pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Psalms and God’s Love

Reading: Psalm 81: 1 and 10-16

The Psalms contain much history but also have a beauty about them.  The Psalms were written to be read aloud like poetry or sung communally like a hymn.  The Psalms had a specific purpose – to recall, to celebrate, to remember God’s presence and activity in the lives of the people.  Often in church we read a Psalm in unison, often with a sung response.  This is for the same purpose – to remember God’s presence in the past.  We remember so that we can seek it in the present.

Within many of the Psalms we see both the blessings when we were obedient to God and the consequences when we were disobedient.  The Psalms also reveal much about God.  Most importantly they reveal God’s love for us.  There is a palpable feeling of joy and elation in God’s words when we are living as faithful disciples.  There is also a sense of sadness and mourning in those times when we have gone astray.  God very much desires to be in a strong, loving, caring relationship with each of us.

When we live in a community of faith, when we adhere to following Jesus’example, when we keep closely connected to God in Word and prayer, and when we sacrificially offer ourselves and our blessings to others, then we are living life as God intended.  When we become obsessed with or focused on possessions, success, or popularity we are living life in a way that God did not intend.  When Satan has tempted us with earthly treasures, we are being disobedient to God’s ways and our relationship with God is weak and tenuous.

Verse 10 reads, “I am the Lord your God, open wide your mouths and I will fill it”.  When we turn to God and when we seek God, then our souls will be filled with God’s love.  It is a filling that leads to a deeper relationship and a desire to share this live that we so rejoice in.  It is a live that we carry into our homes, into our placed of work, into our schools, and into all areas of our world – even into the places where darkness still resides.  It is here that God’s love is most needed.  May we ever be the light of God’s love, every carrying this love to all we meet.


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Prophets

Reading: Jeremiah 1: 4-10

The opening lines of Jeremiah are powerful.  The Lord is staking a claim on Jeremiah’s life.  God tells him that before he was formed in the womb the claim had been made.  And Jeremiah was not just claimed as a child of God.  The Lord informed him that he had been set apart to be a prophet to the people if God.  Powerful and encouraging words.  Intimidating and frightening words.

Webster’s defines ‘prophet’ as, “a member of some religions who delivers messages that are believed to come from God”.  For Jeremiah, who is speaking directly with God in today’s passage, the message is surely from God.  The timed certainly dictated a need for God’s intervention.  Jeremiah’s place in history was one of turmoil, fear, and threats from outside.  Nations around them were growing in power and the nation of Israel was divided.  Instead of turning to God, the Kings of Judah and Israel tried to make alliances with other kings.  In the end, because of a lack of trust in God’s protection, both nations fell and many were taken to exile in Babylon.

We live in a time when our world needs to hear the Word of God and to experience the love of Jesus Christ.  Beginning in Genesis and running through Revelation we have the inspired Word of God, found in the writings of the Old Testament and the New Testament.  We too have a message to share that comes from God.

Jesus was clear that He was just the beginning.  Starting with the disciples, empowered by the Holy Spirit, the work of Jesus was continued.  Paul, Timothy, and others joined in, filled with the same Holy Spirit.  The Word of God was proclaimed and lives were changed.  The world was changed.  Right up to today many have gone forth into the world to share their faith in Jesus with a world in need of love, hope, and light.  Brothers and sisters in Christ, fellow prophets of God’s Holy Word, we too are called.  May we each go forth, armed with God’s messages of love, hope, forgiveness, and resurrection to change lives and to change our world.


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Enough?

Reading: Luke 10: 25-28

In our culture there is a large emphasis placed upon ‘success’.  This emphasis leads us to judge others and to compare ourselves and our status or position to others.  We begin doing this the first time someone compares us to someone else.  It may be a bike race, the height chart on the wall, or any other form of evaluation.  Not to say competition or success are bad things, but early on we are taught to compare ourselves to others.  And naturally, we want to be the best.

Of course there can only be a small handful of ‘best’ people.  There is only one at the top of each list.  And for almost all of us, none are at the top of any of these lists.  In turn our success becomes relative.  We work hard for the next promotion, the bigger house, the nicest yard, the next gadget.  Life too easily can become all about our stuff and how it compares to those in our little worlds.  But all of this is temporary and in the end bring no satisfaction because there is always a ‘next’ thing to buy or to accomplish to keep ahead.

By contrast our faith leads us to consider other before self and to find our contentment in our relationship with our Creator.  Once we understand and know God’s great love for us, we are led to share this love with others.  It is a great gift that compels us to share it with all we meet.  We treasure this gift of live above all else and we want others to experience it as well 

But sometimes the drive for success and the call to love God and neighbor collide.  We ask the question the lawyer asked: am I doing enough?  The harsh reality is that when we ask that question, the answer is almost always ‘no’.  When loving God and neighbor permeate our life, we seldom look within to find ‘success’.  We are simply led to offer all we can to all we can whenever we can.  When we miss an opportunity to do so, we note it and commit to not missing the opportunity the next time.  It is not a competition but a life of service to God and neighbor.  May we live our faith in such a way that we never have to ask that question.  May love always be our guide.


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Young and Powerful

Reading: 2 Kings 5: 1-14

The three central characters are varied.  Two are very powerful and one is apparently not.  On the one hand, Naaman and Elisha appear to have a great deal of power.  Naaman is a powerful military commander and Elisha is God’s prophet, empowered by the living God.  The slave girl appears weak and powerless.  She is a prisoner of war, being kept as a slave in a foreign land.

On the other hand, Elisha and the slave girl are powerful in a way that the world does not know.  They know the power of God and trust in Him absolutely.  Naaman does not know God.  He is powerless to affect the one thing in life that isolates him: leprosy.  In a mighty act of God, Naaman does come to see and experience God’s healing power, but we do not know if he claims it for his own.

In this story we cannot miss the young slave girl’s impact.  She is alone, away from her people, enslaved in a foreign land.  Yet she holds firmly to her faith in God.  Without the slightest doubt she makes known to Naaman that he can find healing in her homeland.  She is willing to share her faith and her knowledge with one who has enslaved her.  This young slave girl is a shining witness to her faith, loving her enemy.

We cannot miss that she is young, yet another example that God provides so that we do not overlook our young people.  It would have been easy and all too common for Naaman to simply dismiss her.  It is not common for those in authority to readily listen to those who appear young and powerless.  This happens in our churches as well.  How often do we miss what the young Davids, the young Samuels, and the young slave girls have to offer.

After spending a week with almost one hundred youth serving on the Navajo Nation, I can testify to the fact that they have much to offer.  They not only offered the labor of their hands, but they also witnessed to their faith.  They were, like the slave girl, amazing and powerful.  As individuals and as places of God, may we cultivate, encourage, and seek out young people as leaders and as contributors to the building of the kingdom.  Like with the slave girl, much power resides in our young people.  May we invite them in, allow them space to share and develop their dreams, gifts, and talents, and encourage them as they go forth to change the world.


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He Is with You

Reading: John 20: 19-31

In the hours and days after the crucifixion, the disciples hid in fear.  They gathered together for support, but we’re basically in hiding.  Who could blame them?  One may occasionally slip out but they returned quickly, probably with one eye turned back to see if they were being followed.  If the authorities could so easily strike down the shepherd, what resistance could the sheep really offer?

Fear was real and palpable amongst the disciples.  They had good reason to be hiding behind locked doors.  Then Jesus comes and stands in their midst.  Both times He opens with the same line: “Peace be with you”.  I imagine there was a short pause before He continued to talk.  Jesus could have offered them anything.  He chose peace.  Fear was controlling them and Jesus knew that for them to go on from here, to begin to spread the good news, that their fear must be conquered.

When asked why one did not share their faith or why one could not bring themselves to invite a friend to church or why one decided not to help the one in need before them, the answer is usually the same: fear.  In our minds we may try to rationalize our failure to act with some other excuse.  But when being truly honest, dear is usually the main reason.  So Jesus’ words speak to us too in our weakness, in our fear: peace be with you.  Peace be with you.  Peace.

‘Calm your fears my child, my peace is with you” – step out in trust and invite that hurting friend to church.  ‘Feel my peace washing over you’ – in faith share that burning message in your heart with the one who is seeking.  ‘Sense my peace washing away your fears’ – in the helping of a stranger, Christ is present.  Peace be with you.  Fear not, for He is with you.  Peace be with you.  Peace.


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Shaped to Share

Reading: John 12: 1-8

Mary and Martha’s brief season of pain ended when Jesus resurrected their brother.  In today’s story, they are hosting a meal to honor Jesus.  They had been followers since ling before the miracle that brought Lazarus back to life, but experiencing such a thing in person will forever change you.  Now they gather to offer back what they can.

Each sister has been blessed with certain gifts.  Martha’s gift is to cook and serve.  She seems to have become comfortable with this.  Mary’s gift is a little harder to define but perhaps we could define her gift as insight or discernment.  Like in the earlier story in the Bible, Mary chooses to simply be in Jesus’ presence.  But this time the Spirit moves inside of her and leads her to anoint Jesus’ feet with some very expensive perfume.  In a way it is acknowledgement that death will come to Jesus as she begins to prepare Him for burial.

Like Mary and Martha we are each gifted in unique ways to serve Jesus as well.  And like them, we too have impactful and life-changing experiences that shape us.  These events can often eventually become a start to our own personal areas of ministry as we are now intensely more aware of and sensitive to this experience.  Through this we are able to coach or mentor or walk alongside someone else experiencing something similar to what we experienced.  For example, a couple who unexpectedly lost a child may later be able to reach out to another couple now going through that same trial.

Mary was preparing others close to Jesus to begin to consider what His death would mean.  This came from her experience with losing Lazarus.  We too are shaped by our experiences so that we can share them with others.  In those trials we found that God remained close, carried us when needed, and guided us through the trial.  At times, we too will be lead or nudged by the Spirit to take action.  May we first be aware of the opportunities we have to walk alongside others, to offer them our love and support, and to draw them closer to God in their time of trial.


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The Joy of the Lord

Reading: Psalm 32

God desires to bring us joy unspeakable.  His desire is to fill us with joy as we walk daily in a loving and meaningful personal relationship with Him.  Each and every day God seeks to be the sunshine that can carry us  through any storm.  His mercies are new every morning because His love never fails.  Even though we will fail at times, God never gives up on us.

The psalmist admits to God and reveals to us a time of struggle in their life.  When he or she was silent and did not confess their sins to God, they experiences a time without joy.  Physical ailment came due to a separation from God.  We too can easily experience this.  When we are emotionally and spiritually stuck in our sin, the feeling and affects of being separated from God are real and tangible.

As  the psalmist admits their sins to God, the joy of the Lord returns.  It is as if sunshine has broken through the clouds and the lights fills their heart.  The sudden flooding in of God’s joy and love leads to proclaiming to others the amazing impact God’s love can have on our lives.  The psalmist bears witness to the joy that has been restored now that they walk in a right relationship with God again.  The joy is unspeakable.  He or she feels they must teach, instruct, guide, and lead others to experience this joy themselves.

The joy of  the Lord is the Son shine that we can have in our lives every day as well.  If we humble ourselves daily and confess our sins to the Lord, we too will experience the joy of living in a right personal relationship with God.  This joy that we are filled  with becomes a light within us that we too must share with all we meet.  May the joy of the Lord fill us and flow out of us into the lives of all we meet through our words, actions, and deeds, bringing glory and honor to His name.


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Shining

Paul reminds us how Moses’ face would shine after he had spent time with God.  It was a physical reminder of the Israelites direct connection to God.  So in those moments when Moses was still aglow, the words he shared from God must have carried a little extra weight.  Paul also points out, however, that the Israelites were also quick to forget God’s words and to turn away.  The light of God’s glory quickly faded for some of the people.

Jesus’ gift to us is the Holy Spirit.  Paul parallels the glory of God shining on Moses with the glory of the Holy Spirit dwelling in each of us.  When we have the Holy Spirit living within us, then we too can shine God’s glory out to those we encounter.  God’s light and love dwelling in us should be a constant glow that radiates from us through our lives in the many ways we share our faith and hope with others.

But we too can be like the Israelites.  We too can mask the light within at times as we make poor decisions and sinful choices.  In these times we are like Moses putting that veil over God’s glory.  We too can become stubborn or unwilling to allow the light of the Holy Spirit that is within to guide our steps.  God can place opportunities before us and the Spirit can nudge us towards them and we can still turn away.  We can sometimes be too good at rationalizing or making excuses.

The good news is that the Spirit’s light never goes out and it continues to work in us.  Sometimes it convicts us and steels us for action when the next opportunity comes.  Sometimes it softens our hearts and makes us more willing the next time.  May we learn to be ever open to allowing the Spirit free reign so that God’s glory will shine forth from us for all to see!

Scripture reference: 2 Corinthians 3: 12-16


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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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Times of Gathering

Advent is a time of gathering together.  To grow and develop in our faith we need the love and support of one another.  Without being intentional about being a community of faith, it can be easier to drift away from our faith.  In this season it can be easy to get caught up in the commercial side of Christmas.  Gathering together as a Christian community of faith reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas.

There are many ways to gather.  A group could gather to decorate the church or the homeof an elderly member.  A group could meet to bake holiday cookies and then go deliver them to a homebound member or to a nursing home.  A group could form and go sing Christmas carols at the jail or at a group home.  A group could gather once a week before school or work to study an Advent devotional.  A family could use an Advent calendar and pray together each day.  There are many ways to gather together to celebrate and share our faith.

Each of these practices are ways to connect us to our faith and to share that faith with others.  Each is a tangible way to be a witness to Christ’s love in our world.  In this holy season we live between what we know Christ did for us already and in the hopeof Christ coming again.  While our eternal hope rests secure in Christ’s resurrection power, we still long for His return when He will make all things new.  May we find ways to share the love of Christ with those in our lives so that they too may come to know the true meaning of Christmas.

Scripture reference: 1 Thessalonians 3: 9-13