pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: presence


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Connecting to God

When the storm clouds begin to build I like to sit on the front steps or out back on the deck.  As the storm builds I can sense God’s energy and presence.  When the lightning flashes and the thunder claps, God’s power is at hand.  Sometimes when it is raining, I like to open the window or sliding door and just listen to the raindrops landing.  It reminds me that God is watering and nourishing the earth.

At other times I like to go out in the sun in the quiet of midday and listen to the birds singing.  Late at night I like to go out in the stillness and stare at the stars.  Sometimes He even treats me to a shooting star.  God can be found in many way sin our created world.

In all these things I sense God’s presence still working in our world.  The voice that created all we know with just a word continues to be involved in our world.  I awe at the sense of God’s power, majesty, and strength in the world all around us.

And what is my response?  Experiencing God in the world around me often leads me to pray a prayer of thanksgiving and love.  Sometimes it causes me to lift my voice in song.  Sometimes I simply stand amazed and take it in, allowing His presence to envelop and fill me.  Connecting to God in such ways renews and refreshes me.  Take some time to be in connection.  Allow His majesty and power to awe you.  Feel His presence.

Scripture reference: Psalm 29


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Do you see and know?

Do you think the Christmas season starts too soon?  Or that it goes too long?  I imagine the first question prompted thoughts of stores selling Christmas long before Thanksgiving.  And for some the second question prompts thoughts of taking down the tree today!  Yet the Christmas spirit doesn’t and shouldn’t fit inside a nice neat timeframe.  Shouldn’t the love, hope, peace, joy, and giving that typifies this season be happening all year long?

Simeon and Anna were two people who waited  a long time.  They were steadfast and focused on waiting.  Their whole being revolved around being ready for seeing the Messiah.  Both were so prepared that they recognized Jesus without being introduced or anything.  They simply knew in their hearts that this one baby – one of many being brought to the temple that day tobe presented to God – was the one whom they had waited so long for. And then they both broke forth in praise and thanksgiving.

How could we prepare ourselves so that we are ready to offer love, hope, peace, and joy to all we meet?  How would we prepare ourselves so that we see Jesus in each person we meet today and every day?  Jesus comes to us in many ways.  May our eyes be open and our hearts willing to see and know the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives.  May our lives reflect this to all we meet.

Scripture reference: Luke 2: 22-40


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Be Still and Know

There are moments and places where we feel noticeably closer to God.  This can be caused by the physical location.  For example, I have heard many people mention they felt power when they stood at certain places in the Holy Land.  It can also be caused by an experience – such as the birth of a child.  Celtic tradition calls this phenomena “think places.”

Mary experiences a ‘thin place’ just after Jesus is born when the shepherds visit.  They tell her of the angel’s visit and of the multitude of angels singing praise to God as they announce the Savior’s birth.  She treasures and ponders all of these things in her heart.  Once again Mary is draw a little closed to Go din these moments.

According to tradition, a thin place is not where God draws closer to us – for He is always omnipresent.  It is a place where we allow ourselves to drop the veil we hold up and we draw closer to God.  We allow God’s mystery and incarnation to surround us.  In this holy season, quiet yourself and allow Christ to be born anew within you.  Be still and know that He is God.

Scripture reference: Luke 2: 1-20


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By His Strength Alone

At times we all have experienced God’s strength and presence.  Sometimes this occurs in a powerful worship or prayer experience.  Sometimes this occurs in the midst of an extraordinary event like a child’s birth or in the profound moments of a tragedy.  So we all know what it feels like to experience God’s strength and presence.

Yet so often in life and particularly in the day to day of life, we try to live by our own strength.  Society reinforces this by lifting up the self-made person and exulting those who can find success on their own.  Society devalues those who cannot.

The Advent readings for this week draw us back to the ideas that we do not live only for ourselves and that we cannot make it by our own strength alone.  As we live on th edge of God’ holy promises we realize that we are saved by His strength alone.  Just as when Mary trusted and fully relied on God, we too can feel our fears and anxieties melt away.  We too can come to realize that His favor rests upon us as well.  We can call upon His strength and presence in the day to day and experience it each moment.  Through this we are empowered, strengthened, and encouraged to do His will each day in our world.

Scripture reference: Romans 16: 25-27


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Prayer, Joy, and Good

Have you ever had a day when you were without sin?  A day when you felt in touch with God each moment of that day?  A day when God was all you thought about?  To spend a day 100% in God’s presence would be amazing but in my mind it seems almost impossible.

Our minds race from one thought to another so quickly and how often we think or say something unkind or judgmental.  It can be even more true in a season like this where the busyness of life seems to ramp up.

In 1st Thessalonians, Paul brings us words of wisdom for this time of year.  He calls for us to pray continully and to always be joyful.  We are encouraged to seek good.  And best of all, he reminds us that we are not intended to do these things on our own.  First, the Holy Spirit is there to remind us, to uphold us, and to help us grow in our relationship with God.  Second, we are there for our fellow Christians to nurture, support, encourage, and pray for one another.  Together, may we make prayer, joy and good the focus of this day.

Scripture reference: 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24


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Make It Yours

Where are you God?!  That is the cry of Israel in Psalm 80.  Catastrophe has struck and, therefore, they question where God is.  Surely He is not present, or this would have never happened.  Been there before?

In the midst of tragedy the Israelites beg God to turn His face to them and to shine on them.  Once God looks on His people, He will see their hardship and He will restore them.  He will stop the suffering at the hands of their foe.  Ever sought this?

Verse 17 asks God to let His hand ‘rest upon the son of man’, the one He raised up.  If so, the promise is they will not turn away but will call on His name – after God revives them.  A familiar if-then bargain!  Sound familiar?

The relationship we are called to is 24-7-365.  It is the same in the good and in the bad and everything in between.  God is always present to us.  His love and mercy are always available.  Make it yours each day.

Scripture reference: Psalm 80: 1-7 and 17-19


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Faithful Followers

During my quiet time in the morning I can focus pretty well on God.  As I read, pray, ponder, and write faith is at the center.  But as the rest of the day unfolds, I can lose that focus on God for periods.  He pops back in here and there, but I should seek His presence and direction on a more regular basis.

It is easy to plunge into the day, seeking to check things of my “to do” list instead of seeking Him.  It is easy to get caught up in a “what if” moments instead of getting lost in Him.  It is easy to wallow in indecision instead of bathing in His guidance and direction.  Each of these is a choice.

So how do we choose wisely and in a way that honors God and develops our relationship with Him?  Paul offers us some suggestions in 1st Thessalonians.  First, prepare ourselves for the day by putting on faith and love as our breastplate and the hope of salvation as our helmet.  Arm ourselves with God as w begin to face the day.  Come back regularly as we feel a chink developing in our armor.  Second, encourage and build each other up.  Knowing we have support and having the right outlook goes a long way towards helping us walk the path that God intends for us.  This day, through His strength and through the support and with the prayers of our Christians brothers and sisters, may we be the faithful followers we are called to be.

Scripture reference: 1 Thessalonians 5: 6-11


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God as Center

Psalm 123 is a song that the people would sing as they made their way to worship.  They would seek God’s mercy and hand of protection as they prepared their hearts and minds for a time in the presence of God.  The psalm speaks of the people looking toward God as we would look towards someone we trust completely; perhaps your parent or spouse fills this role, perhaps it is God.

For most of us, our world is busy and full of things that compete for our time and energies.  It can be a struggle to carve out space to gaze upon God each day.   But to do so is essential.  In that time and space, as we gaze upon our God, we find renewing of our souls, a calming of the things that swirl around us, and a focus on the things that really matter.  Then as we face the day and all of its things that tug and pull, then God goes with us and is present in the midst of it.

When God is the focus in our personal quiet time each day, then He walks with us all day long.  We begin to see Him in places we wouldn’t normally and in the people and events of our lives.  In those moments of blessing, we are able to connect with God, to be in His presence, and to share Him with others.  As God becomes the center of or lives, His presence will be in all we do and say.  Through this, others will be blessed as well.

Scripture reference: Psalm 123


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Allow His Voice

This morning I hear wave after wave of rain as it lands on the windows, buffeted by the wind.  In the quiet of the early morning, the rain is an audible presence.  A few days ago the sunrise broke over the horizon in a beautiful fashion.  The streaks of light and glow of the sun came forth in the stillness of the morning.  God and all of that creative ability shines forth in so many of the things in nature.  We can connect to God so easily in the beauty and stillness of creation.  To sit alone under a tree listening to the birds sing or to sit on a rock listening to the crash of the waves can renew and refresh our soul.  We can come into tune with God in these moments.

Sometimes though, we struggle with silence or the lack of noise.  We turn on the radio or TV or make small talk to fill the void of sound.  But if we always surround ourselves with noise, it is easy to miss God’s still, small voice.  In daily prayer time, allow God a moment or two.  Give Him a space to speak into your life.  In your time of reading and study, do the same.  God has so much to offer into the silence if we only slow down and seek out His voice.  Allow His voice to speak to you.  It may be to reveal something, to give you guidance, or simply to say, ‘I love you, my child.”

Scripture reference: Psalm 19: 1-6


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Where Did You See Him?

Stop for a moment and think about where you saw God present yesterday.  Gather a few snapshots in your mind of those scenes.  As I smile over the ones in my mind, is occur sot me that this is a spiritual discipline that we should practice more often.

I saw God yesterday in William’s eyes and heard it in his voice as he shared his story with me, as we took a few minutes to connect.  I saw God yesterday in the children who simply beamed and giggled as the tumbled and slid down the slide in the inflatable.  The joy in their eyes was uplifting.  God was present in our Youth as they lovingly shepherded and helped the kids in line, in the hay, or in the inflatables.  God was present in the volunteer who quickly gave another caramel apple to the child before a tear could form over the apple the child just dropped on the ground.

Where did you see God yesterday?

God is present in the joy, in the laughter, in the smiles and giggles, in the simple kind gestures.  He is present in so many ways and I am so thankful for His presence.  Glory to God!

Scripture reference: Philippians 2: 1-11