Monday Morning Devotion (Daily Communion)

Posted on October 1, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

13And he went out again by the sea, and the whole crowd kept coming out to him, and he was teaching them. 14As he was going along he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s station and he said to him, “Follow me!” And he rose up and followed him. 15And he was reclining to dine in his house and many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were lots of them following him. 16But when the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17And Jesus heard and said to them, “Those who are strong don’t need a doctor, but those who are sick. I didn’t come to call righteous people, but sinners.” — Mark 2:13-17

20In the evening, [Jesus] reclined to eat with the 12. 21And as they were eating, he said, “It tell you truly that one of you will betray me.” 22They were very grieved and began saying to him one at a time, “Surely not me, Lord!” 23But he answered, “One who dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24The Son of Man is going just the way it was written about him, but woe to the man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” 25Then Judas, who was going to betray him said, “It’s not me, is it, Rabbi?” Jesus said, “You said it.”

26Now while he was eating with them, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. He said, “Take it and eat! This is my body.” 27And he took a cup, blessed it and gave it to them. He said, “All of you drink from it, 28for this is my covenantal blood poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine again until that day when I drink it with you anew in the kingdom of my Father. 30And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. — Matthew 26:20-30

Our passages today tell an interesting story about Jesus. Together they tell us that he was regularly eating with people that some folks found inappropriate. They weren’t the “nice” socially acceptable people. When he instituted the Lord’s supper, he had with him the one who would betray him.

It’s traditional that we celebrate communion during the easter season, especially early during the week. And that is a wonderful time of the year to commemorate Jesus giving of his body and his blood for our salvation. But this celebration can take place at any time of the year, and it should take place regularly. Even further, the principles it teaches should be part of our daily lives.

But I’d like you to see in these scriptures something more. Jesus reached out through the sharing of the bread and the wine even to those who were outcasts of society. He shared communion even with one who was planning to betray him.

Often our response to someone who hates us is to exclude that person. They don’t like us anyhow! But Jesus, by example suggested that we do just the opposite.

But what about those who are homeless and destitute now? If we are feeling compassionate we often want to give money to some group of people that will help out. And I don’t want you to fail to give to those who help those less fortunate. But there is another level in the example Jesus gave. He went out to eat with people who were despised. He let his own reputation suffer. He shared in their joy, their sorrow, and their fellowship.

And this is the daily meaning of communion. As God reached out to us through Jesus, so we need to reach out to one another in the offering of bread, of shelter, of clothing. We do want to commemorate God’s gift, but at the same time, we want to spread that gift to others.

(This devotional was adapted from today’s Running Toward the Goal podcast.)

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Friday Morning Devotion (Snakes and Doves)

Posted on September 28, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

Look! I’m sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves. So be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. — Matthew 10:16

Yesterday I received an e-mail alert from a Christian organization that informed me of a new discovery, or so they said, that supported the historicity of certain portions of the Bible. I’ve gotten a lot of good information from this source, though I always recheck their facts. But in this case it only took me moments to realize that we were dealing with suspect information, because I happen to be acquainted with the material involved.

Many Christians are not concerned about this sort of thing. If it seems to support the faith, then that’s good enough for them. But there’s a problem with that. If we use something that is false in order to draw people to Christ, and then they find out that is false, they may be turned against the faith. Of course, lying to them about what is true would be morally wrong, but most of the time this sort of information gets distributed because of ignorance. It looks good, so people want to share it as much as possible.

It’s a little bit like those spam e-mails that tell you that if you forward it to 10 or 20 or 100 of your friends, some major company will send you $10,000, or something like that. The excuse is that the company in question is conducting a test. People who don’t know how these things work are deceived. They wouldn’t want to miss the chance at $10,000, and they don’t want their friends to miss it either.

We laugh, but there are published materials about the Bible that are just that foolish and are very obvious to those who know the background material. But they’re not obvious to everyone else.

One of the places where this comes back to haunt us as a church is amongst our college aged young people. We teach them one thing in church, or more often simply fail to mention many different things, and then they get to college in comparative religions class and are vulnerable.

So am I telling you all that you must learn ancient languages, history, theology and Christian apologetics? Must all become experts? Absolutely not! I know how much time that takes, and each one of you have numerous things you need to know in order to live your lives and carry out your professions.

And that is the key. You each have things you know, things on which you are expert. When you talk to people about Jesus, talk about what you know. Don’t imagine that you need to provide them with the latest archaeological evidence, or the best theological arguments. Your witness may be as simple as “you ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart.” When you give that testimony there’s no chance you’re going to get caught with bad information. You know that. There will be other things you know as well. Those in the medical field know something of the human body, and most of those of my acquaintance know something of God’s work in their own field.

Unfortunately there are those who will provide false information. Be wise as serpents! Be on your guard. Things that look like fraud, that look too good to be true, often are too good to be true, even in religion.

We do have many things, including our own salvation that really seem too good to be true, yet they are true. Let’s focus on those.

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Thursday Morning Devotional (Show Us the Father)

Posted on September 27, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

6Jesus says to him, “I myself am the way, the truth and the life. Nobody can come to the father except through me. 7If you have known me, you have known the father also. And from now on you know him, and you have seen him. 8Philip says to him, “Lord, show us the father, and that will be enough for us.” 9Jesus says to him, “I’ve been with you this long, and you don’t know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak, I don’t speak from myself, but the Father who remains in me does His works. 11Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. But if not, believe because of the works themselves. 12Absolutely truly I tell you, The one who believes in me will do the same works that I do, and greater works than these he will do because I am going to the Father. 13And whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. — John 14:6-14

It’s interesting how we can look at something, but not actually see it. Until we know what we are looking for, we often don’t see something which is plainly there. Of course, someone has to describe what is really there in the first place, and help us find out what to look for.

I remember my first look through the microscope. My father, a physician, allowed me to look at a slide with blood on it. I looked, but nothing made any sense. Then he started to explain what I was seeing and bit by bit I really saw the things that were there. They had been there all the time, I saw all the colors and the movement, and even some shapes, but it had meant nothing to me. Nothing, that is, until my father explained it.

As Jesus and his disciples were talking on the night of the last supper, they encountered just such a problem. They’d been listening to Jesus for over three years. They had seen him perform signs. They had declared their faith in him and their understanding of who he was.

But as our scriptures shows, they still weren’t quite getting the whole picture. There were things there that they just couldn’t quite see. Now they want to know how to follow Jesus. And Jesus starts to tell them. This is how you can know the way to go where I’m going. I am the way. Without me, no one can go to the father.

Wow! Watch the faces of these disciples as Jesus explains to them what is right there before their own eyes.

I’m going to the Father, he says. And you can know the way, because I am the way.

But Phillip expresses the question of all when he says, “Show us the father! That’s all we need!” Yes Jesus, we echo with him, show us the destination, let us see the light. Let us know that our heavenly father is there for us, waiting for us, loving us, reaching out to us.

But you’ve seen me, Jesus is saying. Look! This is the father. The father is the one who put on human flesh so He could reach you. He is the one who cared enough so he’d bring the destination and the path right down to you so you could see it and grasp it.

And Jesus has more faith in the disciples than they have in him. Now you do know the father he says.

And what’s more, Jesus tells them, I do the things I do through the father’s power, and you will do what I do, and you will do even greater things than I do!

What a promise! What faith!

And what a challenge to the church!

As you go through the next week, celebrate the saving, life giving, resurrection power of God. Think: “What could God do through me if I just had faith?”

Take the challenge. Do greater things for God!

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Wednesday Morning Devotion (Blessed, Not SPECIAL)

Posted on September 26, 2007 by Henry Neufeld


1Listen to me, those who pursue what is right,
who seek YHWH.
Look at the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were cut.
2Look at Abraham your father,
and Sarah who gave birth to you.
He was but one when I called him,
but I blessed him and multiplied him. — Isaiah 51:1-2

There are a number of things we are told to forget, and there are a number of things we are told to remember. This verse tells us about something we really need to remember—where we were before God entered our lives, and what God has done for us.

Probably the greatest single cause of blessed people falling into sin is that they begin to think they are SPECIAL. I’m using SPECIAL to represent that word used in the expression, “Well, aren’t you SPECIAL!” There are pastors who have invented special doctrines so that they could justify their misbehavior. They are often shocked when other people see these as rationalizations. They are God’s SPECIAL servants! They get privileges!

Now we’re not usually so blatant, but we are all subject to this same problem. We’ve moved along with a growing spiritual life for a long time, and we begin to figure we have it all covered. As the introductory music to our Running Toward the Goal podcast we use the song I’m Pressing On the Upward Way. It’s a very positive song:

I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining every day.
Still praying as I’m onward bound,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

It’s a good verse, but if we don’t remember the rock from which we have been hewn, it can also be a dangerous one. There’s another verse to the song that reminds us of this:

I want to scale the utmost heights,
and catch a gleam of glory bright
But still I’ll pray, till heaven I’ve found,
Lord lead me on, to higher ground.

It’s only by God’s grace and mercy that we can continue to climb to higher ground. We need to learn this as church congregations, as denominations, and as Christians. We often read the Old Testament with a very superior attitude. It’s the view of someone on “higher ground” looking down on the people who didn’t quite do as well as we do.

But those Old Testament people were part of the “rock from which we were hewn.” When they got to feeling SPECIAL and complacent, they would fail in their goal. Should we believe we can feel SPECIAL and nonetheless be safe?

God is blessing many of us in powerful ways. If we remember that it is God who is blessing us for his purpose and so that we can fulfill his call, we will reach ever higher ground.

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Tuesday Morning Devotion (Making an Unseemly Noise)

Posted on September 25, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

35Then they brought the colt to Jesus, placed their garments on it, and had Jesus ride. 36As they went along, they spread their garments in the path.

37Now as he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples begain to rejoice, praising God with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen. 38They said:

Blessed is the one who comes,
As king in the name of the Lord
In heaven let there be peace,
and glory in the highest.

39But certain of the Pharisees from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40And he answered, “I tell you, if these were to be quite, the stones would cry out!” — Luke 19:35-40

One thing I learned as a child is that there are times when the adults want you to be very quiet. Another thing I learned was that those times came a lot more often than I wanted them to.

Being quiet is something we learn. A baby doesn’t respect the walls of a church, a library, or even the halls of the legislature. He speaks when he thinks there is something to speak. It’s the adults that know precisely when one should be quiet and when one should speak; when one should whisper and when one should shout.

In our story today, Jesus is asked to rebuke the disciples, the whole multitude of them—that suggests to me more than the twelve were involved—because they are making an unseemly noise.

And Jesus tells them, that if he rebuked the disciples, even the stones would cry out. It was a time of joy, and those who called for order and rebuke were off the mark. It was, in fact, such a time for joyful noise that the stones couldn’t keep silent if the people didn’t respond.

It is so easy to destroy someone’s joy. Let’s look at some ways this could happen, so we can avoid doing this. We want to follow the example of Jesus. Let’s never give the stones an excuse to cry out!

We can refuse to listen. Joy likes to express itself. If we indicate by our attitude that we aren’t interested, that we don’t have time for someone else’s rejoicing, we can kill the joy.

We can criticize the method. Some jump up and down. Some dance. Some shout. Some sing. We may have our own ideas about how one should behave when one is joyful. By criticizing the way joy is expressed, we can kill the joy.

We can judge the people. It could be age, race, gender, our perception of them as “unclean,” more sinful than others. We can say that the person who is rejoicing should instead be repenting. Perhaps they should be out working for a better living, supporting their family. Perhaps they should be helping in the church. What are they doing rejoicing?

We can judge the timing. “A place for everything, and everything in its place.” That’s the proverb. We might change it to say, “A time for everything and everything in its time.” “The time for joy is in a different service,” says the church elder. Or perhaps it should be in a different room. We can’t have all this noise in the sanctuary.

We can ridicule the attitude. It’s excessive, it’s unimportant, it’s selfish. We can criticize just how joyful the person is. Everything in moderation, we say. And we kill the joy.

We can ridicule the reason. We can doubt that the reason is adequate. Others are starving! How can you be so joyful about food? That really wasn’t such a big miracle. It could have just been coincidence. And we kill the joy.

Let’s quit killing the joy. Let’s drop the criticism. Let’s silence the rebuke instead of the signs of joyful shouting.

No crying stones around here, please! Be joyful, and express your joy today.

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Monday Morning Devotion (Outside the Box)

Posted on September 24, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

1He said to his disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and the manager was accused of stealing the rich man’s stuff. 2So he called him and said, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3But the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do? I can’t dig and I’m ashamed to beg! 4I know what I’ll do, so that when I’m fired as manager, folks will receive me into their houses.’ 5So he called each of the people who owed his employer money, and he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my employer?’ 6And he said, ‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil.’ But the manager said to him, ‘Take the bill and sit down quickly and write 50.’ 7Then to another he said, ‘And you, what do you owe?’ He answered, ‘One hundred bushels of wheat.’ He told him, ‘Take the bill, and write 80.’ 8And the employer praised the unjust manager because he had acted shrewdly. Because the people of this world are more shrewd than are the people of the light in dealing with their own. — Luke 16:1-8

A couple of years ago I watched a TV story on a new church that had been started by people in the punk rock scene. In the story, the majority of the Christians who were asked to comment on the church never got beyond tattoos, leather jackets, and jewelry. A few who managed that got stuck on the volume of the music. Very few got to the point of asking the question of whether this new church was reaching people with the gospel who might otherwise never be reached.

Now my point this morning is not to justify that particular church or to condemn it. My point is about Christians who are easily distracted from the point when the context is something that they are not used to. We are very easily limited in our thinking by things that are not part of the main message. For many of these Christians the things that might be taught in that church, or the young people who might go there but would never go to a church with a pipe organ and robed choir simply never came up because the surrounding atmosphere of tattoos, jewelry, drums, and electric guitars carried them away.

That church was outside of their box, and they weren’t even able to consider it. They rejected it without consideration.

I like the parables of Jesus because they so often catch us off guard. We are easily led to think of ourselves as the wrong person. For example, how many times have we heard the story of the prodigal son while we were in church, and thought of ourselves as the prodigal. To be more precise, we think of ourselves as prodigals who have returned. Thus the story barely touches us in our current condition. But if you think about it, in most churches, people should be identifying themselves with the “other” son, the one who didn’t rejoice when the prodigal came home.

The parable of the shrewd manager could just as easily be the parable of the easily distracted Christian. In all the times I have either taught this parable or heard it taught, the immediate reaction is: “But the manager was dishonest!” The assumption is that we can’t learn anything else here, because the key message has to be about dishonesty.

But Jesus isn’t talking about honesty or dishonesty. He’s talking about being shrewd, and I would suggest also about thinking outside the box. There are a number of “normal” reactions to being caught skimming money from one’s boss. One is to try to cover it up through creative bookkeeping. Another is to run away and change your identity. Yet another is to give up and go away. But this manager did it differently. He thought outside the box. He made a plan, not for retirement, but for being-fired-ment.

And his master recognized the plan as shrewd. I have heard many people who assume that because the master praised that manager, he must have let him keep his job. But I suspect he lost the job anyhow. The master praised him to his friends. “He may have been dishonest, but he was shrewd!”

The point that we miss because we are easily distracted is that God calls us to be creative in our way of dealing with the world. He was. Just as the natural reaction of the manager caught embezzling funds would be to cover up or to run, so the natural reaction to the Romans was armed violence. But Jesus suggested forgiveness and overwhelming kindness.

How can you be shrewd as a Christian this week?

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Friday Morning Devotion (On ALL Flesh)

Posted on September 21, 2007 by Jody Neufeld

17“And this is what will happen in those last days,” God says.
“I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
Your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
Your young mean will see visions and your elders will have dreams.
18 Indeed even on my male and female slaves,
Will I pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in heaven above,
and signs on the earth below,
blood, fire, and smoky vapor.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon into blood
before the great and splendid day of the Lord comes.
21 And it will happen that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.”        Acts 2:17-21

I look forward to talking to Luke when I get to heaven. I want to know what was running through that scientific mind of his when he was recording the events and getting a deeper understanding of passages from the Old Testament like Joel that was now becoming new and being fulfilled.

First, the Holy Spirit will be poured out on people – Luke was seeing that at Pentecost. Joel said it twice that the Holy Spirit will be poured out. WOW!

Through this outpouring, there will be prophesy through visions and dreams. It could arguably be said that actively hearing prophesy in the modern day Church is the scariest manifestation of God’s presence! It certainly requires that the Body work in unity and discern that “YES! This is a word from God!” or “No, this was not.” And THEN be obedient to God’s direction. It means that men and women be educated and empowered in the gifts that God has poured out.

There will be wonders in heaven and signs on the earth. Have we not already seen them? Do we have eyes to see? Are our eyes looking UP or are they ‘distracted’ to only seeing ‘self’? Do we testify to the signs and wonders? Are we embarrassed to point and say, “THAT is God!”

And then there is the most AWESOME sign of God – CALL OUT TO GOD AND BE SAVED! As the thief cried out to Jesus and received his eternal promise – so God continues to be in the miraculous, redemption business! Jesus said that we are to follow Him and seek out those who are ‘sick’ in sin and show them His cure! Our congregations are not to be exclusive country clubs for the holy but hospitals for the sick and injured.

Do I look for God in the ‘now’? Do I want Him to ‘AWE’ me, even ‘bewilder’ me? Am I willing to receive the power of the Holy Spirit so that I may be used to Kingdom build? Am I willing to allow my world to be changed – my plans to be altered so that God’s Kingdom may be built – instead of building my kingdom?

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Thursday Morning Devotion (Time with God)

Posted on September 20, 2007 by Jody Neufeld

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Acts 2:4-6 (NIV)

The crowd was “bewildered”. We continue to be amazed and mystified when God shows Himself, don’t we? Why is that? We could state the obvious and say it’s because He is GOD and we are just … us. And it’s true that God is infinite and we are limited. But it’s more than that, I think. We don’t think we are good enough for God to take an interest and SHOW Himself to us! We’re scared!

[God said,] “I have loved you with a love that has NO beginning and NO end.” Jeremiah 31:3 (my paraphrase)

[Jesus said,] “If you who have evil and a limited love, know how to give wonderful gifts to your children, the Father who has limitless love will give you the BEST gift – the Holy Spirit if you ask him!” Luke 11:13 (my paraphrase)

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth gets its name. 16 I ask that he give you strength and empower you from the inside by means of his Spirit, 17so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, rooted in and built on a foundation of love. 18I ask that you be fully empowered to comprehend with all the saints what is the width, length, height, and depth of that love, 19and to know God’s love that completely surpasses knowledge, so that you might be filled with everything that makes God what He is.

Ephesians 3:14-19 (Henry’s translation)

God will meet our needs – but often not the way we expect! The Jews (God-fearing) wanted God to take care of them. They were His Chosen People. Unfortunately they had not changed their view of Him since Moses. They did NOT want to get closer to God. “Let the priests do it!” And so here they were witnessing God’s Spirit showing not as a pillar of fire but tongues of fire and allowing each one of them to hear God’s words for themselves – but they couldn’t accept that!

God wants a personal relationship with me. He wants a personal relationship with each of you reading this today. And each relationship will be different. He has the time and KNOWING to meet each of us where we are. As Jesus explained in Luke’s Gospel, even with my limited understanding, I ‘get it’! Do I want to spend time with my children and whether they are good enough to spend time with me? – well, that’s not a thought that enters my mind! God is not just a ‘good’ Father – He’s great! Stupendous! He DESIRES to spend time with me! He wants to listen. He wants to teach me. He wants to heal me. HE and ME. He wants that!

Do it! Spend more time with God. If you think you are – there’s more! Come on! Take a step closer! Let go of what you already know and hold out your hand to your Father for more! Read His words every day and learn MORE! RECEIVE His love and encouragement and wisdom and strength. Accept His ‘bread’ for today.

My Father, who is heaven, I praise and honor Your Holy Name…Give me the ‘bread’ that I need for today. Matthew 6:9, 11 (my paraphrase)

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Wednesday Morning Devotion (God Comes Suddenly)

Posted on September 19, 2007 by Jody Neufeld

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4 (NIV)

“…they were all together” Now THAT is a wonderful phrase to describe a group of Believers, isn’t it? When Pentecost, arguably one of the greatest days in the Christian Church came – the Believers were all together. They were in one place and what do you want to bet – they were once again in unity??? I am struck again by the IMPORTANCE of the word ‘unity’ when it describes the Body of Believers.

“Suddenly…” God comes to us ‘suddenly’. When we look back in retrospect, we can see that He would come to this group because of their unity; because of their faith; because of their love for Him; because of their need. But the moment when God actually responds and comes in the power of His presence, it always seems sudden. We are surprised. We are awed.

“…a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.” These manifestations of God’s Spirit were something they had NEVER seen or heard before this day. Has God ever done something that you’ve never seen or heard before? I’m going to share a personal story with you.

I made my life commitment to God, accepting that I needed a Savior at the revival known as the Pensacola Outpouring in July 1996. That fall, my daughter, a gymnast at the time, was at a state gymnastics meet in central Florida. She called me that afternoon to tell me she had won a gold medal as the all-around champion. That was the highest achievement of her career. The evangelist, Rev. Steve Hill, had prayed for her before she left for the meet and so she asked me to report what God had done to him when I went to the revival service that night. Now, manifestations of the Holy Spirit were something new for me. I had been attending the revival for about three months or so and had seen many people fall down and shake, etc. I had never walked forward for prayer. I had been wonderfully ‘touched’ by the music and the preaching. My spiritual life was growing as I studied and prayed daily. I was so happy and blessed. Besides, I did not want anything like ‘falling’ and ‘shaking’ to happen to me! So at the end of the service I walked up to Rev. Hill and gave him Janet’s message. In a moment of joy at what God had done, we praised God and clasped hands. Suddenly my feet left the ground and I flew back approximately six feet (no exaggeration!) and landed flat on my back on the carpet. I tried to open my eyes. I tried to lift myself from the floor. I could not. As I looked at my watch later, I laid there on the floor for 30 minutes as God spoke to my heart about His love for me. It felt like a warm, soft blanket was over me and God was just holding me in His arms, speaking softly to His daughter. It was sudden and I had never seen or heard anything like that before in my life. I got up and have not been the same since. It was not about falling down or the manifestation itself. I had an encounter with my Living God and I was forever changed!

I am no one special except for one specific point: I am God’s child. I am not the perfect child. I am not the special child – any more than ALL of my own children are special to me and so I am special to God. I believe that God wants – no, DESIRES with all that HE is – to have that special encounter with ALL of His children. Each encounter would be as diverse as the child He is encountering! The encounter may not be about flying through the air – it may be a dream that is so vivid that you know you have been touched by the Living God. It may be as you sing in worship and SEE your Lord before you, receiving the praise you offer. It may be sitting quietly in a chair and God is there and you know you have His ear.

How awesome is our Lord! How extravagant is His love for us!

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Tuesday Morning Devotion (Starting with Prayer)

Posted on September 18, 2007 by Jody Neufeld

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. Acts 1:14 (NIV)

I’ve been studying Acts and asking for more understanding about the early Church and what worked. ‘Unity’ is a big point. It is the point that most preachers and teachers speak most often, isn’t it?

Mirriam-Webster says ‘unity’ is about “being one” and “in harmony”. I love to listen to a band or orchestra or choral group. It’s not pretty, however, when it exhibits ‘discord’. Someone is on a different page than everyone else. Someone is playing another rhythm and not with the conductor.

In the Church, it is easy to become a so diverse in our programs that are meant to attract the largest cross-section of the local community that we loose sight of the Conductor who has THE sheet of music. Programs are no longer about ‘ministry’ but about numbers that reflect how well I am doing my job.

The early Church was first about prayer. Today we might think that is too simplistic. It was working for them. Maybe I need to consider that starting with prayer is the first and best place for every congregation to live. When we have a solid beginning with prayer, then we can move everything else in line behind prayer. How many prayer groups do we have in our churches? How much time in worship is given to prayer? How much does the preacher speak of prayer and teachers instruct AND exercise prayer in the classrooms? Luke tells us that this group of 120 in the Church was in UNITY and CONSTANTLY in prayer!!! I’m not even going to ‘go there’ about the role of the women in prayer meetings. That should be a ‘no-brainer’ in today’s Church!

Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men…So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry,… Acts 1:21, 23-24 (NIV)

Here we have a meeting to choose the one who will replace Judas. Important place of leadership is determined through the nomination of two men and in verse 26 we are told they “cast lots” which history tells us involved ‘chance’. BUT the vital factor comes between the need and the final word – prayer to the One who KNOWS the best choice/answer. Do we use that same formula in choosing our leadership? Maybe we’re good at ‘choosing’ and maybe we’re uncomfortable with throwing dice – but can we get ‘on board’ with PRAYER??? In our committee/board meetings is heart-delivered prayer time on the agenda? Do we allow time for the Holy Spirit to speak to each of us, giving wisdom to our words and our thoughts? Does God get the opportunity to express HIS opinion?

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. James 1:5 (NIV)

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