pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: serve


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Willingly Led

Has God ever disrupted your plans?  Have you ever been cruising along and all of  sudden you are someplace else or doing something else?  When the angel Gabriel visits Mary and announces that she has found favor with God and will give birth to Jesus, her life takes an unexpected turn.

For us, these turns can be bad – like the loss of a job or the onset of a sudden illness.  Or they can be good turns – a new relationship or the opportunity to share the good news.  In either case, the great thing is that our loving God is with us in both the good and the bad plus every place in between.

In Mary’s case she had no choice concerning her change in direction.  Often times we have no choice either.  But often times we do have a choice.  Sometimes they are small detours that make a big difference in the life of another person.  If our eyes are seeking and our heart is open, God will provide us with opportunities to bless others.  May we be willingly lead.

Scripture reference: Luke 1: 26-30


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Hand in Hand

Joshua asks the people twice if they will indeed serve God alone.  He wants to be sure they understand the importance of their decision and that they are sure about it.  After two positive affirmations, Joshua tells them to “throw away foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to God and obey him” (verse 24).  He knows that if they hang onto those idols, eventually they will turn back to them.  Joshua knows the importance of relying on God alone in the pursuit of a life of love, mercy, justice, and compassion.

We too face the same choice.  While we sometimes have physical idols like that new car or the latest fashion, most of our idols are things like pride, judging, envy, gossip, and control. We too must work at ‘throwing’ them out.  But we cannot do it alone.  Only with God’s help do we begin to stand a chance against these idols.

As we choose God alone to serve, we are choosing to enter into a covenant relationship with God.  In this relationship we choose to serve God alone and to love God above all else.  For His part, God strengthens, encourages, and enables us to grow closer to Him through prayer, study, worship, fellowship, and other encounters with Him.  God also leads us to serve, give to, care for, and love others as an extension of that loving, covenant relationship that we have with Him.  Loving God and loving neighbor just go hand in hand.  Loving God and loving neighbor are two greatest calls upon our lives.

Scripture reference: Joshua 24: 19-25


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One Father and One Teacher

On occasions we can be a lot like the Pharisees and teachers of the law.  On occasion we may say one thing and do another or we may ask someone to do something we would never do ourselves.  At times we may like to be in the spotlight a little too much yet at other times we are all too content to let someone else finally do what we could have done in the first place.  Sometimes we do not seem to know who is leading or who is setting the example to follow.

We are called to love one Father and to follow only one Teacher.  God the Father loves us like no earthly father ever could.  Through his Spirit, He deftly guides and leads us through life.  Jesus is the teacher and our one Lord.  His teachings and example show us the way to truly live and how to really love others as self.  His sacrifice bought us freedom from sin.

In Matthew 23:12 we are reminded to be humble.  The souls we remember today are not remembered for their positions or their pocketbooks, but for how they lived their lives in humble service to God and King.  May we too serve God with a humble heart and love others like Jesus loves them – with all of our being and with all we have to offer.

Scripture reference: Matthew 23: 1-12


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All Is Not Lost

Matthew 22 contains several series of questions that the Sadducees and Pharisees ask Jesus.  They are the religious leaders of the day and their queries have two purposes: to prove themselves correct and to trap Jesus, this radical upstart.  Yet with each question Jesus stings these experts in faith by drawing them back to the scriptures and the true meaning of God’s word.  After each encounter the leaders go away bruised and defeated, and probably a little angry too.

We too go away a bit bruised and defeated when we take the time to reflect on how we do honoring the two great commandments Jesus names in verses 34 to 36.  Love God with all of my heart, mind, and soul?  On a good day I might come close part of the day.  But my pride,my judgmental nature, my sense of needing to be in control – they each take their turn leading instead of me allowing God to lead.  Love my neighbor as self?  I could maybe do okay if I got to pick the neighbor.  But my neighbor is everyone I encounter and I struggle daily – with those I know and those I don’t and sometimes avoid.  Maybe you can relate.  Maybe you too are like the Sadducees and Pharisees.

But all is not lost – we are on a journey of faith.  Each time we stumble, Christ helps us back up.  He reassures us of His love for us.  He reminds us to love others as He first loved us.  And He sends us back out each day, to matter and make a difference for His kingdom here on earth.  Each day we meet the world, seeking to meet it as Jesus did – right where it is at.  We seek to offer what we can to whomever we can, to make a difference one person at a time.  And we do.  Thanks be to God.

Scripture reference: Matthew 22: 34-36


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Worthy Soil

Often we do not sow seed where we can.  Sometimes it is because we see another’s ‘soil’ and think ‘Why bother?’  So we withhold God’s word through us from that person.  And maybe it was just the things they needed to hear at that moment.  Or maybe it was just the story we needed to share!

How often is it us that does not receive?  Do we miss some blessing or experience God is trying to send us because we are hard soil, rocky soil, or soil choked with weeds?

On a regular basis our soil needs tilled, fertilized, and watered.  Do we practice compassion and generosity instead of a ‘me-first’ attitude?  Do we spend time building our faith to gain strength and inspiration to serve?  Do we spend time listening to the still, small voice of God as He calls us to do this or to serve there?  To go out and sow seeds, we must first become soil worthy of God’s garden.

Scripture reference: Matthew 13: 1-9


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The Reality of Eternity

Jesus told His disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”  He also told them that no one comes to God except through the Son.  Just as these words are meant to encourage and strengthen the disciples, He meant the same for us.  Jesus wanted all to know that the path to eternity led through him.  For the disciples, soon Jesus would die and He wanted them to trust in His continuing presence.  He was going on ahead of them to prepare a place for them – a heavenly home.  As they continued the work that He had begun, He wanted them to work in the peace and comfort of the reality of eternity.

Jesus knew, as He spoke these words, that His disciples – both the 12 and us today – would face trials and would be asked to go into uncomfortable situations and places.  He asks us to trust into His “everlasting fellowship”.  The earthly Jesus is now the eternal Jesus, calling us to know Him more and more through how we engage Him in study and Word and prayer and in how we participate in His mission in the world.  His call is today and every day, in the here and now.  To know is to love,  To love is to serve.  To serve is to know.

As we continue to grow in this cycle that Jesus calls us to, we step closer to that reality of eternity.  For some of us, we are a part of bringing the new creation to this place where we dwell.  Some may see the new creation come right before their earthly eyes.  For others, while we share in the building of the kingdom here on earth, we are bringing ourselves closer to our eternal glory.  We will be a part of the coming of the new creation.  It matters not.  We are all part of the same plan.  Thank you Jesus!


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Practice, Practice, Practice

In order for a famous musician to offer a great concert, they practice.  They begin with scales and other exercises and they practice their score.  In order for a dance to shine on the stage, they must build their bodies and practice skills as well as the actual routine.  The musician and dance both put in much for that relatively short time on the stage.  They do so that they will seem like ‘naturals’ on the stage.

Do we live our life in such a way too?  Do we read the Bible daily to gain knowledge and to find that little nugget each day that we can take with us and live with that day?  Do we seek God’s presence during prayer throughout the day?  Do we offer Him praise in both  the good and the bad?  Do we practice our disciplines so that living our faith is the ‘natural’ way that we live our life?

Or are we a little lacking on our daily homework?  Is our practice insufficient for the important moments when God calls upon us to be His disciple each and every day?  Or are we ready?  Have we put in the time so that when another in need stands before us, that it just seems natural to offer what is needed?  It is not for our glory that we serve.  It is not so that the person walks away thinking how great a person we are.  It is so that the person walks away thinking how great a God we serve.  It is so that light that shines in us draws them to the Light of the world.  That is why we practice.


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Step Past the Norm

How often in the past week have you felt wronged or hurt? Was it when someone cut you off in traffic? Was it when someone said something careless that actually hit a nerve in you? Was it when a loved one missed an opportunity that you saw was right there? Was it…? And what is the initial reaction or thought? So often we feel angry or feel that we need to ‘make things right’.

We are raised to stand up for ourselves and to do things on our own, to be independent. But in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus calls us to a radical love. He turns the old law of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” upside down. Jesus points out that it is not about revenge (which the old law was limiting) or even about evening the score.

Jesus calls us to love our neighbor. Here Jesus is extending it. He advises that when another strikes our right cheek to then offer the left as well. He advises that when someone asks for your coat to give them your sweater as well. He advises that when someone asks you to walk a mile, to go ahead and walk two miles with them. Jesus is calling us to respond with love – and lots of it!!

This all brings me to the question of why? Why respond to these things with such lavish love? Wouldn’t it simply be enough to not strike back, to just give our coat, to just walk alongside someone for the mile? But isn’t that what the world expects? Most won’t even notice if we as Christians just do what we are supposed to do. It is when we go beyond the minimal and step past what others would do, that people begin to see the love of Christ being lived out in our lives. It is then that they take notice and begin to wonder why as well. It is then that we are living as Christ calls us to live.


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With and Not For

Do you ever wonder what pleases God? Have you ever considered what truly helps us to grow in our relationship with Him?

Just because I go and occupy a pew for an hour on Sunday morning, does it necessarily mean my faith grows. Just because I go and help serve a meal at the Cornerstone Rescue Mission does it mean that I am loving and serving the needy. Just because I read the Bible does it mean I am growing in my faith. We can do lots FOR God but if it is not WITH God. Herein lies a huge difference.

A fast is not a fast simply because we skip a few meals. That is just a diet. A fast starts to become a fast when we feel the hunger and turn to God to admit our weakness and to seek His strength. When we declare our inability to do it on our own and call out to God, then we are building that relationship with Him. The physical need leads to and reveals our need for spiritual strength as well.

Similarly, when we read or hear the Word proclaimed and we take it in and claim it as our own, then we are making it a part of our lives and growing in our faith. When we sit down with someone at the Mission and share a meal with them, then we are beginning to know and understand the needy and how to make a difference in their lives. When we connect we are seeing through God’s eyes and not our own. Then our relationship with Christ grows as well.

When we choose to be a part of doing things with God instead of simply for God, then that makes a huge difference in our lives. And equally important it makes a difference in the lives of those around and with us. Ever worshipped with that guy who just seems so into it, so plugged into the Spirit? Be that guy. Ever served alongside that lady who seems that she would rather be there that anywhere else in the world? Be that lady. Ever marvel at how Jesus could love the least and the lost as if they were the only one that mattered in the world? Be that follower. Today.


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Where to Go?

Do you have a ’cause’ that is special to you? Do you have something that you are involved in and passionate about? Is it always easy to serve or give?

If we truly love something we are often willing to risk much for it. We are willing to invest in and support it in spite of it sometimes being difficult or have a ‘cost’. Yet making a difference in our world is what we are called to do. Through our faith we are called to be involved in the world as we share the love of Christ with those in need and with those who are lost.

Psalm 15 begins by asking the questions: “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?” Well… those who love God, right? That is certainly part of it. But there is more. He who is blameless and does what is righteous. He who speaks truth and does not slander. He who does his neighbor no wrong. He who keeps his oath even when it hurts. This is just a partial list from Psalm 15. And the end line: “He who does these things will never be shaken.”

For those things that you maybe aren’t so passionate about, is it always easy to give? For those causes that you don’t jump in line to support, is it always a joy to serve? Are we supposed to be involved in every cause and to support every need? No. And that is okay. We cannot be involved in everything and we cannot support every need or cause.

But there is something out there that we can each get behind and support. Maybe it is with our time. Maybe it is with our finances or other gifts. Maybe it is through our prayers. The world is so full of need and we are called to be in the world. God leads us where we need to be – when we are listening and are attentive to His call. It is so easy to let the world drown out that still, small voice. But when we look at the world through Jesus’ eyes and when we walk where God leads, then we can dwell with God. And He will be there beside us and we will not be shaken.