pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: presence


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On the Mountaintop

After just a relatively short time in the desert, God calls Moses up the mountain.  The people have seen the pillar and the fire that leads them, and they have been given manna and quail, water from the rock.  The Israelites have already demonstrated a questioning and maybe fickle attitude towards their God and towards this journey that they are on.  Moses heads up the mountain and enters into the cloud that has enveloped the mountain.  On the seventh day God again calls Moses.  He remains on the mountaintop for 40 days and 40 nights.  For Joshua, part way up, and for those down below, it must have seemed like a long time.

I wonder how long it took for the first one in camp to wonder if Moses was coming back.  To enter into God’s presence was terrifying and most thought it would kill a normal person.  I wonder how long it took someone to raise the question of Moses’ return.  I wonder if Joshua pondered entering the cloud to seek out Moses.  I wonder how soon some folks started thinking about moving on.  I wonder how long we might stick around.  But for Moses, did it just seem like a few moments.  Remember being in love and time just seemed to fly by when you were with that person?  Maybe this was how it was for Moses.  Maybe he came down and said, “What??!!  It was HOW long?”

I wonder what the view was like for Moses.  Maybe he didn’t even have time to look around.  Maybe he was so focused on being with God that he did not take a peek at the view.  I’d guess the consuming view was God.  But for us, when we are on a mountaintop or on a high place, our view is usually pretty good.  We can see way off into the distance.  On a clear day we can see for miles and miles.  When we enter into God’s presence and rest in that place, our sight is usually pretty clear.  If we would allow ourselves a deep connection with God and would search out His will for us, I bet our vision would allow us to see for miles and miles.  And I wonder why we don’t do this more often.  I wonder why I don’t do this more often.

My guess is that the fear of entering fully into the presence is what holds us back.  The fear of seeing clearly where God is calling us removes the excuses and requires us to step out boldly in faith.  Being fully in the presence also reveals our faults and what we desire to hold back from our Lord.  Moses entered faithfully and without fear into the cloud on the mountaintop.  As we grow in our faith, may we too learn to step faithfully and fully into the presence of our Lord.  And when we are on the mountaintop, maybe we will really love the view and want to simply rest into the presence of God.  I wonder…


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The Tools in Your Toolbox

In the “New Beginnings” series we have looked a lot at the call to share our faith. Peary developed the idea that once we come to know Christ within, then the journey becomes outward as we seek to serve Christ. Keihwan continued the concept with the idea that our call is to make a difference in our world, one person at a time, one moment at a time. Last Sunday we looked at Jesus being our new BFF. The overall idea was that we so grow in our relationship that Jesus is our best friend and that through this we share Him with those in our worlds.
The primary means through which we can share Jesus are prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. All of these are important to have in our ‘toolbox’ of faith. All of these need to be ready to be used. After all, a dull tool will not cut anything very efficiently. Similarly, a jumbled up and rambling story of faith will not be effective. So… which do you need the most practice at? Or, put another way… If you were presented with an opportunity to share Christ with someone desperately in need and I were to randomly draw one of these five out of a hat and you had to go with that means, which would you really hope I did not draw?

If you are like me, and I believe like most people, you were hoping that ‘witness’ was not the one drawn. So that is the one you and I need to work on, to hone into razor sharpness so that when presented with that opportunity, we can nail it.

The natural means through which most of us share our faith is presence. We try to live out our lives as a loving, caring person. We often back this up through our prayers that we follow up a situation with. Many share their faith through their gifts – be that time volunteering at church, through financial support of the church, as so on. And some are natural witnesses. Some are able to naturally work God and their faith into a conversation as easily as some of us talk about the weather!

But to wrap up, again, it is about being prepared to use whatever tool the opportunity requires. If someone is hungry and you have $5 in your pocket, don’t tell them you will pray for them. That’d be like using a screwdriver to cut down a tree! But if someone needs to hear your faith story at that point in their lives, you better be ready to share it. If they just need you to be there to listen, you better pull up a chair. Practice each of these means and be a willing and faithful servant. The world needs Jesus and we are the ones to bring Him to them.