense and focused prayer.  Blessings on your prayer life this day!

Scripture reference: Acts 8: 14-17


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Happiness – God’s Gift

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).  When God created the world He knew there would be both love and hate, planting and uprooting, peace and war, and so on.  The existence of good and evil, pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow,… was necessary for free will to be a part of our world.  If all was only good we would not really be choosing to love and obey God.  Yet God’s intent is still for good – for good in our lives and for good in the world.  In the end, God’s goodness and love will reign.  As we come to our end, we can enter His glory and experience nothing but good in heaven.  As this world comes to and end, there will be a restoration of all things and God will once again dwell among humanity.

“I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.  That everyone may eat and drink and find satisfaction in his toil – this is the gift of God.” (Ecclesiastes 3: 12-13)  God desires for us to also be the good in the world.  We are to go forth and to bring the love of Christ with us to all that we meet in the world.  When we do good in the world, when we live following Christ’s example, then we are able to find true happiness.  This is one of God’s gifts to us.

God’s gift to us is also to find satisfaction in our toil.  Our efforts, our job, our work is meant to bring us joy.  God’s intent is for me to love my job and to serve Him with all I can as I work.  In others areas of toil, I must do the same.  In shoveling the driveway or serving the meal at the mission I can experience and encounter God in nature or in the faces of those I serve.  God is all around me.  God is all around everyone.  Thanks be to God for His presence in our lives and for these gifts that He brings.

Scripture reference: Ecclesiastes 3: 1-13


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Surrounded by Love

Wrapping the baby Jesus in swaddling clothes was the common practice of the time.  It is still the common practice in many places.  By wrapping the baby head to toe, it is kept warm and its delicate skin in protected.  Being laid in a manger, maybe Jesus even needed a little extra protection.  All one could see of the baby was their little face, gazing up at them.

In the culture of Jesus’ day and in many places still today, at the end of life the body is again wrapped in a cloth.  This time it is called a shroud and it covers all of the body.  The body is wrapped with fragrant spices and laid to rest in a protetcive little coccoon.  The cycle is complete.

Tonight the communion will be covered by a cloth except when being served.  The elements are representative of Jesus’ body and blood, so it is appropriate and respectful to cover them.

In our Christian walk, God’s love continually surrounds us much like the swaddling clothes do a baby.  God wraps His love and protection around us as He walks through the ups, downs, and middles of life with us.  As we walk we will stumble and we will sin.  But God is present then too for His love never fails.  In these moments we also receive His love and grace as well.  They surround us too and make us new and clean and whole.  Through Jesus’ work on the cross, we are forgiven and restored to walk again in God’s loving presence.  Thank you Jesus.

Scripture reference: Luke 2: 1-20


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The Journey

Our journey of faith draws us ever closer to God.  We are, however, not constantly growing each and every day.  Our growth is sometimes like that second cousin that you only see at the occassional reunion, wedding, or funeral.  You see him and marvel at how he has changed since you last saw him, but his growth has been gradual.

This journey of faith has its valleys and moutain tops as well as its wrong turns. There are moments when we connect powefully to God or the Holy Spirit and feel a growth spurt.  There are also times when we turn aside and stumble in our sin.  As we walk through the times of sin and repentance, looking back we can also see signs of overall growth.  Things we once did not see as sin are things we now wrestle with and our cycles of repeating the same sin has greater intervals in between.  We can see God and the Holy Spirit at work within us.

Our journey will also have seasons like the one described in Psalm 80.  We will have times when we cry out to God followed by what feels like silence.  We will have times when it feels like we are subsisting on the ‘bread of tears.’  In these times we long for His presence, for the touch or the whisper of the Holy Spirit.  The Good Shepherd is always near.  He never is far from His sheep.  So in these seasons we must continue to pray, to read His word, to seek His face.  In response to our faithfulness, suddenly He will be there.  It will seem like God never left.  All will be well.

Scripture reference: Psalm 80: 1-7