pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: see


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Take Refuge, Be Blessed

The psalmist cries out to God and God hears his prayers.  God always hears our prayers.  The response of the psalmist is to extol, praise, and glorify the Lord.  We certainly do this when we receive the answer we want.  A little child whose parent buys them that piece of candy in the check-out aisle does this as well.

The psalmist reminds us that God hears, delivers, and saves.  God always hears our prayers.  Our prayers never fall on deaf ears.  God also always delivers.  This is not to say God fixes all things.  Maybe He does ‘fix’ it.  Or maybe He delivers whatever it is we need in that moment or situation: patience, strength, compassion, understanding, forgiveness, love…  He does not leave us alone.  Sometimes God saves us from hurt and pain; sometimes He is saves is in the midst of it just when we need Him most.  The angels camp around those who fear the Lord.

The psalmist reminds us to taste and see that the Lord is good.  We easily taste and see this when He rescues us from the pain or suffering or fear.  It is a sweet and pleasing experience.  We also do this when we look back on something we endured and we see how the Lord was there in the midst of it with us.  We thank Him as we realize we would not have made it through on our own.

The psalmist reminds us that we are blessed when we take refuge in the Lord.  Whether it is to find help or whether it is to find rest, the result is the same: we are blessed.  Be blessed today!

Scripture reference: Psalm 34: 1-8


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Come and See

Our world is full of good people, good places, good institutions and organizations.  We all know many of each of these.  But if someone says there is a good new restaurant in town, we only partially believe it.  If they describe their wonderful experience and the food, then our belief increases some.  Yet it is only after we have gone there ourselves that we really believe what we were told in the first place.

All people, places, … want to have a good reputation.  This includes churches.  When a church says they love God and neighbor, preaches from the Bible, and so on it must be found to be true when one visits the church.  If a church says they love their neighbor, then there must be evidence of that.  In many ways, we need proof to believe something.

When Jesus called Philip, he simply said, “Follow me.”  Something inside Philip knew to go and follow this man.  He sensed it.  sometimes we have the same prod of the Holy Spirit – we just know to act.  But when Philip tried to get his brother Nathanael to folow Jesus, he was skeptical.  Philip’s repsonse was simply, “Come and see.”  The long version is: come and spend time with Jesus and you will see that He is the Messiah.  As Jesus says to each of us today “Come and see”, how will you do just that?  Blessings on you rjourney!

Scripture reference: John 1: 43-46


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Do you see and know?

Do you think the Christmas season starts too soon?  Or that it goes too long?  I imagine the first question prompted thoughts of stores selling Christmas long before Thanksgiving.  And for some the second question prompts thoughts of taking down the tree today!  Yet the Christmas spirit doesn’t and shouldn’t fit inside a nice neat timeframe.  Shouldn’t the love, hope, peace, joy, and giving that typifies this season be happening all year long?

Simeon and Anna were two people who waited  a long time.  They were steadfast and focused on waiting.  Their whole being revolved around being ready for seeing the Messiah.  Both were so prepared that they recognized Jesus without being introduced or anything.  They simply knew in their hearts that this one baby – one of many being brought to the temple that day tobe presented to God – was the one whom they had waited so long for. And then they both broke forth in praise and thanksgiving.

How could we prepare ourselves so that we are ready to offer love, hope, peace, and joy to all we meet?  How would we prepare ourselves so that we see Jesus in each person we meet today and every day?  Jesus comes to us in many ways.  May our eyes be open and our hearts willing to see and know the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives.  May our lives reflect this to all we meet.

Scripture reference: Luke 2: 22-40


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See, Hear, Smell, Touch

Often times Jesus and God are portrayed as one.  While they truly are in each other, I more often see them as two sides of the same coin.  Each plays a somewhat unique role in my life.  Yet they really are one – as I come to know Jesus more I also come to know God more.  As I draw closer to one, I draw closer to the other.  So, how does one make the relationship more intimate?

One way is to enter into the stories of Jesus.  Not just to read them but to enter in and become a part of the story.  To see, to hear, to smell, to…  For example, consider the story of the widow’s offering found at the end of Mark 13.  Pretty simple story – Jesus and the disciples are sitting in the temple area, watching people put their offering into the temple treasury.  The rich put in large amounts.  A widow comes along and puts in two small coins.  Jesus gathers the disciples close and tells them that she put in more than the others.  he goes on to explain that the rich put in some out of much wealth but the widow put in all she had, every last cent.  Only four verses.  Just as the disciples did, I am sure you get Jesus’ point.

But take a minute and explore the story with me.  Go a little deeper and be part of the story.  So, here you are sitting there with Jesus.  No one is talking.  You are just sitting there watching people make their offering.  Across the way is a Pharisee, arms folded across his chest, staring at the people as they make their deposits, mentally recording the ‘gift’.  Person after person, in fine clothes all beautifully adorned walk by him and place their coins in the top of  the box.  You can hear the rattle, rattle, rattle as they drop onto the pile already in the box.  They barely even slow down to put it in – except that last woman – took her a while to get all the coins through the slot.  You see the smug looks as they exchange glances with the overseer – you can almost hear them say, “See how much I love God!”  That lady pauses a second in front of the Pharisee – an extra wink included.

Then almost as if the breeze has shifted, you smell something different in the air.  It is not fine perfumes or burning incense.  It’s that smell of sweat and dirt, the one you carry with you after as long day’s work out in the sun.  Next you hear the shuffling of feet dragging across the hard floor of the temple.  It is not the click-clack of the fine footwear that has been passing the overseer.  Then you see her – messy hair, clothes a little more than worn, sandals that you would barely call shoes.  In your mind you begin to think, ‘Wow, who let her in…’ but then you snap back to the reality that you are sitting there with Jesus.  In your mind you maybe even slap yourself across the cheek!  You watch her as she slowly shuffles towards the treasury box.  Glancing back at the Pharisee you can see him frowning as he too watches her.  You can image what is running through his mind.  As she nears the box, her pace slows down.  It surprises you that she could go any slower.  Others that have come to make their offering slow down and the line backs up a bit behind her – they are keeping a bit of distance.  You notice her hand tightly clutching something, knuckles turning a little white.  Then she comes to a halt in front of the box.  She closes here eyes and you see her lips moving as she offers a prayer to God.  She slowly extends her hand and lets go of its contents.  You hear clink, clink as two little coins join the massive pile inside the box.  She shuffles on and does not even look up at the overseer.  You see him smirk and see his shoulders bounce a little as he chuckles at the meager offering.

Suddenly Jesus is quietly gathering the disciples around him.  His quick, simple whispers reveal why she was moving so slowly, why she was clutching the coins so tightly, why she stopped to pray as she made her gift.  As the circle breaks and you return to your perch across from the box, you have a whole new thinking concerning giving.  You see each person as they approach the box differently now.  Suddenly you know Jesus and God a little better than you did before.  Who knew a poor woman in such simple attire could teach us so much about giving?

 

 


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May We See

In John 9 Jesus heals a man blind from birth.  It is really a pretty simple event.  No begging for Jesus to heal him, no pre-healing conversation, no post-healing event.  Jesus notices the man, puts mud on his eyes, and tells him to go wash in a pool.  The man does and now can see.

The Pharisees become stuck over the fact that Jesus healed on the Sabbath instead of seeing the working of a miracle.  They are blind to the truth before them.  The Pharisees are spiritually blind.  They bring in and question the man and then his parents and then the man again.  The man simply tells what happened but the parents are afraid of the leaders.  They play it close to the vest.  But the man boldly retells tha story and angers the Pharisees.  He doesn’t care because now he can see.  After this witness, some amongst them must have begun to see the miracle, but they kept their eyes squeezed shut.  They too were afraid to be cast out.

The man that was healed had been physically and spiritually blind.  The Jewish society believed that his pre-birth sin (or his parent’s sin) had caused him to be blind. Because of this, the man lived on the outside of Jewish society.  And then he encountered Jesus.  First Jesus heals his physical blindness and then later his spiritual blindness.  In between this man offers a simple testimony to the Pharisees, almost a childlike faith.

But the Pharisees are still stuck, blind to the miracle.  How many people do we know who are stuck at this rule or that requirement or that misconception about our churches or our religion?  How many need to simply see or experience Christ-like love and service to begin to see our faith?  How can we be that experience for one who is blind?  May our own eyes be open and our hearts be willing so that we can see and seize that opportunity before us!!


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Tuning In

The words form heaven, “This is my beloved, whom I love.  With Him I am well pleased,” revealed to the disciples present just who this man was that they had been following for around the land.  It must have been reassuring to Peter, James, and John to really know who this was.  The transfiguration should have been a defining moment in their lives and in their relationship with Jesus.  But, like us when we catch a glimpse of God’s presence in an amazing way and then simply return to our ordinary lives, they seemed to return to just being themselves.  How easy is it to just go back to our everyday life!!

Peter shares with his audience and with us the amazing experience he had when he saw Jesus transfigured and then heard God speak.   It is one of those, ‘no really, you gotta believe me – I saw and heard it!’  He wants them and us to know that Jesus was and is magnified in glory through the Father.  At times in our lives we are privy to times when we catch a glimpse of God’s glory in our own lives – when we see or witness a miracle , when we look out at the sunset and can just feel God alive in it, or maybe when we slip into His presence on a Sunday morning in worship.  Yet we so often turn our attention to something else or move onto the next thing on our to-do list.

So often in the day to day of life, it can be hard to experience or find God.  We get so busy with our own lives we fail to be in tune with God.  I wonder how many times I miss God in the person I pass on the sidewalk or in the person who calls or visits me or in the people I don’t even notice.  And it is a shame because in each one there is an opportunity to either share God with them or to be blessed by the living God within them.  We must work at training our eyes to see God, our ears to hear God, and our hearts to feel God when He is near.  The means to this end are found in God’s holy word, in time spent in prayer, and in making an effort to be in tune.  It usually must be intentional.  True, there will be mountaintop experiences where God is just right there and fully present in all of His glory.  But in the day to day, we must work at experiencing the presence of God in our lives.  As one works at tuning in and being being aware of  God in the day to day, we can see, hear, and feel better.  Gradually, over time, we can draw closer to the example Jesus set for us – we come to see Him in all of the people we meet, in all of the situations we encounter, and in all of the events of our lives.  May we all grow in our tuning!