pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: sin


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Each Day

Reading: Revelation 1: 4-8

Part of our experience of Holy Week was the grief of knowing that Jesus had to die for our sins.  There is a personal connection for each of us to Jesus’ act on the cross.  He not only died for the people’s sins who were living in His time, but for all sin of all people in all time.  We are included, we have a share in the cross.  Through the cross, we also have hope.

In the book of Revelation, John again reminds us that Jesus will come again.  He writes, “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”.  There is not a doubt that one day Jesus will return.  The day is known only to God.  So in the interim God brings us peace.  He removes the guilt of our sin so that we may ever be kneeling at the foot of the cross with our eyes turned to Jesus, the light and love of the world.

John also reminds us that Jesus too offers us grace and peace each day.  Because if His love for us, He frees us from our captivity to sin.  Jesus calls us out of this life to a life lived in His grace and peace.  He calls us into living an abundant life now, serving as priests working to build His kingdom here on earth.

To do so we must cast aside the disobedience that is within and strive to live the true life of faith that brings purpose to our days.  Jesus said, ” I am the alpha and the omega, who was, and is, and is to come “.  He is the beginning and the end and He is everlasting.  For each of us to find God’s renewing grace each day and for us to have true life now, we must live with Jesus as Lord and Savior at the beginning of each day, at the end of each day, and at all times in between.  May it be so.


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The Way

Reading: John 20: 1-18

Jesus’ life and story are marked by a few events that are very significant to our faith.  First, the incarnate birth – born partly human to a mother and partly divine to a heavenly father.  Born of a virgin, without sin since birth.  His birth and the events surrounding it indicate to us that Jesus is a unique and special gift from God.

At the end of His life, Jesus experiences two other significant events.  The resurrection and ascension come close together.  Between His holy birth and divine death, Jesus teaches and heals for about three years, providing us an example of how to live and love both God and our fellow man.

While Jesus did raise people from the dead during His earthly ministry, He raised them back to mortal life.  In the resurrection of Jesus, it was God who raised Jesus to immortal or heavenly life.  Jesus’ resurrection is significant for both of these reasons.  Just as God alone initiated Jesus’ human birth, God alone brings Jesus back home to heaven.  God welcomes Jesus back to His eternal home as Jesus returns to the Father.

The ascension, or returning to God’s right hand, is the second significant event at the end of Jesus’ earthly life.  Jesus tells Mary, “I am returning to my Father and to your Father, to my God and your God.”  In this statement Jesus declares where He is going and also includes us in the relationship.  God is our Father and our God too.

As Jesus returns to His rightful place beside God, He returns changed.  He has lived on earth.  He has felt what we feel.  He returns to heaven and now intercedes for you and me.  He now stands between God and us.  The perfect lamb who was slain now offers mercy and forgiveness and grace.  He who was without sin now provides the way for us who struggle with sin the way to eternal life.  He ascended so that one day we too could ascend.  For this incomprehensible gift, we say  thanks be to God!

 


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Oh What Love

Readings: Psalm 31: 14-15, Psalm 118:1, Isaiah 50:7, and Philippians 2:9

Today we celebrate both Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday.  With palms we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  It is an event filled with joy yet tinged with sadness as well.  This happy parade marks the beginning of Holy Week.  The events of this week will contain a good deal of despair but in the end hope is triumphant.  The passion of Jesus for humanity reveals the depth of His love for us.

Today’s Psalm readings remind us of the truth and steadfastness of God.  In Psalm 31 we are reminded to trust God because He WILL deliver us.  Yes, there will be trials, but He will see us through them.  Psalm 118 reminds us of the why: because God is good and because His love endures forever.  When we choose to fully trust our lives to God, we discover that He will deliver us each and every time because of the depth of His love for us.

That depth of love allowed His own Son to be tried, tortured, and crucified because God knew that death would not have the last word.  God knew that the grave could not contain His Son.  God knew that love is stronger than death.  So sin was  heaped upon Jesus on that cross.  He bore them all as the perfect sacrifice.  Oh what depth of love the Father has for you and me!  Oh what love.


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Mind on the Goal

Reading: Philippians 3: 13-14

Paul knew that forgetting was important.  He knew that if he were to continue to grow in his relationship with Christ, he must treat his failures like Christ treats our sin.  First, he must acknowledge that as we are human, we will sin and struggle with our sin.  Second, like Christ we must forget our stumbles and press on in our faith.  Mistakes so often teach us and we must be cognizant of what we can learn from our mistakes, but we cannot fall and remain down.  We must pick ourselves up, remember our guilt no more, and continue “on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Jesus Christ.”

Perfection is something only Christ attained.  So we can expect to have stumbles, setbacks, and even the occasional fall.  The way in which we choose to handle these inevitable occurrences is essential to a successful journey of faith.  One option is to collapse, to become paralyzed, to remain stuck.  We may have brief times here because of the enormity or sheer emotional weight of the trial.  But we cannot choose to remain here.  Even though sometimes this feels like the easy choice, it is not the best choice because in essence we are saying God cannot rescue us.

In the end we must make the choice to reach out, to take hold of His hand, and to begin to walk again.  We must lean into God and allow Him to carry us for a  bit.  We must walk with Him and share all of what we are going through and ask for what we need.  Above all else God loves us and seeks good for our lives.  Our bottom line is that we know the goal is assured because of Christ’s work on the cross.  No matter what life brings, may we always live with our mind on the goal to which we too are called heavenward.


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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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Whenever Necessary

Reading: Psalm 32

Like the psalmist, sometimes we hold onto our sin.  We make a conscious choice not to come before God.  Sometimes this is because even though we know our sin, we hold onto it because we are not ready to repent or because we know that the temptation or the sin is still greater than our will or faith.  Sometimes we do not recognize our sin.  As our faith matures, the concept of what we see as sin also develops.  We come to realize more and more how far short we fall as we come to know and understand God more and more.

When we hold onto our sin, there are ramifications.  Not confessing our sin can weigh upon us emotionally and spiritually and can run us down physically.  Unconfessed sin is a barrier between God and us and inhibits a true relationship with God.  Our heart must be right with God before we can come to Him in prayer and worship.  If we try to do so with sin upon us, it is false prayer or worship.  Just as God could not look upon Jesus on the cross as He bore our sins, God cannot be in our presence if we are not righteous.  To be righteous we must be made clean.

The reality is that God already knows our sins.  The Lord of heaven is also the Lord of the earth.  There is nothing that escapes Him.  We may try to convince ourselves that God doe snot know our sins, but we are only fooling ourselves.  When we humble ourselves, come before God, and pour out our sins, we are blessed by His grace, mercy, and love.  Not only that.  God also removes the guilt and shame of our sins.

When we are in a right relationship with God, He blesses and instructs and loves us.  When we are in a right relationship with God, we wonder why we would ever lived any other way.  When sin is upon us, may we go to God often – whenever necessary – so that we may live all of our days in His presence and in the light of His love.


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He Is Faithful

Reading: 1 Corinthians 10: 1-13

Paul opens chapter ten reviewing the sins of the Israelites out in the desert.  It was a time of God’s constant presence in the cloud and pillar of fire, yet the people must have gotten used to having Him around.  They stumbled in a number of ways, sometimes repeatedly – idolatry, overindulgence in food and drink, sexual immorality, testing or doubting God.  Paul uses this review lesson as a way to mirror the sins of the church in Corinth.  As we read these sins, we realize they are still common to man in 2016 and perhaps some are even common to us.

Even though God physically was present to the Israelites, they wandered.  As we fast forward to today, we now have the living presence of God present to us in the Holy Spirit.  At times we too can pretend to not hear that little voice in our head or we can shrug off that little nudge that we felt.  Paul issues a warning that applies to us as well: if we feel we are standing firm, be careful that we do not fall.

In this season of Lent, a time of introspection and repentance, let us look hard at our lives.  We may not make golden calves to worship, but are we freely generous with our resources and time?  We may stay away from overindulgence, but do we treat our bodies as temples?  We may not engage in affairs, but does our eye occasionally wander?  And then there is gossip, envy, judging, laziness, …

All is not lost or hopeless.  Paul also reminds us that God is faithful.  God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear.  He will provide a way out.  As we consider the state of our soul this day, may we be willing to use the strength God offers and may we follow the way He provides, lest we too fall.


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Seek the Lord

The psalmist speaks of times when our enemies rise up against us and when we feel besieged on every side.  In this life, there are certainly times when these things are true.  But our greater truth is God’s constant presence amidst all of life.  It is in His presence that we find love, peace, comfort, and mercy.

Sometimes we feel besieged by things from the outside.  It may be a situation at work that is not going so well.  It may be a conflict with a spouse or a child or a friend that is bringing discomfort in your life.  It may be a health or financial stress that has suddenly risen up.  As this “thing” consumes more and more of our time, we can seem to drift away from God.  But what we really need most is to spend more time in His presence.

At other times our struggle comes from within.  A temptation or sin can get ahold of us and that is all we can seem to see.  It could be pride or being judgemental.  It could be greed or jealousy.  It could be lust or coveting.  It could be any number of sins.  But one of these can become our focus so easily and we find ourselves far from God.  Sometimes this is because we are struggling to break free and other times it is because we have broken free but feel to guilty or dirty to come into His presence.  In these cases too, in that loving, caring, merciful, forgiving presence is precisely where we need to be.

When we are in one of these trials of life – whether from the outside or inside – we must seek God.  For some, maybe that is to physically go into the sanctuary or chapel to be in His presence.  For some it is to go to their prayer space at home.  For some it is driving in the car or walking along a path in the woods. God is everywhere do we can find Him anywhere.  He simply waits for us to reach out, to seek Him, to reconnect to Him.  In our trials, may we eagerly run into His presence and receive respite and relief.  In His presence we begin to live into His love, peace, comfort, and mercy.

Scripture reference: Psalm 27: 5-14


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Looking Within

The first part of Psalm 51 is a confession of our sinful state.  By our nature we are prone to sin.  By our nature, we are weak and struggle to stay out of sin.  By His nature, God loves us unconditionally.  By His nature, God seeks to always bring us back to wholeness and to a right relationship with God.  Our sins stand between us and God alone.  In His great compassion God will blot out our sins, our transgressions, our iniquities.  For our part, we come to Him and repent.

In the middle part of the psalm comes our plea: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and restore a steadfast spirit within me”.  These words will be spoken over and over and over tomorrow.  They are familiar words on Ash Wednesday.  And just as the Lord’s Prayer is not just for Sundays, these words are not just for Ash Wednesday.  These familiar words should be our plea to God every day.  They admit our dependence on God.  We cannot win this battle on our own.  We need God to create a pure heart within us and to help us be steadfast to His ways.

The psalmist follows this plea up with a request to not be cast from God’s presence or for God to not take the Holy Spirit from us.  The psalm continues with these words: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me”.  God is the one in action, the one who can do these things.  In our acts of repentance we need both God’s presence and the Holy Spirit’s guidance.  After we repent of our sins, then God alone can restore us.  God alone can grant us a willing spirit, one seeking to follow His ways.

At Lent begins tomorrow, today I must look within and seek to identify my ungodly choices, my poor habits of faith, my sins.  May God grant me the will and the strength to come before Him in repentance, seeking His mercy.  Lord, melt my stubborn and prideful heart.  Mold me into who You desire me to be.  O God, fill me with Your presence and with the Holy Spirit.  And then use me, use me to love You and to love those You love.  Use me as You will, O God.

Scripture reference: Psalm 51: 1-17


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Obedience on the Journey

The obedience that Jesus the man demonstrated is amazing.  Jesus made the choice to obey God over and over and over.  The major example we think of is the cross – the place where Jesus paid for all of our sins with His life.  At the end of a life and ministry build upon loving people, Jesus demonstrated the depth of His love by obeying God’s will on the cross.

Sometimes I find it easier to be faithful on the big things.  For example, cheating on my taxes or stealing from the store bear big consequences that I am not willing to risk, so I do what is right instead.  But the little things can catch me so easily.  The unkind thought crosses my mind or the hurtful words slip out so effortlessly.  Often they are followed quickly by remorse or an aplogy, but sometimes there is a delay.  It is a struggle to always be obedient.

Jesus lived a life without sin until that momet when He took our sin upon Himself on the cross. A life without sin.  Just think for a moment about being that obedient to following God’s will.  For Jesus, obedience extended beyond simply not sinning.  It also meant being obedient to going where God called Him to go and to doing what God led Him to do.  What a depth of love for the Father that Jesus had!

The reality for us is that Jesus is our example to follow.  I am far from being without sin and have a long way to go to be fully obedient.  But God does not expect perfection or for me to ever reach perfection.  He only expects my love and my continuing on the journey to grow to be more and more and more like Christ.  Lord God, bless this journey.

Scripture reference: Hebrews 10: 5-10