pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: presence


by Leave a comment

Listen and Be Present

Does our vision ever cloud what God wants us to see and experience?  Does our way of thinking how something should (or shouldn’t) be ever derail the wonderful thing that God is trying to unfold in front of us?  Yes and yes!

In Matthew 16, Jesus tells his disciples about his impending suffering and death.  Peter responds with “Never!”  Peter wants to hang onto the Jesus he has come to know and love over the last three years.  Peter cannot begin to see or understand what God will do through Jesus Christ.  How easy it is to get in the way of God’s plans.  We can be much the same way. We often cannot see the thing that God has in mind, so we try to limit God.

So often in life we want to avoid the uncomfortable when it is precisely where God wants us to be.  When one we know is in the midst of a loss, we want to help them move along and feel better instead of staying in that moment.  In that moment is where we find God’s comfort and hope.  In a difficult situation when one wants to talk about the struggle and the pain and the hurt, we try to move them along to recovery.  Sit, listen, feel where they are at and allow God to enter in and be present with those emotions and thoughts.  In time He will bring healing.  But we must resist our inclination to steer the bus.  Allow God to be in control.

In those times when God is asking us to listen and be present, do just that.  Just listen and be present.  Don’t try to fix things or make one feel better.Just be there and offer yourself to the one in need.  Remember, God is there too.

Scripture reference: Matthew 16: 21-28


by Leave a comment

Always By Our Side

Peter was the disciple most likely to talk or act without thinking. We have many examples of this too!  Yet Peter was also dubbed “the Rock” by Jesus for it was upon Peter that the church would be built.  Peter is also one of the disciples who we see struggle with his faith from time to time – most notably sleeping in the garden and denying Jesus three times in the courtyard.

We, like Peter, often fail in our faith as well.  Maybe our failure is to act at all – we stay in the boat or never come back around to that place that we felt called to lead.  Maybe it is a lack of faith to see something through once it gets a bit difficult.  But often our faith is tested and refined by the things we have no control over – the difficult person at work or the sudden illness or loss we face.

It is when we step out in faith or in the hard situations that we face that our faith often grows.  It is when we come to rely more on Jesus that we actually become stronger in our faith.  When we are weak, He is strong.  Peter’s faith shines brightest in this passage when he takes those few steps on the water.  May we also be so bold today to steadfastly step out.  We can do so, because like Peter, we have a savior who is right there the whole time. Jesus Christ is always by our side!

Scripture reference: Matthew 14: 22-33


by Leave a comment

The Ways to Connect

In times of trial or stress, how do you connect to God?  In what ways do you draw strength to get through the situation or that season in your life?  I think there are a variety of answers to these inquiries.  For me, and perhaps for you, the answers are not always the same.

Often it is spending more time in prayer.  Through prayer we can become more aware of what God’s will is in our present situation.  Through prayer we can come to understand the other person, the situation, or even ourself better or in a different way.

At other times it is finding encouragement or strength is God’s word.  Maybe it is a favorite psalm or words of Jesus that you have memorized.  Or it could be a passage you open up to or that you search for speaks into your situation.

Or it could be a song or hymn that you sing that brings you the hope, God’s love, or the strength or understanding that you need just then.  Song can lift our spirits.  For others is may simply be time spent sitting in the sanctuary or chapel.  Or it may be a walk in the woods or a bench in the park by the water.

There are so many ways we can connect to God.  That is one of the things I love most about our God.  It is not only through a book or only one other way.  We have a God who always seeks to be connected to us and is open to many ways to do just that.  I am thankful for both God’s desire to be present in my life and for the many ways in which I can draw close and spend time in that presence!

Scripture reference: Psalm 105: 1-6


by Leave a comment

His Constant Presence

After feeding the 5000, Jesus sends the crowd and the disciples off and takes the time to go up the mountain to pray.  As night falls, He walks out to the disciples, who have been struggling against the wind.  In faith, Peter even takes a few steps on the water.  As they climb into the boat, the winds die down.  What they had been struggling against is taken away by Jesus’ presence.  In response they say, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

I wonder why we at times recognize Jesus as so much more and at other times fail to even notice His presence.  For the disciples, why does Jesus walking on the water and calming the wind draw such a response when feeding 5000 from a couple fish and a few loaves does not?  Yet we are the same.  Why does seeing someone’s cancer suddenly disappear seem so much more than a simple day blessed by God’s presence?  Isn’t God as present in one as in the other?

We are drawn to the big and flashy but God also resides in the day to day as well.  It is from His constant presence that we truly draw our strength.  Today, may we notice God in all of the little things of life.  And at the end of the day, may we sing His praises for this gift.

Scripture reference: Matthew 14: 22-33


by Leave a comment

Even in the Wilderness

After Jesus hears of the death of John the Baptist, He withdraws by boat to a solitary place.  But the people follow Him out into the wilderness.  They are seeking.  As they come to Him, Jesus is filled with compassion and heals many.  At the end of the day, out in the wilderness, some of the people find hope and love.

Out in the wilderness, as night begins to settle in, many are vulnerable.  They all have a basic need for food.  Once again (but after an interesting exchange with the disciples!), Jesus feels compassion for the people.  Again He responds out of love.  The people are seated and, from little, 5000 men plus the women and children all eat their fill.  In the wilderness the people encounter a loving God who meets their need not just with what satisfied but with abundance.

At times we to are in the wilderness.  In these times we often feel alone and vulnerable.  And Jesus comes to us too.  In His compassion and love we find healing and comfort for our souls.  In His presence our strength is renewed.  As He walks with us, our wilderness begins to fade.  We come to know that no matter where we are, His love and compassion will always help us through.  His mercies are new every morning and His love never fails!

Scripture reference: Matthew 14: 13-21


by Leave a comment

Confidence Forward

Have you ever taken the time to look back over your life to see God’s fingerprints on it?  Do you see how He guided you to this job instead of that other one and how you were blessed there?  Or maybe there was a challenge there – see how it forced you to grow and mature?

Can you see all the other decisions and event sin your life were God is there too?  Maybe it is the college you went to, the  major you ended up with, the person you dated or married, or the places you lived.  Maybe it was the college you did not go to, the person you did not date, and so on.  Maybe it is in the birth or a child or in that heart-wrenching loss.  Maybe it is that divorce or breakup, in that firing, or in that addiction.  As you take time to look back over your life, can’t you see that God was in each and every one of these points of your life?

As we look back and see how God led, directed, and loved into our lives, we gain a confidence to move forward.  In this reflection we build a reserve to know that He will be there in our next difficulty, decision, or event.  We know God will continue to be a part of our lives because He loves us so.  “The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.” (Psalm 145:9)

Scripture reference: Psalm 105: 1-11 and 45b


by Leave a comment

Love Always There

We are inseparable from God’s love.  His love is so high and wide and deep that we cannot begin to imagine the vastness of His love.  And God’s love will last forever.  Not a few years, a couple millenia, but forever.  His love will never fail.

Paul lists a wide range of extremes that cannot separate us from God’s love – angels or demons, life or death, present or future – to name a few.  He punctuates is by stating that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Pretty amazing love!

There will be times and circumstances in t his life when we do not sense God’s love or do not choose to walk in that love.  Yet it is still there.  There will be times when we are so crushed or hurting so bad that we cannot begin to feel His love.   Yet it is still there, right there, all around us.  When we open our hearts and minds and eyes to God’s love, His love comes flooding in.  It is not forced upon us, but is always just right there, always surrounding us.  Thanks be to God for His great love!!

Scripture reference: Romans 8: 38-39


by Leave a comment

He Wants Us to Know

Have you ever had a friend so close that you finished each other’s sentences?  God goes one better – He knows the words before our minds even form them.  Ever been so close to someone that you could sense something was wrong before they showed a physical sign anyone else would notice?  God sees it brewing before we even know its in the pot.

Most of the time I think we’re pretty unaware of God’s presence in our lives.  Sure, there are times when we feel His presence or direction, but it is usually involving something big – Sunday worship, a big decision in life, a friend with cancer.  Yes, in these times, we know God is near and we seek His presence.

Yet in the small, day to day moments we don’t always sense or seek God.  We need to.  He is there “before and behind”.  A life saturated with God is a life of peace, contentment, and love.  He already knows it all.  He wants us to know too!!

Scripture reference: Psalm 139: 1-12.


by Leave a comment

Thank you Jesus!

When you ask a friend or a child to do something, would you rather have them say ‘yes’ and then no do it or would you rather have them say ‘no’ and do it anyway?  Neither is the ideal situation, but which do you prefer?  Does intention or completion matter more?

When we first say ‘yes’ to a personal and intimate relationship with Christ, it does not include any ‘but’ or ‘if’ or ‘when I’ statements.  At first it is just a big ‘YES!’  Soon enough though sin, or at least temptation, rears its ugly head.  Sin is almost a constant presence in our life.  Paul writes beautifully about this struggle in Romans 7.  The sin can be as small as an unkind thought or word or it can range to jealously eyeing your neighbor’s possessions.  In spite of our inner desires to live a life wholly pleasing to God, sin is always nearby.

Bluntly put, we cannot do it on our own.  Thankfully, through His time on the earth, Jesus empathizes with our human condition.  Though Jesus was without sin, in the time on earth He came to see our struggle.  So now, in heaven, He intercedes for us before God.  Without Christ we would be lost.  But thanks be to God for the gift of His Son!!  As constant as the struggle with sin is in our lives, more steady is the presence and love of Christ.  Thank you Jesus!!

Scripture reference: Romans 7: 15-25a


by Leave a comment

Coincidence?

Just got back from our mission trip to Seattle yesterday.  It was an adventure!!  Bus 1’s radiator started going out on the second day of the trip and they needed to get it replaced.  The bus company lined up a replacement bus to help drive us to our work sites in Seattle.  On Monday morning we walked onto the ferry to Seattle as two of our buses lined up to load onto the ferry.  Due to low tide they would not allow the buses onto the ferry.  So we set off to serve in Seattle with our lunches and water on the buses.  Yet the replacement bus was already at the ferry depot, waiting to provide rides.  Coincidence?

Abraham sent his servant to a far away land to find a bride for his son Isaac.  He sought a woman from God’s people living in a distant land.  There was no previous arrangement of connections – just go and find a willing bride.  A woman willing to leave her family and homeland, to go to a far land and marry a man she has never met.  Sounds easy, huh?  No wonder the servant doubted.  Bot, lo and behold, the first woman he meets at the well in Rebekah and she is willing to go and marry Isaac.  And her family is willing too so they bless her and the rest is history.  Coincidence?  I think not.

There were many other instances on our mission trip where we were able to look back and see God’s hand at work.  I’m sure there are many instances in your life where you can see the hand of God at work also.  If you think not – look harder – they are there.  God is a part of our lives.  The more open and inviting we are to His presence, the more we come to know that presence.  Hear His promise: “I will not forg et you!  See, I have engraved you on the palm of My hands.” (Isaiah 49: 15-16)

Scripture reference: Genesis 24: 34-38, 42-49, and 58-67