Learning to Obey

Posted on July 24, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

…“Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” Mark 5:19 (NIV)

He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this,… Mark 5:43 (NIV)

These Scriptures are from two stories of miraculous healings. The first is the demon-possessed man that ran through the tombs in the region of Gerasenes. Jesus commands the demons calling themselves Legion to come out of the man and sends the demons into a herd of pigs. The man is so overjoyed and thankful for what God has done that he wants to follow and serve Jesus. Jesus says “No” and “Go tell”. The second is the story of Jairus the centurion’s daughter who dies before Jesus can arrive. Jesus takes only Peter, James, and John with Him on this ‘mission’. He sends the wailers out of the room, leaving only the parents and the three disciples. After the child comes back to life Mark and Luke both state that Jesus ordered the five not to talk about what happened. (Luke 8:56) Matthew, however, does not say that but says that the news spread throughout the region. (Matthew 9:26) I would think that all three gospels tell the story: Jesus said not to tell but a parent would have difficulty not telling the story of how their child was restored to them! And this is where Jesus led me today.

Obedience. Using this specific order from God: to tell or nor to tell, Jesus shows that because God sees the Big Picture there are times He may tell me to speak and there are times He may say, “Be quiet!” God can see the ‘ripple-effect’ of my actions. He can see when I share what He has done in my life how Janey Smith or Louis Leech will react. God understands the timing of things. His eyes look much farther into the future than my eyes can. It is just as disobedient to testify as it is not to testify if God has not given the command. Especially in testifying I believe that when God sends His Spirit before me to touch, to ‘tenderize’ people’s hearts that will allow His word in my testimony to fall on fertile ground and grow into something bigger than I can imagine.

Remember Pentecost? Remember how the fisherman, Peter, stood up in front of Jews from all over the world, unafraid, and told them about the Living Christ? By the power of God’s Spirit, 3,000 people had open hearts to receive the Good News of the Messiah. It was not Peter’s great words but God’s great power running through Peter that brought those 3, 000 to eternal salvation. If Peter had spoke outside God’s plan, he would have died.

And then there was Stephen. He also spoke with God’s Spirit in God’s timing and he was stoned to death. God’s plan is perfect and the result will always be good. Stephen did not ‘lose’ that day. He ‘won’ his reward. When we walk in God’s will, we never lose. We only win eternity for ourselves and others.

How do we know when to speak or not? We build our relationship with God so that we know His voice and are open to His answer…not confined by our own pre-conceived idea of how God should use us and work. We build, day by day, prayer by prayer, word by studied word, until like any child, we can hear our Father’s voice amidst all the other voices in our life. Listen. Learn. Respond in obedience, “Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening.”

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Consider Carefully

Posted on July 23, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

[Jesus said,] “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you – even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” Mark 4:24-25 (NIV)

I have been told that Mark uses phrases like this starting one to signify that Jesus was saying, “Heads up! Listen up! I am about to say something really important!” I think what Jesus said next is very important. It is a principal about how I live my life. BUT I do NOT think it is about $$$ (money)!!! How many people are going to stop reading this or at a minimum are disappointed that I don’t think it’s about money?

Jesus wasn’t about money. He wasn’t about laying up treasures here on earth, was He? (Matthew 6:19) Jesus said that I was to think about my eternal bank account. Jesus wanted me to live my life with the focus being on following His example and building God’s kingdom. When I extend grace to others as God has extended to me, God says, “YEAH!” and offers a High 5! When I remember how forgiving God has been to me and I extend that forgiveness to others, God lifts me up on His shoulders! And so God will give more. God gives and gives! He gives gifts in abundance! He gives whatever I will need to accomplish His plan in abundance. Let me give a personal example:

When Henry and I got married, many were more than a little surprised because we are so very different. But God…well, He’s a good matchmaker! He was thinking about Kingdom partnerships! Henry is a visionary. He sees a big picture. He thinks in terms of the Church. I am an administrator. I am a detail person that sees the steps to make a conference happen. However, in the last nine years, I think Henry and I have both learned that our ‘gifts’ do not have hard, sharp lines of separation. God saw us as two who would become one. We have learned to work together to make something happen. We continue to learn from God on how we can grow together better! When we choose to use the gifts that God has given us – He gives more! IF we neglect or do not use our gifts – God gives them to someone else. He is not going to waste His gifts.

Every day we have an opportunity to do Kingdom work. It may be encouraging a co-worker or just listening. If you tell someone you are going to be praying for them…do it! A one sentence prayer right then can lift a person from despair and break the lie that they are alone or the only one who is having this particular problem. It may be doing that ‘something extra’ for our own family. It’s bringing home a $5 bouquet of daisies…just because…for a spouse or a child. It’s getting up from the table first and taking dishes to the washer or becoming the washer, without being told. Sending a card to someone—even an e-card! There was a woman in my church that, at her funeral, literally 100 people or more, raised their hand that they had received a card from her at a moment when no one else knew but God that they were going through difficulties. The woman sent a card and totally changed lives. Is that a gift? Absolutely! I believe that for every prophet in the Church, we need 4-6 encouragers.

“Consider carefully what you hear,” Jesus says. I want to hear what Jesus says every day. I want to hear Him and then consider carefully what His words are and how they are to move me. Consider carefully what God is saying to you today.

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Consequences

Posted on July 22, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the LORD. So the LORD sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan,… Judges 4:1-2 (NIV, my emphasis)

For the most part of my ‘early’ Christian years, I read the New Testament. I’ve never been a history buff and, generally, I am not a person who looks back. I look forward and anticipate what is to come…not what has been. So the Old Testament has never held much an appeal. But there is something to be learned from history…so that I don’t repeat it!!!

It is not always ‘fun’ to talk about consequences of our actions. No child wants to be disciplined. If a child doesn’t do their homework and as a consequence is not allowed to go to a football game on Friday night THAT is not fun! However, as much as we may not want to study this passage, learning about consequences when we want to grow spiritually means that we recognize that there is a need to mature; to GROW UP! God, our very loving Father, wants us to grow up. He does it with His never-ending love AND with consequences when we choose not to be obedient. The Israelites had been given many chances to make choices and they continued to want it their way!

I admit that I have also tried to convince myself that I do not always know what God really wants me to do. Yes I do. It’s not as complicated as I try to make it. Jesus said to love God, love my neighbor, and love myself. Everything else is connected to those two simple commands. Paul said to think about those things that are noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent, admirable, and praiseworthy. (Philippians 4:8) He also said that if I what I am doing produces “fruit” like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – then I am living my life with God’s Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23) These are good “tests” to know the “good” and “avoid every…evil”. (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22) Paul also said that he, too, knew what he was supposed to do but that he struggled not to do what he knew he shouldn’t. (Romans 7:15) Paul knew that if he just stopped trying to be so right by his own strength and in his own pride and got weak and humble – God would show forth His strength and Paul would follow God’s way.

I’ve shared the story often about my oldest son, John, when he was just a toddler. He was playing on the kitchen floor while I was cooking one day. I had something baking in the oven and John continued to want to touch the oven door. I told him “NO!” in a stern voice but he tried again. I slapped his little hand and said “NO!” once more. I turned to the sink and saw him move toward the stove once more. I knew if he touched the oven he would hurt his fingers but it wouldn’t cause a third-degree burn…so I didn’t stop him the third time. Of course he cried and looked at me with such reproach like “Mama, how could you let me do that?!!” I gathered him up and stuck his fingers in a cold ice bath and rocked him, probably gave him a sippee cup of juice until all his tears were dry. And my tears, too. I hated he had to hurt but he learned a consequence then would help him to grow and learn that there are consequences to disobedience.

Our Lord is so loving and so perfect as my Father. He wants me to grow up and grow closer to Him. He would rather that I grow through love but He is willing to use consequences so that I can become ALL that He has created me to be!

But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.

He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NIV)

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I Don’t Know How to Pray

Posted on July 21, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

26In the same way the Spirit comes to our aid in our weakness because we don’t know how to pray as we should. The Spirit intercedes for us with unutterable groans. — Romans 8:26

(This is Henry writing for Jody this morning.)

Being treated as an expert on any topic can be very dangerous, both to the “expert” and to those who regard him as such. There’s the obvious danger of pride on the one hand and of surrendering one’s own judgment to someone who is supposed to know on the other.

Someone once showed me the author’s introduction to a commentary on Revelation. The author expressed great confidence that he had solved the interpretive problems of Revelation. He had the key! “Here! This is really clear and it answers all the questions about Revelation!” my questioner told me.

Unfortunately for that simple answer, I have a whole row of books on Revelation, many of which express great confidence that the writer has solved all the problems and that the answer is quite simple, and yet no two of them agree. Confidence doesn’t equal knowledge. It’s quite possible to be confidently wrong.

As dangerous as it can be to regard oneself as an expert in an intellectual field, or to be regarded as such by others, I would suggest that there is a much greater danger in regarding oneself as an expert on prayer. I teach on prayer. I advocate prayer, individually, corporately, and in many forms. I have studied prayer for a very long time. I can be tempted to think I’m an expert. Other people can be tempted to think I’m an expert.

But on prayer I am no expert. I don’t know how to pray!

Well, says someone, hadn’t you better learn quickly? I am learning. But there is always a long way to go.

Let me illustrate. I got married late in life. I had to learn to share my living space, my life, my thoughts, and my dreams with another person. I had to learn to communicate quickly! I think I did fairly well. I can look back at some particularly obvious failures in communication. But today I will probably learn something more.

And that’s just in learning to communicate with my wife, who is also a finite human. In prayer, I am learning to communicate with God, who is infinite. How soon do you think I will be able to declare myself an expert? How soon can I declare myself “competent” at praying? I suspect it’s not going to happen very soon.

Paul had a very good point here. We think we know what we want and need. We think we know how to communicate with God. We even take it upon ourselves to judge the success of our prayer lives. “Well, God didn’t help me on that one!” we say, as though God should be faulted for failing to get on our program.

I don’t mean we should record our prayers and prayer experiences, as some do in a prayer journal. But record your experiences and read them as a record of a growing relationship, not a tally of prayer tokens inserted in the machine and answers that come out.

Prayer works if you communicate with God. That’s it’s primary purpose. You can’t be an expert at that. But you can know that God’s Spirit is there to help you in your weakness.

I don’t know how to pray. You don’t either.

But I hope we practice a lot today and every day. Let’s feel our weakness and know that the Holy Spirit is right there with us, helping us weak folks out.

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How to Testify

Posted on July 17, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

1Since many have attempted to set a narrative in order about those things that have been fulfilled among us, 2in the way that those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us, 3it seemed appropriate to me, having carefully investigated all these things from the first, to write to you, most excellent Theophilus, 4that you might know what is certain about the things in which you were instructed. — Luke 1:1-4

I’m again writing a devotional and doing it late. Jody’s schedule is rough this week. I apologize for the delay.

The teacher in me requires me to tell you that I’m not really getting this devotional from Luke. It’s just something that occurred to me while I was discussing this passage in Luke. You’ll see where I connect back to it toward the end.

When someone mentions testimonies I’ll generally think back to “testimony meetings” when I was younger. At certain meetings we would get together and everyone would give a testimony about something that God had done for them. I like meetings where we give a few testimonies as part of a larger program better. For one thing, nobody is afraid to show up because they don’t know what to say!

At those meetings and many since there would be many different types of things people would say. There would be praise for things God had done. There might be prayer requests worked in. There might be devotional thoughts. Occasionally someone would seem to be provoked into giving a testimony by what someone else said. They’d feel they just had to relate an experience like the one they heard. You could generally tell because it was repetitive, and usually referred to someone else’s wonderful testimony.

Some people feel that their testimony must be long and detailed, while others feel that it must be short—sometimes so short that it’s hard to figure out just what it was about. In some circles it’s customary for a testimony to deal with how terribly sinful you are or were, and your redemption. This is repeated over and over in different forms because anything else seems prideful. How can I talk about something good that happened? People might think I’m boasting! So we don’t talk at all.

And of course, there are always the testimony critics around, just waiting to point out that you repeated what someone else said, or that your testimony reflected pride, or on the other hand you may have dwelt too long on your failings, and “provided a bad example for our young people.”

So just how should one testify? I’m glad you asked!

First, testimony is good. It’s relating the way God has led you. It’s about your relationship with God and how that can help other people.

Second, testimony is yours. I don’t mean that it’s not about God, but it is about the way God has led you, the way he has redeemed you, and what he has taught you. (This might be you as part of a group, but it’s still from your perspective.) That means it’s not wrong to let your personality show.

Third, testimony is diverse. God has led us all in many ways and taught us many different things. The way in which you should testify is as unique as you are. When Luke wanted to testify, he did historical research and wrote a book! You don’t have to do the same thing. Just do what God leads.

Now a word to the testimony critics. A testimony is about how God is leading different people, and it is going to reflect those people where they are on their Christian walk. Unlike “critics” who have clearly obtained a sufficient height from which they can judge, the person giving a testimony is a human being with normal weaknesses and strengths. The proper response to someone’s testimony is to praise the Lord for what he has done in that person’s life.

Everything you do and say can become a positive testimony if you let God guide. Whether you are called upon to write a book or merely to smile at someone, let it be a testimony of God’s grace.

Posted in Bible Books, Devotional, Luke | Comments Off on How to Testify

Devoted to God

Posted on July 16, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42 (NIV)

I have frequently heard in conversations with fellow Believers that we would “love to see our church look like the first church after Pentecost”. We would love to attend such a church…but are we willing to do what they did?

This group of Believers came together daily. Daily! DAILY! Most of us are not really willing to do that. When our church has revival services we can’t make the priority to come every night for FOUR nights! (Sunday-Wednesday) We complain if our Sunday service lasts more than an hour. We whine (or ignore) when small group study involves ‘homework’! The words in this passage say that the Believers were devoted to the teaching. What does that mean? “Well, if we had a ‘Peter’ teaching us we would be committed and loyal to that teaching too!” There is always an excuse that can be found for not being faithful to the teaching that God has provided us! Too often it is not a lack of good teaching but a lack of investment from the student! If I am stepping on toes today – remember that God stepped on MINE first!

This group of Believers also broke bread together. They had fellowship. They remembered that Jesus told them that when they came together in unity, breaking the basic – like bread – that He would be there with them. On any given week, with whom do we break bread? Do we remember to acknowledge that Jesus is there? Is our conversation something that He would want to be a part? Do we spend time BUILDING UP THE BODY or tearing it down in our conversations?

This group of Believers came together daily to PRAY! Personal prayer AND corporate prayer was a priority! Recently my daughter told me that their pastor decided not to have their usual Saturday evening service and their Sunday service. There was a need to pray for two families who were battling very serious illness. There was a need and so the group of Believers made meeting that need a priority. Are we willing to suspend the ‘usual’ order of worship to meet the needs of the Body or are we too concerned about what others – even a visitor – might think? If I was a visitor, I might not know the ones who had the need but I would be pretty impressed with a church who was willing to meet that need!

And the Lord added to their number DAILY those who were being saved. Acts 2:47 (NIV, emphasis mine)

Well, duh! Do you think? When we ‘allow’ GOD to be the leader of the church then good things happen. When we stop trying to figure out and over-think and make a program fit and just let GOD do the figuring and the planning and the fitting – then good things happen. GOD gets the credit nor the program or the person. GOD. We turn our hearts to God. We give Him our time and priorities. We praise Him in all things. The world is looking for us to be really and truly sold out to God! No more straddling the fence but firmly on God’s side. Let us be devoted to God.

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Peter, the Holy Spirit, and 3,000 new Believers

Posted on July 15, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd…

Acts 2:14 (NIV)

A fisherman, considered to be ‘illiterate’ by the society of his time since he probably wasn’t able to read the Torah and spoke Aramaic, stood up in front of “Jews from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5) and spoke! No, PREACHED! Peter filled with the Holy Spirit did not hesitate, did not stutter or stammer. He opened his mouth – and people listened! And what did Peter say in this inspired sermon?

  • Peter tried to explain what had happened. He told the crowd that neither he nor the other eleven were drunk. Why do you think the crowd thought they were drunk? Were they smiling and laughing? Were they dancing in the streets and leaping for joy? Hmmm.
  • Peter quoted the prophet, Joel, reminding the Jews of God’s promises. He said that church as usual was no longer going to be the usual! There would be God’s Spirit present among the Believers and they would be seeing ‘stuff’ that may be a little…unsettling? Would ‘freaky’ be too harsh a word? And people who call on Jehovah God as Lord will be saved from eternal destruction!
  • GOD IS ALIVE! He is active and present in their lives. He came to earth and cannot be killed. HE IS ALIVE!

The people “were cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37). They realized their sinfulness and repented. ‘Repent’ means to turn away and not do that any more! The moment that you put down your pride and allow the truth of God to enter in…it’s overwhelming! It’s honestly seeing what you are – a sinner – and it’s also receiving that undeserved love and forgiveness…grace and mercy …and just leaping for joy – inside and out!

Peter warned and pleaded with the people to come and make a decision to believe and live their lives for God! “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” (Acts 2:40 NIV) In other words, stop going the way of the world and choose a different path – God’s path! Peter pointed to the way to LIFE!

I don’t know how many were there but 3,000 of them accepted what Peter was saying and got baptized and were added to the number of Believers. There isn’t a pastor or evangelist that wouldn’t be excited about bringing 3,000 people to know God in one day! WOW!

What happened next? What would your church do next if 3,000 people came through your doors and said, “We believe in Jesus Christ?” Would you know what to do next? We’ll look at that tomorrow. Meanwhile, take a few minutes and read Joel 2 for your reading today.

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No Satisfaction!

Posted on July 14, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

39Moses spoke these words to the Israelites, and the people mourned deeply. 40Then they got up early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Look! Here we are! Let’s go up to the place that YHWH said, because we have sinned.”

41But Moses said, “Why is it that you are still transgressing God’s word? This will not prosper! 42Don’t go up, because YHWH is not among you, so that you will not be smitten by your enemies. 43Because the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you and you will fall by the sword because you turned back from following YHWH and YHWH will not be with you. 44But they were presumptuous and went up into the hill country, though the Ark of YHWH and Moses did not leave the camp. 45Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in the mountain came down and struck them, and pursued them all the way to Hormah. — Numbers 14:39-45

You might like to read this whole story in Numbers 13-14. To summarize, the Israelites send spies into Canaan, who report that the land is good, but it is also defended by very dangerous people. Ten of those twelve spies don’t believe they can go up. First the Israelites rebel and say they won’t go, then after they find out they will have to wander for 40 more years in the desert, and they are now forbidden to go, they decided to go after all. Our text today is the response to that decision.

I don’t know for sure what the Israelites expected God to do. They complained about the land they were supposed to get, and God told them to go back to the wilderness. What third alternative was there? I suspect that the Israelites expected a third alternative, such as an easier way to get the land, or some alternative land. They didn’t expect to get some more wilderness wandering. Possibly they had hoped that Moses would wave his staff and their enemies would disappear.

Whatever it was, God’s plan was not satisfactory to them, no matter which way it went. First they disobeyed by refusing to go. Then they disobeyed by going when they were forbidden. Some days you just can’t win!

While I was meditating this morning I connected this text with some discussions I’ve been having with KJV-Only people. Now bear with me—the devotional is not about the KJV-Only position. It’s just an illustration. For those who may not know, KJV-Only advocates are not people who love the KJV and like to read it. They are folks who think those who read other Bible versions are doing wrong and are not reading God’s word. They want a clear, single standard, and they think they have found it in the KJV. They frequently ask me what my alternative standard would be.

I will say that my standard is God as he has revealed himself, primarily in scripture. “And where is that scripture?” they ask. I find it in the source texts, Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew. “But there are many different manuscripts. How do you know which one?” And the bottom line answer to that is that we don’t have absolute knowledge, but we do have a very solid idea of the text of scripture. But that isn’t good enough for them, so they grab hold of one convenient translation, and pretend that it’s the final, absolute authority, even over the source texts.

God has blessed us with incredibly rich resources in terms of copies of the Bible. We can know what the Bible looked like to people in early Ethiopia, in Armenia, in Georgia (the one in Asia!), and in some Early European languages. We can know the text used by both the western and eastern churches. God has chosen to providentially preserve his word in so many wonderful ways. One reason for this, I believe, is that by doing it that way, God affirms his people through the ages, not just then and now, not just one or two places, but worldwide.

But for many of us God’s way is simply not adequate. It doesn’t happen the way we think it should. Wouldn’t it be nicer if God would make it impossible to disagree over the text of his word or how to translate it? Wouldn’t it be great if he would miraculously prevent any possible disagreement? Then we’d have that one standard.

Many of us laugh at the KJV-Only folks. It’s so obvious that what they want simply didn’t happen. But hold the laughter for a moment. How many of us are dissatisfied with God’s plan for our lives, our churches, our families, our communities, or our ministries? How many of us think that God could do it better if he’d just listen to our advice?

There’s a saying I saw on a church sign recently. It reads “Many people want to serve God but only as advisors.”

Listen to yourself next time you pray. Are you making the speech of an advisor, or are you holding a conversation with your savior, your father, your Lord?

Posted in Bible Books, Devotional, Numbers | Comments Off on No Satisfaction!

Blessings

Posted on July 11, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

“I pray that the LORD will bless and protect you, and that he will show you mercy and kindness. May the LORD be good to you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 (CEV)

Did you grow up in a home where ‘The Blessing’ was said before every meal? I did. It was a specific prayer that we said every meal, every day. And that is OK except by the time I was old enough to understand the prayer it had become such a ‘habit’ that I didn’t LISTEN and ask the blessing from my heart. My mother had set the example but I didn’t follow. It’s wonderful to see my children encourage my grandchildren to pray their own blessings. I got a ‘eaves-dropping’ recording from my daughter the other night. My granddaughter was praying before she went to sleep…doing her “…and God bless…”. She was praying specifically for her “Uncle John” that he would do well in a baseball game he was going to pitch in her home town the next night. He was on her heart because she was going to see him SOON! At one point, I think her daddy was helping her with some words and she said, “Stop, Daddy! You’re messing up my prayer!” We have all laughed at that but it certainly preaches to ALL of us. Remember how Jesus told us to have the faith of a child? May we remember that God hears the prayer of our hearts (even if words fail us!) and answers well!

A blessing is a prayer that leaves out manipulation and personal agenda and instead asks God to pour out His gifts upon His child (or children). The example of this prayer given by God to Moses and addressed to the Levites asks for such GOOD STUFF!!! When praying for someone no matter what the specific need, including these elements is asking for a double blessing, isn’t it? When someone has, say, a health need, lifting that need to God and being specific as the Holy Sprit leads and then asking God to protect and show mercy and kindness and goodness and cover that person with His peace – that is truly asking God to give more than they could ask or imagine!

[Jesus said,] “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:27-28 (NIV)

Jesus’ words are never – careless. He always says what He means. I may not always understand it the way Jesus means but maybe His first phrase here gives me a clue about that! “you who hear me”. Do I want to hear what Jesus says? In this case, the words that I have heard and received about ‘blessings’ even goes for those people in my life who hate me, dislike me, irritate me, bug me, and even mistreat those I love. Yes, do I really want to hear that?

[Jesus said,] “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that…But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:32-36 (NIV)

Jesus asks more of me. Jesus gives more to me. He gives me all that I need to be obedient and glorify the Father. It comes down to a choice on my part. It comes down to my FLESH. There aren’t many in the ‘enemy’ category, thank my Lord, but they do exist. What healing, what joy, what heavenly peace comes to me when I make the choice and ask the Holy Spirit to give me what I need so I can pray blessings over ALL!

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Words of Life

Posted on July 10, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.” Psalm 91:14-16 (NIV)

For many years this passage from Psalm 91 has been my prayer for my sons. I have claimed its promises for them. God is faithful to hear and answer.

God says that our love for Him brings on a response – He is watching and comes ‘riding to the rescue’ when we make choices that get us in trouble! When we take the stand that we only recognize HIM as Lord in our lives – HE stands over us like a shield of protection! When we call and cry out to Him – He answers. HE ANSWERS! When troubles come (they will. We can guarantee that!), God will already be there. He will be a tangible presence in the trouble that will lead us out of the trouble. He will respect and admire us because in that trouble, we turned to Him and expected Him to be there. We turned in the best direction! God will give me a life-span that has no end! HE will show me eternity!

My son, James, died almost four years ago at age 17. James’ life continues on through people who, because of his life-testimony, made a choice to live their lives with Jesus. They saw God’s courage and strength in James’ life and said, “I want some of that!” “I need some of that!” James is having a long life!

My son, John, continues to write his legacy. He is walking his life in front of his own sons, showing them an example of what it is to be God’s man in this world. It is about showing your children that you are weak but God will keep His promises and make you strong! It is turning to God for wisdom and direction in your life and doing what He says even when you can’t see the ‘why’ of it.

…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever I lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9 (NIV)

This has been my Scripture for my daughter, Janet. She has been given a gift of faith. I sometimes think that is a difficult gift to carry because it may mean that she believes when everyone around thinks it can’t possibly happen! I believe God put this passage in my heart to use as a prayer that she would keep her focus on Him and not be distracted.

What words of God do you pray over your children? Your spouse? No matter how young or old they may be…God is faithful and a keeper of His promises. Ask God to direct your heart to His words of His children.

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