pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: salvation


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News to Share

Reading: 1st John 1:1 to 2:2

Verse 2:2 – “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins; and not only for our sins but also for the sins of the whole world”.

1st John opens with some excitement in the writing. In his words we can still sense the excitement related to the recent resurrection. John bases his authority to proclaim the gifts of eternal life and salvation from sins on his firsthand experience hearing, seeing, and touching Jesus. The opening section concludes with, “We write this to make our joy complete”. John receives joy from sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.

Coming off Easter Sunday we too should be full of good news to share with those in our world. Yesterday we joyously celebrated the risen Lord. Will we go out into the world sharing the joy? Will you?

John goes on in the remainder of 1st John 1 to encourage us to walk in the light. He writes, “God is light; in Him there is no darkness”. We must walk in the light to remain connected to God. John writes of the benefits of this choice. First, we have fellowship with one another. Second, we experience the forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus. For our part, we must confess and seek to repent of our sins. John also acknowledges the reality of sin in our lives. He reminds us that we do walk in darkness, in our sin, at times. John also warns us not to claim that we do not sin because then we “make Him out to be a list”. Don’t want to do that!

In 1st John 2, John goes on the address when we sin. He reminds us of two important details in our battle with sin. First, Jesus speaks to God on our behalf. He stands between God and our sins. Second, Jesus is the atoning sacrifice. He has already paid the price for our sins and, in fact, has paid the price for the sins of the whole world.

All of this is indeed good news worthy of sharing. There are none more in need of hearing this news than our broken and hurting brothers and sisters who are living lost lives. If we do not share the stories of the power of Jesus Christ in our lives, how can they come to know the healing and redeeming power of Jesus Christ in their lives? Yesterday we were reminded that we are Easter people, that we are resurrection people. The good news is always good. It is always worthy of sharing. May we each live our love of Jesus out loud each and every day, helping others to walk in the light of God’s love. Lord, give us the strength and courage so that it may be so. Amen.


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Praise and Exalt

Reading: Psalm 118: 1-2 & 19-29

Verse 27: “The Lord is God, and He has made His light shine upon us”.

The section of Psalm 118 that we read today is full of joy over being connected to God. Verse one is used in a popular praise and worship song. I can’t but help singing, “Give thanks to the Lord, our God and King, His love endures forever”. In our church and in many others we will sing this song on Sunday morning. The song and this Psalm are just part of the excitement of Palm Sunday.

The Psalm was a well-known Psalm so Jesus would have been familiar with it. These words probably encouraged Him as He turned and made His way to Jerusalem one last time. He knew well what lay ahead so the reminders that God is good and that His love endures forever would have brought Jesus comfort and strength. In recalling verse 22, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone”, Jesus would have found affirmation in the mission that lie ahead.

As we read this Psalm ourselves, we can also find encouragement and strength. On our paths through life we too encounter times of trial and testing. To remember “I will give thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation” places us firmly in God’s family both now and into eternity. In seeing the bigger picture, we are better able to walk through the trials. To remember “The Lord is God, and He has made His light shine upon us”, reminds us of God’s ever-present light that guides and blesses us, especially in those trials.

Almost at the end of the Psalm we read these wonderful words of thanksgiving and praise: “You are my God, and I will give you thanks; You are my God, and I will exalt you”. Yes, indeed, you are our God. For that we lift our thanksgiving and praise today! Your love endures forever, always a sign of your goodness. Thanks be to God! Amen.


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Walk in Light

Readings: Numbers 21:7-9 and John 3:14-21

Verse 19: “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil”.

Mankind has always wrestled with sin. Complaining against God and Moses led to snakes appearing, biting and killing people. The people repented and that is where our Numbers passage picks up. Because they repented, God lovingly provides a way for snake bitten people to live. To be saved, the people must look up.

In the passage from John, it speaks of living in darkness or living in light. When we choose to live in the darkness, we are always looking down. For practical purposes, it is to see our way in the dark. The emotional and spiritual analogy would be we look down because of our guilt or shame. When we instead choose to walk in the light, all us illuminated. Our path is clear to see and we carry no guilt or shame because the light reveals our sin and we repent of it in the light.

John presents a clear picture of the gift of salvation: for God so loved the world… He goes on to remind us that Jesus came into the world to save us, not to condemn us. Yet not all accept this. In verse nineteen John writes, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil”. Some people continue to love darkness because they think their evil deeds are hidden. They are not – God sees just as well in the dark as He does in the light. But for those who are saved, they choose light. John writes, “Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God”.

This day may we walk in the light so that all will see that we walk with God and that we live by the truth and light of Jesus.


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Round and Round

Reading: Romans 4: 13-16

Verse Sixteen: “Therefore, the promise comes by faith, do that it may be by grace”.

In our culture we generally like to feel we are at least ‘even’ with each other. If someone brings us a plate of cookies, for example, we feel we need to return the favor by bringing them a cake or plate of cookies or treats. If we ask someone to help us move, then we feel obliged to show up when they are moving. If wr have someone over for dinner they drive home contemplating when they can have us over for dinner. We go round and round.

Sometimes I think we feel faith is like this too. We try to do good things to gain or earn God’s favor. We pile on more when we have sinned and feel the guilt or shame. We try and check off all the boxes to meet what we think God and others expect of us to be considered ‘good’ Christians. So we go to church and to that pot luck and to the small group and to the rescue mission to help serve the meal and… We go round and round.

Lent is a good example of this idea. The concept behind a season of preparation for Easter is to be ready spiritually to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. What do we do to get ready? We give something up for Lent, wr join another Bible study, we go to that special Lenten small group, we read an extra devotional, we… Sometimes it feels like we are going round and round instead of connecting more deeply to God. But we can’t quite avoid it either. If I were to just say “Stop!” all this and just get closer to God, I would feel inclined to follow it up with advice to just pray more or to just read your Bible more. And we go round and round.

God knows. He knows. In verse sixteen we read,”Therefore, the promise comes by faith, do that it may be by grace”. We are saved by grace alone. No matter what we do or do not do, no matter what we say or don’t say, God’s grace is always sufficient. This removes our need to check boxes or to give up this or to add in that. This need is within us, in our minds, maybe even in our hearts. God says enough, my grace is enough. If abstaining from chocolate or whatever helps you feel closer to God, then do it. If reading an extra devotional or being in a small group helps you grow closer to God, then by all means enjoy your time. In the end, though, may we all rest upon the promise of salvation by faith alone. In this promise, grace is sufficient. It is all about God. This we know. May it be so.


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Refuge

Reading: Psalm 62: 5-8

Verse Eight: “Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge”.

The psalmist is secure in God. The opening line of our passage today reads, “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone”. There is a place of comfort and peace that the psalmist knows in God’s presence. This is likely found for him when he enters into a time of prayer. It is in the purposeful connecting with God through prayer that I have felt a sense of peace and comfort come over me as God has become my refuge.

The psalmist describes God in many ways, each embodying how God has been a refuge for him. He begins with how God has become his hope and adds that God has also become his rock and salvation. He then says that God is his fortress – one that cannot be shaken. This imagery provides us a glimpse into God as our eternal refuge as well as our refuge in times of trial and trouble here in this life. Because God is our ever- present help, the psalmist encourages us to, “Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge”. When we trust God in this way, He is indeed our refuge. Then the circumstances in our lives become less as our hope begins to trust and rest in the eternal.

Once we begin to see our lives as resting on the hope and rock of our eternal salvation in God, then we are able to share our hope, our fortress, our rock, our peace with others. When God is our source for all of these things, then we can begin to extend them to others. By visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, consoling the broken-hearted, welcoming the stranger, … we offer God to others. Through sharing our experiences when God has been these things for us, others can begin to see and feel how God can be these things for them as well. This begins them on a journey to a relationship with God. They too can begin to trust in God as our God becomes their God, their rock, their fortress, their hope, their rest, their salvation. God is a refuge for all people. May we help others to know God in these ways today.


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Trust in Him

Reading: Psalm 62: 5-8

Verse Eight: “Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge”.

The psalmist calls out from a place we find ourselves from time to time.  With all that life can bring, at times we too turn to God for rest from the storms and trials.  We do so precisely for the same reason the psalmist does: our hope comes from God.  We can find true rest in God alone.

The psalmist uses words to describe God that build our confidence in Him as our source of hope.  God is our mighty rock, our refuge, our fortress.  These words bring us images of power and security – in this God we can indeed find a place where we can rest.  The psalmist also adds, “I will not be shaken”.  In this place of rest our God holds us secure.

The psalmist closes this section of Psalm 62 with these words: “Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge”.  It is a clear call to always trust in the Lord.  In the good and the bad we are to pour out all that is within us to God – our joys and our sorrows.  It is an intimate relationship that God seeks.  We are to hold nothing back from God.  In all times, God is our refuge.  May we make time each day to connect deeply to our rock, our refuge, our fortress, our salvation.


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Opened Wide

Reading: Galatians 4: 4-7

Verse Seven: “You are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir”.

Today’s text is a great reminder of the depth of God’s love for us.  Prior to the coming of Jesus, there was one relatively small group of people who were blessed to be in the family of God.  A small band of twelve tribes were the “chosen people”.  But then, “when the time had fully come, God sent His Son”.  It was then that the door began to open for you and me.

In God’s wisdom the time had come to establish a new covenant.  It was not quite the extensive makeover that came with Noah and the flood, but what God had in store was a pretty radical shift.  But even the sin that had come into the world through Adam survived that flood.  Humanity remained under the law of sin and death.  So God sent His Son to “redeem those under the law”.  That is you and me and all of humanity.  God sent Jesus to a pretty big crowd of people.

As Jesus ministered to those He met, a couple of things became clear.  First, Jesus cared for and loved all people.  It did not matter who or what you are or were, Jesus loved you just as you came.  There were no hoops to jump through, no boxes to check off, no barriers to keep people out.  Second, Jesus was a humble servant who was obedient to God alone.  From washing feet, to welcoming sinners, to touching the unclean, to healing the hurt and broken and damaged, to going to the cross – Jesus offered all He could.  Why did Jesus do all of this?  To make a way for you and me, so that we “might receive the full rights of sons”.

Full rights means we are in.  We are part of God’s family and part of His plan of salvation.  As a child of God, we are loved and cared for, protected and provided for.  As a child of God, we are privy to the Holy Spirit and to the gift of eternal life.  Before Jesus, we would just be another Gentile on the outside looking in.  But with Jesus, we are now a part of the family.  Jesus was such an amazing gift to the world.  Jesus is such an amazing gift to you and me.

Paul concludes our passage today with these words: “You are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir”.  Through His blood we have been set free from our slavery to sin and death.  Through His love we have been made children of God.  The door has been opened Wide so that all may enter in.  Praise be to God!  Thank you Jesus!


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In Peace

Reading: Luke 2: 22-40

Verses 29-30: “You now dismiss your servant in peace.  For my eyes have seen your salvation”.

In our passage from Luke, Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple to do all that the Law prescribes.  He is presented, named, circumcised, consecrated, and redeemed.  As devout Jews, Mary and Joseph obediently do as they should.  After they return to Nazareth, we assume they continue follow all of the Law.

In the midst of the ordinary, Mary and Joseph encounter the extraordinary.  In the middle of doing what all good parents of little Jewish baby boys do, something happens that did not happen to any of the other babies.  Long before this day, Simeon and Anna had begun their vigil.  Both were intimately connected to the Holy Spirit and both were very devout and righteous people.

Simeon was promised by God through the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he saw the Lord’s Christ.  Simeon clings to this hope year after year.  Then one day he is “moved by the Spirit” and he goes to the temple.  Simeon knows right away that Jesus is the one.  He speaks words about Jesus that amaze Mary and Joseph.  Anna spent all of her time in the temple courts, day and night, praying and fasting.  She too is drawn to Jesus.  She too knows that He is the one.  Anna also tells Mary and Joseph about Jesus and that He will be the “redemption of Jerusalem”.  Simeon utters these words that I am sure Ana felt as well: “You now dismiss your servant in peace.  For my eyes have seen your salvation”.  They have seen the One and they depart in peace.

All people have a need for Jesus in their lives.  Some know it yet deny it.  Some search but can’t quite come to find Jesus.  Others find Jesus and become like Simeon and Anna: filled with the Holy Spirit, content in finally knowing Jesus as their Lord and Savior, able to rest into His peace.  Once we’ve found Jesus, we too echo Simeon’s words.  We come to know Paul’s words too, knowing that nothing can separate us from the love of God that we find in Jesus Christ.  For our hope and for our redemption, we say thanks be to God today.  Amen!


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Connection

Reading: Isaiah 61:10 to 62:3

Verse Three: “You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand”.

Today’s passage from Isaiah has both personal and corporate aspects of righteousness.  It begins on the personal level with Isaiah praising God for his “garments of salvation” and his “robe of righteousness”.  God has blessed Isaiah with these things because Isaiah has been faithful to God’s word and because he has been true in his calling to be the voice of God for the nation of Israel.  Isaiah also sees signs that God is at work in the lives of the people.  In verse eleven Isaiah speaks of God preparing the people Israel, like a farmer prepares the soil for a new crop, so that “righteousness and praise will spring up” leading Israel to be restored or to be born anew.

In our passage, the transition from chapter 61 to 62 is where the melding of personal and corporate righteousness begins to take place.  Isaiah writes of Zion – the people of God.  He also writes of Jerusalem – the city of God.  The people are in exile.  As a people of God they seem to have lost some of their connection to God, to being God’s chosen people.  Being in exile can make one question who you are.  After these many years in exile, they long to return to their home land and to Jerusalem, the center of their nation.  Isaiah is speaking of a restoration of both Zion and Jerusalem as he writes, “You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand”.  What words of hope!

In our lives and in our churches today we can experience times like Zion and the nation of Israel are feeling.  There can be times or even seasons when we seem to have lost our way or feel like we are in exile.  God desires to speak into these times or seasons as well.  God still desires to see His people clothed in salvation and righteousness.  If we delve into the scriptures, we will find a connection between living a holy life and being invested in the disciplines of our faith – reading and meditating on the Word, spending regular time in prayer and worship, serving those in need.  It is when we participate in these habits of the faith that we are preparing our soil for righteousness and praise to sprout up.  It is through these disciplines that we come to lead a holy life.  Then God will indeed clothe us in a robe of righteousness that will lead to salvation.

When we get away from being who and what God calls us to be – whether personally or as a community of faith – we lose our connection to God.  Just as He did with Zion and Jerusalem, God remains faithful and continues to call us back to faith and back into relationship with Him.  God promises to be near to us when we draw near to Him.  May we always seek to be faithful to our call to live as God desires, investing our time and hearts in the things of God.  Through the faithful practice of our faith habits, our connection to God will remain strong.  May it be so for you and for me!


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Sing for Joy!

Reading: Psalm 98

Verse One: “Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things”.

The opening line of Psalm 98 is beautiful: “Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things”.  Part of the role that the Holy Spirit plays in our lives is to lead us into these joyful moments of song for what the Lord has done.  The psalmist is calling for joyous song in response to the salvation worked by the Lord.  For all who are saved, we can lift a joyous “Hallelujah”!  It is within a loving, personal relationship that we each find salvation.  Verse three continues this idea of joy by reminding each of us that “He has remembered His love”.  God is always loving and faithful to His children, to you and me.

The theme of joyous celebration continues in the next verse as the psalmist writes, “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth”.  All this joy comes from the ways in which the Lord has fulfilled His promise to walk with the faithful and to one day restore all of creation.  In the meantime, God continues to be at work in the world.  And sometimes it is through you and me.  Those times also bring us joy and lead us to songs of praise.

As we draw to a close of 2017, we are naturally more aware of the end of some things and the beginnings of other things.  In each end we find a new beginning.  Sometimes in the past year there have been joyful ends and we we rejoice in these.  At other times, the ends have brought pain and heartache.  Yet in all cases, we know two things.  First, new beginnings are full of hope and promise because we know that God has good plans for all who believe.  Second, we know that God is ever-faithful and that God will continue to walk beside us in all the highs and lows, always bringing us hope and love.  In all of this, we sing for joy!

As we come near to the closing of another year, I invite you to sing a song of joy in your heart for what God has done, for what God is doing, and for what God will do in the year ahead.  In all things, He is with us.  Thanks be to God!  Joy to all!