pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: transform


by Leave a comment

Witness

Reading: Acts 5: 27-32

Verse 32: “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him”.

Jesus’ followers, friends, and disciples went through a horrible experience. They watched Jesus die on a cross. The whole community that would become the early church went through loss and grief and mourning together. They were a close-knit bunch. Their mourning was turned to dancing quickly as the risen Jesus appeared to them and assured them that He had defeated the power of sin and death. Because He lived, they too would live. Jesus commissioned them to go and make disciples of all nations and gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will empower them, embolden them, encourage them, strength them, and fill them with power from on high. It will be the living presence of God and Jesus in them. The appearances of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit bring healing and restoration to their grief and they restore hope and life to their faith.

These men and women take up the call to preach the good news to the world. They begin in their known world, in the city of Jerusalem. Just as Jesus did, they encounter some resistance and opposition from the Jewish religious leaders. Today’s passage is not even the first case of persecution or arrest. In fact, they were just released from jail. They were put in jail just the day before for teaching about Jesus and for healing in His name. In the night and angel came and set them free. They do not celebrate their release and slink off to someplace safe. They return to the temple and resume preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. When Peter and the apostles say to the religious leaders, “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him”, they are not just talking the talk. They are walking the walk, knowing that they will continue to face persecution, arrest, and possibly death.

We too know the stories of Jesus’ life and teaching. We know the resurrection story. We too have the Holy Spirit alive in us. We have personally experienced healing and restoration and forgiveness. May we too be a witness of Jesus Christ for the continuing transformation of the world. May it be so today and every day.

Prayer: God, may I witness bravely for you today. Maybi seize every opportunity to bring your light and love into my world today. Send me out into the world with Holy Spirit power to transform the world. Amen.


by 4 Comments

Always Near

Reading: Job 42: 10-17

Verse 12: “The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first”.

Job’s trial has transformed him. He looks at life much differently than before. Job values life itself, all the small things, and everything in between. As his suffering began, Job acknowledged that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. It was matter of fact, simply how things were. But now Job has gratitude for all that the Lord does in his life. He is now personally connected to God.

We see the change in Job first as he prays for his friends. We recall that the three friends were not supportive or encouraging during the trial. Yet Job prays for them. For what? Probably to experience what he has experienced. The friends know God’s laws and rules, but they do not know God. Their interactions with Job show a lack of God’s love, compassion, and mercy. The second way we see Job transformed is in his interactions with his daughters.

Job gives each daughter a name that reflects God’s beauty in the world. Their names recall God’s grace and the blessings that He pours out on mankind. Job reflects this by also giving his daughters a share of the inheritance. In doing so, Job is making them equal to his sons. He is also giving them power and independence. Job’s daughters do not have to rely on others.

Job’s story is familiar to us. We have experienced pain and suffering in our lives. We have emerged closer to God. Yes, at times we too can doubt God and/or be angry at God. Often, like Job, we realize that we cannot nor ever will understand some of the ways of God. And like Job, we also experience God’s abiding presence, especially in the trials. Always, God is near. Thanks be to God.

God, you are the Creator of all things. Your power and might are far beyond my understanding. Your ways are far above my ways. Yet you are ever present, your love and care always surrounding me. You are ever present, both in the joys and in the sorrows. Thank you God for always being there. Amen.


by 1 Comment

Good News

Reading: 2 Corinthians 5: 6-17

Verse 17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come”!

To have faith and to live a Christian Life in our modern, post-Christian world can be challenging. Paul reminds us in our passage today that because of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence we have a confidence about our relationship with God. In our day to day life we “live by faith” and we “make it our goal to please God”. Paul explains in verse fourteen that it is Christ’s love that compels us to share that “He died for all”. This understanding leads the believer to “no longer live for themselves but for Him”. When we choose to no longer live for self we choose to surrender our will, our desires, our selfishness, to God. This act of surrender leads a follower of Christ to truly follow Him, wanting to take the love we know and make it known to all.

This surrender also changes our perspective. We see ourselves and those in the world differently. As Paul puts it, “we regard no one from an earthly point of view”. Ourselves and others are not condemned but are saved by Jesus, who died for all. It is in and through this act of Jesus that God reconciled us to Him. In this way our sin is not counted against us, redeeming us to be righteous and holy in His sight. This allows us to have fellowship with our Lord and to look longingly to the day when we are “home with the Lord”. This is the love and the message of hope that we share with the world.

We want all to experience what we have experienced. We want all to experience the transforming love of God. In Christ, we are made new. Paul writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come”! In Christ we are made into new creations! We are not of this world any longer; we are simply living in it, trying to help others to come to know Jesus. This is news worth sharing. This is life-changing news. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. May the Lord compel each of us to share the good news of the love of God in Jesus Christ with all we meet this day and every day. Amen.


by 1 Comment

Saved

Reading: John 3: 16-17

Verse Seventeen: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him”.

Not to condemn but to save. Not to seal our fate but to show us the way, the truth, and the life. Not to stand far above us in judgment but to live within us as friend. Not to be unknown but to be fully known. “For God so loved the world…”. He took on flesh, lived among us, was crucified and rose so that His Spirit could continue to live on in each of us.

God’s purpose in Jesus is to make His love known more completely. As we journey through life, our faith changes and grows. We become more and more who God created us to be in Jesus Christ. In doing so, God takes all of us – who we are and what we have experienced – and molds and remolds us day by day, reshaping us into who He wants us to be. Through God’s great transforming power we are made into a new creation so that we can be change agents in other people’s lives. God created us to use us for the transformation of others and of the world.

How will that look today and tomorrow and the next day? How will God take each of us and use us to build the kingdom here on earth? How will God use us to share the good news of salvation and hope that is offered through a relationship with God’s Son, Jesus Christ? All of this is done through us and through our story. The change that God has wrought in us is the change that He can work in others. If we share our story with others, it opens the door for God to go to work in their lives as well.

Not to condemn but to save. Not to hate but to love. Not to separate but to draw together. May we be Jesus’ light and love in the world today and every day, helping others to be saved. Amen.


by 2 Comments

Narrow and Hard

Reading: Mark 8: 34-38

Verse 34: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me”.

Today’s passage is all about commitment, dedication, obedience, discipline, and, ultimately, transformation. This call to discipleship is hard. That is why Jesus said the way is narrow in Matthew 7. Faith is just like all other things of great value – it requires a great deal of effort to attain our goal.

Jesus begins today’s key verse with, “if anyone would come after me”. He is implying the first thing about faith is a choice. All people everywhere have a sense of God one way or another. Some sense a higher power, some sense God in the created world, some sense God in the “there must be more to life than this” feelings. Faith begins with the inner urge to live for and to connect to something bigger than ourselves. Beginning a relationship is the first step.

Next Jesus turns to those big words I opened with, saying, “he must deny himself”. Denying self and our own wants and desires is the beginning of living out our faith. When asked, Jesus said the two greatest commandments were to love God and to love others. When we truly do this, there is little room for self. In denying self, the transformation process also gets under way. The study and practice of our faith through prayer, worship, Bible study, … is what begins to transform our hearts and minds so that we begin to see and feel and think as Christ did.

Then Jesus turns to our calling. He next instructs us to “take up his cross”. As we are transformed more and more into His image, we come to discover that special blessing or talent or gift that God has given us to serve His will. Some teach, some preach, some feed, some clothe, some visit, some sing, some clean, some sew, some lead, some transport, some… The cross represents Jesus and our gift or talent is how we share Jesus with others. Our “cross” is what helps others to connect to Jesus.

Once we have been drawn into relationship, once we have been transformed to love God and others more than self, once we have found our niche in serving God, then and only then can we say we follow Jesus. May we all choose the hard and narrow way of Jesus today. It is through the Lord that we find the life truly worth living. Blessings on your journey.


by 1 Comment

Invitation

Reading: Mark 8: 31-33

Verse 33: “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men”.

Lent is a season of fasting and self-denial. It is the season when we are invited to look within and to surrender all that keeps us from being fully committed to God. In general, the things of the men, the things that culture values, keep us separated. In today’s passage, Peter is a good example of this. After Jesus tells the disciples that He will soon be rejected and killed, Peter pulls Him aside to protest such a thing happening. Jesus then rebukes Peter, saying to him, “Get behind me Satan”! The future rock of the church is being called Satan. But Jesus goes on. He knows that the human Peter missed the “after three days rise again” part of the story. Sadly Jesus says to him, “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men”. Peter wanted Jesus to stay with them. He wanted to hold onto the familiar and comfortable. Peter is not alone.

The season of Lent with all of its fasting and self-denial and surrender continues to run counter to our human desires and to our culture and its values. In a culture that preaches “just do it” and “do it if it makes you feel good” the idea of Lent is unfamiliar and uncomfortable. It is no wonder so many of us struggle with Lent. Ultimately, though, Lent is a season all about grace and holiness. As we look within, God invites us to be more like Jesus. As we look outside of ourselves, God invites live out His grace and love. In these ways, Lent is an invitation not a requirement. It is an invitation to be a better follower, to live out a more holy and faithful life. And, yes, if we accept the invitation, it will bring some discomfort – it is a harder journey.

As God invites us to search within and to step out, we do so with a promise: “I will never leave you”. Through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit we do not search and we do not go alone. In those moments of unfamiliar, the Spirit will guide and lead. In those moments of discomfort, the Spirit speaks words of peace and strength. In those moments when we look within, when it is unsettling, the Spirit speaks words of encouragement and support. Our discomfort, our unease, are invitations into God’s grace and love. They are invitations to draw closer, to walk holier. They are opportunities that allow His grace and love to reshaped us, to transform us. When we choose to focus our minds on the things of God, we are blessed. May this be my choice and your choice throughout this Lenten season. Amen!


by 1 Comment

Kingdom Builders

Reading: Mark 1: 9-15

Verse Fifteen: “The time is come, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Jesus’ ministry in the gospel of Mark is initiated by His baptism and time of preparation. In His baptism, Jesus is identified as God’s beloved Son. God’s gift in baptism is the Spirit descending. As the Spirit symbolically takes up residence in Jesus, He is empowered to hear and follow the will of God. With that, Jesus announces, “The time is come, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”. Let the ministry begin!

We also experience a similar journey with God. When we are baptized we too are initiated into the family of God and we are marked as a beloved son or daughter of God. We also go through a time of preparation. For some that includes things like Sunday School or a confirmation or catechism program. For others it is through the grace of God that the Holy Spirit works in their lives to woo and draw then to God. At some point, no matter our journey to get there, all believers realize our need for a personal, saving relationship with Jesus Christ. It is then that we kneel and confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. It is then that the Holy Spirit bursts into action, beginning to work in our lives to transform us into new creations in Christ. The Holy Spirit continues to lead and guide, to convict and encourage, as we become more and more like Jesus Christ, the perfector of our faith.

Then the time comes for us. The kingdom of God at work in us transforms us from member of the family of God into worker for Christ. Not only do we repent and believe the good news, but we become fellow laborers with Christ. As such, we go out into the world to proclaim the good news so that others can repent and believe the good news too. When we are truly following Christ, our journey of faith will lead us all to become kingdom builders here on earth. What will we do today to bring the kingdom of God near for someone we know or meet today? May the Lord our God bless the journey.


by 1 Comment

Transform

Reading: Mark 9: 2-9

Verse Seven: “A voice from the cloud: ‘This is my son, whom I love. Listen to Him!'”

Today is known as Transfiguration Sunday. It is the day when Peter, James, and John get a glimpse into what the heavenly Jesus may look like. To be present in his moment is a powerful and life-changing moment for the inner three. In its own way it was unique and special. But it is just one of many such moments that forever changed Peter, James, and John.

We too will have these mountaintop, transforming moments. We will also have our share of life-changing moments in the valley. Those moments on the mountaintop are things such as the birth of a child or the day we accepted Jesus. Our valley moments are the times we lost someone or something dear to us or the day life radically changed. Each of these unique and special moments also work within us to transform us, to make us more and more like Christ.

In the transfiguration, Jesus is elevated to a better and more perfect version of His earthly self. As we experience our own God moments, we too can be transfigured. Through our unique and special moments with God – whether on the mountaintop or in the valley – we can be changed and shaped more into the image of who God created us to be. I say ‘can be’ because we do have a choice. In those valley moments we can choose to continue to cling to God and to walk through it with God. During those mountaintop moments we can give God all the glory and honor, bringing Him praise. Both are choices. One choice is God’s path and that choice elevates our faith journey and brings us closer to Jesus Christ.

In our faith journeys and in life may we always choose to walk with Jesus. We were created in God’s image, chosen since we were woven together in the womb, marked as a child of God in the waters of baptism. May we ever choose to live into our identity in Christ, allowing each God moment to transform us one experience at a time, bringing us ever closer to our Lord and Savior. Amen.


by 2 Comments

Encounter

Reading: Mark 9: 2-6

Verses Three and Four: “His clothes became dazzling white… And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses”.

As Peter, James, and John headed up the mountain with Jesus, they had no idea what would happen next. The usual trek to someplace like this usually led to a time of prayer. Apparently without warning, Jesus is “transfigured”. This means to “transform into something more beautiful or elevated”. In Mark’s gospel the scene is described this way: “His clothes became dazzling white…” It was Peter, James, and John’s limited way to describe something amazing and never before seen.

At times we find ourselves here. When we try and describe our encounter with Jesus or God or the Holy Spirit, we use a lot of “it was like…” terminology. We try and relate it to experiences we think others have had and then we try to elevate that to describe our encounter. The disciples use the bleaching analogy to try and describe the level of dazzle.

To add to their surprise, “And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses”. These two greats of the Old Testament appear and start talking with Jesus. One can only imagine the conversation between the men who represent the prophets and the Law, respectively, and the One who represents the new covenant, Jesus. What a deep and rich theological conversation it must have been!

Just as suddenly as Elijah and Moses appear, they are gone. In an instant, the old Jesus is back. Heads spinning, Peter, James, and John must have wondered what just happened and pondered why were they there. This experience must have left them with more questions than answers. What does this mean? How will this impact our lives and our ministry? Who really is Jesus? What now?

In those moments when we too experience Jesus in extraordinary ways, we are left with a sense of the divine touching our lives. We too are left with questions and much to ponder. This is a good thing. Life-changing moments are supposed to change us! From our Jesus encounters, may we continue to wrestle and seek, to learn and to grow. May we allow these encounters to guide us along our journey of faith, ever closer to our God.


by Leave a comment

Holy and Pleasing

Reading: Romans 12: 1-8

Verse One: Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.

Paul opens today’s passage by urging the Christians in Rome (and us) to “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God”.  When we offer of ourselves – our time, our gifts, our resources, our talents – and give them to God and for God’s glory, it pleases God.  Just as with any relationship, when we take time for the other, when we consider the needs of the other, when we give of ourselves, it builds the relationship up.

John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer echoes this idea.  It begins with these words: “I am no longer my own but thine.  Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with who thou wilt.  Put me to doing, put me to suffering”.  It is a prayer that says no matter what, no matter when, no matter how, use me God.  It is a prayer that cedes all personal rights and gives self fully to God.  It embodies what it means to be a living sacrifice to God.

In verse two, Paul goes on to address what it is that allows a Christian to live this way.  He first says not to be conformed to this world.  This world is temporary, it is of the flesh.  Paul then goes on to encourage us instead to be “transformed by the renewing of our mind” as we grow in our relationship with God.  When we seek to transform our mind into God’s mind, we enter the next step in our relationship.  We transform our mind by studying the Word, by spending time in prayer and fasting, by worshipping and fellowshipping with fellow believers.  The more time we spend with God, the more we are transformed.  The end result is that we come to know and live into God’s “good, pleasing, and perfect will”.

For Paul, the transformation and renewing of our minds brings our thinking into alignment with God’s thinking.  Paul believed that behavior would follow thinking.  As we become more aligned with God, our behaviors become things like serving obediently, living humbly, and giving generously.  We begin to live as Jesus lived – taking time for the other, meeting the needs of the other, giving of self, loving all.  This day, may we reflect Jesus to all we meet, offering ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.