pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!


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Do You Love Me?

Advent is a time of excitement.  It is a season where we love to decorate the tree, put the lights up on the house, and to make merry.  It is also a time of expectant waiting.  For Christians we wait for the day to celebrate Christ’s birth.  For our children, the waiting is for the day to open presents.  And, as usual, the children have something to teach us.  We should mirror their excitement as we wait too.  Our excitement should build as each day is marked off the calendar.

John the Baptist also added something to how we should wait.  His message as he preached and baptized in the desert was simple – repent of your sins as you prepare for His coming.  John’s call was to get your heart right, to focus on God, and to live as He calls you to live.  He speaks the same message to us as Advent begins and we prepare for the coming of the Christ child.  Prepare for God’s son to come!

Jesus won’t check the list twice to see if we have been naughty or nice.  He doesn’t keep score.  It is simpler than that.  He judges our hearts and simply asks, “Do you love me?”  May our hearts, minds, souls, and our lives scream “YES!” in reply.

Scripture reference: Mark 1: 1-8a


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Walking Along Our Road

Do you remember when you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior and entered into a relationship with Him?  It may be a moment you can name and date – a ‘born again’ type of experience.  It may have been a gradual shift from the stories of Noah and Jonah to coming to know and believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins.  In either case, from the point of decision forward, one is never the same person again.

Often this prompts the awareness that we need to change and we begin to try and live more and more for Christ.  At first we notice and work on the ‘big’ and obvious sins in our lives.  These obvious ones usually fall away quickly.  And as we grow in our faith, we begin to see the less obvious sins in our lives.  Ridding ourselves of these sins can be harder – they often have deeper roots and reside within us where others cannot see them as easily and where we can try to keep them tucked away.  Yet there is hope.  For in and through Christ, we can begin to conquer these deeper sins as well.

As we live into Christ, we are drawn to share our joy and also to enter into other’s pain. We grow to risk greater for our Lord and Savior.  As we risk and step out in faith, we move a little further along our journey of faith and a little deeper in our relationship with Christ deepens.  May your walk be good today!!