pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: volume


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Drawing Close

Reading: Psalm 121

Psalm 121:2 – “My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”

We live in a world that is busy and noisy. Information flows at an unprecedented rate and volume. And it is at our fingertips. While this makes it easy to find the right recipe or the needed product, it also feeds us unwanted suggestions and brings other voices into our minds. There are often times when we intentionally shut the world out, turning off the TVs and laptops, silencing the phones. Often, in these intentional moments, we are reminded of God’s continuing presence and power.

Psalm 121 is a scripture that can bring us to that place. The psalmist frames their thoughts with a familiar question: Where will my help come from? The author answers this question about God in the next verses. Here we are first reminded that our help comes from “the maker of heaven and earth.” Help comes in the form of protection – from slipping up, from the elements of nature, from the evils of this world. This helper is always present too, because God “never sleeps or rests.” Our God will protect us and will help us “whether coming or going” and will do so “from now until forever from now.” That, my friend, is eternity.

Sometimes, though, it can be hard or challenging to feel or even to enter into God’s presence. Sometimes it takes an intentional effort. For me, one place that I can usually “find” God’s presence is in the creation. To be physically present in the hills or at the ocean or under the stars, these are places where the world becomes still so that I can draw close to the creator. How and where do you draw close to God?

Prayer: Dear maker of all creation, draw me close today – close to you, close to the earth, close to those created in your image. In and through these gifts that you made, help me to know and love you even more. Fill me with your love and send me into your world, sharing that love in all ways possible. Amen.


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Justice, Mercy, Humility

Reading: Micah 6:6-8

Verse 8: “God has shown you… what is good… what is required… To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Photo credit: Simon Berger

As we turn to the second half of this week’s Old Testament passage, Micah asks what he should bring before the Lord. He wonders if burnt offerings would be enough. Maybe so if it were “thousands of rams” followed by “ten thousand rivers of oil?” That sounds like a lot. Or maybe something closer to home? Perhaps sacrifice a child – “the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” That feels like a lot. It felt like a lot was needed. The sin of Israel was great. Yet for God, restoring a relationship wasn’t about volume or about a huge but isolated proof of faith. It was much simpler. It was about the heart. In Micah’s day the Israelites were going through the motions required by the sacrificial system. To go through them a thousand or ten thousand times mattered not. To offer your firstborn and then to return to sinful living? Worthless.

Instead of hands and feet going through meaningless motions, God desired the heart of the people. God wanted to see hearts committed to what really mattered to God. In verses 8 we read, “God has shown you… what is good… what is required… To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” God sought people with hearts focused on justice, mercy, and humility. This is what is good. This is what is required. This is what really matters to God. The challenge for us is this: in our modern world, how do we live this out?

We live in a time when people are selfish and focused on material goods and social status. From this place it is difficult to see injustice, oppression, and pride as bad things. They are the means to achieving success. Yet these practices leave a wake of poverty and division and need. It is to these things that the eyes and heart of God are drawn. What is our response, our good and required response? It is not to write a check for $1,000 or to donate 10,000 meals or to sell our house to give money to some great cause. While good and likely helpful to others, these motions do not align our eyes and heart with God’s eyes and heart. Our response is really much simpler than these things. Very hard in our culture, yes, but simpler. What is good, what God required? A daily walk that focuses on justice for all, mercy and kindness to all, and humility as we seek to walk hand in hand with our God. Walking this way, our eyes and hearts will be drawn to the places and people that draw God’s eyes and heart. May it be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, it really is pretty basic, isn’t it? Step away from self and from all that the world says matters. Step into the circumstances and lives of people that matter to you – those needing to experience justice, those needing mercy, those requiring a humble servant’s presence. Use me in all of these ways, O God. Amen.