pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Pentecost People

Reading: Acts 2: 1-11

Verse Four: “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues as the Spirit enabled them”.

The holy day of Pentecost has gathered Jews from all over the known world into Jerusalem. Jerusalem is also home to the newly formed church that follows Jesus. God uses a very loud sound, something that sounded “like the blowing of a violent wind”, to bring these God-fearing Jews and Jesus-loving Christians together in one place.

As the Jews hear the sound, they are drawn to find the source of this strange phenomenon. At the same time, the Christians are anointed with what appears to be “tongues of fire” that come to rest on each of them. The fire represents the Holy Spirit. It is a physical sign of a spiritual gift. The Holy Spirit is the gift that Jesus promised in Acts One. With the promise of the gift came a responsibility: “you will be my witnesses”. As the crowd of Jews arrives, the believers “began to speak in tongues as the Spirit enabled them”. The believers are witnessing to their faith in the languages of the crowd that is now arriving. People from all over the world hear the good news of Jesus Christ in their native tongues. They were “utterly amazed”.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we too have been blessed with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and have received the same charge to be witnesses. The same power that the original Pentecost believers had is also in us. The Holy Spirit will help us to speak to the non-believers that are all around us as well. If we are willing to allow the Spirit to be at work in our lives, to lead and guide us, we too will have opportunity to witness to those who do not know Jesus Christ. We may not speak in exotic or foreign languages, but the Holy Spirit will enable us, giving us the words of life that a non-believer needs to hear to come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. This action of the Holy Spirit is just as amazing as the work done that first Pentecost long ago.

To this day we remain Pentecost people. We are people filled with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. May we faithfully use the gift that God has given each of us to speak words of love and words of hope to our world in need. Holy Spirit, lead us each and every day. Amen.


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Victory in the Daily Battle

Reading: Psalm 1

Verses One and Two: “Blessed is the man who… delights in the Law of the Lord and on His Law meditates day and night”.

The Psalm represents a daily battle for us all. On one ‘side’ are those who “walk in the ways of sinners” and who “sit in the seat of mockers”. The psalmist writes that these are like chaff that the wind blows away. They will soon be no more as the “way of the wicked will perish”.

This choice is contrasted with the choice of the righteous. We read, “Blessed is the man who… delights in the Law of the Lord and on His Law meditates day and night”. The psalmist compares faith to a tree “planted by the water, whose leaf does not wither”, a tree that “yields its fruit in season”. The Psalm speaks of the righteous being able to stand in the judgment in the end and of God’s protection in the time here on earth, a time of prospering for the righteous.

When one considers option A and option B, it hardly seems like a choice. Do you want the rusty old Pinto or the shiny new Corvette? Hardly seems like a choice. Yet it is a daily battle. It is a daily battle not to fall to sin and not to choose the ways of the world. Satan has ways of making that rusty old car look pretty good to our earthly eyes. Satan can also trick us into giving up the keys to the Corvette, enticing us with something “better”, but it it just rust underneath.

The key to victory in our daily battle lies in our key verse for today. When we choose the Word as our foundation and we think on it day and night, then the things of God remain in the forefront of our minds. If we keep God’s Word fresh in our mind, it is easier to call on it when Satan tries to come calling. When we choose to be rooted in Christ, then Satan stands no chance. May we walk steadfastly in the way of the Lord today, enjoying His protection and love. Amen.


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All About Love

Reading: Psalm 1

Verse Six: “The Lord watches over the way of the righteous”.

Psalm One is about delighting in the Law of the Lord. It speaks of the blessing and protection one lives in when one chooses to live out the Law. It also speaks of the consequences of not doing so. This Psalm is written from the Jewish perspective but it applies equally well to Christianity.

A devout Jew would make every effort to follow the Torah. To them it was a way of life. It was much more than a list of rules that one must follow. Obedience was not perfect and when a Jew sinned a sacrifice would be made, as prescribed by the Law. A devout Jew would study and meditate on the Law all of their lives, ever drawing closer to complete obedience.

A faithful Christian makes every effort to walk in the ways of Jesus. To us this is a way of life. It is much more than a list of dos and don’ts that one must follow. Obedience is not perfect and when we sin, the sacrifice has been made, fulfilled on the cross. A faithful Christian studies and meditates on the Word all of their lives, ever drawing closer and closer to Jesus.

The psalmist knows the Law well. He delights in following the Law. Today, as followers of Jesus, we too delight in living as Jesus lived, drawing joy from life. Jesus himself valued the Law. He told us that He came to fulfill the Law, not to abolish it. Jesus came to be the ultimate example of how to live out the Law. Jesus even identified the two greatest commands: love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Love and more love. God and His Law are all about love. Jesus and His life are all about love. May we also be all about love.


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Prayer for Disciples

Reading: John 17: 6-19

Verse Fifteen: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one”.

Today’s passage is Jesus’ prayer for His disciples after He finally ascends to the Father into heaven. He has walked through the past three years with them, building up both their faith and also a personal relationship with each of them. Along the way He has prepared them for the day when He is no longer present. He has modeled what it is to be a humble servant and to love God with all one’s being. Jesus has sent them out on training missions to get a taste of what ministry without Jesus present.

In these things, Jesus reminds me of parenthood. As we raise our children, we model the behaviors, actions, and choices that we want them to make. We teach our children how to love God and others, how to be willing to give of oneself for the other. We allow them to swim a little on their own, celebrating when they succeed and picking them up when they fail. At some point it becomes time for them to be out on their own and we too pray over and for the next stage in their journey. And we keep praying for our children, just as Jesus does today as He intercedes for us all.

Jesus prays for His disciples as their work continues. Jesus realizes that they now belong to God and not to the world, just as He does. But there is still work to do, so Jesus prays, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one”. He knows they must remain in the world to accomplish the plans that God has for them and His new church. Yet Jesus also knows the challenges that lie ahead so He prays for God to protect them. Jesus knows that just as Satan tempted Him in the wilderness with the things of the world, so too will Satan try and lead the disciples away from the truth.

This is why Jesus closes the prayer by asking God to sanctify them – to make them holy. Jesus knows that if the disciples live a holy life then it will protect them against the slings of the evil one. Jesus knows holiness is rooted in the truths found in the Bible, so He asks God to sanctify them by the truth. He is asking God to put the Word in them. It is by the truth found in the Word that they are made holy. By this same Word we are made holy. This day may we be disciples grounded in the Word, loving God and others with all we are.


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Grow Well

Reading: John 15: 9-17

Verse Sixteen: “You did not choose me, but I chose you… to go and bear fruit”.

“Love each other as I have loved you”. This is the command we find in verse twelve of today’s passage. But Jesus, you were perfect, the incarnation of God in the flesh. And I am just a simple human being, often tempted by the things of this world. Jesus, you were so smart – you knew just what to say or do at just the right moments. I stumble and bumble and bumble opportunities.

Yes, this passage from John 15 is beautiful in its imagery of a loving relationship, but sometimes I feel inadequate. Yes, this passage promises that God will give whatever I ask in Jesus’ name, but at times I feel unworthy and powerless to ask. I do try to remain in God’s love and to obey the commands. On our own, we are destined to fall short and to fail. But through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, “everything I learned from my Father I have made known to you”. The Spirit reminds us and teaches us what we need to know, helping us to live in an intimate connection with Jesus.

In our passage we see that Jesus makes the choice to exit the master-servant relationship and to enter into a friend-friend relationship instead. This new relationship is based upon love instead of on hierarchy and power. It also shifts our role in the relationship. Instead of doing because we are “supposed” to or because it is our “job”, we do out of a mutual love and affection. When this is our perspective, we “abide” in His love. It is from this place of constant presence that we can love one another as He first loved us.

Jesus also says in our passage today, “You did not choose me, but I chose you… to go and bear fruit”. Much like the first twelve disciples, we are chosen by Jesus. It feels good to know that Jesus picked you and me. He does have an expectation that He voices. Jesus picks us to go and bear fruit. Bearing fruit comes after planting seeds. We plant seeds by sharing the Word and by being Jesus to others. In doing so we become more like Him.

Athanasius, an early church father, wrote, “He became what we are that we might become what He is”. Jesus lived and modeled love so that we could live and model love. In doing so, we grow in His image. May we grow well today.


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The Vine…

Reading: John 15: 1-8

Verse Four: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself”.

Today’s vine, branches, and gardener example is a great illustration of our relationships of faith. The illustration could have used a fruit tree or a blueberry bush or any number of other plants and still been a good illustration. But a grape vine is best, so that’s what God chose!

Jesus is the vine. The vine begins in the ground, with lots of roots soaking up water and nutrients needed for the branches to be healthy and to bear much fruit. The vine is the thickest and strongest part of the plant. Jesus’ words and the rest of the Bible are the life blood of our faith and our growth. They provide what we need to grow and be healthy in our faith.

You and I are the branches. We are connected to the vine and get all we need through the root – Jesus. Whereas the vine is stable and rooted, we the branches can grow this way and that. We often intertwine with other branches. In our faith journey we live and grow in community. Like a branch, as we grow and mature, we begin to produce fruit. Fruit is acts like loving our neighbor, helping those in need, offering forgiveness and mercy…

God is the gardener. He tends the soil and cares for the plant. Sometimes the gardener must add support to a new branch so that it can grow well. In our faith journey, at times we come alongside each other offering support and encouragement. At times God also prunes the branches, removing things that inhibit the production of fruit. As a branch, at times I can get going a lot of different directions. In those times, I need God to prune away some things so that more of my energy goes into producing fruit.

In order for this to “work”, for us to continue to grow in our faith and to produce fruit for the glory of God, we must stay connected to Jesus. In verse four we read, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself”. In this passage we see what happens when we disconnect from Jesus: we wither and are thrown into the fire. This cannot be! My fellow branches, stay connected to life, to Jesus. In doing so, may you bear much fruit!


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Live in Love

Reading: 1st John 4: 13-21

Verse Sixteen: “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in Him”.

In today’s passage there are a lot of references to “in”. The passage begins with “live in Him” and “He in us”, illustrating the connection we have between us and God. This connection is made through the presence of the Holy Spirit in us. Once we acknowledge Jesus as Savior, then this “in” relationship is established, allowing us to “know and rely on the love God has for us”.

This relationship is based upon love and the connection that being in love brings. In verse sixteen we read, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in Him”. It does not say ‘dabbles in love’ or ‘occasionally strays’ into love. Living in love connects us to God. The more time and energy we invest in love, the more that “love is made complete”. As we approach this completion, we also gain confidence in our eternity. John writes, “perfect love drives out fear”. Our love of God and God’s love in us assures us of our everlasting relationship with God.

To live in love requires a constant attention. This relationship is built and grows only through attention. Like all relationships, it will wither and fade if we neglect it. We must take the time to invest in our relationship with God. Verse nineteen does say, “we love because He first loved us”. It is also true that God will continue to love us no matter what because “God is love”. But the development of a relationship and the reciprocation of love requires our intent and our commitment. It is not enough to say that God first loved us. We must also return that love. In doing so we will be filled with love and as we begin to live in love, that love will naturally flow out to our brothers and sisters as well.

We build our love for God by spending time with God. In can be through time in prayer and reading and studying His Word in the quiet of the morning or in the stillness of the night. It can be time spent in joyful worship at church or in peaceful and still reflection beside flowing waters or in the beauty of the forest path. It can be in a conversation with God during the commute to school or work or in the few moments we steal away waiting in line at the store or in traffic. There are many ways to connect to God to build our love. May we each find many today.


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Action

Reading: 1st John 3: 16-18

Verse Eighteen: “Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth”.

Already in the early days of the church John was seeing a struggle between the words Christians said and claimed and the actions that they were living out. In the first chapter of 1st John, he encourages the followers of Christ to walk in the light. Walking is an active verb – John wanted them to walk in the faith or to have an active faith. He continues this encouragement in chapter two and then turns to warnings against loving the world and being led astray by false teachings. In chapter three John turns to our call as children of God and how to live righteous lives. It is within this chapter that our passage today lies.

For John and for the church today, we cannot separate the idea of being a Christian from the idea of love. The two cannot be separated. Jesus was all about loving others and that is one of Jesus’ primary directives to His followers. In most churches, we do this very well with each other. Yes, we will disagree now and then, but by and large the folks in our churches love one another well. Those John was addressing must have done this well too. The challenge comes in loving those outside the walls of our churches, those who are different, those who struggle with sin or hardships in their lives.

John was challenging the church to love those in need in a time when persecution was high. We are challenged today in a time when it is pretty safe to be a Christian. Yet we too struggle to always help those who cannot help themselves and to offer self-sacrificing love that goes out and meets people’s needs where they are at. John wrote, “Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth”. Don’t say you love your neighbors but actually go out and love them. Don’t see injustice and do nothing about it. Don’t see the hungry without feeding them, the naked without clothing them, the lonely without visiting them…

There is much need and brokenness in our world. There is much love in our hearts. May the two meet not only in our thoughts and words but out there in the real world too. May we each be a part of making this happen today.


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Resolute

Reading: Isaiah 50: 4-9a

Verse Seven: “Because the sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced”.

Isaiah begins our passage today acknowledging the word that sustains him and shares how each morning his ear is awakened to listen. For those who regularly invest time in reading their Bibles, they can relate well to what Isaiah is saying here. Whether it is early in the morning or over the noon hour or just before bedtime, daily reading of our Bibles leads to knowing God’s Word. In turn, the Word will sustain us over and over. As a result, Isaiah writes, “The sovereign Lord has opened my ears”. Time in our Bibles leads to our ears being opened more and more to God’s voice in our lives.

Time with God builds our connection with God, just as it would with any relationship. Isaiah goes on to write of not being rebellious. This too is our goal. But the reality is that we will sin. However, the more time we spend with God in prayer, worship, and reading our Bibles, the less we will sin. For example, there are things I did and said ten years ago that I now see as sin and strive to do no more. As we mature in our faith the narrow road becomes narrower as we better and better understand what it means to walk closely with our God.

As one grows in the faith so too does our trust in the Lord. In verse seven Isaiah writes, “Because the sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced”. Isaiah trusts that as he walks in faith, God has his back. This does not mean that life will be perfect. In fact, in verse six, he writes of the abuse and violence that he has experienced because of his faith. At times we too will experience abuse or rejection or maybe even violence because of our faith. Yet even then we do know that God remains with us, helping us through. And maybe we can even get to the place the apostles got to, rejoicing that we could suffer for Christ.

Verse seven goes on to say, “I have set my face like flint and I know I will not be put to shame”. This verse will be echoed in the New Testament as Jesus turns toward Jerusalem for the last time as Palm Sunday approaches. As followers of Jesus, may we also be resolute in our faith, walking a firm and steadfast path, wherever God may lead us this day and each day. Amen.


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Love at Work

Reading: Psalm 107: 17-22

Verses 19 and 20: “They cried to the Lord in their trouble… He sent forth the word and healed them; He rescued them from the grave”.

The psalmist recognizes the foolish behavior of some and identifies the consequences that came with poor choices. During our lives we have seen many people make poor decisions and we ourselves have made our share as well. After suffering because of their or our iniquities, there comes a point of admitting the error of our ways and turning to God for help. Verse 19 reads, “They cried to the Lord in their trouble”. It is a cry filled with both pain and hope. Pain because of the regret of ending up in such a place. Hope because we know that God is faithful and true.

Verse 20 bears this out: “He sent forth the word and healed them; He rescued them from the grave”. God responds to the cry for help and restores those in need. For the psalmist, the ‘word’ could come through the Spirit or it could come through the voice of the prophet. For the Christian, the word could also come from the Holy Spirit or it could come from the ‘Word’ – Jesus himself. The net result is the same: God brings healing and rescued from the grave. This could literally be the grave or it could represent being saving from eternal damnation.

Sometimes we observe this cycle of sin, suffering, conviction, repentance, crying out, healing/rescue and sometimes we experience it ourselves. In both cases, we are privy to seeing God’s hand at work over and over. Because of this we come to know God as steadfast and faithful. We come to know God’s love and mercy as unending and as a blessing for all. And we come to the place where we know God will never let us go. From here we begin to understand the depth of God’s love. It is a beautiful and wonderful thing. It is a love that we are called to share with others. May it be so today.