pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: scripture


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Word In, Word Out

In my community it is easy to go to church.  Access to a Bible is almost a given.  Finding a place to Worship or a Bible to read in our native language is not very difficult.  We have such open access to the Word.  All that holds us back is our personal choices concerning what to do with our time.  There are places in our whole though where the Word is simply not available in a language the people speak or read.  All they know of the Word of God is what is shared orally by a missionary or by someone who has heard one.  And for many of us in parts of the world where the access is so easy, the reality is that His Word remains a ‘foreign language’ to many.

God placed His words in Jeremiah’s mouth when He called him to service.  The Word is powerful.  God tells Jeremiah that God’s word can uproot and tear down kingdoms and that it can also build up and plant.  The truth in this remains with us today as well.  God’s word continues to work in our lives to destroy those little kingdoms we establish and also to continually build up and plant vision, hope, love, light, and such.  All of this so that we can live these things out and so that we can share them with others.  Just as God placed His Word in Jeremiah’s mouth to call people to God’s commandments and to the covenant, we too are given God’s Word to do the same.

We also share the Word orally.  The words we take in are given not only for our lives, but to share with others as well.  Perhaps it is with a friend who is struggling or maybe it is with one who is searching for direction or meaning in life.  There is a hunger for the Word of God everywhere, even here where access is easy and open.  May we who know God make the choice to be diligently in the Word so that we are rich in what we have to share.  And may we freely share His Word with all we meet to both uproot and destroy those things that keep us from God and to build up and plant those things that draw us to Him.

Scripture reference: Jeremiah 1: 9-10


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Sacrifice and Offering

The Old Testament guided the daily lives of the Israelites.  Much of life was dedicated to the study and understanding of God’s holy word.  The rabbis and priests were among the most respected members of the community.  At the temple, the center of life, much of the activity revolved around the sacrificial system and ways of making offerings that had developed over many years.  By the time of Jesus, maybe the systems were less than perfect.  In the scriptures we see Jesus clearing the temples as He chased away the money changers and sellers of goods.

So when Jesus announces an end to these ways of connecting to and relating to God and offers a new way, the people are unsure and they question.  This announcement would be a little akin to your church announcing that from now on Coke and Doritos would be used for communion.  It is hard to change tradition.  Then Jesus goes on to say that God no longer desires these offerings and sacrifices.  And then to really muddle the waters, Jesus says that His body will be the final sacrifice.  But as events unfolded, all of this made sense to His followers and to us today.  In dying for our sins, Jesus established a new relationship between God and mankind – one built upon love and grace.  For all believers, Jesus is the path to salvation and eternal life.

Jesus also changed how we look at sacrifice and offering.  In Jesus, these things were no longer requirements, but were now gifts.  We give of ourselves out of love for God and our fellow man.  We willingly sacrifice our own selfish desires for the good and well-being of others.  Through our lives, may others experience His grace and love.

Scripture reference: Hebrews 10: 5-10


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Alone Time

Life is busy.  When we have a slice of free time outside the requirements of work or school and the necessity if eating and sleeping, we have a myriad of choices about what to do with that time.  We can fill our ‘free time’ with things that are good for us or with things that are not.  For the interests or activities that we find valuable we usually schedule them in so that we do not miss out on them.

Time alone with God should be one of these priorities.  To find a space in the early morning or just before going to bed or someplace in between is so important to our faith.  Each day we must carve out time to read and reflect on God’s word and to spend time in prayer.  Through these two means of grace we draw closer to God and become more open to the Holy Spirit’s working in our lives.

This ‘alone time’ with God also serves to open us up to the world.  As our eyes, head, and heart become more and more in tune with God, we see both His presence in the world better and hear His call to meet the needs of others more clearly.  Through these we see and respond to the needs more readily.  We live and interact in the world as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Time dedicated to God is a commitment.  We are called to live in covenant relationship with God.  If time with God is a “when I have time” type of thing, one never seems to find the time.  Yet nothing in this life is more important than daily time alone with God.  This time is an absolute blessing.  May you be blessed every day!

Scripture reference: 2 Samuel 5: 9-10


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Faithful to Our Call

After the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus the disciples were told to wait.  The Holy Spirit had been promised to them by Jesus, but it does not come right away.  Fresh from seeing and learning from the resurrected Jesus, they must now wait.

As a few moments turn into an hour and the hours stretch into days, the waiting must have gotten harder and harder.  plus they must have been filled with excitement over what was to come.  Can you remember waiting and waiting for something promised that just never seemed to come?  For myself I best relate this waiting for a child to come home from a night out.  Eleven becomes twelve and twelve becomes one.  The cell phone is not answered.

In those instances of waiting, God calls us to be faithful.  As I wait for a child, I pray for them.  I place my trust and them in God’s hands.  In these moments we pray, but we may also read scripture, sing a hymn or song, and pray some more.  God does not expect or want us to be idle as we wait for Him to act in our world.

As the disciples waited on the Holy Spirit’s arrival they did not wait either.  One of the twelve, Judas, was no longer with them.  Peter urges them to appoint a new disciple.  Peter encourages them to choose one who has been with them from the beginning right through the present time.  Being present from John the Baptist through the miracles, teachings, death, resurrection, and ascension are the requirements of the job.

Of course we were not there for all of these events, but we can read of them.  We can come to know Jesus and His example.  We can put these things into practice in how we live our life.  We can live as Jesus did, pray as He did, honor God as He did.  May we be faithful to our calling.

Scripture reference: Acts 1: 15-17 and 21-22


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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