Kindness: Wait for It

Posted on February 4, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

And YHWH said to Moses, “Go up into the mountain and wait [lit. be there] . . . — Exodus 24:12 (HN)

– Henry Neufeld

When I was in the Air Force we frequently heard the saying “Hurry up and wait.” You see, the powers that be, however little more power they had than I had, wanted people to be ready to receive commands. They weren’t too worried if you had to sit around and wait for them. When they should up, the key thing was that they wouldn’t have to wait for you.

Today I took a scripture fragment that is smaller than I usually use for a devotional. As I read this passage today in the New Revised Standard Version, the word “wait” struck me. It’s literally “be there.” Moses was ordered into the mountain to “be there” for God. Down in the camp the people were ordered to wait.

After Moses waited, God came a spoke to him.

In our modern world we’re always in a hurry. We schedule everything. I’m as guilty of this as anyone else, or even more. I like things to start on time. I like them to end on time. When we’ve taken up the scheduled time, you’ll catch me glancing at the clock, thinking about what I’m going to do next.

But sometimes you have to spend time with God. Sometimes you have to wait. That’s not easy for us to do.

We’re not waiting because God doesn’t have time. He has all the time in the world-literally! So why doesn’t he just hurry up and bring stuff to us? Why doesn’t he answer my questions now? I’d certainly like that!

Unlike my Air Force superiors, God is not impatient. God doesn’t need you to be sitting there on a mountain somewhere so he doesn’t have to wait for you when he gets there. The fact is that no matter how much we like to avoid the issue waiting can be good for us.

So think about your life. Is there a time when you can go before the Lord, whether in your prayer closet, at your desk, on the beach, in the mountains, at your church, or anywhere God might call you to be, and just be there? Can you wait for God without a schedule? For many of us that’s hard, very hard, but we need to look for those times.

It’s likely you’re really waiting to be ready to hear what God says, and when you’re ready – there he’ll be, right where he was all the time. But if you’re watching the clock, instead of waiting for God, it will be very hard for you to be ready for Him.

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Kindness: It is Right

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

But you are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and didn’t forsake them.       Nehemiah 9:17 (WEB)

I love the criminal investigation TV shows. I love the forensics and am “old school” when it comes to stories. I like the good guys to wear white hats and the bad guys to wear black hats. In other words, I like the story to be clear on who is “good” and who is “bad”. I want the criminal to end up in jail.

“But I have rights!”

Yes, criminals do have rights and usually get more than the victims do (or did).

God calls me to a higher standard. Not “what are my rights?” but “what is more loving?”

Do I have the right to snap back at the sarcastic clerk in the store? Yes, but is it loving?

Do I have the right to pretend I do not hear you? Yes, but is it loving?

As I have been studying the kindness of Jesus this week, I did not think how being polite also goes with kindness. It does and Jesus is polite.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me.        Revelation 3:20 (WEB)

Remember Jesus with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus? Our resurrected Lord and King did not presume that He was welcome to join the disciples for their evening meal and rest. Only when they urged Him did He agree and enter in. Jesus had just died for them and yet waited for an invitation to spend more time with them. (Luke 24)

Jesus waits to be invited into my heart. Jesus calls me by name. (John 10:3) Before I call Him, He answers. (Isaiah 65:24) I am given a seat right next to Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6) When was the last time someone pulled out a chair for you? My son asked me once why he should pull out a chair for a woman or stand when she comes in the room. “Respect” is what I told him. Jesus must have respect for me. Do I deserve it? No. But Jesus is my Groom. He wants me to be His Bride and He wants me to feel like His Bride. Too often at this point in my personal, internal ‘discussion’ I rush on by but today I am stopping and just sitting quietly as I receive Jesus’ love; feel His arms around me. Quiet.

It is only when I have accepted and received Jesus’ love that I am able to give that love to others. Jesus wants me to give His love. I am showing who He is primarily by how I act with others. Paul said in Colossians that I should make the most of the opportunities I am given to be kind to others and so to show them who Jesus is. (Colossians 4:5-6) When I am kind to someone (even if they are not), I honor Jesus. It is not about my payback. It is about my love and desire to love Jesus. I am right when I am kind…just like Jesus.

Note: Today I am pleased to announce the first edition of the webzine, Bible Study Paths.

The purpose of the Bible Study Paths webzine is to promote enthusiastic Bible study in the individual, small groups, and the Church at large.

There will be articles written by evangelicals, charismatics, pentecostals, liberals, conservatives, and those who cannot (and will not) be put in any of those categories. The views will not always reflect my personal views but I hope they will make us all think and consider why we believe what we do. And I hope they will always “leave us loving God and each other more” (Alden Thompson, Walla Walla, WA, professor and friend).

I hope you find some blessings there.  — Jody

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Kindness: All the Way to the End

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

– Henry Neufeld

6As for me, I am already being poured out on the altar, and the time of my death has come upon me. 7I have completed the great race. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. 8The crown of righteousness is now waiting for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me in that day, and not to me only, but to all who love (and value) his appearing.        2 Timothy 4:6-8

It’s easy to read this passage with sadness, and a sense of melancholy. Paul has worked tirelessly and suffered as he worked for Jesus. He has helped so many people. Yet here he is almost alone at the end of his life waiting for the end that is coming soon. He has remained faithful to the end, finished what God called him to do, and now he awaits the crown. It’s easy to skip past that last point. While there is sorrow, there is also joy.

Those who know me may be surprised to know that I used to run fairly long distances. I never ran a marathon, but I would run between 10 and 20 miles in a week, sometimes 3 ½ miles, frequently 5, and even up to 10 miles on rare occasions. Now it will surprise nobody to know that I was never very fast. No speed records were in any danger. But what I could do was finish the course that I had set out for myself. There would be a time during any run that I might feel like turning back. I was too tired. Perhaps I should make today one of my 3 ½ mile days rather than the longer distance I had planned. In order to keep going I would give myself a certain distance to complete before I decided. Another half mile, I’d think, and then I’ll make the call.

As long as I resisted that temptation, things would settle in, and soon I would get into that groove where I was just running along and the particular distance didn’t matter so much. Toward the end I would need some particular will power again. Then I would tell myself that it would be silly to end a five mile run at 4.8 or 4.9 miles. If I intended five miles, I should complete it. Especially if it was one of those rare days, and I was going for 10 miles, I would be very anxious to truly complete every inch of those ten miles, and to make sure that my speed could still be distinguished from a walk!

There was joy and satisfaction in coming to the end of that course. Doing a little bit of running has helped me understand Paul here. Certainly there is sorrow in this passage that so few have stood by him. Yet at the same time there is that “final stretch” energy and joy that says, “I’m practically there.” Paul loved Christ’s appearing. He was anxious for it.

We all have a race of this life, and sometimes it seems long and difficult. But there are two things that can move us forward, and get us to the joy of finishing the race. First is the appearing of Jesus Christ our Savior. That is the final goal, and it is a joyful one. Second, we can remember to look for those moments of joy when we have completed a significant part of the race. “Lord, help me to keep looking up and keep moving forward until I complete my work of the day.” It may be days, weeks, or months at a time, or it may be minutes sometimes.

But in each case there is a goal that you can reach, and there is a reward that you can earn, and there is a Savior who will be right with you.

13Temptation has not grabbed you, except the common human kind. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will make with the temptation a way out, so that you will be able to endure it.       1 Corinthians 10:13

If you’re feeling that joy of the successful runner today, share it with someone else. Let them know who is with them in their race. If you’re having trouble yourself, look up and ask.

Posted in 1 Corinthians, 2 Timothy | 2 Comments

Kindness: The Power

Posted on February 1, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

Do you think about the kindness of Jesus? Some might think that ‘kindness’ is a wimpy or weak word that does not fit with Jesus. I think that kindness is a strong, powerful word because it takes a deliberate choice and extra effort to be kind. An act of kindness does not usually happen in an off-hand, accidental way.

When I read about Jesus and how He interacted with people, He went beyond the minimum and really connected with a person, showing the kindness of His heart and, in turn, the kindness of the Father’s heart. Jesus broke down walls of pain, bitterness, and despair with the power of His loving kindness.

In Matthew 9 (beginning with verse 20), we are told of a woman who has suffered for twelve years. Maybe she had a diseased like AIDS. She was ostracized by society. She had spent all she could with the medicine known and still was weak, even dying. We don’t know why she turned to Jesus. Desperation probably played a part in it. Do you see the kindness? Jesus stopped in mid-stride what He was doing and where He was going and turned to this woman. He could have kept walking, after all she was healed without ‘interfering’ in His current plan. But Jesus stopped. He wanted to identify the one who had received the healing. There was something more to be done. Jesus had a message to give. He called the woman … daughter. No where else in Scripture does Jesus call someone … daughter. For the rest of her life, she would know her name, given to her with extravagant kindness. More than her body was healed on that day.

In Luke 19, we are told the story of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was the IRS agent who had turned against his own neighborhood and made money off his neighbors by ‘cooking the books’ to collect more taxes. He was hated. Jesus could have glanced at Zacchaeus up in that tree, nodded to him, and went on His way. Jesus didn’t. Jesus called Zacchaeus out, in front of all the neighbors, and then chose to eat, break bread, with him. Jesus let it be known that He was about second chances. Zacchaeus recognized that and responded to that kindness by making a change, repenting, and receiving more than he imagined. More than his neighbors loved him that day.

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.         Titus 3:3-7 (NIV)

I can see the kindness of Jesus every day if I am looking. An email from a friend who says she is praying for me especially that day. How did she know that I needed the prayer and needed to know that God knew I needed the prayer? A peace in my heart in a difficult situation as my mind, miraculously, turns to God and I know that He was there waiting. He was not surprised in the situation and present in the lives of those involved before I even knew there was a need. That is such loving kindness. In the weakness of my day, it is the strength of Jesus’ kindness that sustains me and holds me securely in the assurance that He has turned His eyes on me and done more than I could imagine. Jesus: Savior, King, Lord, and, yet, gently kind.

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Hope: Redemptive Reality

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

– Henry Neufeld

12I am thankful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, because he has considered me faithful and appointed me to serve. 13In the past I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent, but I received mercy, because I did these things ignorantly as an unbeliever. 14But our Lord’s grace flowed over me lavishly, with faith and love that are ours when we are part of Christ Jesus. 15This word can be trusted and should be accepted: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the primary example. 16But I received mercy so that in me Christ Jesus might first show his inexhaustible patience as an example of who are going to come to faith in him for eternal life. 17To the eternal king, incorruptible, invisible, only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.       1 Timothy 1:12-17 (HN)

Sometimes it’s hard to tell by the way we talk and behave, but Christianity is really a very optimistic religion. All that sin stuff seems to be such a downer. Why can’t we just talk about all the wonderful things we’re going to do through God’s power?

Paul is telling us who he is now in Jesus Christ. He has been given strength, called to service, and made an example for other believers. But he is constantly aware of where he was before, and how he was redeemed. When grace makes us part of Christ’s body, then his grace can flow through us to the world. If we disconnect from the source, we’re going to find that things don’t work so well.

When I was separated from the church for a number of years after seminary, I was quite properly called a skeptic. A friend who knew me during those years asked me once what had changed. “Did you suddenly become more gullible? Did your doubts go away?” he asked. “No,” I said. “I still doubt just as many things as ever. I’m simply a skeptic saved by grace.”

In fact, I am constantly aware of the weaknesses of many arguments for the existence of God, for why one should trust what one learns from scripture, and the failures of the church as Christ’s body. I could spend all my time on those issues, and I would still be a skeptic in the more classic sense of the word. But I am a skeptic saved by grace. Christ’s grace flows over me, and I hope through me to others. I have to confess to being the truest of true believers—no matter how hard I try to doubt God’s grace, I still feel it flowing over me.

I think that’s the state Paul is talking about. He’s ever conscious of “Paul without Christ.” But he lives as “Paul with Christ.” He never gets to the point where “Paul without Christ” is a good guy, worthy of eternal life, and capable of living on his own. For all those things he needs to be “Paul with Christ.”

Now we frequently take mundane things from the physical world and use them as metaphors for spiritual things. But I want to do the reverse. Let’s take this redemptive core of Christianity and apply it to our daily lives.

Each of us is both a loser and a winner. We’re losers on our own. We’re winners by God’s power.

Today many will be saying “thank God it’s Friday” and talking about it. What is “it?” I’m talking about the moments of regret for things that haven’t gone right during the week. I find that even in a very good week, I can find a list of items that I wish I had done differently. Jody is used to hearing it. “It was a good week, but . . .”

So the question is how are you going to look at yourself. Will you be defined by your failures? Will you be a sinner, or will you be a saint? The difference is going to be in the way you look at it. You can wallow in those failures, or you can live your daily life in a state of redemption, always going back and applying grace to the errors and the failures, but not being afraid to thank God (and pat yourself gently on the back!) for the successes. As long as you have that attitude, you will be able to go forward.

You’re an imperfect person in an imperfect world. Live in redemptive hope!

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Hope: Daily Nutrition

Posted on January 28, 2010 by Henry Neufeld

[If you received this devotional from Wednesday, January 27, 2010 twice, please accept my apologies.  This (and the similar copy from the 28th) are the result of a server change.  The change is now complete.]

[God said to Joshua,]“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous.  Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.  Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”                                       Joshua 1:6-9 (NIV, my emphasis)

I pray that everyone reading this devotion is a part of a fellowship that has leadership that will teach/preach God’s Word with His Truth that encourages us and yet, challenges us that there is ALWAYS more! There are NO shortcuts to being a disciple of Jesus Christ.  It is a personal choice every day to prioritize my day so that I will spend time with Lord, meditating on His word, and serve the Lord that day in the way HE directs.

God speaks to Joshua as he takes up the mantle that Moses has worn as the leader of God’s people.  I would imagine that Joshua is scared and overwhelmed.  I would be.  Wouldn’t you?  And so what does God say to His leader?  What ‘secret to success’ does God reveal to Joshua?

1) Be careful to obey.  Do not be ‘clever’ or ‘smart’ in your own mind but follow the rules that God has laid down.  Remember how God told Joshua to win at Jericho?  How they were to march around the well-fortified city in silence for days?  I think they received some humiliating yells and taunts from the ones on the wall when all they did was march in silence and then leave!  Each one had to make a choice to be obedient and not “turn to the right or left” by responding to the taunts and thus be disobedient.  God keeps repeating to Joshua to “Be strong and courageous” as we must be when God tells us to DO something that will displease the crowd.  Yes, we must be careful – to obey God!

2) Meditate on God’s Words.  This ‘secret to success’ no easier than the first.  Taking time – taking the priority time of my day to sit and be quiet and allow God to teach me is difficult.  My family, My work, My responsibilities push their way in and pull me in six different directions.  Am I willing to admit that I really AM nothing and AM weak without God to direct me and show me His wisdom?  Am I willing to admit that without God’s grace and mercy that I would give up?  I MUST SPEND TIME WITH GOD EVERY DAY! And I will say to you today that I believe that must be at the beginning of each day!  Yes, this is Jody who is NOT a morning person. I am get up in the morning and choose to give God the FIRST part of my day.  And I am being blessed with more joy and strength for the day than I can describe!  God is faithful!  God’s Words are more precious than gold and more fortifying than the best whole grains!  Every day I receive something new from God’s Word.  Everyday God faithfully gives me the ‘nutrients’ I need for the day.  “Give me this day my daily bread…” and God does. How great is that?!

3) Turn to God first. Whatever comes in your day, give God praise for the blessings and let Him be the first on your lips when you need to call for help. There is nothing in the day that He cannot handle and will not walk before you into the storm. He is good in calming storms!

Therefore, I plead with you my brothers and sisters, keeping in your mind the great mercy God has extended to you, offer Him your whole self as a living sacrifice that is holy just as He is holy and pleasing to Him. This is the best way to worship your Lord.  Do not be like the world but choose to make a change as you renew your mind in the mind of Christ. Then you will be able to assess and agree with the will of God – His excellent, satisfying, and perfect will.  Romans 12:1-2 (my paraphrase and emphasis)

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Hope: Given or Taken?

Posted on January 28, 2010 by Henry Neufeld

[If you receive this twice, please accept my apologies.  This site was moved to a new physical server overnight.]

– Henry Neufeld

You have walked in your sister’s path,
And I will put her cup in your hand. Ezekiel 23:31 (HN)

What do you do when you see someone else fail? Perhaps it’s a coworker who doesn’t complete a project on schedule. Perhaps someone in your church has made a serious mistake or has fallen into sin. Perhaps it’s another church that has split up. Someone has fallen, and you hear about it. What do you do now?

Our verse speaks of just such a situation. If you need something encouraging and uplifting this morning, don’t read Ezekiel 23. It’s one of those judgment chapters. God is speaking to Judah through the prophet Ezekiel. Nearly a century and a half before, the northern kingdom of Israel had fallen to the Assyrians. Now Judah was under attack. During the intervening time, Judah had behaved very much like Israel, and now while the Babylonians attacked, they were continuing that behavior.

There had not been universal mourning in Judah over the fall of the northern kingdom either. Israel and Judah were rivals, and unfortunately spent a good deal of their resources fighting one another. But the main issue of Ezekiel 23 is faithfulness to God, and in that, both kingdoms behaved in much the same way.

So what do you do when someone else fails? I can think of four major responses.

First, we treat it as a topic of gossip. A juicy rumor is passed around the workplace. We talk to one another, find as many people as we can, and collect more details. “Do you know what so-and-so did?” “No, what?” The chatter goes through the office. Nobody benefits from it, because everyone is too busy enjoying the failure of another.

Unfortunately, churches and families often work in the same way. Rumors are passed on and grow without anyone stopping to pray for the person in trouble, or to ask themselves, “Could that be me?”

Second, we treat it as a time for judgment. “That wicked person, ______! People like that shouldn’t be allowed in the workplace/church/community. I hope he gets fired! I hope he goes to jail!” Again, we learn nothing from the event at all.

Third, we treat the downfall of others as an opportunity. “The First Self-Righteous Church split!” says the pastor of a rival church. “I hope we can pick up some of the members that fall by the wayside!” And don’t think this is limited to churches. If your coworker fails, does that open up an opportunity for advancement to you? If your sister falls out with your parents, does that mean more attention and approval for you?

Fourth, let’s consider what our verse would suggest. God tells the people of Judah that because they have followed their sister’s path (the northern kingdom of Israel), they are coming to the same destination. The same thing is going to happen to them.

And that’s what we often fail to consider in our own lives. When somebody else falls, that fall is the result of a course of action, of a path they followed. Their destination was the place that path was headed. Now I’m not encouraging gossip here. Let’s endeavor not to hear any more bad about other people than we absolutely have to. But when the consequences are laid bare for all to see, instead of gossiping, judging, or gloating, we need to do a foot check—check carefully where our feet are, and where we’re going.

I try to do this when I hear of a church leader who has fallen into sexual sin or engaged in financial improprieties. Can I be tempted to the same sin? I would be very foolish to assume that I was immune from temptation! Am I doing anything that opens me to such temptation? If not, I can praise God for that, and pray for the person who is in trouble. If there is any weakness, any opening for sin in my current path, it’s time for a correction.

The same path will lead to the same destination every time. If you follow it, you’ll get to the destination. Check your path!

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Hope: Has Arrived!

Posted on January 26, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

– Henry Neufeld

And God saw everything he had made, and it was very good! There was evening, there was morning, a sixth day. — Genesis 1:31 (HN)

Sometimes when things are going bad, as they often do in this world, we find ourselves complaining about the way things are. We’re not complaining about God, we tell ourselves (and everyone who will listen). It’s all the devil’s fault that the world is so messed up, so it’s OK to complain. We can complain about the devil all we want!

But God saw everything he made and it was very good! Now someone is certain to be about to e-mail me to remind me that I’m quoting a text that comes before the devil messed it all up. It was good back then, but it’s not all that good now!

This is the day that YHWH made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it! — Psalm 118:24 (HN)

The heavens are making God’s glory known
The dome of heaven declares his deeds! — Psalm 19:1 (HN)

It looks like God thinks there’s still some good in this creation of his. He still thinks we can learn from it, and he still thinks there are things for which we can praise him.

It’s easy to become a pessimist, to be just a survivor in this world, hanging on for dear life until God steps in and cleans up the whole mess. Some Christians face life on this earth like concentration camp inmates, surrounded by a fence, guarded by demons, not quite daring to hope that their deliverance will come within their lifetimes.

But while we should be homesick for heaven, while we should remember that we are strangers and pilgrims here on this earth, we should also remember that we are the King’s children, living in the world that he made, and that he is the one who is in charge.

Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1-2 and applied it to himself (Luke 4:18-19):

The spirit of YHWH God is on me, because YHWH has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind those who are broken, to announce release of the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind.
To announce the year of YHWH’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort those who mourn. (HN)

That’s the day that God has made—the day of deliverance. But it’s also every day, because God has brought you and me deliverance. While we are strangers here, waiting for our homeland, we are free strangers, who have access to the king. We are the ones who know how things really are.

So if you’re seeing the devil’s world out there, filled with nastiness and things to complain or to worry about, how about a little recovery of sight? In God’s world, the one Jesus came to proclaim, those fences that the devil has placed around your life aren’t there. The devil wants you to think they are the reality, that you have to live in sorrow and failure.

Jesus proclaimed release. It has already happened! This is the day that YHWH has made. Not tomorrow, not a decade or a century or a thousand years in the future. This is the day.

If you are living in pessimism, if the devil has you surrounded by barbed wire fences, and has you convinced you have to stay in the mud until some day in the future, will you ask God to open your eyes and let you see the good world, his world, the one where you are free? If you already know that freedom, will you let it fill your face, and spread out over your coworkers today? Will you “proclaim . . . recovery of sight to the blind?”

Posted in Genesis, Isaiah, Psalms | Comments Off on Hope: Has Arrived!

Hope: For I Am A Sinner

Posted on January 25, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

Out of the depths I have cried to you, Yahweh. Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my petitions. If you, Yahweh, kept a record of sins,Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, therefore you are feared. I wait for Yahweh. My soul waits. I hope in his word. My soul longs for the Lord more than watchmen long for the morning; more than watchmen for the morning. Israel, hope in Yahweh, for with Yahweh there is loving kindness. With him is abundant redemption. He will redeem Israel from all their sins.        Psalm 130 (WEB)

There are many commercials on TV for depression and medication to help this illness. Depression has plagued my family for generations. It is the snake that quietly slithers in the back door and before I know it – there is a nest of vipers in the living room of my life. God’s promises are the beacon of hope that drives the snakes out. These snakes only want to live in shadows and darkness. It is in depression that I hear a voice inside my head beating me with everything that I have ever failed or thought I failed. I relive situations that I see no end and no solution. It runs over and over in my head like a recording stuck on rewind!

God’s promises are the rock foundation where I can confidently build my sanctuary. Take a few moments and read the words of Psalm 130 again.

I acknowledge where I am and Who has the power to bring me out of the pits when I call. That is the beginning of freedom. It is at that point that I see the truth of my sins and how great and holy God is. I fall to my knees asking for His mercy. The chains that bind me in my pits of depression are chains that the enemy wants me to believe can never be broken. They are chains in which I must exist. Hogwash! There is no weapon made that our Creator can not destroy! He is our Lord and King and Healer!

If my mind is filled with thoughts that bring me down, it is time to reach out my hand – weak though I may be – and touch the Hand of the One who is Hope. Fill my mind with Jesus’ words. Think on who always loves me. Sing the songs of His promises and His truth.

These next words make me wonder if Paul, too, knew something about depression:

“Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!” Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things.         Philippians 4:4-8 (WEB, my emphasis)

Today I choose to think about these things with Jesus’ help.

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Salvation: My Story … Your Story

Posted on January 22, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

There are some great stories in the Bible of God’s saving grace. From Noah and his family’s lift from the flood to the many that Jesus pronounced free of their sins; free of their disease, God has come into the lives of His children to save them.

Each of us has a story to tell. The story is never small if it involves God. Jesus said we were to be His “witnesses”. A “witness” testifies to an event or has personal knowledge of an event or person. Some stories read like the disciples walking on the road to Emmaus. Jesus has always been a part of your life. He has been a steady companion and then there are some moments on the journey when Jesus becomes very real and revelation illuminates your relationship with Him. Other stories are more like a wrestling match between the world and God and, make no mistake, a choice must be made. The choice may be a surrender where you hand over ‘your way’ and accept Jesus’ way. The choice could be a Damascus road event where suddenly a situation or moment dramatically brings you to the place where you must choose because Jesus becomes so very real to you. And there are stories that fall in every space between those noted!

My parents raised me in a home where God was a visible part of the home. My mother taught me prayers as a very young child. My father set the example that church attendance was as much a part of our week as dinner every night or the Ed Sullivan show every Sunday night. I remember on one occasion that I was ‘too sick’ on Sunday morning to go to church. The truth was – I did not want to go to church. So I did stay home but I also spent the entire day in bed and had only chicken broth and white soda for meals. My parents were making a point: too sick to attend church – to sick for any other activity – including a decent meal! I did not make that mistake again until I went away to college and made my own choices and lived with them! My parents did not talk about their faith but faith was a part of their lives. I remember my mother going to ‘her chair’ and praying every night before she went to bed and other times when there were crises. The day her father died she sat in her chair for a long time that night, praying. My father had a closer walk with God near the end of his life. He was diagnosed with cancer and had always been such an active, in control kind of man. I sent him a Living Bible after his diagnosis. He never spoke of it but my mother told me he read it all the way through before he died. The Last time I spoke to him on the phone I said that I would “see you later, Dad, in heaven with Jesus”. He said, “OK, see you then”.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God. He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love. By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.      1 John 4:7-12 (WEB)

Let us be open to opportunities that come our way to share our story with others. Let us listen to His Spirit as we tell others about the Father’s extravagant love for His children.

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