Friends

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

[reprinted from August 18, 2010]

A friend loves at all times;     Proverbs 17:17 (WEB)

I am sad this week because I am saying good-by to a friend. He is dying. I will miss him. He has loved our family since the first day he came through our door. He was a very special friend to my son, James. When James was so sick from chemo, his buddy would sit quietly, knowing that James had no strength to say or do anything. Then as James felt better the next day and the next, his buddy was ready to play and make him laugh. I cried on his shoulder many times. He was an encouragement to all of us in so many ways. His name is Barnabas and he is our dog.

God made all the creatures. It is amazing to go to a zoo, look at a National Geographic magazine or visit Sea World and see the many wonders God has made. Each one has a function in God’s plan. We might call it “the Circle of Life” but it is God’s circle! He created the laws of nature. It is in the domestic animals that I see another facet of God’s love for us. Dogs and cats (yes, there are other ‘kinds’ of pets!) can become an important member of a family. I remember as a little girl, learning how to take the responsibility of feeding my cat every day and cleaning his litter box. I didn’t have a younger sibling so the cat taught me about caring for something helpless and in need of my care.

I know there are some people that do not believe that our pets will be in heaven with us. I believe they will be. My Father brought these pets into my life and has blessed me with their presence. He knows my heart and how much I want Barnabas to be a part of the glorious eternal life that is to come. And if it ends up that it isn’t God’s plan for me to see Barnabas again, I will be so happy in heaven with Him that I will not be upset about that detail.

Friends are a gift from God. I must be wise to discern the people who come into my life that He wants to be truly my friend. Not everyone who comes into my life is to be that close to me. After I committed my life to Jesus, one of the hardest changes in my life was to disassociate myself from a close relationship (friendship) with people who were not good for me. God is not telling me to be an isolationist but I am also not to give myself in friendship to everyone I meet. Jesus had only 12 close disciples. He only took three to key events in his ministry. And only the Father knew everything.

“Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other is gold.” (a traditional Girl Scout lyric of unknown origin) I will celebrate my friend’s short but meaningful life this week. I thank God that He brought this friend to our family. Take time today to thank God for friends.

Friends written by Michael W. and Deborah Smith

 

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WARNING!

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

The Law of the Lord is a lamp, 
and its teachings shine brightly.
Correction and self-control will lead you through life.   Proverbs 6:23 (CEV)

Where there is strife, there is pride,
but wisdom is found in those who take advice.   Proverbs 13:10 (NIV)

If you stop listening to instruction, my child,
you will turn your back on knowledge.    Proverbs 19:27 (NLT)

Have you ever run out of gas? Anyone who has been driving over five years has probably had this maddening experience. I think what makes it so frustrating is the clear indication right there in front of me – a gas gauge – that let’s me know when I need to pull in and fill up! Yes, there are excuses like a broken gauge or my spouse drove it last and left me with nothing but let me be honest and say that the reason I ran out of gas was because I didn’t pay attention to the warning sign! There’s a reason for a red light or a red area on the gauge. WARNING! Something bad is about to happen!

There are warnings in all parts of life. Red flags begin waving when a marriage is weakening. Lights flash when morals are compromised. An alarm sounds when faith begins to starve.

Warnings can look like depression, guilt, and bogus rationalizations. I begin to skip my daily time in prayer and Bible reading. I find an excuse not to go to worship or Bible study or avoid my friends who care enough about me to notice and confront me.

I’m trying to avoid the wake up call and become very adept at hitting the snooze button. It’s amazing how easily my hearing and sight can become selective. My thoughts are a chatter in my spirit to distract me from the truth. What am I doing? What should I be doing?

Spending time judging and poking my nose into what others are doing. Before I go out to tell others how to live, I need to make sure I have my own house in order. A sure sign that I am headed for a faith breakdown is when I spend more time watching and judging what others are doing than I am in allowing the Holy Spirit to examine me and repenting for my sins.

Watching TV and movies, wringing my hands over the state of the country. I have made a lifestyle change in the last few months and part of that change involved making notes on what I eat. It was a real eye-opener to put actual numbers to what I was eating. I didn’t like it much! Another interesting revelation was how I spend my time. How much TV do I watch? How much time did I spend online reading news sites and discussing with others how messed up it all is?

The Good Wife and Modern Family are not going to help me in my relationships the way time in Proverbs will. While The Amazing Race and Dancing With the Stars can be entertaining and I certainly need relaxation, have I asked God, giver of Wisdom, what He thinks I should be doing?

Doing things in secret. If I am sneaking chocolate late at night, I don’t need to be eating it, do I? Any activity that I am ashamed to do in front of my family or trusted friends, I don’t need to be doing. It may seem cliché but Jesus is watching! Have I conveniently forgot that?

Warning signs are there to tell me to stop and make a change. Take time to fill up my spiritual tank. Make a choice to fill up with premium activities that will help me live an abundant life. And keep myself in good working order by keeping up with regular maintenance like prayer, reading God’s Word and worship. Heed the warnings – or pay the high price of being broken down and going no where.

My Heart Will Trust written by Reuben Morgan and sung by Hillsong Worship Team

 

 

 

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A Clean House

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever.
10 He does not punish us for all our sins;
he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.
13 The Lord is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
14 For he knows how weak we are;
he remembers we are only dust.        Psalm 103:8-14 (NLT)

Have you committed a sin? My response to that question would be: “You mean today?”

People who really know me would agree with the statement that I am hard on myself. I expect more from myself than I do anyone else. It was a difficult internal fight with myself to accept that I could not be “good enough” and more, to accept that I continue to sin and fail to be the child of God that I want to be. And there’s the problem. I never forgot when I sinned. I kept such a ledger! I would confess my sins to God but I never erased those sins from my ledger. I kept them and watched them continue to add up! God – forgot!

God doesn’t just forgive, He totally forgets. He takes His perfect eraser and removes any mark on that ledger. He burns all the evidence and clears the hard drive of each nanobyte. God can do anything and everything but He cannot remember my sins once I confess them and He forgives them. He can not and will not remember them!

“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”         Isaiah 1:18 (NLT)

No, my LORD doesn’t remember but I do. In that corner of my heart is a closet where the ghosts of my past lurk, waiting to pop out and remind me of who I used to be. I am a different person and yet those ghosts of past sins linger with a stinky old smell that clouds up my new life. Instead of leaping and dancing like I should, I walk with a limp.

Are those ghosts hanging around because of God? Was He kidding when He said He wouldn’t remember my sins? Was He promising more than He could deliver when He said He would clean me as white as snow? Does God lie? NO! A lie, a hedging of His words is not part of God’s nature! His love is never conditional. He who is perfect love does not hold a grudge. If He does, then He isn’t God.

If God didn’t forget my sins then how could I pray? How could I sing praises to Him? How could I enter His presence if the minute He saw me He remembered … “Oh, there’s Jody. She was the one that …” I could not enter the throne room of God in filthy, sinful rags. So how do I enter?

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.    Galatians 3:26-27 (NLT)

And there it is. When I come into God’s presence, He sees the Christ in me. I am covered in Jesus’ righteousness, not my own. And this was God’s idea, not mine. It was His plan and His way for us always to be together.

So today I am cleaning out that cellar in my heart. I am calling on Jesus and with the power of His Spirit I am exorcising those ghosts of past sins and welcoming the Light of God’s Truth. The windows are open and the sweet smell of God is throughout my clean spiritual home.

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) written & sung by Chris Tomlin

 

 

 

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Connect the Dots

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

I look to the hills!
Where will I find help?
2 It will come from the Lord, who created the heavens and the earth.

3 The Lord is your protector, and he won’t go to sleep or let you stumble.
4 The protector of Israel doesn’t doze or ever get drowsy.

5 The Lord is your protector, there at your right side to shade you from the sun.
6 You won’t be harmed by the sun during the day or by the moon at night.

7 The Lord will protect you and keep you safe from all dangers.
8 The Lord will protect you now and always wherever you go.    Psalm 121 (CEV)

Lectionary texts: Jeremiah 31:27-34, Psalm 121, 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5, Luke 18:1-8

The lectionary texts this week are not for Christians who are easily blown about by the newest fad in teaching/preaching (Ephesians 4:14). If you want to hear “feel good” teaching, these are not the four Scriptures to link together. I could not follow the dots from Jeremiah to Luke without wincing at God’s words.

God tells Jeremiah and me that the good news is that we children will no longer be punished for the sins of our fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, and great-great-grandfathers. We will take on the burden of our own sins. God has written His laws on my heart (I know right from wrong!) and He is my LORD! I am to take responsibility for my sins because – Jesus came to die for my sins, didn’t He?

I am dancing in the arms of my Father as I read Psalm 121! I look up to God and know that my journey to be with Him is a path that is steep and treacherous. But I will not fear because God is not up there somewhere but with me, right with me, on the path! However difficult the road may be, God is a shelter where I can run to escape the sweltering heat when I battle against the evil of this world and the treachery of moon shadows from my own flesh and delusions. Wherever I may go, even if I stray from God’s marked map, God will be there to guide me back.

I know this because in 2 Timothy God said that all of His Word is useful and will teach me. I am clearly warned that if I look for those who tell me what I want to hear, who profess that if I believe in God that “everything that I touch will prosper and I will be rich and happy” then I am listening to a false teacher. Instead I should keep my eyes focused on my LORD and endure through the hardships by His strength.

At this point in my readings, my mind is going back to Psalm 121 and I’m thinking, “The LORD is my protector and will not let me stumble. Ummm – but I have stumbled. And the LORD has allowed me to go through very difficult days and nights!” And I again read Jeremiah who is speaking to the children of God who are in exile! And I read 2 Timothy who is living during a time of severe persecution. And I come to the passage in Luke 18. And I begin to nod as I get it.

I am the persistent widow. If I do not understand or think that God is not hearing my cries, I am going to keep on crying out to Him! I am not going to give up.

When I was a child, I drove my parents crazy because when they would tell me to do something instead of “Yes, sir” I would respond with “Why?” My father would get very angry as he expected obedience. My Heavenly Father is OK with my “Why?” He will speak to me in His Word, in prayer, in dreams and visions. He will help me grow and strengthen, watering those roots so that they grow deep in His fertile soil. Deep roots will save a plant when the storms blow. The plant may lose its leaves and blossoms but with a good root system it will come back even better than ever.

Let us take the whole of God’s Word and allow Him to write it on our hearts and place in our memory so that it may teach, rebuke, correct and train us, that we may be prepared in all seasons to share the Good News of His salvation.

For Your Name is Holy written and sung by Paul Wilbur

 

 

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Abba, My Father

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. 2 They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. 3 And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.

4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.                Galatians 4:1-7 (NLT)

I’m about to celebrate another birthday. That comes around every year at the same time. My mother knew what she was talking about when she told me that after the age of 40, time seemed to speed up and birthdays came faster and faster. I’ve had enough birthdays that I know that I am running out of birthdays that are counted in this world. I don’t say that to be sad or fatalistic. It is a fact. This fact makes spending time with my Father so very important.

Do I know my Father God? To really know someone I have to spend time with them. I get to know Abba by listening to Him and others who have known Him longer than me, people that I trust. I read all I can about my Father. I ask my Father questions. There is nothing that I cannot ask Him.

Do I introduce my Father God to others? If my Father is someone that I love and respect, then I will want others to know Him too. Some people may not know what an earthly father is like or have a very negative view of who and what a father really should be to a child. I can help people to know who our Abba is by sharing what I know to be true, my testimony about what He has done in my life. Nothing difficult or fancy, just the truth.

Do I listen to what my Father God says? Children are often reluctant to listen to their parents. I didn’t want to listen because I thought my parents were too out of touch to really know what was going on in my life. As the years went by, I learned that my parents weren’t as dumb as I thought! And by the time I had children, I found myself repeating some of the same sage advice – “Why do you have to do that? Because I said so!!!”

Father God is the perfect parent. His love is never conditional. He is always there to talk to and always listens with compassion, considering what is best for me.

I am going to spend time with my Abba this weekend. We’re going to talk. I plan to spend a lot of time listening – except when I’m telling Him how much I love Him!

Abba Father written & sung by Cindy Rethmeier (Vineyard Music)

 

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God’s Hope For Me

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

When anyone wants to settle an argument, they make a vow by using the name of someone or something greater than themselves.17 So when God wanted to prove for certain that his promise to his people could not be broken, he made a vow.18 God cannot tell lies! And so his promises and vows are two things that can never be changed.

We have run to God for safety. Now his promises should greatly encourage us to take hold of the hope that is right in front of us.19 This hope is like a firm and steady anchor for our souls. In fact, hope reaches behind the curtain and into the most holy place. 20 Jesus has gone there ahead of us, and he is our high priest forever, just like Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:16-20 (CEV)

Hope is a desire for and an expectation that something will happen. It involves trust. Hope is a place of assurance where even the mature disciple can find themselves searching. It isn’t just a question of faith, although that is certainly a key component. But it is trusting God that what He has promised is applicable to my specific situation and that He has given me the assurance that it will happen. Let’s see what I know about my hope in God:

I know that God does not lie. God cannot be who He is and lie or mislead me. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He may be doing some new and exciting things but His character will never change. If I have a hope that God will do something, I have placed my faith and trust in the One that I can count on above all others in my life.

Do I hope for what God has for me? I was reading Luke 24 again the other day and looking at the two disciples who were walking on the road to Emmaus after Jesus. “We had hoped that He would redeem Israel.” (Luke 24:21) How often I have said the same! “I had hoped God would provide for me to visit my children this year.” or “I had hoped that God would answer my prayer to heal _______.” I am like those two disciples trudging down the road in disappointment.

It isn’t a lack of faith but maybe, like those Emmaus bound disciples, it is a lack of vision. They thought that Jesus’ mission of redemption was about restoring earthly land to Israel and crushing the Roman rule. Jesus was not about such an limiting task as earthly land. If Jesus had done what the disciples expected the Seven Day War would have occurred 2000 years sooner! He wanted to establish an eternal Kingdom. Often the greatest blessing God gives to me is not answering my prayer when I am not hoping for the right thing.

When I grab on to God’s hope, I will be surprised. Abraham spent a lot of time stressing about having many descendents and doubted God’s ability to begin by giving him a son! Moses hoped to stand in the Promised Land with Aaron and Joshua but ended up standing with Elijah and the transfigured Jesus! The two disciples going to Emmaus thought all was lost for them and that they were breaking bread with a clueless stranger until He handed them broken bread with nail-pierced hands!

To lash myself to the anchor that is Jesus Christ is not obtaining my own personal vending machine. It is walking with my powerful, Almighty Creator and LORD. It is where I can hide under the shadow of His wings and hold on as He may shock the socks off me and then watch my reaction.

My Hope is Built written by Edward Mote (1797-1874) sung at the 2008 Together for the Gospel Conference

 

 

 

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Fresh Breath

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

Then Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat!”

3 He answered them, “And why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? …

7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said:

8 These people honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.
9 They worship Me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commands of men.

Summoning the crowd, He told them, “Listen and understand: 11 It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” Matthew 17:1-3, 7-11 (HCSB)

What is truly inside of me? Most people can tell when someone has been onions or garlic or drinking coffee. And there’s a true saying that just because I go to church doesn’t make me a Christian any more than being in a garage makes me a car. What flows out of me? What comes to my mind and out my mouth – unless I have a heavy filter on my mouth to keep me “pc” (politically correct) and “cc” (church correct)?

There has been positive and negative reviews of what we call “the social media.” This usually refers to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I happen to like Facebook as it helps to keep me connected to people I know all over the world. I use Twitter for business and the other two I haven’t jumped into – yet. It has been interesting to me some of things that people share on these sites. Besides the TMI (too much information) factor there is also often a lack of common sense as people put out all matter of information for anyone to have and comment on. Trashing ex-friends and spouses, cursing and then sharing the next day that you liked the sermon or the music at church sends a mixed message of exactly to whom you give your primary allegiance.

Paul told me through his letter to the Philippians that I should keep my focus on what is excellent and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8) because that is where God will be. James reminded me that the tongue needs a tight rein and that it is a world of evil (James 1 and 3).

If I do not really believe and desire to obey God above all others, then what has been planted inside of me is not deeply rooted and will not overflow out of me like a Living River. I will claim to a disciple of Jesus Christ and yet what comes out of my mouth will give the true picture of where God is in my life. If I readily escape worship to sleep in or do things out in the church lobby, then I need to ask myself how important worship is to me. If I pick up my Bible in order to move it to dust and then put it down without a glance, then my relationship to Christ will be no more than that of an infant, never growing up.

Join me today and allow the Holy Spirit to thoroughly clean your thoughts and desires and then actively pursue what is “true, noble, right, pure, lovely admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.” Become so filled with what is from God that you overflow all that is Him without thinking.

Draw Me Close to You written by Kelly Carpenter and sung by Michael W. Smith

 

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The Wind – The Holy Spirit

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”          John 3:1-8 (NLT)

I love the spring and fall because the windows of the house are open. There is a breeze that causes the curtains to sway and the tablecloth on the dining table to ruffle. It’s hard to work because I get distracted and watch cardinals and blue jays swoop across the yard and squirrels scamper down my neighbor’s fence. As I watch the leaves rustle with the breeze I think of Jesus’ words about the Spirit:

“The wind blows wherever it wants.”

Yes, the Holy Spirit moves wherever and however He wants. I have read books on “how to get the Spirit” and heard leaders in the church discuss “how to control the manifestations of the Spirit.” Oh we humans are so delusional!

Nicodemus comes to talk with Jesus which tells me he had some questions. He came after dark which tells me that he was not ready to commit himself as a disciple of Jesus. He begins this one-on-one conversation with flattery. I wonder if Jesus was rolling His eyes or did it just annoy Him? Either way, Jesus cut through the niceties and said something that was bound to throw Nicodemus off his feet.

It is not unusual that when it comes to the Holy Spirit I too can get knocked off my feet, metaphorically and in reality. God sent His Spirit into my life in fulfillment of Jesus’ promise (John 14:25-27) and because the Spirit can provide the most accurate way for God and me to communicate. Words are often not adequate to tell God what is in my heart and, likewise, when I listen with my spirit, I can understand God better.

Too often we try to put parameters around the Holy Spirit. We want to know who has God’s Spirit in them so we say that speaking in tongues is the definitive manifestation. I knew a woman who did not speak in tongues but I knew she had the Spirit of God inside her because she wrote the most powerful and often life-changing notes to people. At her funeral, person after person related how she had written them a note that arrived at just the right time and made such a difference in their lives and the ministry that they were doing. I knew another woman had the Holy Spirit inside of her when I saw this beautiful huge banner that she had made. I had never seen her draw a circle and here she was putting together banners and then she painted beautiful pictures and now she is doing photography. God’s Spirit is in her and manifesting Himself in different ways as the seasons of life move on.

There is nothing that God can’t do but I shouldn’t be surprised if I am limited in my ability to explain who God is and how He works! Often I read a passage of Scripture and it just doesn’t come in clear to me. That is when I stop and just quietly listen. Remember how young Samuel said, “Speak, LORD, Your servant is listening!” That is a good example of how to have a conversation with God. It is good to spend much more time listening than talking. Quiet time is a good time for any child.

Indescribable written and sung by Chris Tomlin

 

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How I Become Well

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus went along the border between Samaria and Galilee.

12 As he was going into a village, ten men with leprosy came toward him. They stood at a distance 13 and shouted, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

14 Jesus looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”

On their way they were healed.15 When one of them discovered that he was healed, he came back, shouting praises to God.16 He bowed down at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was from the country of Samaria.

17 Jesus asked, “Weren’t ten men healed? Where are the other nine?18 Why was this foreigner the only one who came back to thank God?” 19 Then Jesus told the man, “You may get up and go. Your faith has made you well.”              Luke 17:11-19 (CEV)

Lecionary texts: Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7, Psalm 66:1-12, 2 Timothy 2:8-15, Luke 17:11-19

This is one of many stories in the gospels where Jesus reaches out to heal someone who has cried out for mercy. What can I learn about healing here?

I often stand at a distance and cry for help. In my life, I came to a place of great need for healing but felt I could not come close to God and ask for help. I had not been faithful to my relationship to Him. I felt I had no right to ask for His help, His love and forgiveness. I felt a need to earn His love. I surely must have to pay some price to come to Him. I was wrong. Like any good and loving father, God just wanted me to turn to Him in my need and call out to Him. He loves me. Period.

God may tell me to faithfully do the expected treatment. Jesus healed in many different ways. In this time with the ten lepers, He told them to go show themselves to the priests. This was the accepted path when a person was an outcast due to some condition, the priests would declare them welcomed back into the community; they were healed. Jesus was always about pointing people to the Father so that the Father received all the glory for the blessing. Whatever way God decides to release healing into my life, it is for me to faithfully obey.

On the journey of treatment, God will heal. The lepers were healed as they made their way to the priests. They obeyed Jesus and were healed. I remember discussing healing with my son James when he was sick. We did a study of the different ways that God healed throughout the Bible. James said, “Do you think God wants me to go dip myself in the Gulf seven times?” (2 Kings 5:9-11) It is the willingness to do whatever God asks that is the point. God did heal many people, including James, during James’ five year journey.

Never forget the thanksgiving. Ten lepers were healed and only one returned to give thanks and praise. The gospel doesn’t tell me but I have to wonder what happened to the other nine. Jesus told the one leper who did return that his faith, his belief that it was God who had healed him, was what truly healed him. No matter what path God has chosen for me to follow in His plan to heal, I must never forget that it is under His direction that I am healed. Remember that in all things that God is planning and guiding me from His perspective, a Kingdom perspective. And so it is in healing. His priority will always be about healing my heart and spirit primarily and bringing our relationship closer so that the Kingdom will grow, and grow stronger. The healing will be the testimony that directs others to the Father. It is the healing that passes all understanding. It is a faith in Jesus Christ that manifests itself with strength and courage so that I can point to Him as I say, “I have fought the good fight. I have run the race. I have kept the faith. Now a crown of righteousness waits for me” (2 Timothy 3:7-8). I can testify to all others that because of the healing of God – it is well in my soul.

It is Well with My Soul written by Horatio Spafford and Philip Bliss, sung at the 2008 Together for the Gospel Conference

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There’s a Storm Coming

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

20 My child, listen carefully to everything I say.
21 Don’t forget a single word, but think about it all.
22 Knowing these teachings will mean true life and good health for you.
23 Carefully guard your thoughts because they are the source of true life.
24 Never tell lies or be deceitful in what you say.
25 Keep looking straight ahead, without turning aside.
26 Know where you are headed, and you will stay on solid ground.
27 Don’t make a mistake by turning to the right or the left.             Proverbs 4:20-27 (CEV)

There’s a tropical storm headed my way. For most of us who live along the coast we know to make sure that we have food for the next 3-4 days that doesn’t necessarily require cooking and low lying areas will have some flooding. So we “batten down the hatches” and watch the wind and rain blow.

Wouldn’t it be great to know when a storm is coming in my life? God could send me an email that says “Get ready, Jody, here comes a whopper storm!” And then He could include a checklist of what I needed to do to get ready. As long as I didn’t get that email, I could just relax and coast from day to day. (Right!)

Jesus said in John 16 that we, His disciples, were going to have trouble. He really didn’t sugarcoat it. He said it was going to be bad. So I’ve been given that email I wanted, haven’t I? It really isn’t about if there will be trouble but when.

Am I prepared? Have I been praying, reading, and studying so I soak up God’s wisdom? Have I spent time with other disciples and discussed and encouraged each other? If I have done these things then when the storm clouds grow dark in front of me I will be better prepared to batten down the hatches and ride that storm out surrounded by the very presence of God.

Stand by Me written by Charles A. Tindley, sung by Willie Nelson

 

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