God’s extravangant love!

Posted on June 11, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. Isaiah 61:1 (NIV)

The Spirit of God was Jesus’ promise when He left the earth. He promised that the same Spirit that was with Him (Luke 4:18-21) would be with us. He said that knowing my limitations and weaknesses. Jesus said that knowing how unworthy I was to receive such a gift. And I claim that promise.

As I have been called to “Go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19) it also means that I am to deliver the Gospel, the Good News, to those who are poor, who do not ‘own’ that Good News.

There are people sitting in the pew, have been sitting there for 20-30 years, and do not have that assurance of the extraordinary love from the Father. That love, that gift, is personal and eternal. God’s love is so immeasurable that it was big enough to redeem us and make it possible for us to go into God’s throne room and have a ‘sit down talk’ with the Creator of the universe. The width and height of God’s love is something that I will continue to ‘see’ new levels every single day!!! (Ephesians 3:14-21) When you spend time with Someone, quality time when you let them speak and you listen, you get to know that Someone and you also learn to trust that Someone. Hmmmm.

When I am afraid, I will trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. Psalm 56:3-4 (NIV)

This part of the psalm goes on to say “What can mortal man do to me?” What indeed! Paul reminds me that when God is with me – no one else is really against me (Romans 8:31) because they are nothing compared to the One in Whom I have believed! They have no ultimate power over me. Their words can find no home inside of me unless I give permission. Their opinion counts not a whit!!! I am the child of the Creator! I am loved. I am precious to God. That means I am cherished and of great value to Him. I am respected by Him. If I think no one else respects me…God does.

Oh my brothers and sisters, let us spend time today in these words of God. Let us allow them to marinate into our spirit, our heart, so that the roots go down deep. Let us soak up God’s love. Do we deserve it? No. Duh. But God is our Father and He gives to His children like the perfect Father, without reservation and without conditions. He just gives His love. How sweet it is!

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1 (NIV, my emphasis)

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The Blessings of the Insulted and Mistreated

Posted on June 10, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

God will bless you when people insult you, mistreat you, and tell all kinds of evil lies about you because of me. Be happy and excited! You will have a great reward in heaven. People did these same things to the prophets who lived long ago. Matthew 5:11-12 (CEV)

Here’s a blessing (a beatitude) that we don’t list as often with the others, do we? What a double-edged sword!!!

God is going to bless me:

  • When people insult me
  • When people mistreat me
  • When people tell all kinds of evil lies about me

And they do it…because of Him, that is God, with a capital ‘G’.

It’s fairly easy for me to think of being insulted. Yes, I have had lies told about me. I’ve been mistreated in my life, too. I think the key words here that all that ‘stuff’ comes because of God. Did I take the hits because of Jesus?

Have you ever heard dirty jokes in the lunch room? Maybe nothing overt but innuendos and sly chuckles. Or maybe there’s just ‘trash talk’ with foul language. Did you speak up? Did you politely but firmly ask them not to speak like that or tell the jokes in front of you?

How about ‘dis-sing’ people? Do you stand there when someone puts someone else down? And laugh? Is the silence so loud that it screams, “Go ahead! I don’t care!”

What is your comment about the man standing at the roadside with a sign in his hands? Do you hear a voice in your head saying, “Give him that $5 that you have stuck in your change tray?” “No,” you think, “he’ll just spend it for booze!” What if it is God saying to give? Isn’t it also His job to judge? What the man does with the money…isn’t that between him and God?

These are not questions leveled just at you. They are passing through me and I must allow the Holy Spirit to sift and shine His light on all the corners of my life, too. I can’t sweep my house clean unless I allow the Holy Spirit to turn on His floodlights in all the corners and closets.

Remember that song about standing up for Jesus. Am I His soldier or a wimp? It is not MY muscle that I flex but it is my choice to show up at the gym to work out with Him!!!

God is not a vending machine where I put in my ‘good work’ coin and out pops a blessing. The size of the blessing does not come in equal portion to the work. No, that isn’t how He works. God is looking for an obedient disciple. He blesses His obedient disciples with an ever-closer relationship and in His presence the blessings flow. The blessings are HUGE and extravagant. They are more than I could ask or imagine.

I am not to the “get excited” place in my persecution! I read the book of Revelation and I imagine seeing some quiet, unassuming saint sitting on some of those thrones around God’s throne. They are surprised by their place there but they stood for God when they were called by the circumstances in their life. They are my heroes. They are a testimony to me.

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God Blesses

Posted on June 9, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

[I have numbered the lines, not as verses, but as reference points.]

1. God blesses those people who depend only on him. They belong to the kingdom of heaven!

2. God blessed those people who grieve. They will find comfort!

3. God blesses those people who are humble. The earth will belong to them!

4. God blesses those people who want to obey him more than to eat or drink. They will be given what they want!

5. God blesses those people who are merciful. They will be treated with mercy!

6. God blesses those people whose hearts are pure. They will see him!

7. God blesses those people who make peace. They will be called his children!

8. God blesses those people who are treated badly for doing right. They belong to the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3-10 (CEV)

I think it is a very good idea to read a familiar passage in a translation that you do not normally use. It may bring a new insight into the passage. I see more about God.

#1 This translation tells me that when I am “poor” in my own spirit – I have nothing to do but depend on God. When I weakest, God says, “You are mine, child, and I will take care of you.”

#2 God sees my tears. He knows what grieves my heart. God’s comfort covers my questions, my depression, my pain, my confusion, my anger, and brings it all back into alignment and total healing!

#3 I think of Mother Theresa and some others I personally know who do so much – but look for nothing in return. They quietly go about doing what God has asked of them and receive their reward at the hand of God. We talk about what they do – too often when they have moved away or died. They have power in this world because they see no power in themselves…just in their Lord.

#4 To desire such a close relationship with God that there is nothing to do but be obedient will fill me like no baby-back ribs or chocolate éclair ever could!!! I want that! And I claim the promise that God will give me what I want!

#5 Mercy – undeserved forgiveness. Do you know someone that you need to extend that to? Is there something that you need to ask for forgiveness from God? Do it today. Quit putting it off! There will be a time that you will need forgiveness so make sure you are making deposits into your Forgiveness Account. Deposits come when God forgives you and it happens when you extend that same forgiveness to another! You do not want to be caught ‘overdrawn’ in your Forgiveness Account.

#6 What makes your heart pure? The word ‘pure’ means ‘clean’, ‘untainted’, and ‘not polluted’. So what in your life is a pollutant to your heart? I think that to answer that personally and truthfully, you have to be willing to let God examine your heart and y our lifestyle and see what that is. For me it’s not the TV and movie theaters. It is un-forgiveness and injustice and suffering of the innocent that can take root in my heart. It contaminates that place where Jesus wants to live. So – sweep it out! Don’t let it in the door! “How do you avoid temptation?” “Run the other way!” says Rev. Steve Hill. Good word!

#7 I don’t think a peacemaker is necessarily a pacifist. If you were raised in a family with many siblings, I would imagine there was a peacemaker. Someone who wanted everyone to get along. Someone who tried to connect with ‘dueling parties’ and tried to help them find a point of common interest to ‘get along’. And so there are peacemakers in God’s family. They do not battle because they know that God has already drawn the lines and He is the only one who can judge who crossed it and who didn’t. He is the Father. I am the child. I need to keep my place and not try to take His!

#8 I only need God’s approval. If I know that then I also know that I will receive criticism from others, even friends, who do not see me on the ‘right’ path. When I seek God and seek His way, check my path against His example and His words, I learn the sound of His Spirit and I walk in His Way. It’s about God’s Kingdom. It always is.

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Week at a glance

Posted on June 6, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2 (NIV)

How was your week? I’m going to be honest. There were parts of my week that were tough. I had no crisis. My children and grandchildren are well. My husband is healthy and despite some of the stressors of the week, our relationship is probably better than it was when we married in 1999.

This was an average week. But spiritually it wasn’t easy. Have you ever struggled spiritually through an “average week”? I think it was the average-ness of it that made it difficult. I had to look for the blessings. I had to look for God in my week. It was the sameness; the tedium of the week. I had to keep doing what I have been doing. I felt discouraged that I was still doing ‘it’!!!

“O unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?” Matthew 17:17 (NIV)

When I read the gospels it seems like Jesus led such an exciting and eventful three years. But from His perspective Jesus could have felt He was going over and over and over the same ‘stuff’ and that the twelve guys with Him were just not getting it! I don’t know that He felt ‘tedium’ – because Jesus got ‘it’!

In every day, God blesses me. He blesses me more than I can ask or imagine. He blesses me with opportunities. He blesses me with His words. He blesses me with His presence.

To receive these blessings, I have to…open up my eyes, ears, heart and receive the blessings! That goes back to something that I talk about frequently in these devotions. (That means God is talking frequently to me about it!) And that is TIME. Making God the top priority in my life and spending time with Him every day!!! If I only gave my husband a 10 minute, fly-by conversation every day our relationship would take a nose dive, wouldn’t it? If I only spend 10 minutes on my personal hygiene every day—not many people would want to stand next to me!!! So giving God 10 minutes sounds – ridiculous, doesn’t it? (sigh)

But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

O my Strength, I sing praise to you;

you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God. Psalm 59:16-17 (NIV)

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“Can you hear me now?”

Posted on June 5, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

“This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’” Jeremiah 33:2-3

Have you ever had a problem with your computer and called Microsoft or Dell help line and got a recording? They are SUPPOSED to be there! I guess everyone is entitled to a bathroom break.

I have a love-hate relationship with answering machines, voice mails, and text messages. In some ways, they are better than nothing. I THINK that I am at least able to leave a message, an attempt to communicate with the party I am trying to reach who “isn’t available”. The reality is that I have had someone tell me that they left a message in my voice mail – but I never heard it! Maybe they called the wrong number and left the message somewhere in cyberspace? Maybe someone in my house deleted the message and THOUGHT they verbally delivered it? The point is – leaving a message with or counting on that a message will be delivered by a mechanical device does not insure that I have communicated with the person I wanted.

God cuts out the ‘middle man’ or electronic device and gets ALL my calls. I don’t have to use any formula or mechanical device. I don’t have to go through someone else. God is always ‘on call’. He can handle MULTIPLE calls! No language is ‘foreign’ to Him. He doesn’t even need a recognizable language. He does ‘thought’ very well! He even gets my message when I am not sure what the message is or how to communicate what is in my spirit. My spirit speaks to God’s Spirit. No line – no waiting.

God’s Spirit doesn’t make us slaves who are afraid of him. Instead, we become his children and call him our Father. God’s Spirit makes us sure that we are his children. His Spirit lets us know that together with Christ we will be given what God has promised. We will also share in the glory of Christ, because we have suffered with him. Romans 8:15-17 (CEV)

The NIV translation says that we can call Him “Abba, Father”. For me, that translates into ‘Daddy’. I see God as ‘personal’, not just a figurehead. I remember when my children would come home from elementary school and tell me ALL about their day. I didn’t understand the relevance and importance of most of it – but I listened and tried to ask at least one question. I wanted to lay the foundation that when they needed to come to me with the BIG stuff – I’d listen then, too. God does the same only He KNOWS the relevance of ‘little things’ in my life. He listens. His Spirit asks questions and He even gives the PERFECT advice!

So when we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help. Hebrews 4:16 (CEV)

When I am at my lowest, don’t know where to turn, I can come to GOD and He will look at me with love and mercy and He WILL help me! It doesn’t get better than that!

Stop right now. Maybe life is OK right now. Maybe there isn’t a crisis. Maybe there is. Take – 2 minutes if that’s all you have – and just close your eyes and tell “Abba” all about it. He is listening.

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Today — with God

Posted on June 4, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

Finally, let the mighty strength of the Lord make you strong. Put on all the armor that God gives, so you can defend yourself against the devil’s tricks. We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world. So put on all the armor that God gives. Then when evil day comes, you will be able to defend yourself. And when the battle is over, you will still be standing firm.

Be ready! Let the truth be like a belt around your waist, and let God’s justice protect you like armor. Your desire to tell the good news about peace should be like shoes on your feet. Let your faith be like a shield, and you will be able to stop all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Let God’s saving power be like a helmet, and for a sword use God’s message that comes from the Spirit.

Never stop praying, especially for others. Always pray by the power of the Spirit. Stay alert and keep praying for God’s people. Ephesians 6:10-18 (CEV)

Every morning I wash my face. When I was a child, my mother would have to stand over me to make sure I did it. She even had to threaten me to get me to take a bath once or twice a week! Now, I can’t imagine starting my day without a shower. Gross! Yuk!

Prayer, spending time with the Lord, listening and learning from Him – that should be more important than a shower! My day should feel ‘WAY out of alignment if I do not spend time with God. I love that commercial for V-8 juice that shows people getting hit in the back of the head when they don’t choose V-8 juice over fast food. Sometimes I treat God like He’s a fast food drive-thru! A quick “Hi” and “Gimme ______” and I’m out the door. “Oh, yeah, thanks for ______!”

Many Christians PRAY this Ephesians passage every day. They ‘pray on’ the armor of God. There’s an empowerment that does come when I think about the act of putting on these gifts from God like pieces of mighty armor!

-The helmet of salvation that reminds me that I BELONG to God because of Jesus Christ.

-The breastplate of righteousness that is like an emblem across my chest that says, “Jesus’ righteousness” and covers MY unrighteousness and allows me into the Holy of Holies to talk to my Father.

-The belt of truth that I ask God to SEAL around my waist that I would know God’s truth because He promised that it would set me free!!! (John 8:32)

-The shoes of peace – I wear them because I know the peace of the Good News of Jesus Christ and Him crucified and I walk it to a chaotic and confused world – bringing peace.

-The shield of faith – I want a BIG, HUGE shield that covers me front and back and over my head! I want MORE faith every day!

-And the sword of the Holy Spirit – that is God’s Words, living and active in my life. They are not words for 2000 years ago. They are words for me, right now.

I always add a cloak of humility over my armor. I began that after reading the visions that Rick Joyner shared in his book, The Final Quest. I need a cloak of humility to keep me looking at God and not at how ‘shiny-holy’ I think I am!

Every day is a new day with God. Yesterday is only for His lessons well-learned. There is no room for yesterday’s failures or weaknesses. They are under His Blood. Tomorrow is also in God’s hands and will come on His timing. Today is where He will provide all that I need for the tasks He has for me.

You must encourage one another each day. And you must keep on while there is still a time that can be called “today”. If you don’t, then sin may fool some of you and make you stubborn. We were sure about Christ when we first became his people. So let’s hold tightly to our faith until the end. Hebrews 3:13-14 (CEV)

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Jesus wants Obedience: Part II

Posted on June 3, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

[Jesus said,] “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)

Those of us who live in Florida, who have lived here for more than four years, know about rain and winds blowing. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan came through my hometown of Pensacola with 130 mph winds and rain. That’s a lot of fury. In the days after the storm, you could drive down any street and pick out the homes that had recently been built to withstand 140 mph winds, a recent change in building codes. Unless those homes took a direct hit from a tree, they had a roof and they had walls. I was blessed to be staying with friends who had such a home. The hurricane winds howled around the home like something straight from the pit of hell but the house stood strong. It would be interesting to know how many sermons have been preached in Pensacola pulpits from this passage since Hurricane Ivan!

Where am I building my spiritual house? On rock or sand? Are there sandy places in my foundation that I need to pay attention and strengthen?

It’s too easy to say, “Jesus is my Rock” and think that is all it takes. That’s a good solid framework for my foundation. It makes it clear from where I get my materials. “If it doesn’t say JESUS, it doesn’t say ROCK”, does it? However, Jesus did not intend to spoon feed me through my entire life. Jesus isn’t going to do all the building for me! There are ingredients that are essential to making a solid foundation that will not shift or crack. I know what they are but it is a daily choice to put them into the foundation that I want to maintain.

Prayer. Daily conversation with God. Thanksgiving. Praise. Laying down burdens. Asking for wisdom and strength. Lifting others up. Asking for and receiving blessings!

Study/Reading of the Bible. Other books are good but no substitute and I need to read them with the Bible right there to ‘check’ things.

Meditation. Thinking. Turning my thoughts to listen for God. Some might think this is the same as prayer. It could be but as I read the Psalms, I wonder if David had talks with God – back and forth exchange – and then sometimes David just focused on God and who He is and what He does and just listened for Him.

Obedience. A daily, ongoing choice to go thru and do the tasks that God has set for my day. That cuts out worry, confusion, and stress, doesn’t it?

All of these (and others you may add to your list) are the “spiritual act of worship” that Paul spoke about in Romans 12 that makes our whole life an act of worship to God. Worship is from foundation to rafters of my spiritual home.

Putting Jesus’ words into my life, into the foundation of my spiritual life makes the place I stand rock solid. I know what I stand for. I am not “blown about”. (Ephesians 4:14) I go back to the source and test all things to Jesus as the standard. There will be many storms in my life. They are fierce winds that want to tear down. Jesus shows me how to continue to build and build strong. The roots are deep and the fruit will be plentiful. To God be all glory!

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Jesus Wants Obedience

Posted on June 2, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

[Jesus said,]“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!’

Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV)

This passage of Scripture has always been both interesting and troubling to me.  Interesting that it comes at the end of the Sermon on the Mount.  My pastor called the Sermon (Matthew 5-7) the greatest sermon ever preached!  I don’t think any of us will argue that point with him!  It gives such great encouragement and flies in the face of what the Pharisees had taught (demanded!) of the people of that time.  It also contradicts what the world teaches us now.  It draws my focus to my relationship with God and the ‘forever-ness’ of that relationship vs. the fleeting rewards of this world.  And then Jesus ends the sermon with this passage that is a warning to those of us who see ourselves as leaders and doers in God’s kingdom.  Are we doing in obedience???

The passage is troubling because it can bring holy fear to consider that Jesus, on Judgment Day, would turn to me and say, “I never knew you”.  How could He do that?  Why would He do that?

It doesn’t take much time in Bible study to learn that God wants obedience above all else.  We are to “obey him with all [our] hearts” (Deuteronomy 30:2).  “..to obey is better than sacrifice…” says the great prophet Samuel. (1Samuel 15:22)  Jesus said that if we truly loved Him we would obey Him. (John 14:23)  When faced with questions and persecution, Peter and the apostles said that they “must obey God not man!”  (Acts 5:29)

Obedience is so simple and yet very hard.  It is denying my way; crucifying my flesh.  It is rejecting self-help books and their gurus; choosing instead to turn to my Creator, my Savior, my best friend, and be obedient to His way.

Jesus will know me on Judgment Day because He will have seen me following Him on the path that He has laid out for me.  I may not know more than one step at a time or I may bow in submission to the path that He has shown me…but I am obediently walking His path, doing the tasks that He commands, big or small (by my account or whoever’s estimation!) but because I am obedient, the tasks are big to God!

In selecting ‘prophesy’, ‘driving out demons’, and ‘miracles’ as His examples of what WON’T get you in heaven – Jesus may be deliberately poking at us to look not for the big, flashy ministry jobs but look for Him in obediently serving…period.  In the times that I am square in the middle of God’s will, I find myself the least known to others.  I feel God’s approval and more often than not, it will bring me to tears.  No one knows what I did.  God does.  No one applauds.  God does.

The evil one, the deceiver, wins when I think about what others think about me or whether others notice what I’ve done.  When my eyes and thoughts are only about what God thinks or how God looks at me, I am where I should be…in obedience to my Lord.

God is good!

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Living as a Witness to your Family

Posted on May 30, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.  It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth.  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

3  John 2-4  (NIV)

I am a very, very, very blessed woman.  All of my children, biological and those born of my heart, know and love the Lord, as do their spouses.  Grandchildren are being raised to know Jesus and see Him as Savior and Friend.  There is nothing better that I could ask from the Lord.

In my ministry I have been asked often to pray for people re: their children.  Many tears drip on altars as mothers, fathers, grandparents, and siblings cry out to God for their loved ones to accept their need for salvation and choose Jesus as the Way.  “What can we do?”

Prayer is the obvious answer but difficult when the prayers continue over years with no obvious response.  So often we quote Abraham’s story to encourage persistent prayer.  Even the apostle, Paul, confessed that he begged God to answer his prayer for relief from his ‘thorn’ and God told him that His grace – unconditional love – would be enough when the thorn would not be removed.

Living out our life with Christ before our loved ones is, I believe, the best action.  By that I mean, living my life in Spirit and Truth.  Living it when I am strong in faith but also when I struggle.  Don’t hide the struggles but allow people to know that I have areas that I need help!  I turn to God.  I turn to those God has placed in my life.  It is in those times that God shows Himself and those who are running from Him or questioning will watch and see what will happen.  And that is when Jesus plants those good seeds and waters them and they grow roots.  We don’t always ‘see’ it all.  But God does.  Remember: no matter how much I love and how much I desire their salvation…God wants and loves MORE!

Welcome questions.  Don’t feel as if you must know all the answers or argue theology like a part of the Celestial Debate Team!  I personally do not argue with someone Scripture for Scripture.  That is not my strength.  My strength is in my experience with Jesus.  It is how He has walked with me through horrendous seasons and remained faithful and true to whom He professes to be and who He is.  Questions are good.  A person who stops questioning is one who has closed their mind and is not seeking.  A seeker – that was me once upon a time!  Refusing to hear my questions is what drove me from Jesus.  Questions and seeking brought me home.

Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.                                       Philippians 4:4-7 (NIV)

Father, I touch and agree with my brothers and sisters for the salvation of those who do not now know You.  I ask, Father, that You send people into their path who walk with You in Spirit and in Truth.  I ask, Father, that You touch that tender place deep in their hearts and that they know that they have felt the hand of God.  I ask for healing in their life, Lord.  I ask forgiveness when we have treated them wrongly, with condemnation and judgment in Your name.  I ask, Jesus, that Your blood cover that sin.  I am sorry that we did not love them as You loved us.  Open our hearts to hear Your words and receive Your love so that we may share those healing and loving words with others, in Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

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The Ultimate Power

Posted on May 29, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.                        Genesis 1:1  (NIV)

Day and night they never stop saying:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who  sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever.   They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

Revelation 4:8-11 (NIV, my emphasis)

Most of us have some idea of what is happening in the world.  At some point in a 24-48 hour period we pick up a newspaper or catch a local or national news broadcast.  At the very least, we overhear our co-workers discussing elections, wars, gas prices, health insurance, education decline, and the economy.  What is our true, down-in-our-gut response?  Prayer.  Good answer.  Good Sunday School answer.

I am reading a book, Approaching Hoofbeats: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Rev. Billy Graham.  He wrote this book in 1983.  Here again, Rev. Graham stays true to the mission to which he has been called – bring a message of hope in Jesus Christ to a world that may seem to be without hope.  The book covers only the first six chapters of Revelation as Rev Graham makes it clear from the introduction that he was not inspired to bring ‘revelation’ to the book of Revelation.  He reminds me that our Lord God Almighty is Creator.  He is worthy of praise and honor NOW, at every moment of our lives.  While the world seems to turn more and more toward self-destruction, God who created all is still on His throne and still holds this tiny planet in His hand.  We are not alone.  We are not without God’s resources of wisdom and strength in all situations.  The ultimate power in the universe is not wielded by politicians, dictators, terrorists, or even teachers and preachers.  Power lies in Faith and Mercy and Grace and Trust and all those ‘good’ things that Paul admonishes us all to think upon. (Philippians 4)

In chapter 5 of Revelation, John weeps because no one is worthy to open the scroll, looking inside at its wonders.  And then he sees…the Lamb.  Not a regal, ferocious Lion.  He sees the Lamb.  John hears the song that explains that the Lamb is worthy to open the scroll because – wait for it! – He was SLAIN and His blood makes me (you!) a holy nation of His people, to serve  Him.  WOW!

Prayer is the answer to what we see in this world.  It is powerful prayer.  It is prayer that begins with thanksgiving because we already know the end of the Book!  It is prayer that blesses God and lifts Him up as the only answer in this world.  It is prayer that continues to build faith and trust.

As days pass and turn to months, as the US election comes, let us put our eyes on Jesus, the Creator, the Lamb, the Worthy One.  May we cover our leaders, in the government and in the Church, with prayer.  May we exercise our spiritual muscles and keep ourselves ‘in shape’ for the time ahead.

Posted in Bible Books, Devotional, Genesis, Revelation | Comments Off on The Ultimate Power