pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: relationship


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God’s Presence

Job is suffering and he cries out to God.  He searches for God so that he can plead his case and find relief. But God is silent.  When we we are in the midst of a darkness we too cry out to God.  Often we also ask the “why?” question.  If there is no answer, we feel like the darkness deepens.  But even is we do not feel it, God is present.  He is always there.  Through faith we must trust in and rely on this and soon enough His light and love will break through.

The book of Job reminds us that although there is unjust suffering in our world, the world is still good.  It was created by God and He declared it ‘good’.  Much has been corrupted since then but good is still present and will one day come to reign absolute again.  God yearns for us, His people, to cry out for His presence, to seek Him, to experience a loving relationship with Him.

There are many people who suffer without hope because they do not know the Lord.  We must fight to bring His light and love into their lives.  There are many who have given up on the God they once knew and are mired in their suffering.  We must fight to bring an end to their suffering and to reveal God’s love to them again by being His love ourselves.

Too often God is made invisible to people by the darkness in which they live.  As God’s people we must bring justice, grace, mercy, love, and relief to those suffering so that God’s light and love may once again dwell in the hearts of all people.  God wants to be made known.  To whom will we make Him known today?

Scripture reference: Job 23: 1-9 and 16-17


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On Solid Ground

The psalmist cried out for vindication from his enemies.  He asks God to test him and to try him as a means of proving he is worthy of God’s rescuing hand.  In the midst of a trial or unpleasant experience we often have similar thoughts – I have followed your ways God, I have been faithful in worship, I have given my gifts –  so why is this happening to me?

The psalmist also uses the company he keeps as leverage point.  He makes his case that he does not hang out with the evil doers, with the wicked.  He reminds God that he loves God’s home, that he loves to spend time in the sanctuary.  Our arguments fall along the same lines.

In the psalm we also find our true strength in the midst of the storms.  He proclaims praise for God and tells of God’s wonderful deeds.  In doing so he remembers a God who loves and cares for His people.  He reminds himself and God that he leads a blameless life.  Our God too is a loving God, a God who cares for us in the midst of our trials.

The psalm ends with “my feet stand on solid ground.”  When we are in a relationship with God we too stand on solid ground.  Even when life is storming all around us, we stand firm on the solid rock of Jesus.  Despite all that life throws at us, we can stand assured that in the end whether the trial or life itself, we will be triumphant because we stand upon our faith.

Scripture reference: Psalm 26


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The Hospital We Call Church

John Wesley once noted that sometimes a Christian’s behavior is the greatest obstacle to a non-believer being saved.  Today some churches are refered to as a social club for the holy and righteous.  In some houses of worship we say guests are great but we do not treat them that way – especially if they are not just like us.

In today’s passage from Mark, Jesus addresses our behavior as a follower.  In figurative but somewhat harsh language, we are advised to cut off a hand if it causes us to sin or to gouge out an eye if it causes us to sin.  Jesus tells us it would be better to live maimed or partially blind than to keep sinning and to eventually enter hell.  His point is that our behavior is critical, not only for our faith journey but also for the non-believer who sees us living out our faith.

Jesus concludes this teaching with the call to be salt to the people we encounter.  Through our gracious and loving words and actions we are to ‘season’ the world with God’s grace and love.  As we live out our call to build up His kingdom here on earth, our positive witness will draw the non-believer to seek this same grace and love.

Our behaviors must attract people to God, not make them question having a relationship with Him.  We must offer love and grace when others need it and offer honest and repentant words when our behavior necessitates this.  We must live in the knowledge that we are all sinners saved by grace alone.  May we offer Christ to the world this day, inviting others to join us in our hospital for sinners that we call church.  For it is there we are healed too.

Scripture reference: Mark 9: 42-50


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Mirrors

Celebrations are fun.  Whether a birthday or an anniversary it is a joyous occasion to celebrate all that has been and to look forward to the future with excitement.  Holidays are often the same although they can also have a somber side to them.  Such is the case with the Jewish holiday Purim.  After being saved from sure death and annihilation by Esther and Mordecai, Mordecai sends out a letter to all Jews in the region instructing them to celebrate God’s saving act with feasting and the giving of gift to the poor.  The act of giving mirrored God’s amazing gift of saved the Jews when all seemed lost.  The captives in the foreign land experienced God’s extravagant love in a way that should be celebrated.

As Christians we too have reason to celebrate each day.  Left on our own we would be dead in our sins.  Without the saving grace of God and without the gift that Christ bought with His life, we would be slaves to sin and death.  Although we are in a constant battle with the desires of the flesh, once we have called on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we know we are saved.  What a reason to celebrate!

Just as during Purim the Jews give gifts to the poor, each day we too are called to share this amazing gift we have received with those who have not.  We are called to lead others into a relationship with Jesus Christ as that they too can be freed from their captivity to the desires of the flesh.  May our lives this day mirror God’s love as we seek to share the light and love of Christ with a world in need.

Scripture reference: Esther 9: 20-22


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His Kingdom

The first must be last.  To be first you must become a servant.  These words of Jesus run so counter to the view of the world.  In the world, power is seen as the one on top with the most money or the loftiest title or the best looks.  Jesus says that when we welcome those at the bottom of society and get to know them, then we also come to know Him better.  In the world’s view, those beneath are just stepping stones.

For Jesus, welcoming in and getting to know those who are struggling breaks down the barriers that often separate us.  In forming relationships we remove our misconceptions.  In loving other we help them to see their worth and identity as a child of God.  But it is not all one-sided.  In doing these things, our love for God and our love for neighbor grows as well.  We too are changed.

It is in these moments and through these experiences with the discounted, marginalized, and invisible that we ourselves come to catch a glimpse of God’s kingdom.  It is here we begin to see and know what Jesus meant when He said the first must be last.  In this kingdom we place other’s needs ahead of our own.  It is here that we see being a servant to those in need as a blessing to us as well as to them.  In this kingdom we learn that all are servants.

This life-transforming love of God is powerful.  It can forever change lives.  This day, this week, this life – may we be moved to be builders of His kingdom.  May we bring His light and love to all who are lost and in need.  May we be forever changed.

Scripture reference: Mark 9: 33-37


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God’s Wisdom

We as Christians have the opportunity each day to take the wisdom that God offers and to share it with the world.  God’s wisdom is pure and holy, gentle and peaceful, accepting, willing to serve, and is sincere.  When we look at and live out our lives in this manner, not only is our life better, so are the lives of all around us.

When we allow God’s wisdom to be our guide, we build bonds of true community.  Here we grow seeds that will become the fruits of love and harmony and unity.  Living in God’s wisdom allows us to begin to build His kingdom here on earth.

In contrast to and opposing this is the world’s wisdom.  Characteristics like envy, greed, lust, mistrust, and selfishness tear down community and destroy relationships.  They give rise to anger, conflict, disputes, and separation.

As individuals and as communities of faith, we have opportunities to be bearers of God’s ways and wisdom.  We can choose to live lives of mercy, grace, love, compassion, and service.  If this is the ‘flavor’ of our lives, then we in turn will flavor those around us.

In the world there is plenty of negative, plenty of the world’s wisdom.  God’s wisdom can counter this and be a light to all we are in relationship with.  When we allow patience and goodness and righteousness to saturate our entire beings, then these things seep out in to those around us.  May God’s wisdom and love be our guide as we seek to build His kingdom here on earth.

Scripture reference: James 3: 13-18


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Sing His Song!

Sometimes I get a tune or song stuck in my head.  It plays over and over and over.  If someone mentions or, worse yet, hums a bit of some songs, they get stuck.  There is much joy and happiness in music, so ‘stuck’ may be a bad choice of words.

In today’s reading from the Song of Songs the author speaks of their lover coming to visit.  The winter is over and spring is bounding out all around.  New life can be found all over the place and he beckons her to join him in enjoying it.  Visions of new shoots of green poking up through the earth as birds sing songs carried off on a warm breeze fill my mind.  It is a time that makes the heart smile.

The relationships between lovers also parallels our relationship with God.  Each morning God calls out to us, sings to us, at the start of each new day.  Like an expectant child lying in bed awaiting Christmas morning or a fiance about to pop the question, God cannot wait to welcome us to a brand new day.  The actual time or season of the year does not really matter – God is anxious for us to begin a new day with Him.  It is God’s desire that each new day is full of His presence.

2 Corinthians 5:17 reads, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new is come!”  Each day is a new day as we walk with our Lord.  His mercies are made new every morning as God offers us His love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness each new day.

God calls us to be in song with Him each day as well.  He invites us to sing the songs of love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness each day.  May this song of God become so stuck in our hearts and souls that it springs forth from us each day, all day!

Scripture reference: Songs of Songs 2: 8-13


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The Living Temple

For the people of Israel, the temple was something magnificent and wonderful.  The seven year building project was the fulfillment of a promise God made to Israel, the people of God.  It is a symbol of God dwelling with them.  For Solomon it was also a tool.  His prayer asked God to use it for evangelism.  When a foreigner came to see the beauty of the temple, Solomon wanted them to leave having been moved into a relationship with God.

The temple in Jerusalem was a physical place.  For the Israelites, it was the house of God.  In the New Testament, our body is referred to as a temple.  We are called to treat our own body as the temple of God.  This is a much more personal connection.  One does not have to go to the temple or synagogue or church to find God.  He dwells right inside of each person.  The manifestation of God in us should also be a beautiful thing, something that draws others toward God, something that moves others into a relationship with God.

How does one live as a ‘temple of God’?  How does one live in such a way as to reveal the God that dwells within us?  First, it is revealed in how we live our lives.  It is in how we go through our day, in how we treat others, in the decisions we make, and in how we walk through the storms of life.  Second, it is in how we share what it is inside us that makes us ‘different’ from the world and its ways.  It is in how we answer the ‘why’ questions that people will have.  Third, it is in how we share our faith that allows others to seek a personal relationship with Jesus Christ for themselves.  Each day may we live as the light of God, shining into the darkness, bringing the gospel of hope to our world.

Scripture reference: 1 Kings 8: 22-30 and 41-43 Continue reading →


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Nathans

Sin can so easily slip into our lives.  Sometimes it is ‘small sin’ – unkind thoughts, jealous thoughts, angry thoughts.  We catch ourselves quickly, often wonder where that thought came from, and we seek forgiveness from God in order to mend our relationship with Him.  Maybe we do not check it so soon and the thoughts become words.  Then we must also seek to mend that human relationship with the one we offended or hurt.  In both cases we must look within to find the cause of the sin and work to make that right as well.

Sometimes the temptation is a little bigger and we succumb to it.  The pull is more that we think we can withstand on our own and the draw is greater than our desire to turn to God for help.  We head down a road we know we should not be on, moving forward anyway.  We have all been here before and will probably be there again.  Maybe we did not go as far as David went but we can certainly relate.

Nathan was a true friend to David and he was faithful to God.  He had these two characteristics we all need in those closest to us.  Led by God, Nathan came and spoke truth into David’s life.  He called him out and forced David to look at his sin.  I am positive that David knew he was sinning every step of the way.  We always do too.  David just needed a good friend like Nathan to name it so that he could own it.

Do you have a Nathan or two in your life?  Are you a Nathan to a couple people close to you who you value?  No matter how big or small we each are in the grand scheme of life, we all need to have accountability partners.  I need people willing to say, “John, we need to talk.”  Others need me to do this for them.  It is together that we grow in faith; in community we are each better.  May we each be the iron that sharpens iron.

Scripture reference: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a


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This Day, O Lord

In the world there are fools and wise people, evil doers and the righteous.  For the Christian, for me, it is a constant battle to live wisely and as a righteous person.  Both the internal and external challenges are plentiful each day.  It is only with His strength that one has a chance at being wise and righteous.

Unfortunately at times I can live foolishly and can be far from God.  In these times, what I think or say lacks more integrity.  I fall into self-indulgence and do not hold myself accountable.  I fail to remain close to God at all times.  But on these days and in these moments, if I am quick to respond to the Holy Spirit’s prompting, then I can find redemption and return to the path God intends for me.

Living wisely and seeking to be righteous is a plan that requires something more than I naturally have in me.  I must work at building up God’s presence in my life through the daily practices of prayer, stud, confession, meditation, and worship.  This connection to God allows me to reach out more quickly when temptation comes my way.  This connection sensitized me more to the Spirit’s convictions and promptings.

In living connected to and aligned with God, I more easily see the world and its needs as He does.  I come to know that God loves all people equally.  It is His will to come to those in need and to do all we can for them.  It is His will that His name be made known to the ends of the earth.  It is His will to live in a harmonious relationship with each of us.  This day, O Lord, may I live in step with You.  This day, O Lord, may I be your servant in all the places you put me today.

Scripture reference: Psalm 14