pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: whisper


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Away for Me

Reading: Matthew 4: 1-11

Food is a natural temptation.  The forbidden fruit is more than Adam and Eve can bear.  In the desert, day after day of manna becomes more than the Israelites can take and they cry out to God.  In both cases, God is put to the test.  In today’s passage, food is again what is used to test God.  Jesus hasn’t eaten for forty days, so He must have been tempted.  And Satan wants to test God too – will the stones turn to bread?

The second temptation also tests God.  If Jesus does something foolish will God swoop in and rescue Him?  Will God come through?  It is a similar test of God.  In both of these cases, we often venture down similar roads.  We will do and say things that certainly test God, that must test God’s patience.  We are rarely brave enough to step boldly out in a faith that requires radical trust in God to intervene on our behalf.

In the last temptation, Jesus is offered power.  It is something we all want to one degree or another.  We like to be in control, to make our own decisions.  At times, we have all questioned our boss or someone else in authority and thought we could certainly do better if given the chance.  We are wired to succeed and to compete to be number one.  For Satan to offer the rule of the world to Jesus must have been tempting.  It would definitely be tempting to us – except the thought of bowing down to Satan is hard to fathom.  

If we are honest, there is much that we place in the role of what we worship.  It can be money, time, status, position, beauty…  When we worship or live for these things, we have really demoted God.  The more we pursue the things of this world, the further from God we venture.  It is here that we are most susceptible to Satan’s whispers and temptations.

In our story today, we see the solution to whatever temptation.  Just as Jesus stood boldly, may we too call on the power of God and say to the great tempter, “Away from me Satan!”


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Draw Near

Reading: 1 Kings 19: 1-15a

Noise seems an almost constant.  We are always “on” – connected through our cell phones, computers, and tablets.  Media is an ever present companion.  At points we come to long for a little silence, for a break from all the noise.  Even as I sit here in the relative quiet of the early morning, I can hear birds chirping.  It is nice noise.  And I can also hear vehicle after vehicle driving on the highway.

Elijah’s life had been a whirlwind of activity.  His dealings with Ahab and Jezebel had been loud and confrontational.  Elijah has just defeated the prophets of Baal and has had them all killed.  Word of this has brought threat to his life from Jezebel.  In the midst of this, Elijah flees to the wilderness.  He is seeking solitude and safety.  But in the desert his fear and worry become the noise he hears.  He is exhausted physically and emotionally and is prepared to die.

How often does our busyness consume us?  How often does it seem like life is just one thing after another?  With work, family, social, and other responsibilities it seems like sleep is our only respite.  Then that is restless too as our mind is filled with all we need to get done tomorrow.  Even if we manage a little quiet time, the noise of our minds – stress, worry, anxiety, … – seizes our focus and draws us away from our prayer or Bible focus.

God too Elijah out into the wilderness.  He did not find God in the wind, fire, or earthquake.  Elijah found God in the still, small voice, in the whisper.  Today, may we too find God in the quiet.  May we slow down and draw near to God today.


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Step Out

Reading: Acts 16: 9-12

When was the last time you felt God calling you to do something or when you felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit?  Depending on how in tune we are to our relationship with God, the guidance and nudges and whispers can come frequently.  These connections are like everything else in our lives: the more we try and allow ourselves to hear and sense God, the better we become at sensing and hearing His presence and guidance in our lives.

In the text today, Paul has a vision calling him to a new place of ministry.  He had been struggling with where to go next so this vision would have been like an answer to prayer.  For Paul the call was clear as day.  They get up in the morning, pack up, and head out for Macedonia.  New place, new people, new challenges.  Lots of unknowns.  Paul did not hesitate.  As one deeply in tune with God and the Spirit, God spoke and Paul went.

God sometimes calls us in a similar way.  He puts a call upon our heart and we feel the tugs to respond.  Or maybe it comes in an almost audible whisper from the Holy Spirit or in a nudge we can almost physically feel.  There is no denying that we all sense, feel, hear God’s calling and leading.  And there is no denying that at times we ignore, dismiss, … this call and leading.  We allow the fears, doubts, and unknowns to keep us in our safe, comfortable, easy place.  Step out.  We need to step out in faith and with the confidence that God goes before and that the Spirit walks alongside us.

We were each created to be used by God.  Each of us was created with our own gifts and talents for a purpose.  As we allow God and the Spirit to move in our lives, we are freed to experience and share the amazing power of God transforming our lives and the lives of those around us.  Step out and step into God’s plan for your life.


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In All we Say and Do

Words can be so powerful.  Just with simple words one can describe a scene in such great detail that you almost can see a snapshot of it in your mind.  Words can also be chosen and delivered carefully for very specific purposes.  With just the right words we can encourage, uplift, and comfort.  In the same way we can edify, strengthen, and build up one another.  Words are powerful.

Each of us can recall times when someone said just the right thing at just the right time.  In those words we found healing or renewal or a lift in our spirit.  We can still remember those words.  In a similar way we each have used our own words to come alongside another in need.  The Holy Spirit often nudges and leads us to these opportunities.  Our role is to be open to the guidance and to be a willing voice.

On the flip side of all of this, the tongue can also be powerful in negative or harmful ways.  James is well aware of the human condition and rightly warns us to be careful with our tongues.  Commentary writer Patrick Harden puts it well: “Sins of the tongue are the hardest to avoid.”  Just as we’ve all been stung or hurt by words, we too have all stung or hurt others.  And in almost every case we have felt the Spirit’s nudge or heard the voice whispering to us to choose a better way.  In our journey of faith, may we learn to follow as led and to heed as warned so that we my bring honor and glory to God in all we do and say.

Scripture reference: James 3: 1-5a


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Boundaries

Social boundaries can be hard to cross.  Maybe your first experience with boundaries came on the playground in elementary school.  Maybe it was in the middle school cafeteria or audition room or athletic court.  Maybe it occurred in a different area or at another stage in life.  Being on one side or the other of a social boundary is something most of us have experienced.

As we grow into adulthood, the social boundaries do not get any easier to cross.  The imaginary lines we draw in our minds can be as tough to cross as the Berlin Wall.  Sometimes we treat the boundaries with the same level of fear as spiders or death.  Yet God, through the work of the Holy Spirit, continues to nudge and whisper into our ears and hearts.  And we can ignore, but that voice just does not go away if you are really working to live out your faith.

Maybe the nudge is to invite the new family who does not speak much English over for dinner.  Maybe it is to stop and offer some food to the man with the sign.  Maybe it is to be the first to welcome the couple who is different from everybody else in your congregation.

James encourages us to walk across that boundary, to quit judging others, and to get out of our comfort zones.  If one is really working to grow in one’s faith, they feel the nudges and hear the whispers of the Spirit.  If we can get outside our box and engage those across the boundary, then we begin to fulfill God’s command to truly love our neighbors as ourselves.  That first step can be hard, but go ahead, take it.

Scripture reference: James 2: 1-13


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God’s Voice

God is mighty and powerful.  The Psalm tells us His voice is like lightning, that the earth shakes at the sound of His voice.  In the power of the lightning we do catch a glimpse of the awesome power of God.  It is from this strength that we too can draw strength in time of need.

Sometimes when I think about the vastness of creation it awes me.  There are seven billion people on the earth plus countless animals and other creations of God.  And He loves each one of us dearly and knows us each by name.  Our God is indeed a majestic and amazing God!

To me it is one of the mysteries of faith that God can be so big to create this wonderful, ordered world yet small enough to know me.  Sometimes it is hard to begin to comprehend.  But in the end one must accept that He knows me because at times He calls my name, He whispers in my ear, He nudges my heart into action.

In these times God certainly makes His presence known.  He is right here and tangible.  As we respond to the calls, to the whispers, to the nudges, God is offered to another through us.  In the helping hand, in the listening ear, in the comforting words, God can flow from us to another.  The same voice that shakes the earth is the voice that whispers.  May we learn to hear the whispers just as well as the lightning.

Scripture reference: Psalm 29