Salvation: Sharing

Posted on January 21, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

– Henry Neufeld

1Again he began to teach beside the sea, and a substantial crowd gathered around him, so that he got into a boat that was in the sea, and all the people were on the land by the sea. 2And he taught them in many parables, and here’s what he said as he taught them: . . .  — Mark 4:1-2

In churches today one of the key problems people have in sharing their faith is getting an opening to talk about it.  Jesus didn’t seem to have that problem.  He would appear and people would crowd around him to hear what he said.

In our passage today he simply stops by the sea, and enough people gather around him that he needs to get into a boat and teach from there, with the crowd gathered around the sea shore.

I could say many things about why it would be that people would crowd around to listen to Jesus.  He engaged their attention.  He healed people.  He challenged them.  He was a light in a very difficult time and place, especially when teaching in Galilee.

But there was something about Jesus that can be imitated by every Christian who wants to share his or her faith.  Jesus was how he was.  He was genuine.

I’m going to make a few suggestions.  Please don’t use these to simulate being a Christian witness.  Making an “evangelism” face may allow you to talk about your faith, but unless your face is genuine, and presents the real you, you’re lying.  People are interested in the genuine.

But for those folks who have allowed society to steal a part of them, because “we just don’t talk about religion” or “you don’t want to be too pushy,” or “you don’t know enough to talk about Christianity,” I do have some suggestions.

1.     It’s not about being pushy.  You don’t want to be pushy.  When you push people, you push them away more often than not.  Your faith should have the same place in your conversation that it does in your life.  For most things, this is easy.  I have no problem keeping my baseball talk normal.  My stepson is a pitcher, and I like to watch his games and talk about them, so you can expect me to bring them up in conversation.  If you’re not interested in baseball, I’ll back off.  But we’ve been told by one group of people that we shouldn’t talk about our faith at all, and by another group we’ve been told to push it.  Give your faith the same place in your conversation as you do in your life.

2.     Allow your life to talk.  Behave like a follower of Jesus, and people will want to know why you are like you are.

3.     Stick with your experience and your testimony.  My experience and testimony includes a good deal of theology, Greek, Hebrew, history and such things.  Thus my conversation about my faith will include those topics.  For most people, those are not topics that are central to your life. If your faith consists of “I love Jesus!” and not much theology, don’t push beyond your knowledge and experience when sharing.

4.     Be alert for the call and opportunity to learn more and to deepen your faith.  Your experience may be “I love Jesus” now, but you may want to add some more knowledge as well.  Let the Holy Spirit guide you.

5.     Make it all genuine.  Don’t share your faith because you have to get someone to go to church, or you feel compelled to lead them to Christ.  Share your faith because it is your faith, and it’s important to you.

6.     Be aware of the person you’re talking to.  Communication involves two people.  How much you talk about your faith to a particular person depends on how important it is to you, but also on how interesting it is to them.

In Mark 4, Jesus goes on to talk about planting seed.  I’d suggest reading the parable and stopping at verse 9.  Don’t go forward to read the explanation that Jesus gave (verse 13ff).  Just think of all the applications and lessons that might be possible from this little parable.  Make a list.  Experience this parable as the disciples did, with a time for reflection and questioning after they heard the parable but before Jesus applied it.

Posted in Mark | Comments Off on Salvation: Sharing

Salvation: The Alternative

Posted on January 20, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

“Your own wickedness shall correct you, and your backsliding shall reprove you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, and that my fear is not in you,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies. “For of old time I have broken your yoke, and burst your bonds; and you said, ‘I will not serve;’ for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself, playing the prostitute. Yet I had planted you a noble vine, wholly a right seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me? For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me,” says the Lord Yahweh.       Jeremiah 2:19-22 (WEB)

Take a moment and read this Scripture again. How does it make you feel? I want to duck my head then just be done with it and get down on the floor. I feel – the Fear of the Lord. Holy Fear.

Too often thoughts of God reduce Him to the size of the print in my Bible or pictures of James Caviezel on my television. (He played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ.) God holds oceans in the palm of His Hand. God knew me before I was conceived. He has no end to time or space. Am I beginning to get a more realistic picture???

The alternative to living without God is hard for me to consider now. The confusion and chaos of my life as it was is not a place I like to revisit. But I see it every day.

From April 1999 to September 2004, I lived an intimate life with cancer through my son. I met many people who were also on similar journeys. Some people walk the journey with God – some did not. Fear walked the halls of the hospital, far outweighing disease in strength.

This life’s journey is not easy. It goes into places of uncertainty where fear lurks in shadows and even behind seemingly pretty scenes, just waiting to pounce, especially if I have chosen to walk alone. Snipers do not go after convoys. They pick off the one walking slightly apart from the Body.

I command you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom: preach the word; be urgent in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with all patience and teaching. For the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but, having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables.       2 Timothy 4:1-4 (WEB)

Even after making the decision to choose and declare Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, the temptation to take that life with Him for granted is there waiting to slip in. Plateaus in my spiritual life are not for resting but dangerous ledges where it is easy to slip off into my own religion. This is where I build a doctrinal structure that feels good to me and supports the way I want to live. It is a cushy pond of quicksand!

My spiritual life is living branch on Jesus’ vine. (John 15) It bears fruit when I allow the Father to prune, irrigate, and fertilize. He brings excitement and life into my spirit. The Spirit of God is the Comforter but He is not always comfortable. He brings the Truth of God that exacts discipline, encouragement, and prevents the mold of this life that allows those insidious roots of bitterness and decay to form.

Posted in 2 Timothy, Jeremiah | 3 Comments

Salvation: I Tried So Hard!

Posted on January 19, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the Law of Moses.      Acts 13:38-39 (NIV, emphasis mine)

Paul knew the Law. When I read through the Old Testament my eyes begin to cross as I read chapter after chapter of God’s laws, written to bring His children closer to Him. If I focus just on the commandments, as outlined in Exodus 20, I can create pages of lists that will come under those initial ten. Jesus reminds me that the Law began with “Do not kill” but He said “anger” is just as deadly a sin! (Matthew 5:21-22) Paul puts “jealousy” in the same line with “witchcraft”. (Galatians 5:19-21) It should be no shock that Paul states that trying to follow the Law is doomed to failure.

I have broken all Ten Commandments. The darkness of my sins had me blindly running through life. I tried drinking to anesthetize the pain, confusion, and weight of being totally overwhelmed by situations in which I had no solutions. I tried to fill my life with ambition and fill the hours of my day with anything that would keep my mind from acknowledging the Truth that kept popping up in my path. I was a mess!

When I finally – grudgingly – began to listen and read my Bible (because I saw the radical change in my children – they witnessed to me!), I decided, “Why not?” and began to fill my mind with God’s Words and not my own. Jesus massaged my hard-shelled, battered heart with His words of wisdom and love. And when the question was posed one night, “Will you dedicate your life to Jesus? Will you choose Him above everyone and everything else?” I could not stay in my seat. The One who loved me without any conditions was holding out His arms and He has been holding me every since.

For me, Jesus’ love, the extravagance of it, came first. My fist Holy Week, after accepting that I needed Jesus, I must have cried 40 gallons of tears! I saw for the first time what Jesus did for me. I heard the weight of my sins fall on Him as He cried out, “My God, why have you left me?!!” He did it all for me.

Salvation through Jesus Christ is simple. I am the one who made it complicated for myself. Jesus had been waiting over 40 years for me to take His hand and make our relationship intimate and eternal. Now that is persistence and patience!

Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?
Yahweh is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers came at me to eat up my flesh,even my adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell.
Though an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.
Though war should rise against me, even then I will be confident.
One thing I have asked of Yahweh, that I will seek after,
that I may dwell in the house of Yahweh all the days of my life,
to see Yahweh’s beauty, and to inquire in his temple.            Psalm 27:1-4 (WEB)
Posted in Acts, Psalms | Comments Off on Salvation: I Tried So Hard!

Salvation: Fullness of the Sacrifice

Posted on January 18, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

Stop being proud! Don’t you know how a little yeast can spread through the whole batch of dough? ?Get rid of the old yeast! Then you will be like fresh bread made without yeast, and that is what you are. Our Passover lamb is Christ, who has already been sacrificed.?  So don’t celebrate the festival by being evil and sinful, which is like serving bread made with yeast. Be pure and truthful and celebrate by using bread made without yeast.         1 Corinthians 5:6-8 (CEV)

-Henry Neufeld

This passage is one of those that compares Jesus, the Lamb of God, with the Passover lamb.  We often use this imagery as Christians, but do we take to heart what the imagery suggests about the sacrifice that was made for our redemption?

If we examine the context of this passage we see that Paul, in writing to the Corinthian church, is dealing with a case of terrible immorality.  Instead of dealing with the problem, repenting, and cleansing themselves—or being cleansed—of the evil, the Corinthian believers were proud.  Some of them, it seems, were celebrating their freedom, by behaving immorally.  Others were accepting this behavior and were even proud of it.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they congratulated themselves on how accepting they were.

But in using the illustration of the Passover in connection with our redemption, Paul points out some very important things about the sacrifice of Christ.

1.    The first Passover was a time of purification.  Only those who submitted themselves to God, and followed the directions for the Passover were spared from the hand of the destroyer.  In the same way, when we accept Christ as our savior, it is not merely an assent to a set of doctrinal statements.  It is not just a transaction that alters or wipes out a record.  It is an act of submission to God.  When we accept Christ, we say, “I’m not going to follow my agenda any more; I’m going to follow God’s as presented through Jesus Christ.”
2.    The first Passover was a time of liberation.  Many Christians live their entire lives at the point of accepting the sacrifice of Jesus for them.  Their Passover lamb has been sacrificed, but they don’t move on to the next step.  If the Israelites had behaved as we often do, they would have had a powerful Passover experience as their firstborn sons were saved from death, but then they would have gone on living in Egypt.  Next time you read the story of the Exodus, and you feel inclined to criticize the Israelites for their lack of faith at the sea, consider whether you yourself have even left Egypt and started the walk to the sea.  Has your congregation taken that step?  The liberating sacrifice has been offered.  Have you accepted it?
3.    The first Passover was a time of preparation.  The Israelites were told to be ready to leave at any time.  They were to have shoes on their feet and walking sticks in their hand.  Do we get our walking shoes on when we think of Jesus Christ, our sacrifice?  Is our time spent at the cross a time of preparation, or is it just a time of rest and relaxation?  It’s good to rest, but when we rest we prepare also for action.
4.    The first Passover was a time of celebration.  The Israelites were told to remember how God had liberated them in this ceremony every year.  They were to get together to worship and to commemorate this event.  They were to tell their children what God had done for them in the past.  They were to do all of this in the same attitude as at the original Passover.

When we think of the sacrifice of Jesus as our Passover lamb, we remind ourselves, that the Christian life is not a point in time.  Walking with Jesus is a journey—a lifetime journey.  We need to constantly purify ourselves, seek and accept God’s liberation, prepare for action, and celebrate the things that God has done for us.

As Paul was reminding the Corinthian believers in our passage today, it does matter how you live.  It does matter what we allow in our congregations.  We are witnessing to what the Lord has done for us.

Are we celebrating with leavened or unleavened bread?

Posted in 1 Corinthians | 1 Comment

Grace: Comes Full Circle

Posted on January 15, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

– Henry Neufeld

When Jesus and his disciples had finished eating, he asked, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than the others do?” Simon Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, you know I do!”
“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus said.  Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you!”
“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus told him.  Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus had asked him three times if he loved him. So he told Jesus, “Lord, you know everything. You know I love you.”
Jesus replied, “Feed my sheep. I tell you for certain that when you were a young man, you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will hold out your hands. Then others will wrap your belt around you and lead you where you don’t want to go.”  Jesus said this to tell how Peter would die and bring honor to God. Then he said to Peter, “Follow me!”        John 21:15-19 (CEV)

Jesus had found the disciples on the shore of Lake Galilee.  They had gone back right to where they had started.  They were out fishing on the lake.

I would feel very discouraged if I had taught a group of folks for more than three years, expecting them to take up teaching when I left, and then found that at the first opportunity in my absence, they went back to their old profession.

Jesus doesn’t respond in frustration to people in that way.  Jesus patiently leads people back to the path that he has tried to set them on.  He’s here to remind Peter—along with the rest of the disciples—of what their mission is all about.

Jesus doesn’t talk in terms of respect that they are to show him.  He doesn’t ask them why he has to fix breakfast when he visits a bunch of fishermen.  He doesn’t scold.  But he does question. “Peter, how important am I to you?  Do you really love me?”

Do you ever hear Jesus asking you that question?  “Do you really care about me?  Do you care about the gospel?  Are you thankful that I came and died for you?  Does that thankfulness extend beyond an hour of church time on Sunday morning?”

Our human hearts would lead us to ask, “Well, Jesus, how much time do you want me to spend in church?  Is two hours good enough?”

I suspect that Jesus would ask again, “Do you love me?”

Jesus doesn’t want our love counted in hours in church, or in time spent in Bible study, or in the various things that we like to do that make us feel good and pious and righteous.  He doesn’t want love that is calculated at all.  He gave incalculable love to us.  What is the proper size of the response?  All those things, Bible study, church going, fellowship, listening and meditating, are things that we would do just to be near him—if we loved him.

Coming to the point of love that is a real response to the sacrifice of Jesus will mean that we no longer count and calculate the time we spend with him.  Jesus didn’t talk about the time Peter spent or should spend with him.  Jesus looked at it very differently.  “If you love me, care for the ones I love.  Feed my sheep, feed my lambs.”  John, in his first epistle puts it this way:

But if we say we love God and don’t love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don’t love the people we can see?   The commandment that God has given us is: “Love God and love each other!”                                       1 John 4:20 & 21 (CEV)

John got the message that Jesus was giving to Peter.  It’s not how good or active we look.  The activities we do to be in the presence of Jesus are just the result of love’s desire to be with the object of love.  We long to be with Jesus.  We don’t count the hours.  If we are counting the hours, perhaps there is something wrong.

Jesus asks that we have an active love for those he loves; that we share his heart for other people.

“Do you really love me?  Will you feed my sheep until it costs you what it cost me?”

Posted in 1 John, John | 2 Comments

Grace: Fulfillment May Take Time

Posted on January 14, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

— Henry Neufeld

Brothers, speaking of human terms, though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been confirmed, no one makes it void, or adds to it. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He doesn’t say, “To seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “To your seed,” which is Christ. Now I say this. A covenant confirmed beforehand by God in Christ, the law, which came four hundred thirty years after, does not annul, so as to make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by promise.         Galatians 3:15-18 (WEB)


I’m not interested so much in the details of interpreting this text but in the story behind it.  Probably 1800 years before the time of Jesus, God made some promises to Abraham, telling him that all the nations would be blessed through him.  As Paul points out in this verse, this promise didn’t see its fulfillment until 1800 years later when Jesus came, bringing the blessing of God’s forgiveness and reconciliation to the entire world.

For a small child, a wait of seconds can be a long time.  They ask for something, and when it doesn’t instantly appear they start to cry.  As we grow older, we get more patient.  I can wait for hours for my food!  For other things we wait much longer, but still we think that months or years is a terribly long time, even though it’s clearly in our lifetime.

But 1800 years?  That’s a long time.  And what if it doesn’t look like anything is happening?  What if it seems like something completely different is taking place?

After Abraham comes Isaac, and for years his wife Rebecca is barren.  When they finally do have children, one of them wants to kill the other.  Jacob has to flee the land of promise.  When he finally is back and has children they are driven by a famine to Egypt where they serve as slaves.

If you lived under slavery in Egypt, you might easily ask God, “When is the promise coming?  We seem to be heading in the wrong direction!”

So God brings his people out of Egypt and gives them a long and complicated law.  It takes serious effort for many of us to see what God was doing with Israel by giving them that law.  Now there is lots of deep meaning in it, but it takes some effort to understand it, and we know from history that many Israelites didn’t really get it.

If you were living in Israel in the time of the judges, while the people forgot God for generations at a time, you might have asked God, “What is going on?  Where is the promise?  Have you failed?

So we come to the ups and the downs of the kings.  David does great things, Solomon builds the temple, but even during his reign Israel starts to deteriorate.  For every king faithful to God there are several who are not.  Hezekiah reforms the nation, and then Manasseh takes it into greater sin that it had ever experienced before.

If you lived during the days of Manasseh, you might have asked God, “Don’t these revivals ever last?  What are you doing?  Where’s your promise?  How long do we have to wait?”

Then would come Josiah, and his reformation, less than a hundred years later.  “Great!  Now we’re getting there,” you might tell yourself.  But soon Josiah dies, Judah falls into even worse sin, Jerusalem is taken and the people go into exile.

If you’re an Israelite sitting in Babylon during the exile, you’d probably ask God what he was up to.  Has the promise failed?  Are we ever going to get there?

Then the people return from Babylon.  Now they’re ready to keep the law, but they’ve lost their sense of mission.  They’re happy just to live in Judea and keep themselves apart from the world.  This situation lasted for around 400 years.

If you lived during that time, you might ask God whether there was any way that his people could be ready for the savior to come.  What about the promise?  Will it ever be fulfilled?

Many of us are at one of these points.  We’ve lived through ups and downs in our ministries and in our churches.  We’ve seen revivals, and then we’ve seen them fade.  We’ve expected the soon coming of Jesus and then we’ve been disappointed.  We know that God has said that the gospel will be preached in all the world and then the end will come, but we just don’t see it happening.

Count on it!  Just as the promise to Abraham has been through detours, and even now is awaiting its final fulfillment through the lordship of Jesus Christ, so all of God’s promises will accomplish what God has sent them to do. Count on it!

Posted in Galatians | Comments Off on Grace: Fulfillment May Take Time

Grace: Fill Me Up!

Posted on January 13, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was bestowed on me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.     1 Corinthians 15:9-10 (WEB)

“I am what I am”. Oh, that I would wake up every morning and say that, knowing that what I am – I am because of God’s grace. And I would be joyful in that “I am”. I believe I have found a new wake up call for myself! And whatever work I do that day, I do because of God’s grace. There is no glory for me. It all belongs to God.

God’s grace is a faucet that is bursting to flow over me every day. It is a fresh spring of God that He wants to fill me so that I can leak over everyone I come in contact through the day. Walk through Walmart or Target and drip a ‘grace smile’ or sprinkle a kind ‘grace word’ on someone. It will cost me nothing because God promises that His grace is sufficient for me.

Remember Paul’s confession of the “thorn” that he asked God three times to remove? God said His grace was sufficient for Paul’s torment. I never thought about the strength of God’s love in my life. Whether my ‘thorn’ is a life circumstance of disease, loss, or a relationship, God’s grace can be what I need to live – and live abundantly.

A psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.
He renews my strength, He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.
Even when I walk through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.
You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.         Psalm 23 (NLT)

Surely, LORD, Your unfailing grace will pursue me. I do not have to beg or look for it. When I am with God, His grace is there in sufficient quantities for whatever is in my life.

I am what I am today, LORD, because Your sufficient grace is with me. Thank You, LORD.

Posted in 1 Corinthians, Psalms | Comments Off on Grace: Fill Me Up!

Grace: Paul Preached It! And Then Preached It Again!

Posted on January 12, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. You didn’t anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”           Luke 7:44-48 (WEB)

It has not left my mind about how much of Paul’s letters had ‘grace’ at the root of the message. I have been reading over some of those letters in the last 24 hours. I hope you will take time to read over these chapters, too:

Romans 5 and 6

Galatians 5

Ephesians 2

Philippians 2

I am going to offer two reasons that ‘grace’ was on Paul’s heart when he wrote.

1) Paul was responsible for the death of many Believers (later known as Christians) and the persecution of countless others. He had to live with that knowledge. How often do you think he met a brother, sister, cousin, spouse, etc. of someone who had crossed paths with Saul of Tarsus? How did he look into their eyes? Like the woman who wept at Jesus’ feet, Paul had received grace and mercy in abundance. Like me, Paul continued to receive grace – extravagant, undeserving love – from His Savior. I believe Paul wanted others to know the power of this gift in their own lives. He knew that whatever they had done, God’s grace was enough to heal and set them free. Paul knew.

2) I believe Paul also saw the Big Picture and knew that if the Church did not accept God’s gift of grace, the Church would not survive. Division and factions would tear the Church in pieces if individuals did not accept the gift of grace personally and extend that grace to each other. Unity of the Spirit overflows with grace and mercy. God’s Kingdom will not be built on just our knowledge of His Law but in our knowledge of His grace. Jesus came to fulfill the Law and He did it with His grace.

I can see Paul pacing a room as he dictated his letters, tears streaming down his face, sweat pouring off his body, neither eating nor drinking as he labored to bring forth words, his witness, to the healing power of grace. Grace that would strengthen and build God’s Kingdom.

Posted in Luke | Comments Off on Grace: Paul Preached It! And Then Preached It Again!

Grace: Good Word but What is it?

Posted on January 11, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience; among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus; for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.         Ephesians 2:1-10 (WEB)

“Grace” is one of those church words that brings beautiful, soft feelings to mind. I think too often we use a word and do not consider what the word really means. And so we miss the power of that word.

Paul was a Jew who took great pride in his knowledge and obedience to the Law. He knew the chains and the ultimate failure in trying to follow the Law. Given by God, it was the beginning of the relationship between God and His children. It was the Old Testament bridge to bring sinful children closer to their Holy Father God.

On the road to Damascus, Paul came into intimate contact with the answer to his heart question, “How do I, a sinner, find a way to live in the presence of God?” Paul met Jesus and found the way – “grace”. Paul talked about grace in every letter. He brought the Word to every church in different packages but at the heart of every message was – God’s grace.

“Grace” is God’s love. It is God’s free gift of His love. Grace is love that has no conditions because if there was any condition – I would not be able to receive the gift! Grace is given because God loved us first. I cannot brag that I turned to God first or that I became ‘good enough’ to receive His love. God gave His love to me thousands of years before I was born. From the moment that Eve and Adam chose themselves before God, God chose to save me and everyone before me and everyone who comes after me. God’s love does not divide and become less with each child but instead multiplies to give the full measure of His love to each of His children.

It has been interesting in my own life and the lives of many I have met, that we have trouble accepting God’s grace. We continue to look at the love that we have experienced and determine that God’s unconditional love, grace, cannot be real. And if it is real, we cannot be worthy of such extravagance and so we turn away and live with a ‘make do’ attitude. We ‘make do’ on our own love. My love alone cannot withstand the ‘bruises and lacerations’ that come with my life and its relationships. It is only with accepting God’s love that I find love that fills me and love that spills over to others.        Enough.

Posted in Ephesians | Comments Off on Grace: Good Word but What is it?

Significant: Always

Posted on January 8, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you…”

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh; for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest”, says Yahweh: “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.”        Jeremiah 31:3, 33-34 (WEB)

This has been a week for me to remember and savor. God has patiently and lovingly showed His heart to me. It has been a time of quiet contemplation of the height, width, depth, and length of His love. (Ephesians 3:18) That kind of love is a Kingdom Builder! It is the Father healing, encouraging, strengthening, and teaching His child.

God made a covenant, an eternal promise, with us that He would put His law, His ways, in our memory and in our hearts. That is a perfect Father! That Father teaches His child with discipline that clearly states the commands of right and wrong. The Father patiently and consistently reinforces the laws to keep the child safe and give the child tools to choose wisely when the tempter comes to kill, steal, and destroy. (John 10:10) And while teaching these laws, the Father also builds a tender, compassionate, merciful relationship so that the child also learns his lessons in the heart. Obedience comes from parental consequences but also from parental love.

I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more. 21:2 I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. 21:3 I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 21:4 He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.”        Revelation 21:1-4 (WEB)

Jesus’ Good News is a message of hope and love in a world that is growing in more fear and uncertainty. As people scramble to maintain their balance (and fail!), Jesus has answers to every question. Jesus canceled every fear when He rose from the grave. Jesus’ message is strength for each day! It is a message of hope for never-ending tomorrows.

My Lord and Savior is Creator.

He is Friend and Comforter.

He is Love and Forgiveness.

He is, always has been, and will always be with me.

“…they shall all know me…I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.”

He is the Keeper of His Promises.

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