pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: self-control


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Steps and the Promise

Readings: 1st Peter 4:12-14 and 5:6-11

Verse 7: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Photo credit: Uta Scholl

As we come to the close to our time in 1st Peter, the common themes continue: “Do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering” and “you are blessed for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” Yes, you/we will suffer for our faith. Have hope! Glory awaits one day and God is with you/us each day in the trials.

Turning to chapter 5 we find some practical steps to walk faithfully through our suffering as well as a promise that gives us this living hope that we have in Jesus Christ. First, Peter calls for humility. Only from this place do we acknowledge our own weaknesses and fragility. Only then do we believe that we truly need God’s power and strength in the trials. Next Peter writes, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” He is NOT saying God will take away all the trials and suffering. He IS saying that if we trust God to lead and guide and to be with us as we walk through the trials and suffering, then we can turn over our anxieties, fears, doubts, worries… to God. This is a big step.

Third, Peter tells us to be “self-controlled and alert.” This advice is given because Satan is always on the prowl, always looking for ways to drag us into sin and away from God. By being disciplined in our faith practices we are arming ourselves with power against these attacks. By being alert we are aware of our own areas of weakness and of those people and/or places that hold negative sway over us. This leads us to the 4th step: “Resist him.” Luke trials and suffering, temptation will come. Satan will attack. To this too we could say, “Do not be surprised…” Peter calls them/us to resist, to stand firm on our rock.

And the promise: “And the God of all grace… will restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.” We do not walk alone. God in Spirit is with us always. In and through the trials and the suffering, God builds our faith. God sees us through and brings us out better able and more equipped for the next round. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Lord God, we close this walk through 1st Peter with such hope! In this life we will suffer, we will have trials, we will face temptations. Yet you are there with us, giving and being all that we need to walk faithfully through each one, emerging more faithful, more trusting, more assured of the living hope we have in you. Thank you for your great love and care for each of us. Amen.


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Keep in Step

Reading: Galatians 5:22-25

Verse 23b: “Against such things there is no law.”

Photo credit: Caju Gomes

Yesterday in the first half of our Galatians 5 passage we looked at how faithfully living comes down to loving unconditionally. When love truly leads and guides all we do, then we live without even worrying about violating any of the Law, nevermind feeling captive to it. In today’s verses Paul continues this line of thinking.

Today’s passage begins by contrasting the “acts of the sinful nature” with a list of what we’ll call the “acts of the Spirit.” The list we find in verses 22 and 23 are what comes when we live by the Spirit as we practice Christ’s love. Here’s the list: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” These are the characteristics that emerge and develop in our life when Christ’s love is our primary guide to our relationships, to our actions, and to our decisions.

Aligning with yesterday’s main point, in verse 23b we read, “Against such things there is no law.” There is no law against loving well. Therefore there is no law against these characteristics that come out of loving others as Jesus loves them. Further, Paul reminds us that we are able to “crucify” the sinful nature within when we live this way. How hard it is to sin when filled with “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control!“

This day and every day may we seek to “keep in step with the Spirit,” being people of light and love in a dark and hurting world. May it be so for us all!

Prayer: Lord God, as I seek to love others unconditionally today, help me to be filled with the fruit of the Spirit. May my life offer love to those in need, joy to those in need, peace to those in need… Amen.


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Live in the Light

Reading: 1st Thessalonians 5: 1-11

Verse 8: “Since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet”.

As the closing chapter to 1st Thessalonians begins, Paul reminds them who they are – and who they are not. Sadly, I still need this reminder too. After almost 35 years as a practicing Christian, at times I still struggle with the darkness. Paul begins by reminding the Thessalonians that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night”. This thought echoes the conclusion of last week’s parable from Matthew 25: be prepared!

In the next few verses Paul contrasts living in the light and living in the dark. For Paul’s audience there was a clear understanding that light is good and dark is evil. Paul first reminds them that they are “sons of light”. Each believer is a child of God, a brother or sister in Christ. He admonishes them not to be like those who are “asleep” but instead to be “alert and self-controlled”. Paul also reminds them that bad things happen at night. This remains largely true today. I recently moved from a small town. In a conversation with a police officer I commented that the town seemed like a safe, nice place. He commented that I should ride along one night. Then I would see a whole other side of the community.

The call to live in the light is a call to devout and holy living. The light exposes all that is evil, sinful, ungodly. At times we are tempted towards the things of the flesh. This is part of being human. If we are striving to live in the light, however, then our faith, our connection to Christ, will help us to deny these temptations. But it is such a fine line that we usually walk. It is easy enough to step into the dark, to give in, to think, “Here, no one will see me”. Paul knows this is a reality, a choice each believer faces. So, in verse eight, he urges them and us to be “self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet”. Let faith and love guard your heart, invite hope to dwell in your mind. With Jesus Christ, faithfully live in the light, shining brightly for all the world to see!

Prayer: Lord God, I hear the call clearly to be a child of the light. It is such a clear call. When I have walked in the light, life has always been better. Yet the dark still calls. The things of this world are attractive and pleasurable. In this battle, I need you! May the Holy Spirit speak loudly and clearly, reminding me that you are my God, my hope, my salvation. May it ever be so! Amen.


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Heart Condition

Reading: Matthew 15: 10-20

Verse 18: “The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man unclean”.

In response to the Pharisees, Jesus addresses what it is that makes a person ‘unclean’. A person who was unclean was cut off from or had to live outside of community. In terms of faith, it meant separation from God. For the Pharisees being clean or unclean boiled down to whether or not one followed all of the law. For Jesus, being clean or unclean came down to the condition of one’s heart.

At the start of chapter fifteen the religious leaders question Jesus about the disciples eating without following the ceremonial cleansing rituals. They did not properly wash their hands before they ate. The implication was that the disciples were now unclean. That meant seven days outside the temple, seven days outside of community – according to the religious leaders. Responding to their lack of understanding, he says, “The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man unclean”. Jesus bases the condition of our relationship with God not on what we eat but on what our heart is filled with. The “dull” disciples are sharp enough to know that these words jab at the religious leaders. Their man-made traditions and overemphasis on following the law of Moses has left them with a rule following, box checking religion. But no faith.

Today’s passage calls us to consider the condition of our heart. Does your heart contain some of what Jesus lists in verse nineteen – evil thoughts, false testimony, adultery, slander, theft? Or perhaps others – gossip, greed, lust, jealousy, pride? Or maybe doubt, fear, worry, stress, anxiety? What we have in our hearts will eventually come out of our mouths. Jesus’ point here is more about what is in our heart than about what comes out of our mouth. In the heart is where sin is born or is where we choose to stomp it out. If, instead of filling our heart with evil, what if we fill it with love and compassion, with mercy and grace, with generosity and a vent towards service, with kindness and self-control? Then there is less room for sin and evil.

What is the condition of your heart?

Prayer: Lord God, fill me daily with your word and your will. Send the Holy Spirit to whisper words of life into my heart. Guide me to be filled with your love so that I can be love in the world. Amen.


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Awake and Alert

Reading: 1st Thessalonians 5: 1-11

Verse Nine: “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Paul encourages us to stay awake on our faith journey.  He calls us to be alert to what is going on around us.  He contrasts this with those who are asleep.  There is a great difference between having a faith that is awake and alert and journeying through life asleep and oblivious to God.  The difference matters in both the day to day living and on the day when Jesus returns.

In our daily walk with Jesus we must be awake and alert and self-controlled.  Paul calls us children of the light.  In the light, all of our deeds and words – both the good and the bad – are exposed.  Paul is implying that in all we do and say we must bring honor to God.  Faith and love and the hope of salvation must be what others see in our lives.  It is through these three that we encourage one another and it is how we draw others to the light.  When we are awake and alert we also see the world as Jesus sees it.  We see those in need.  We see how we can make a positive difference for the lost.  Only when we are awake and alert do we see so that we can then respond with compassion and care.

Paul contrasts the daily walk with Jesus with those who are asleep and with those who live in the night or in the darkness.  They have a false sense of security in the dark and will be caught unprepared when Jesus returns.  They live in the dark and think their sins are covered by the darkness.  They live enjoying the pleasures of the flesh and the world, not realizing that God sees in the dark just as well as He sees in the light.

at times, however, we too wander into the dark.  At times we succumb to the temptation and we dwell in the darkness.  But out of His great love for us God calls us back into the light.  Verse nine reads, “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ”.  Thank God for that love that died for us so that we may live with Him forever.  This day may we be awake and alert, having a servant’s heart and hands and feet that bring His love to all we meet today.