pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: relationship


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Introduce Jesus Today

Our faith is not something we just suddenly had.  We did not just wake up one morning as a Christian.  Inside each human being, created by God, is an inherent knowledge of God and a sense of His presence in us and in the created world.  But all the stories of Noah, Moses, David, Jesus – they had to be taught to us.  We had to learn how to sing and pray and study God’s word.

For many of us we learned these things from our families.  Some aspects of faith we learned from our personal families.  We saw Mom up early every morning reading her Bible and praying.  We said grace before every meal, whether at home or out at a restaurant.  Other aspects of our faith we learned from our church families.  We heard the stories in Sunday school, we went to church camp or VBS (Vacation Bible School), we were in worship.  Both families are so important in the development and growth of our faith.

But what about all the people who did not grow up in a family that practiced the faith?  How do they come to know God?  Do they even have a chance?

Of course they do.  They have us!  Just as both of our families have poured into us, so too we can pour into others.  Paul writes of being adopted into the family of God and becoming heirs with Christ.  There is no birth right.  All are invited.  Just as much as we want our own children to grow up to have a personal relationship with Christ, we should want this just as much for the stranger we meet.  Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.  He is the only way to God the father and eternal life.  Today, share your story of faith.  Introduce Jesus to someone He does not know yet!

Scripture reference: Romans 8: 14-17


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Witness, Testify, Pray

The Apostle John is known for presenting God as “love” and for using love as the foundation of our faith.  For John, Jesus is God’s love lived out here on earth.  Christ is the example, the reference point, the proof of how great this divine love really is.

Belief in Jesus’ teachings, works, death, and resurrection lead us to desire a relationship and to be open to knowing Christ.  Specific experiences with His presence and continued work in the world draw us into relationship with Jesus.  Once we personally accept Him as Lord and Savior, His Spirit comes to dwell in us and we become increasingly filled with His love.  As we become more and more filled with His love, it begins to overflow into the live of those around us.  We become a living testimony to Jesus’ love and a are a witness for others.

Our witness and testimony alone are  not what allows others to have a relationship with Jesus.  We are not capable of this; only the work of the Holy Spirit and the presence of Jesus will draw one into a relationship with Him.  We can point others toward Christ and we can plant seeds that build the desire for a personal relationship but it in only through divine action that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is formed.

As we live out our life of faith and love the world and those around us, God will place people upon our hearts.  We must be a witness and a testimony to them.  But do not stop there.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in their lives and for the living Christ to make His presence known in their lives.  Trust in God to do a mighty work in them.

Scripture reference: 1 John 5: 9-13


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Better and Better

In our daily walk of faith I think God is seeking effort not perfection.  There will be days when we struggle to focus in our daily prayer time.  Every now and then our lives are so harried we cannot even remember the scripture we just read, nevermind meditating and reflecting on it.  God does not expect perfect children.

God does expect effort though.  If it is our desire to know God, we must invest in the relationship.  In life we get to know someone by spending time with them, by observing them, by listening to their stories.  If it our desire to know God and to hear His voice, this will require time and effort on our part.

The Good Shepherd cares for each of us.  Jesus laid down His life for each and every one of us.  He wants to guide and protect us, to teach and give discernment, and to offer rest and peace.  Jesus knows each of us by name and He knows all of our needs.  His desire is that we would know Him intimately as well.  Jesus wants us to be so close to Him that hearing His voice becomes second nature to us.

It is through prayer, study of the Bible, meditation, worship, and reflection that we come to know Jesus.  In these, prayer is of particular importance.  It is within these moments of personal silence before our Savior that He can best speak to us.   We must provide time, space, and attention to hear His voice.  We can also hear His voice in the practice of these other disciplines as well.  For some this is especially true in worship.  As we consistently spend time with our Good Shepherd, we draw closer and closer.  This day and each day, may our hearing become better and better.

Scripture reference: John 10: 11-15ap


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Relentless Love

Do miracles really happen?  Miracles really do happen.  Do they really still happen?  They really do still happen.  God and His Spirit are still active in the world.  They do not only work through miracles but they also work through people like you and me, making a difference in everyday life.  God still answers big audacious prayers (and small ones too), still heals people of ‘incurable’ and ‘terminal’ diseases, and still restores relationship that were long ago dead.

Why does God continue to do such works?  It is through our encounters with the divine that our faith grows and that we come to know the nature of God more and more.  When Peter healed the beggar at the gate to ‘perfect health’, it was great for the man.  But the higher purpose was to give Peter an audience to share the story of Jesus with.

Another reason we continue to experience God through a variety of means in real ways is to counter our doubt.  Doubt and questioning continue to pull at us and to creep into our lives.  Yet our God continues to and will continue to pursue us.  His longing for each of us is to form and mold us into just the person He created us to be.  He has a plan for our lives.

Sometimes we don’t always hear His voice and some of the time we make decisions or choices we shouldn’t.  We get off track.  We drift.  We lose touch with our faith.  But our God never gives up.  Another person comes along or we encounter God through an event or other experience.

In His relentless pursuit of us, God never, ever gives up.  Through whatever means necessary He continually works to shape and mold us into just who He created us to be.  That is just how much God loves us.

Scripture reference: Acts 3: 12-19


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Each Day with Him

Psalm 4 begins in deep anguish and ends in deep peace.  In life we too experience these wide swings.  Sometimes it is within a day and sometimes it is for a brief season.  And like us, the psalmist cries out to God, asks the ‘why’ questions, and searches for the reasons for their anguish.

Deep in our heart and soul, even when we are in the middle of a crisis, we know that God is still present.  The psalm reminds us of this and implores us to pray, to be silent, to offer sacrifice, and to trust in God.  When we seek Him we will find Him.  Sometimes we just have to step away from all that is swirling around us for a few minutes and focus in on God’s presence.  There we will find rest.

Along with all the things that test us, we also experience joy and blessing.  Life is a mix of the two, the good and the bad.  The rain falls on both the good and the evil, so does the hard and the trying.  Yet if we choose to see and acknowledge God’s hand in the joys and blessings as well, we are reminded that in all things, God is near and God is in control.  He is always faithful and true.

The more we learn and know God is always there, the more our trust in Him grows.  As we learn to abide in Him more and more, we increasingly live as a child of God.  That trust allows us to better walk through the highs and lows that are sure to come.  When we know God personally and deeply, life will not be all roses, but each day we can walk in the garden with our Lord.

Scripture reference: Psalm 4


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Preach Repentance and Forgiveness

In the midst of their fears and confusion it was hard for the disciples to accept that Jesus was amongst them.  It took a bit for it all to sink in past their fear, grief, and questions surely on their minds.  We too can have trouble seeing and hearing Jesus when we are in crisis mode.

Jesus shows the scars in His hands and eats some fish with them.  He unpacks the scriptures and teaches them.  It was probably explanations of passages they had heard and read before, but now there was a new meaning to these Old Testament words.

In those times or seasons when we are lost or struggling, we too can have a difficult time seeing Jesus.  If we are faithful and stay in the Word and spend time in prayer, Jesus will speak to us too.  That familiar passage will have new meaning to us.  Something special will happen during prayer or an unexpected answer will connect us back to Jesus.

Once we are plugged back in then we can return to the work of building the kingdom.  It was the call placed upon the disciples and it is the call placed upon us: preach repentance and forgiveness.

Scripture reference: Luke 24: 36b-48


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Resurrection Faith

As Christians we are called to walk in the light of Christ and to share that light with those in darkness.  Sometimes we ourselves wander off the past and into darkness but Jesus is faithful – He always calls us back to the light.  The path we are to walk is lit by the love of Christ.  When we are on track and living as a disciple of Jesus, in that light we have fellowship with Him and with one another.

We live in a world that is increasingly in darkness.  We live in a world where less and less of each successive generation is involved in a faith community.  Roughly 30% of the current millennial generation is part of a community of faith.  Only 50% of the previous generation is part of such a community.  This is the world in which we live.  Many, many people do not know Jesus; some have never even heard the name.

It is into this world of darkness that we are called to cast His light.  We cast the light by offering unexpected love and kindness.  We share the light by offering unlimited forgiveness.  We bring light into people’s lives through acts of extreme service.  In other words, we do the things that Jesus did.

People in our world who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus do not want to hear about our faith.  They want to see it lived out.  They want and need to see how this Jesus makes a difference in our lives and how He can make a difference in their life.  Once people see and experience our resurrection faith – a faith that is willing to do whatever is needed – then they too will be drawn to the light and the Spirit will begin to work in their lives as well.  It is the Spirit that does the real work. Our call is simply to share our resurrection faith.

Scripture reference: 1 John 1:5 to 2:2


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Connections

As one part of God’s creation we are connected to all parts of His creation.  There is a special connection that exists between all living creatures.  At the same time we are also blessed to be able to sense a connection to God’s presence in nature and in the rhythms of nature.

Once in a while I am blessed by a moment of connection to an animal.  Sometimes while walking there will be a deer or a rabbit just off my path and for just a moment we look into each other’s eyes.  I can sense a connection between us that can only come from our common creator.

Nature can also create the same sense of overall connection.  It can be in the breeze that sways the leaves on the trees or in the movement of the grass.  It can be in the gentle rain or in the powerful thunder and lightning.  These are just a few examples of the many ways we can connect with God.

God wired us to be connected to and in relationship with Himself and all He created all of the time.  But the greatest desire of God is for us to be connected to each other.  In today’s reading it states: “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony.”  It is pleasing to God and it is why He designed faith to be practiced in community.  Through our connections to each other we find love, support, encouragement, accountability, help, learning, and much more.

In the greater sense of being connected to all of God’s children, we are called to go out for the purpose of bringing the lost into our communities of faith.  Jesus named this as the second greatest command: to go and make disciples of all nations.  Let us make the most of our opportunities today!!

Scripture reference: Psalm 133


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The Caring Community

The goal of a church is to be a caring and loving community.  As the body of Christ, we are called to do what we can for one another and to be there in times of need.  In the days just after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the church was a small family.  There was a great sense of unity; the well-being of all was a central focus.  The sense of caring extended to giving to those in need, even selling land or houses to have the money to care for the community.

As a church body we find unity in Christ.  It is through His love for us that we are able to love one another.  As we seek to love neighbor as self we come to see others as more alike us than different from us.  At times one gives away care and at other times one receives care.  Relationships are developed and Christian love flourishes.

The example of the early church is still our model today.  No church is perfect but all should be striving to meet the Biblical example we have here in Acts 4.  God blesses us with what we have so that we can be that caring, loving community that every church is called to be.  In time the tithe came to replace the selling of land and houses.  But we cannot allow the tithe to become the means by which individuals offer care in the faith community.  Individual, personal relationships are still the core.

The basis of all churches and its strength is still found in the individual members.  What the people in the pews know about each other and their needs will always far exceed what the pastor and staff could ever know.  At times the staff certainly has a role in caring for the body, but the care and love are most complete when all of the parts of the body of Christ are caring for all of the other members of the body.  In your church, what is your role?  How are you a part of caring for the rest of the community of faith?

Scripture reference: Acts 4: 32-35


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Just Ask

God desires to teach us wisdom and for us to know His truths.  He longs to cleanse us and wash away our sins.  A daily relationship with each of us is what He longs for.  But God will not force any of this upon us.  It must be our choice.

At times we may feel God is distant or is hard to connect to.  But He is always near and the Spirit is always present.  When we turn and seek God, He is instantly there.  And it is not because He is really fast.  I picture this kind of like and elementary school ‘dating’ relationship.  Boy follows along behind girl everywhere she goes and she acts like he is invisible.  Until that moment when she wants something and she turns around and he is right there.

God is concerned with our ‘inner being.’  He is always examining us and the Spirit is always trying to nudge us in the right direction.  But action and response only comes on our own accord.  We can be good at ignoring.  We can be good at putting off.  Yet when we are ready, God is right there.

When we say God to ‘cleanse me’, God instantly strips away the bad.  When we say ‘wash me’ our sins are suddenly gone.  When we say ‘yes’ to the Spirit our joy is restored and we are filled with a ‘clean heart’ and a ‘steadfast spirit.’  When we ask Him in and open the door of our hearts, life is good.  We walk with the Lord.  We just need to ask.

Scripture reference: Psalm 51: 6-12