God’s Grace and Peace to you!
As we look outside our windows, we will soon be seeing new growth occurring. As the earth shakes off winter and spring emerges, leaves on trees will be budding. The song of birds will fill the air. Planting of fields and gardens will take place.
This time of re-birth reminds us of our baptism – of how we each are re-born in the waters of our baptism. Unfortunately, there are those who are skeptical of baptism’s power. They wonder how water can do such wonderful things. The power to cleanse, however, lies not solely in the water but combines with the Word. God’s Word gives the water of baptism the power to cleanse us from sin.
The Bible reminds us of how Jesus, the lamb of God, taught us how we could be in a world that turns its back on God. Jesus spoke to us about how to live and love through the Sermon on the Mount. He started with the beatitudes and continued to practice what he preached about loving our enemies. Jesus prayed for those who plotted to have him crucified as well as those who beat him, rejected him. Jesus prayed for those who drove the nails through his hands and feet as well as those who taunted him as he was crucified. He prayed for them, loving them even if they did not love him back!
When we read the Bible, we are grabbing onto a power line that connects us to a potent power source. God’s Word in the Bible has the same power as the Word that he used to create and sustain the world as well as everything on it and in it. It has the same strength as the Word that Jesus used to bring Lazarus back from the dead.
God’s Word brings us to faith and will continue to sustain you. God’s Word is not only free; it’s reliable because it endures forever. God’s Word gives us a new life; it gives us a new attitude towards others. As water and the Word have purified us, we are free to love one another with a sincere love.
But it is not just us and God’s Word. We are to help others know and live in God’s Word as well. And this is done by starting with prayer – but not stopping there. Use the Word to mold help attitudes and actions. Connect others to God’s Word and it will change lives.
God’s Word is powerful, but it doesn’t do us any good if we don’t stay in it. If there is one thing that you want to make a priority of doing, make it one of staying in and sharing God’s Word and you won’t be sorry that you did
In Christ!
Pastor Bakker
22 Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual affection, love one another deeply from the heart. 23 You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. 1 Peter 1:22-23 (NRSVUE)