pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: strength


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Love, Forever

Reading: Psalm 118: 1-20

Psalm 118 is a celebration of what the Lord has done for the Israelites and of what God desires to do for all who call on the name of the Lord.  It is a song of celebration and hope.  The Israelites sang this song in worship for the same reason we sing “Amazing Grace” or “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High” – to remind ourselves of God’s power and love.  The Israelites have come out of slavery in Egypt; the story of the Exodus celebrates God’s presence with them through it all.  For them and for us, the story of God’s presence is summed up well in verse one, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever”.  Amen.

As readers of the Psalm today, we must claim the same promises and the hope found in this Psalm of Praise to God.  At times, when we are in captivity to our sin or to the circumstances of life, these words speak to us as well: “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me”?  Verse six reminds us that ‘here’ is temporary and that God is the only one really in control.  Keeping focus on the overarching, supreme love of God can help us in our times of trial or need.

This theme is continued in verse fourteen, but in an even more significant way: “The Lord is my strength and my song: He is my salvation”.  God desires to carry us through whatever life brings.  God deserves to hear our thanksgiving and praise lifted up to the heavens in grateful song.  To be strengthened on the journey and then to sing praises for God’s hand at work in our lives is contagious.  Just as the Israelites sang to remember and to be encouraged, so should we.  And lastly, God is our salvation.  God will save us from our sins and from whatever life brings.  We are children of God, claimed by Christ forever through our proclamation of Jesus as Lord.  His love endures forever.  His love endures forever!!  His love endures FOREVER!!! Amen.


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Promise = Hope

Reading: Isaiah 65: 21-25

In the new kingdom, all will be blessed.  The works of the peoples’ hands will bring enjoyment.  The homes they build and the crops they plant will be enjoyed.  Nothing will be done in vain.  Even before their prayers are spoken, God will hear and answer them.  Life will be wonderful when the earth is renewed by God.  The renewing will affect all things.  Even the wolf and the lamb will lie down together!  There will be absolute peace and all will be blessed by God Almighty.  We long for the day!

The promise and hope in these words from Isaiah were just what the Israelites needed to hear.  Times were very bleak and it was an easy time to begin to lose faith in God.  Nothing in life seemed to be favoring the chosen people.  While the people knew their situation was the consequence of their sins, at some point we all say, “How long”?

We too have uttered this question to God.  Like the Israelites, we may have wandered from our faith and there is a consequence that we must endure for our choices.  Often we too get to the point of longing to return to ‘normal’ in our lives.  At other times in life, our time of suffering is not caused by us.  We can be adversely affected by another’s sin or choices.  We can also be affected by the circumstances of life – a diagnosis or sudden loss comes our way and we suffer and experience pain.  In all of these scenarios, we long to move past and to come to terms with our hurt or loss, but it can be so hard.

The promise of a new heaven and earth cannot remove the hurt or pain or suffering.  But it can give us a new sense of hope.  In this promise we can find hope and strength and comfort and maybe even a little healing.  One day all will be restored.  May we cling to this hope.  The promise is true!


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New Hope

Reading: Isaiah 65: 17-25

In Isaiah’s words we hear of a future with hope.  For those he lived amongst, they needed to hear words of hope.  At times in our lives, we too need to be reminded of the hope that rests in our faith.  The Israelites had plenty of trials and despair during the fall of Jerusalem and their time of exile.  Isaiah has plenty to say about this.  Life will also bring us times when we feel like we are being crushed and when we feel like we are living out in the wilderness.  In these times, Isaiah’s words speak to us as well.

In our world we certainly have death and hunger and injustice and violence and many other things that bring pain and heartache.  Perhaps you are in the midst of this pain right now.  Into this pain and heartache, God reminds us that all of these things are passing away.  God does not promise to take away the trials and sufferings that are a part of this life.  God instead tells us of the coming of a new heaven and earth.  God tells of the time that draws ever nearer when there will be no more pain or tears or hurt.  God gives us the ultimate hope in life eternal, a life that awaits all who call on God as our only hope.

Our passage today begins with “Behold”.  It is a word full of hope and promise.  Another story begins with this word: “Behold, the Lamb of God”.  This too is a story full of hope and promise.  And this is the story of hope and promise in the here and now.  In Jesus, we find one who walks with us in the midst of all life brings, one who will carry us if that is what we need.  In Jesus, we find comfort and strength in our time of need.  In Jesus, we find the compassion and love to offer comfort to others in their time of need.  In Jesus we also find the grace and forgiveness we need to make us new again when it was we who brought the pain and separation upon ourselves.  Jesus us our present hope that enables us to live towards and into the promise of a new heaven and earth.  May we hold tightly to Jesus Christ as we live with hope filled anticipation for our eternal future that is sure to come.  It is God’s promise.


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God is There

Reading: Habakkuk 1: 1-4

Habakkuk begins by voicing what many of us have voiced as well: “How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen”?  Sometimes our prayers have been for a loved one, sometimes for a friend, and sometimes they are for a far away someone or a group of people that we do not know personally but are somehow connected to our heart strings.  We see hurt and injustice near and far and we bring it to the Lord.  But is seems to persist anyway.  Like Habakkuk, we cry out, “How long?”

Sometimes we come to a place where we feel we cannot bear the pain or hurt any longer.  Our cries turn to anger and we express our frustration with God’s apparent inactivity.  We hear this cry in Habakkuk’s words.  In our mind it makes no sense why our living God would ‘allow’ it to continue.  In our anger we may even want to turn away, to just forget the situation.  But we cannot.  Deep down we know that God does not ‘allow’ pain…  It is part of the world, just as joy is part of our world.  The Spirit reminds us of Jeremiah’s words, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (29:11).  We may not be able to understand God’s plans, but we still hold onto the promise.  There is comfort in this as we walk through the midst of a time of suffering or pain or injustice.

Even as we cry out, “How long?” we know that God is right there.  Our God of love seeks to bring us peace and strength and comfort and reassurance and whatever else we need right in the midst of our trial.  “I am with you” says the Lord.  In our trials, may we always trust into God and hold tightly to the hope we profess.  God is faithful.  God is love.  May we cling to the Lord our God in the storms.


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Let It Rain

Reading: Psalm 65: 9-13

In our Psalm, we are reminded of the many ways that God blesses the earth with the rains.  The rains nourish the plants, crops, and animals.  The waters flow over the earth and level out the ridges and furrows.  The rain produces a bounty.  The joy of fields full of cattle and valleys brimming with grain bring praise.  Water is the source of life.  When the rains pour down, it is God’s gift of life.

God also blesses us similarly.  God’s presence rains down upon us too.  God’s Word and Spirit are life-giving.  If we delve into the Bible, we find words of life, hope, love.  If we are receptive to the Holy Spirit’s whispers, we find the way to live a life worthy of God’s calling.  God’s presence is what fills us up so that we can go forth to share these blessings with others.

God’s rains flow down and the waters work to shape and mold us into who God wants us to be.  As God’s life-giving waters wash over us, they smooth out our rough spots as well.  The love and mercy of God’s waters softens our ridges, our prickly and rough areas, softened by God’s grace.  The waters are also present in our valleys.  God’s rain of love washes away our doubts, our fears, our sins.  God makes us clean and new every morning as mercy washes over us.  The rains can also lift us up.  As the waters rise in our lives, God remains present, bringing us peace, comfort, and strength.  Many times God simply carries us along like a mighty river, carrying us when we are unable to walk on our own.

Today, may God’s rain wash over us.  May God’s rain bring us all we need this day so that we too may shout for joy and sing of God’s love and power.  O Lord, let it rain.


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Be in This Place

Reading: Joel 2: 23-32

Our lives, our situations, our communities sometimes reflect the scenario of Joel’s writing.  Devastation and doom loom large in our lives.  A time of exile pervades our thoughts.  This can be in our personal lives or in our communal lives.  Yet Joel also brings us words of hope.  Joel writes words of hope that speak of God at work to bring healing and restoration.

The small community in which I live has been hit hard recently, losing many individuals.  There was a memorial service yesterday, there are two today, one tomorrow, and one more on Monday.  Each and every one affecting the family and wider circle of friends.  Each bringing pain and tears.  One involved a student and has touched the lives of every student and classmate plus the hearts of all in our community.  The exile we feel is maybe best named as grief.  But we too feel the shadow of loss hanging over our town.

In the midst of our brokenness and grief, we hang onto God.  Like in Joel’s writing today, we too know that God remains present to us, working to bring healing and wholeness.  God’s Spirit weaves among us, reminding us of His goodness and love in the midst of our hurt.  Our faith draws us to each other.  Through that faith we hug each other a little tighter, we tell each other we care a bit more often, and we turn again and again to God for comfort and strength.

Lord God, pour out your Spirit in this place.  Rain down upon us your love and grace.  Surround each with your arms of strength and comfort.  Draw us together as you draw us to you.  Touch each hurting heart with your unending love.  Dry every tear with your breath of love.  Be in this place.  Reassure us that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.  Be in this place O Lord.  We need you.  Be in this place.


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Healer

Reading: Luke 13: 10-13

Many people live with pain.  For some, it is related to life.  Some live in pain from a sport or activity that they participated in.  Some live in pain from an accident they were involved in.  For others, they live with pain that cannot be traced back to an event or activity, but simply started one day and has persisted.  For many, either the pain is not serious enough to warrant surgery or medical relief is delayed for a number of reasons.  In any event, many people live with pain over a prolonged period of time.

People become accustomed to living with pain.  It is part of life.  But it can affect our personality and outlook on life.  There are times when the pain is worse than normal and it makes all of life darker and gloomier.  Some have found the grace and strength to rise above the pain, but for many it is a daily struggle.

We all know people who live with chronic pain or perhaps we do ourselves.  So we can relate to the woman in today’s passage.  She has lived with pain for 18 years.  To put it in perspective, she has been vent over, unable to straighten up, for 6,570 days.  If she is like us, she has been to every doctor she could find.  She has been to the priest.  She has offered sacrifices.  She has tried to make deals with God.  And then one day at the temple a man calls her over.  He simply says, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity”.  He touches her and she is immediately healed.  Life changing.

For each of us, when healing comes, it is often a mystery.  Whether a physical, emotional, or spiritual healing, often it is a mystery why we are suddenly better.  The pain or blue feeling or lostness is suddenly gone.  We may not understand but we rejoice and give thanks to God.  God has come to us and touched us too.  God continues to desire to come to us, to bring healing, to be with us in our time of need.  When in any form of pain or hurt, we must take it to God.  At a minimum God will give us the grace and strength we need to love and live the life we have.  At best, we are set free.  Turn to the healer.  Trust in the healer.  Allow God to change your life.


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Let Us Rejoice

Reading: Psalm 118: 1-2 & 19-29

The Psalm opens with a timeless line: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever”.  These three truths form some of the bedrock of our faith.  If one took the time, we could each list the many ways that we have personally experienced each of these truths in our lives.  As we grow in our faith, we come to appreciate each of these truths more and more.

The relationship we have with God is the overarching relationship in our life.  He actively seeks to guide and protect us, to bless us, and to bring us joy.  God desires to answer our prayers, to bring us success, and to receive our praise.  He is our strength in times of doubt, our courage in times of fear, our comforter in times of suffering, and our light in times of darkness.  Our relationship with God is the relationship which we should model all of our other relationships after.

For our part, we offer God our thanksgiving and praise for all He brings to the relationship.  Our grateful response is to seek to bring others into this relationship as well.  Jesus commanded all of His followers to go forth to make new disciples.  Jesus set the example for what our relationships with God and fellow man should look like and then said to go and do likewise, to love others as He first loved us.  We do this by being love, goodness, strength, courage, comfort, and light to those in our lives.

The psalmist also wrote, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”.  As we seek to emulate Christ and to bring Him to the corners of our world, we too will be blessed.  As we share the light and love of Christ with others, we too will be blessed.  Verse 24 reads, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it”.  Each day is a day the Lord has made.  May we go out daily into our world rejoicing in all He has done for us, drawing others into our joy and praise, into His love and hope.


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True Hope

Reading: Psalm 126

The psalm begins with the memory of captivity and exile and moves into a time to sow and then to wait for the harvest.  The darkest hour seems to have passed and new life and hope seem just around the corner.  To wait for the harvest takes time and patience and trust but also comes with expectancy and hope.  One day new life will spring up, hope will continue to grow, and then a joyous harvest will be reaped.

This cycle of life can represent our faith journey as well.  As we begin to move past a time in the desert, we begin to see signs of hope as well.  Out of the trial we begin to see how we were refined or strengthened by the trial.  From the work that God was doing in us or in our lives, we begin to see new life take shape.  It sprouts and there is an excitement and hope and promise.  Over time it grows and comes to be something that gives hope and light and love to others.  We are bearing fruit and planting seeds in others that will one day sprout in the lives of others.  As we use the gifts and experiences we had have to walk alongside others in times of trial, we can help them begin to see the hope we find in Christ as we journey together.

It is within the work of resurrection on the cross that we have our true hope.  It is because of God’s love expressed through Jesus Christ that we have this true hope.  The true hope of eternal life is the source of our strength and trust in Him.  This true hope is what shines within us and also shines out to bring hope and light and love to those in darkness.  May we ever share the good news within us with a world so in need.


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Daily with Christ

Reading: Philippians 3: 4b-12

In our darkest moments Christ is still with us.  In times of deep despair or intense suffering, we can still call out and sense the presence of Jesus with us.  These things we know in our hearts and we trust with our brains.  But sometimes the trial drags on and we begin to question or doubt.  We struggle with how a loving and caring God can allow the struggle to go on for so long.  Thankfully these are just moments.  The trial begins to wane or we again connect to Jesus and realize He has been there all along.  We begin again to trust in our hearts and to know in our brains that He is always present.  As our trust and faith in Him is again secure, we are reassured that nothing compares to or is better than our life in Christ.

In the trial and certainly in everyday life, living with Jesus as the center of our lives is how God calls us to truly live.  Life is simply better then.  Any life without Christ is simply less.  Even when challenges come along and when temptation rises up, we move forward more confidently knowing Jesus is with us and on our side.

Paul speaks of all the credentials he had accumulated in life.  But that was BC.  All the accolades were achievements in the human realm.  Once he came to know Christ, he called them all rubbish.  Paul came to know his identity and the true source of strength in his life came from Christ alone.  The value of knowing the resurrected Christ far outweighed all earthly gains.

The same is true for us.  God calls us heavenward towards the same goal Paul was striving for – to be resurrected with Christ.  In our day to day life, in the good days and in the bad, we always must keep our eyes fixed on the goal: our call to our eternal home, found as we journey with Christ.  We are truly blessed in this life and in the next as we journey daily with Christ, trusting in Him alone.