O Give Thanks to the LORD!

Posted on November 26, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD.

The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD

Proverbs 21:30-31 (NIV)

Growing up in my relationship with God isn’t like growing up as a human child. The main reason is that my Heavenly Father is the perfect parent. His love is wider and higher and deeper than I can imagine. Opening my heart up to the healing of God’s love is part of growing up. It is accepting that my heart does need healing. It is accepting that I am not the perfect child. It is accepting God’s love ANY WAY! God loves me now with my Imperfections and His healing love helps me to turn away from my sins and walk closer to Him.

That being said, God is pleased with my ‘baby steps’ that move me closer to Him. He rejoices when I desire to spend time with Him talking, reading, and listening. He welcomes me with open arms when I come to worship Him – inside His temple AND outside the temple in everything that I do. When I do my job – my everyday, paid-by-a-company job, to the best of my ability, God is pleased with that. I give a good day’s work for a day’s wage. I set a high standard of integrity and commitment to my profession. God is pleased with His child.

All my ‘victories’ come because of God’s extravagant love and mercy. He is there to lead me through difficult days and nights. He is there to carry me when my steps falter and I even fall. His hand is strong but gentle. His discipline is firm but kind.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. We will spend so much time cooking and eating a bounty of God’s blessings. How wonderful to take some time before the feast to thank God for all that He is and all that He does. The food isn’t going to go any where – let us not be in a hurry to pick up the fork and knife! Let us instead take a few extra minutes to just offer God more than a token ‘thank you’. Let the giving thanks come from our hearts. Maybe even a tear or two will fall on our folded hands as we think about how very much we are loved by our Creator, our LORD.

With all my heart I praise you, LORD.

In the presence of angels I sing your praise.

I worship at your holy temple and praise you for your love and your faithfulness.

You were true to your word and made yourself more famous than every before.

When I asked for your help, you answered my prayer and gave me courage…

You, LORD, will always treat me with kindness. Your love never fails.

You have made us what we are.

Don’t give up on us now! Psalm 139:1-3, 8 (CEV)

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God is Enough

Posted on November 25, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Matthew 19:21-22 (NIV)

Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. Luke 22:60-62 (NIV)

God has been speaking to me a lot these last 10 years about growing up. It has been in my spirit many times in these last few weeks and so it has been a topic in these devotions. For the last eight years I have received the encouragement and discipline from God first…and then passed it on to you! J

Growing up is an adventure. It can be exciting. It can be painful. It can be those things for both child and parent! Strangely enough, today my thoughts as I read Scripture were not about me! It was about God and how He was looking at the rich young ruler in Matthew’s gospel, Peter in Luke’s gospel, and me in my story.

God gave me free choice. I believe it was the wrapping on every gift He has given me – from salvation to His wisdom. I have free choice to take His gift…or not. I have free choice to be obedient to His will and plan…or not. He must stand back and let me make that choice. He cannot and will not make me do anything.

Standing back and allowing my brothers and sisters in the Lord, even my children, choose God’s path without my – dare I say it? –interference – is not easy. If God is about free choice and wants His children to grow up then for me to step in – no matter how good the intentions – is disobedient and not God’s will for my life nor the one I love. But it is so hard! A good friend said true words when she admonished us to utilize “maximum prayer – minimum contact”!!!

September 21, 2004 will be a day forever burned into my life. Hurricane Ivan had blown through our home town leaving massive destruction in its wake. We live in a trailer and so we had stayed with friends for almost a week. On this day, we returned home to 50% power but grateful we had a home! We returned home in time…for our son, James, to die. I remember this day specifically because after battling cancer together for the past five years, I had to step back and watch James make this final part of this journey…without me. Maybe I caught a glimpse of God’s heart as He watched His Son make that journey to the cross alone. Maybe I could sense Jesus’ heart as He looked at Peter across Pilate’s courtyard. Maybe I can learn about the Father’s love as He watches me struggle with a sin that I do not want to give up. I don’t know. I just know that it was, without a doubt, the hardest, most painful 24 hours of my life.

If we weep over those we love while allowing them to forge their relationship with Jesus in the fire of adversity as a growing child of God, may we also receive His comfort because we know that He loves even more and better than we do!

Posted in Luke, Matthew | Comments Off on God is Enough

May I be Found Among the Sheep

Posted on November 24, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all of his angels, he will sit on his royal throne. The people of all nations will be brought before him, and he will separate them, as shepherds separate their sheep from their goats. Matthew 25:31-32 (CEV, my emphasis)

This Scripture is well known, I suspect, to anyone who has sat through more than 50 sermons in their life time. At some point, most of us have been admonished to remember that Jesus will come and He will judge us all. He does not say He will judge us on our accomplishments that are recognized by our world standards nor will He judge us by what we do that is recognized by our church standards. The ‘sheep’ and ‘goats’ in this Scripture passage are in fact both puzzled by what they are judged…what they did to the least, those who stand not on pedestals but on the side of the road, inside prisons, and live in places that none of us want to visit much less live. There is where I will find Jesus.

There is a church in my home town of Pensacola, FL. It is a small church. It is not in a ‘nice’ section of town. It has less than 50 members. Last week, they fed 500 people a pre-Thanksgiving feast…for free. Every morning they feed the homeless breakfast from 5:30 – 6:30 a.m.

“Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.” Matthew 25:40 (CEV)

Pleasing God is what most of us want to do. We ask God to show us how we can do that and we make it complicated by thinking it has to be ‘the right prayer’ or ‘the right program’. It has to be huge and flashy. It’s not. It’s about opening our eyes and ears to the opportunities that God puts in our paths to just obediently serve the least and do it so that it glorifies God – not ourselves!

“When you give to the poor, don’t let anyone know about it. Then your gift will be given in secret. Your Father knows what is done in secret, and he will reward you.”

Matthew 6:3-4 (CEV)

Jesus says that those that I serve may come from any nation. Jesus has children in all nations. Jesus has children in need in all nations. Jesus will judge me…it is not for me to judge other children.

A man on the side of the road with a sign and I feel my eyes pulled to his situation. God may say to give him money. He may say to go buy him some food. He may say open an opportunity for the man to work and earn some money.

I hear of a ministry in a local prison. Will I come and offer a Bible study? Is this my comfort zone? What will I say? Am I willing to allow God’s Spirit to inspire me? It is about God speaking and God healing…I am just His messenger and servant.

God brings my attention to a newspaper article about this ministry that serves the poor. Is He calling me to volunteer? Is He calling me to pray? I mean a real commitment to remember this ministry and pray every day for the people serving and those being served.

No matter who I am and what limitations I may think I have…God has a way to use me if I am willing. It is about God touching my heart and showing me His compassion and love for His children. Oh, my Lord, use me that I may please you through loving and serving Your children.

Posted in Matthew | 1 Comment

Sheep, Shepherd, or Both

Posted on November 21, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

20Thus says the Lord YHWH to them, “I’m the One, and I will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21Because you pushed the others around with your flanks and your shoulders, and you went after the weak ones with your horns until you scattered them all over the place, 22I will save my flock, and no longer be prey, and I will judge between one sheep and another. – Ezekiel 34:20-22

Ezekiel 34 is often regarded as a passage addressed to shepherds, and it certainly gives those who are in leadership a great deal to think about. But there is an aspect to our Christian doctrine of “the priesthood of all believers” that often escapes us: You are at once, both shepherd and sheep.

Sometimes we despise being called sheep because it’s so demeaning. Sheep are pretty stupid. They will follow a leader right to the slaughter. But at other times we kind of like the designation. If we’re sheep it’s up to someone else to find us spiritual food, to see that we’re comfortable, and to make sure we arrive in heaven safe and sound.

But the Bible doesn’t only call us sheep. It calls sheep shepherds. There are ways in which you are to be like a sheep, such as in your trust in the shepherd of all our souls, Jesus Christ. But you also have responsibilities, to yourself, and to other sheep.

This week I’ve been meditating a bit on Matthew 25:31-46, the sheep and the goats. There are many lessons one could get from that passage, but I do notice that we prefer the idea of sheep being separated from goats to sheep from sheep. Why? Because in that story, we like to think of ourselves as the sheep! Scriptures always apply to other people, don’t they? They couldn’t apply to me!

But if you’re complaining about how you are being shepherded, and you’re not actively doing something about it, you may be in for a sheep vs sheep judgment. God is going to judge between the sheep, the fat ones and the thin ones.

The question may be just like the one in Matthew 25. There Jesus talks about taking care of the physical needs of others, but what about the spiritual needs? Are you more concerned with how much the person down the pew is getting from the church service than about yourself? Are you wondering if your Sunday School class serves the needs of the other members, or are you just ready to complain about the low quality of the teaching and go home without bothering to do anything about it?

We are all both sheep and shepherds. We all have a responsibility for one another. God is going to judge based on that responsibility. Matthew 25 focuses on the physical. Ezekiel 34 emphasizes both together.

I found some statistics this week via a fellow Methodist’s blog, and while they are not very surprising, they are damning:

What do you know about God?  What have you learned about Jesus Christ in the past few weeks?  How readily can you apply what you learn to your daily life?  Recent research into the learning patterns of United Methodist adults indicate that these questions are irrelevant.  Four-out-of-five UM adults (80.4%) report “little” or “no” interest in Sunday school, Bible study, or small group formation experiences.  Two-out-of-five (39.1%) claim that believing that Jesus Christ is God’s true son is enough — since they have a guaranteed spot in heaven, they don’t have anything else of value to learn.  An additional 48% believe that attending weekly worship is adequate, and that there is no need for any other formational experience in their lives.  “Boring” is the number one word or phrase associated with Sunday school (among all adults), and “fellowship with friends” is the number one reason adults attend Sunday school classes.  Those adults who attend Bible studies find them “interesting” and “informative,” but only 1-in-6 (17%) report finding practical information that applies to their daily lives.

So what about you? Do you want more formation than just a moment of accepting Jesus? How much? Are you willing to take up those shepherd responsibilities and help to make things better? I’m quite certain, as a teacher, that I often fail to reach the people I teach. Are you going to come tell me not only when I miss, but also just what it is that you need? And maybe, just maybe, God is calling you, personally to fix some of the problems by getting up and teaching!

Let’s not just be whiners – let’s be doers. That’s the only way to handle this “sheep vs sheep” judgment.

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Opportunity to Serve

Posted on November 20, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who minister at night in the house of the LORD.

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD.

May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion. Psalm 134 (NIV)

I have been having dreams recently. And recently I have been awakened in the night praying for someone. This is a new season for me. I t has happened before and I admit to you that in the past I have been less than happy about disrupted sleep. This time I am humbled and grateful that God would give me a second chance to serve in this way.

Middle-of-the-night prayer is very Holy Spirit directed. My fleshy filter is ‘off’ and my heart travels wherever God wants it to go. Prayers are very intense and tears are plentiful but in those moments I feel God’s presence intimately. He is STRONG and FAITHFUL! The prayers end at God’s feet where the burden for the person is left in God’s hands with the assurance that God never sleeps and willingly releases His blessings 24/7.

Prayer that often perceived as complicated conversation with God is ordered by Paul to be done “continually”. (1Thess. 5:17) To do that would certainly lower the stress level of any given day! It may also increase the ‘weird’ assessment of people who know me. Most people think ‘aliens’ are weird, don’t they? As I learn to pray continuously, the conversations become easier as conversations do between best friends.

Prayer, as Jesus shows me in John 17, is direct and beautiful in its simplicity. Jesus shows me that it is the Father with whom I speak. If my earthly example of ‘father’ makes my prayers uncomfortable or stiff, then Jesus shows me the openness and love that is there for me to discover as I grow in my relationship with the Father.

Prayer is a time for speaking to God and listening to His wisdom and truth. If I am unsure that the words I hear are from Him, I have only to check what I heard with the words He speaks in the Bible. His present words will agree and line-up with the words and precepts He has spoken.

Give praise to the LORD!

Give praise to the name of the LORD; give him praise, you who are God’s servants and serve in His house, the kingly residence of our God!

Give praise to the LORD, for He is excellent; sing your praise to his name, for he is satisfying.

Psalm 135:1-3 (my paraphrase)

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God loves me…this I know…now.

Posted on November 19, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.  For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.  And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Romans 8:12-15 (NIV, emphasis mine)

Paul says that we have an obligation…a moral debt…to live as we are led by the Spirit of God. We are not to live as our flesh and our own will would have us to live.  That is asking for our sinful self to step off the path and into the pit!  I am God’s child when I live as He leads.

A very wise and Godly man recently told me that he gets up in the morning and begins his day with God in prayer and thought because he must.  This man used to be involved with drugs and alcohol.  “I know God could take away that desire that I still have for drugs and alcohol but because He has not I start each day with Him and tell Him, ‘Today, God, I chose not to drink.  I chose to go Your way.’  Maybe that is God’s plan all along!”    That just may be.

Notice that Paul says that we did not receive a spirit that makes us a slave again to fear.  Yes, I had MANY fears before I began to realize that I am God’s child and how much He loves me.  My realization came, not when I gave my life to Jesus, but later – when I realized and accepted that God loved me!  A parent can tell a child and show a child that they are loved and still the child may feel unloved.  Why?  Because the child doesn’t love herself (himself).  If I don’t see myself as worthy of love, then I will always be fearful that God and any person that I love will walk away from me.  I have no security!  I am fearful.  It took me what seemed to be a long time to look at God and see how He looked at me with love.  It took building a relationship that brought trust and truth and love.

O Lord, you have looked me over and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I stand;

You know my thoughts and fantasies.

You know my going out and when I lay down;

You are real familiar with all my habits.

Before I say a word — You know the whole sentence, Lord.

You’ve “got my back” — and my front

You have laid your hand on me.

That is too unbelievable — Too “out there” for me to grab.

Where could I possibly escape your Holy Spirit?

Where could I escape your presence?

If I’m in a good mood and having a great time — You’re there!

If I am in the pits — You’re there!

If I say “I can hide in my room, in the closet, in the dark,

You can’t see me.”  Even the dark isn’t dark to you.

The night is like day.

You created me, body and soul;

You put me together inside my mom.

I thank You for making me so awesome and so perfectly complicated.

Your creations are AWESOME, I truly know that.        Psalm 139:1-14 (my paraphrase)

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Time to Grow Up

Posted on November 18, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. James 1:2-8 (NIV)

I would call the temptation of sin a ‘trial’. In this world, I “face trials of many kinds” and some of those trials involve familiar sin, something that is a weakness for me. God is trying to build strength in my faith! James calls it “perseverance”. I persevere not to sin. I choose to say “No!” I may have to say “No” every day…maybe more than once a day. It will grow me up!

Avoiding temptation cannot be done with just my will. I don’t have the strength alone to do that. I must make some changes.

  • I must seek God. This has to be the priority of my day. If I am battling a sin in my life, then my day must begin and end with God. I have to get myself out of bed in the morning before work and whatever other pressures are going to come in my day and spend time with the One who does have the strength and wisdom to make it through the day.
  • I need the discipline of a weekly Bible study. Frankly, this isn’t always easy to find the right “fit” but that cannot be the excuse that keeps me away from this piece of what helps me receive from God what I need.
  • James said that I must believe in what God is giving me and telling me to do. I must focus on my relationship with God…not man. Here is a life-change. Learning to live my life for God and to please God. I may disappoint people with my choices. I may choose a path that does not have ‘successes that man recognizes. If my eyes are on God, I will be a ‘success’ in His eyes doing Kingdom work…that begins with changes in my life. I cannot be a witness for others until I allow God to change me.

James ends this passage of Scripture with some tough words about being double-minded. I always thought of it as ‘fence sitting’. I was trying to be Jesus’ disciple while still walking to the world’s tune.

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 1 Peter 2:11 (NIV)

Here I am – warring against sin. I choose to be ‘weird’ by filling my life with God and about God and for God. Jesus said that when I clean my house I need to fill it with something or the demons will come back in abundance and worse than before! (Luke 11:24-26) Pay attention, Jody! If you kick sin out of your life you need to fill that empty space with God!

Let us GROW UP! Let us allow God to lead us to maturity that brings strength to our faith for the days ahead.

Posted in 1 Peter, James | Comments Off on Time to Grow Up

Where is God?

Posted on November 17, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

(Reprise from November 20, 2006 because I needed to read this today! – Jody)

YHWH you will arrange well-being for us.

Though in fact everything we have done,

You have done for us.  — Isaiah 26:12

One of the sillier questions we ask from time to time is this:  Where is God?  Why isn’t God doing anything?  I think I can call this question silly, because I’ve asked it myself from time to time.

First it’s silly because I wouldn’t be able to ask the question if God wasn’t busy.  One of our standard misconceptions about God is that when God does something via a “law” he is somehow less involved with it.  But what we observe as the law of gravity, for example is simply what we observe about God’s constant will for how objects are to move in relation to one another.  Because God is infinite he doesn’t have to divide his attention, so he can be directly concerned not only with sparrows falling, but with every electron that has to move through my computer as I type this.

Nothing is too small for God’s concern, and nothing is too large for him to handle.  What follows from this is that nothing whatsoever happens without God’s involvement.

But this passage takes us in another direction.  Sometimes we think we can run away from God and “just do things ourselves.”  But the fact is that there is no independence whatsoever in this universe, because, again, God is involved with everything.

One of the more interesting variants of this idea is explaining miracles.  We think that if we can find a way in which people can accomplish the miracle, then God didn’t really do it.  For example, the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 has been explained by suggesting that when the first boy produced his lunch, other people began to dig out their lunches and share.  Now it happens I don’t think that’s a very workable explanation, but even if it was, it still represents God in action:  Everything we have done, you have done for us!”

The problem is not finding something that God is doing, it’s simply acknowledging that God is in action and getting involved ourselves.  Most of the problems with God’s silence are problems of perception—we don’t see God in action because we’re not looking at the right place and in the right way.  Once we realize that even what we have done, God has done for us, we can start finding the right way of looking at things.

And what is that?  The right way of looking at things is to search for how God is involved rather than asking whether God is involved.

As the Psalmist says:

7Where can I go from your spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

8If I ascend into the sky, you are there.

If I descend to Sheol, you are there.

9If I rise up on the wings of the dawn,

Or pitch my tent at the farthest shore of the sea,

10Even there your hand will guide me,

Your right hand will keep hold of me.  — Psalm 139:7-10

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Are You a One Talent Christian?

Posted on November 14, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

24But the one who had received one talent came and said, “Lord, I knew you, that you are a hard man, harvesting where you didn’t plant, and gathering where you didn’t scatter.  25I was afraid, and went out and his your talent in the ground.  Look, you have what is yours!” 26But the lord answered him, “Wicked and lazy servant!  You know that I harvest where I haven’t planted, and I gather where I haven’t scattered?  27You should have given my money to the bankers, and when I returned, I could have received my own money with interest. – Matthew 25:24-27

I’m interested in knowing just what meets God’s disapproval. We all have our ideas on this, which often involve truly despicable and perverted behavior according to our cultural standards. But sometimes the Bible will shock us and make us stop and think.

This thought was first called to my attention some years ago when I was reading 2 Kings 17:2. It says that King Hoshea did evil, but not like the kings before him. King Hoshea wasn’t as bad as his predecessors. Why should this be significant? If you’re interested in knowing what God disapproves of, you should bookmark 2 Kings 17. It’s the chapter that tells of the exile of the northern kingdom of Israel. Hoshea, the one who was not as bad as, was the king when Samaria was conquered and nation went into exile.

Now Jesus shocks us a bit with a parable. The whole parable runs from Matthew 25:14-30. I’ve just chosen the part when the one-talent servant comes back to report. He’s worried, but at the same time, I think he feels safe. He’s been careful with his master’s money. He hasn’t stolen it. He buried it in the ground and it’s safe. No risk taker here. He didn’t know for sure that he would be successful, so he stayed at home.

But the master has no good words for his care. He isn’t thankful that his talent has been returned well-preserved and unharmed. He doesn’t commend him for taking the safe route. No! He calls him wicked and lazy. He could have, and should have done something!

How many of us think like the one-talent man.

  • We could have witnessed for Jesus, but we really don’t know how, and isn’t it better not to prejudice them? When the person who really knows how comes along, they’ll be ready to listen.
  • I have only one dollar in my pocket, or perhaps a bit of change. I’m not going to put it in the offering plate. The clink of the coins or the sight of that one dollar is too embarrassing when others are giving so much. Besides, what is one dollar against the need? So I don’t put that little bit in.
  • A Sunday School teacher is needed, but I’m not going to volunteer because people will think I’m proud and arrogant, and they’ll find out I’m pretty ignorant. The class would be better off without a teacher.
  • I could speak an encouraging word, but I don’t really know the person who needs to hear it, and I might say it wrong. So I keep silent.
  • That person up at the altar needs someone to pray with them, but I don’t want to seem pushy, and besides, any prayer is fine. I’ll just stay right here and nobody will know.

One talent Christians—or no talent Christians—in our own minds. We think we’re being humble, thoughtful, and careful.

Unfortunately for us, Jesus thinks we’re being wicked, lazy, and useless.

This isn’t about doing big things and great things. It’s not about doing what everyone else thinks you should. Other people can burden you with things God hasn’t called you to do. Jesus is talking about the talents he gave you.

I think that if you listen for the Holy Spirit, you’ll know when you’re truly being wise and careful, and when you’re busy hiding that talent in the earth.

Posted in Bible Books, Devotional, Lectionary, Matthew | Tagged , | 1 Comment

My Sin . . . God’s Love

Posted on November 13, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Romans 2:1 (NIV)

OUCH! Just to be clear here: Paul says that when (not if!) I pass judgment on someone besides myself, I have no excuse for doing it because I do the same things!

The ‘therefore’ comes because in Chapter 1 Paul has just told me that all of us are guilty of sins. Yes, me. The list of sins is because we are evil and wicked. We are in need of a Savior.

They want what others have, and they murder, argue, cheat, and are hard to get along with. They gossip, say cruel things about others, and hate God. They are proud, conceited, and boastful, always thinking up new ways to do evil.

These people don’t respect their parents. They are stupid, unreliable, and don’t have any love or pity for others. Romans 1:29-32 (CEV)

Yes, I can find myself in this list. Paul is the master debater. He knows how to bring me into his net of truth step by step. He begins with the ‘they’ and lists general terms and quickly comes closer and closer into specific areas that ‘they’ – oh, no, that’s me too! Paul doesn’t bring on his perfect debate just to convict me and he doesn’t condemn me. He wants me to recognize my sins and see the need for a Savior. Paul does not want me to despair. That could happen if it was only about God’s law and His holiness. I would quickly be overwhelmed by how great my sin and how wide the gulf between us! It is about God’s love and His plan to save me.

I was created to have a relationship with God above all others in my life. Is that a hard or troubling concept? My relationship with my husband and my children is beyond words to describe. It would be superfluous of me to say that I would give my life for them. And there is where the tears come to me. GOD feels the same way about me! How do I know? Because He did die for me! He did it to save me from certain and final death. He did it so I would live!

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