pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: transformation


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Faith of a Centurion

Reading: Luke 7: 1-10

The centurion is a man of authority.  He has absolute command of the soldiers under him.  He tells one to go and they go; he tells one to come and they come.  He understands power.  The centurion has heard of Jesus and he recognizes that Jesus too has power.  The stories he has heard have been enough for the centurion to recognize the power Jesus wields.  The centurion also understands though that Jesus’ power is different than his own earthly power.  He sees that not only is it a different kind of power but it is a superior power.  The centurion who knows he has a lot of earthly power acknowledges that he is not worthy of being in Jesus’ presence.  The centurion is a powerful man with a lot of humility.

Jesus in turn credits the centurion with having great faith.  He goes so far as to comment that He has not yet seen such faith in Israel.  That is a pretty strong statement for Jesus’ followers and for the religious authorities to hear.  This Roman soldier has a faith superior to ours?  It would be a difficult question for them to wrestle with.

It is a difficult question for us to wrestle with too.  We say that God is all-powerful and can do anything, but do we really trust Him to do so?  We’ve heard the stories just like the centurion did, but do we have absolute confidence that Jesus can still act?  He brought healing to a sick servant who was miles and miles away without uttering a word.  Surely this kind of power can still heal and transform lives.  But do we have the faith of the centurion?  This day may we call upon the mighty and powerful name of Jesus to enter into our lives to bring us spiritual, physical, and/or emotional transformation.  In Jesus’ name there are no limits.  May we live faithfully today, trusting in this truth.


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Growing

In our relationship with Jesus Christ we can be doing one of three things: we can grow to be more like Him, we can stay where we are, or we can become less like Him.  In Revelation 3:16 Jesus warns us that if we are lukewarm, He will ‘vomit’ us out.  Another word for lukewarm would be stagnant and no one wants to be stagnant.  The path of becoming less like Jesus is the path of sin and that only leads to death and destruction.  Paul instead urges us to seek to grow from “one degree of glory to another” as we strive to grow in our faith.

As Moses’ face reflected God’s glory, our lives should also reflect God’s glory that is within us.  The love that Jesus has for us is the love that we should reflect to others.  He challenges us to love others as He first loved us.  As we grow in our faith and in the depth of our understanding of Jesus, we come to know more and more how deep and vast and wide His love is for us.  As we grow in this way, we are in essence moving from one degree of glory to the next as our lives come to reflect His love more and more to those around us.

This transformation that is occurring in us should be noticeable to those in our lives.  If we are growing in our faith, others should see this.  The love and compassion we exhibit should slowly grow.  The care and understanding we offer should slowly become greater and greater.  The depth of mercy and forgiveness we extend should be ever-increasing.  In all aspects of our lives we should be seeking to become more and more like Christ.  This day may we strive to grow a little more in our faith, growing so that we may know Jesus more, reflecting His glory in increasing measure.

Scripture reference: 2 Corinthians 3:17 to 4:2


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A Living Testament

Faith is not so simple as saying “I believe.”  It is the requisite first step to a relationship with Jesus Christ.  Our faith is built in and upon the “I believes”: I believe in the virgin birth, in the teachings of Jesus, in His death and resurrection, and in the promise of eternal life.

But one cannot stop at this point of belief.  If one does, life is hard.  Belief will only get you so far.  It is the first step in the relationship, but one must see inward change as well.  It is possible to say ‘I believe’ and to go on living a life of sin.  Belief is like entering the cocoon.  The transformation comes once inward change begins.  To facilitate this change, it is necessary to invite the Holy Spirit to live within us.  Once we do this and experience the daily presence of Jesus Christ through the indwelling of the Spirit, then our life is forever changed.

The Holy Spirit then begins to work on that inward change.  In a short time the Spirit’s inner workings lead to outward expressions of God’s love.  Life more and more becomes about sharing the love of God with all that we meet.  No barrier holds us back or stands in our way.  The love of God conquers all.  Our transformation to a new creation draws nearer.

As we share the love of God with others, Christ comes to be more and more a part of who we are.  In time, He is our all in all.  n time our life becomes a living testament to His great love.

Scripture reference: 1 John 3: 21-24