pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: word


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Daily Word

Reading: Philippians 3: 18-19

To live in our society and culture, it takes a great deal of self-discipline to stay on the path Jesus calls us to.  In order to live as the person God calls us to be, we must live in a way that is faithful to our role as follower of Christ.  In order to do this, we must practice the things that draw us to following Him.

Paul refers to those who are living self-indulgent lives as “enemies of the cross”.  This is a bold term.  But it is an accurate statement as well.  In Matthew 12 Jesus states that if we are not for Him, then we are against Him.  From Jesus’ point of view there is no middle ground.  Yet in reality, this is most often where we try to live.

The practice of spiritual disciplines is where we begin to prepare ourselves to live as citizens of heaven.  For us to live as God desires, we have to know what that means.  First of all, it means being in the Word.  It means cracking open our Bibles every day and reflecting on His Word.  This needs to be a systematic approach.  Whether it means using a devotional or a reading plan or simply starting on page 1 and reading through to the end does not matter.  But we must read our Bibles daily and study and digest the Word.  To do so daily with intentionality requires discipline and commitment.

We cannot live as “enemies of the cross” and be in the Word daily.  When self-indulgence rears up, we must say “Away from me Satan”!  One more hour of TV, games, or online…?  Hit the snooze button again…?  Just catch up tomorrow…?  I’ll just read it later…?  No, no, no, and NO!  May each of our days be centered in the Word.  May we allow Jesus Christ to grow to be the Lord of our life!


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Word In, Word Out

In my community it is easy to go to church.  Access to a Bible is almost a given.  Finding a place to Worship or a Bible to read in our native language is not very difficult.  We have such open access to the Word.  All that holds us back is our personal choices concerning what to do with our time.  There are places in our whole though where the Word is simply not available in a language the people speak or read.  All they know of the Word of God is what is shared orally by a missionary or by someone who has heard one.  And for many of us in parts of the world where the access is so easy, the reality is that His Word remains a ‘foreign language’ to many.

God placed His words in Jeremiah’s mouth when He called him to service.  The Word is powerful.  God tells Jeremiah that God’s word can uproot and tear down kingdoms and that it can also build up and plant.  The truth in this remains with us today as well.  God’s word continues to work in our lives to destroy those little kingdoms we establish and also to continually build up and plant vision, hope, love, light, and such.  All of this so that we can live these things out and so that we can share them with others.  Just as God placed His Word in Jeremiah’s mouth to call people to God’s commandments and to the covenant, we too are given God’s Word to do the same.

We also share the Word orally.  The words we take in are given not only for our lives, but to share with others as well.  Perhaps it is with a friend who is struggling or maybe it is with one who is searching for direction or meaning in life.  There is a hunger for the Word of God everywhere, even here where access is easy and open.  May we who know God make the choice to be diligently in the Word so that we are rich in what we have to share.  And may we freely share His Word with all we meet to both uproot and destroy those things that keep us from God and to build up and plant those things that draw us to Him.

Scripture reference: Jeremiah 1: 9-10


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A Living Expression

Ezra and the Levites not only read the Word of God to the people, but they also explain the meaning.  In doing so, the people can do more than simply hear the Word read; they can gain an understanding of them and apply them to their lives.  In today’s passage, they were reading from the law.  Through the priests’ explanations, the people came to see that they were falling short and they mourned.

At times we too read the Bible or hear a sermon or read a devotional book and we experience conviction or motivation.  Maybe the passage is about loving our neighbor and we realize we have been less than loving to a coworker.  Maybe the message is about forgiveness and it leads us to reconcile with a friend.  Maybe the devotional for the day speaks of an act of generosity and we are inspired to clean out the closets so that we can donate some warm clothing to the local mission.  God’s Word is active and living.  When we spend time in the Word, reading or hearing it, it has to affect how we live our life as it builds our love for God.  Through the Word, we also come to know God’s love for us.

Ezra does not leave the people mourning though.  Instead he reminds them of the holiness of their gathering and of their ability to live out the Word.  He helps them to see that when they are together, it is a time of blessing.  The blessing is both from the time spent with God and from the time spent with each other as both build up their strength.  As he sends them out to the feast to celebrate, he reminds them to continue to care for one another and to be in community.  If a brother or sister is lacking, he reminds the people to provide for them so that they too can celebrate God’s presence and strength in their lives and in the community.

We too are called to hear and then doers of the Word.  May our lives each day be a living expression of all that God places upon our hearts and then calls us to do as we continue on our journey of faith.

Scripture reference: Nehemiah 8: 8-10


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Lead Well

“One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, is the light of the morning.”  How true this is!  Over the years, rulers such as these have risen up.  People like Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King, Jr., come to my mind.  Even though they led through some dark and stormy times, they led well because at their core they were men of God.  In their hearts, a healthy fear of God guided their words, actions, and decisions.  As children of God, His light shone out into that darkness again and again casting rays of love, hope, healing, reconciliation, and forgiveness.  They led through their faith.

We too are each called to be leaders.  We may be leaders of businesses, churches, or schools. We may be leaders of social groups, peers, clubs, or teams.  We may be leaders of our families or friends.  Like these great men, we too are called to lead through our faith.  However large or small our sphere of influence, we are called to fill it with God’s light.  Our dark times or tough decisions might not be on the scale of the great men, but they are of equal importance to the people we lead.

In order to lead well, we must look at what all godly leaders do to lead well.  Whether in good or bad, each day we must begin with prayer and time in God’s Word.  The Word is the lamp unto our feet and the light unto our path.  Prayer is where we connect to God and seek His will and way for our decisions.  We must also be attuned to the presence of the Holy Spirit.  We are promised that the Spirit will give us all we need.  Lead well today.  Lead well from a place walking hand in hand with God.  Lead well.

Scripture reference: 2 Samuel 23: 1-7


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Draw Near

There are two primary factors that define who we are: what we surround ourselves with and what we take into ourselves.  Some of the things we surround ourselves with are the people we spend time with, the places and events we go to, and the activities we engage in.  What we take into ourselves includes the things we read and listen to, the things we look at and watch and surf to, and the conversations we choose to be a part of.  These are all things that influence our decisions and things that become our thoughts, ideas, and opinions.

Our two primary options in what we surround ourselves with and what we take in are God’s wisdom and the world’s wisdom.  If we surround ourselves with immoral people, we tend to do immoral things.  On the other hand, if we choose to surround ourselves with Christian people, we tend to engage in godly activities.  If we spend time in the Word, we are built up and grow in our wisdom of God.  If we instead surf for illicit pictures online, we fill ourselves with lust and evil thoughts.

We face these decisions all the time.  Although God is always pursuing us, so is the world.  Even though the Holy Spirit is right there speaking into our heart and mind, the deceiver is right there whispering in our ear.  We make decisions each day that either draw us closer to God or further from God.  Sometimes the choices to fill ourselves with the things of God and to surround ourselves with others making the same choices are difficult.  God promises to draw near to those who draw near to Him.  Draw near to me today, O Lord.  Draw near.

Scripture reference: James 4: 1-8


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Wisdom

The author of proverbs parallels the characteristics of a noble and good wife with wisdom.  Through the way this wife manages her household and through how she conducts herself, she is revealed as one full of wisdom.  Her wisdom is shown and revealed in how she lives out her life.  The writer knows that the goal cannot be to simply obtain wisdom but that it must make a difference in our lives and that it must be lived out.

Wisdom is to be lived out in several ways.  The wise one goes to work, acts with kindness and common sense, spreads justice and mercy, and serves and honors those around them.  Wisdom cannot be passive but must be active and must engage the world around us.

There is much wisdom in the Bible.  Jesus and many others offered lessons on how we are to live our lives and how we are to live out our faith.  By spending time in the Word, we gain wisdom.  Once we learn something though, it is just the beginning.  It only becomes ‘real’ and useful when we apply it to how we live our lives.  Once we do this, we in turn grow wiser in our daily decisions.  This is one way we allow our light to shine in the world.

We must be in the Word daily.  There we find the gems that help us to walk our path of salvation in a way that is a little more aligned with God’s plans for our lives.  As we gain and live out God’s wisdom, we bring honor and glory to God.

Scripture reference: Proverbs 31: 10-31


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Hearers and Doers

We communicate in many ways, often without words.  People can easily pick up on our mood just by watching our facial expressions.  The things that matter most in our lives are revealed by the priorities we use to allocate what we do with the free time we have.  We can express ourselves with words as well, but James makes the case that our actions speak louder than our words.

As an individual and as a community of faith, we should have an active faith that shows our beliefs by how we live out our lives.  Simply by observing how we treat others, how we offer ourselves to those in need, and how we handle the adversity that life brings should reveal our faith.  It is often through these observations that we gain the social capital necessary to share the good news of Jesus Christ with another.

Many will gather today in worship.  If a person were to observe your worship today without being able to hear any of the words or the music, would they see joy and praise in you?  Would they see one who is happy to be in the presence of God and one who is lifted by the experience?

As we gather together today for worship, we have much to offer each other.  Today we will have the opportunity to hear the words of life.  It is a choice to listen to and to engage these words so that one can grow in their faith and holiness.  It is a choice to allow the word of God to take root and to continue to ponder how it affects our life as we go through the week ahead.  May we receive what God has to offer today so that we become doers of the word defined by the Word and led by the Holy Spirit.

Scripture reference: James 1: 17-27


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Listen Well, Go Forth

Jesus was the Word made flesh that lived among us and gives us new life.  As we read and meditate on the Word found in the Bible, as we hear and ponder the Word proclaimed in sermons, devotionals, and books, and as we take in the nudges and whispers of the Holy Spirit, God is planting the Word deep within us.  He plants for one purpose: to bear fruit.

James advises us to be quick to listen.  When our ears are seeking to hear the Word of life, we hear a lot better than when we are focusing on the things the world tells us.  Listening takes practice and focus, so not only must we focus on the Word of God, but we also must practice on hearing the Word of God.  Practice makes perfect!   In our active practice of listening, we come to define and refine what we believe and how to best live out our faith.

James is clear that we cannot stop at the listening phase.  We must go on and do what the Word says.  We must take in the Word of God, allow it to sink deep roots that nourish our soul, and then go forth to live out its teachings.  James mentions looking after the orphans and widows, but this is just one of many areas that we can share God’s love with others.

James 1 closes with this tidbit: “keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”  Polluted is an excellent choice of words because that is exactly what happens.  The more we focus on the world, the less we are able to focus on the word.  Only one letter separates ‘word’ from ‘world’.  It is easy to blur the lines and end up living in the world instead of in the Word.  Each day may we look to God, spend time in the Word nourishing our souls, and go forth to bear fruit in His world.

Scripture reference: James 1: 17-27


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Stand Firm

When life is going well we feel that God is with us, watching over us, guiding us, blessing us.  We feel the God of love’s presence and offer up thanksgiving for His role in our life.  When life seems a little bit sideways or the struggle comes to our little corner of the world, then often we wonder where God is.  The answer, of course, is that He is just as close in the trial as in the smooth sailing.  But for some reason our natural inclination is to assume God has abandoned us when life gets challenging.

Paul encourages us to put on the full armor of God.  By doing so we will be able to stand firm in times of trial.  The fully prepared Christian has truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and God word.  To put these on means to use and train with them each day as a Roman soldier would with his shield, sword, and armor.  If one does not train and practice daily, one is not fully prepared when the challenge arises.  We need daily practice of the disciplines of faith so we are strong and ready when the battle comes our way.  If we are diligent each day, we will be ready all the time.

When the waters get a little rough it is not because God has left the building.  It is because Satan has entered and stirred up the waters a bit.  In this moment we can flex our spiritual muscles and fall back on our training.  We can draw strength from God’s promises of salvation and peace.  We can gird ourselves up with truth and righteousness.  We can live strongly in our faith.  The full armor of God will allow us to withstand the devil and put him to flight.  Stand firm in the full armor of God today!

Scripture reference: Ephesians 6: 10-20