Say What We Want to Hear – Even if It’s False!

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

The Lord told me to write down his message for his people, so that it would be there forever.9 They have turned against the Lord and can’t be trusted. They have refused his teaching 10 and have said to his messengers and prophets:

Don’t tell us what God has shown you and don’t preach the truth. Just say what we want to hear, even if it’s false. 11 Stop telling us what God has said! We don’t want to hear any more about the holy God of Israel.              Isaiah 30:8-11 (CEV)

Do I really want to hear the truth? Is the truth being taught and preached in the Church today?

I have to admit that I don’t remember this Scripture hitting me like 2 Timothy 4:3 has in the past:

The time is coming when people won’t listen to good teaching. Instead, they will look for teachers who will please them by telling them only what they are itching to hear.

It’s difficult to find a fellowship where the members come with their Bibles, well marked, and expecting to use it to learn on any given Sunday. Most people come, sit in the pew for no more than one hour, hear something they already know, and go home without giving it a thought again during the week. Statistically less than a third of a church’s membership come regularly to worship services and less than a third of that group belong to any Bible study group or Sunday School.

One of the best seasons in my life was a two year period after I made my commitment to Jesus. I devoured the word. I read 2-3 hours every day, usually late at night because it was the only quiet time I had with a full time job and a family. It was a time of richness. I believe that God was preparing me for a season of great hardship. During that difficult season, God’s words came back to me many times, strengthening me and reassuring me of His love. It would have been difficult if not impossible to have read and received what I needed to survive the hard times.

It is not if hard times or difficult situations will come to us, it is when they come the question will be: Am I prepared? God has been generous and loving to tell us to listen to Him. What God has to say is not always easy to hear. A wonderfully anointed evangelist I know describes God’s teachings as sometimes sweet like Twinkies and sometimes more like brussels sprouts, not necessarily tasty but nutritious and essential to our spiritual health. We should rejoice and thank God for those who will teach us the truth, God’s truth. No, it will not always be what we want to hear. It may be what we need to hear. Paul tells us to test everything and not to stop the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5). If we ask for wisdom and discernment, the Spirit is faithful to answer with His power.

So let us continue to meet together as that is important as the time draws closer to the final days (Hebrews 10:5). Let us have ears to hear and hearts to receive God’s truth. Let us pray for our teachers that they will have the courage and strength to speak as Jesus did.

Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”

61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them,“Does this offend you? 62 Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again?63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.64 But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.)65 Then he said,“That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”

66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked,“Are you also going to leave?”

68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God. “         John 6:60-69 (NLT)

Be Thou My Vision written by Dallán Fargaill (6th century)

 

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The Best Father

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

Listen, Lord, as I pray!
Pay attention when I groan.
2 You are my King and my God.
Answer my cry for help because I pray to you.
3 Each morning you listen to my prayer,
as I bring my requests to you and wait for your reply.

4 You are not the kind of God who is pleased with evil.
Sinners can’t stay with you.
5 No one who boasts can stand in your presence, Lord,
and you hate evil people.
6 You destroy every liar, and you despise violence and deceit.

7 Because of your great mercy,
I come to your house, Lord,
and I am filled with wonder as I bow down to worship at your holy temple.
8 You do what is right,
and I ask you to guide me.
Make your teaching clear because of my enemies.       Psalm 5:1-8 (CEV)

Lectionary texts: 1 Kings 21:1-21, Psalm 5:1-8, Galatians 2:15-21, Luke 7:36-8:3

Next Sunday is Father’s Day. As I said on Mother’s Day this can be a wonderful day of laughter and bar-b-q with the retelling of stories where the fish gets bigger! It can also be difficult when you have recently experienced the death of your dad or if you are a dad and your child is deployed in the service or has recently died.

When most of us think of fathers we think of strength and steadfastness. It is wonderful to see young dads spending time with their babies and their children being exposed to that loving gentle hand.

The lectionary texts speak to me about the example we all have of a father; the many facets of a loving dad.

1 Kings 21 is another part of the Ahab and Jezebel story. It shows me that my Heavenly Father has a standard. Every child needs to know where the fence is that marks ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ and the parent needs to communicate both in words and their own actions. A parent always wants a child to first obey out of love but if that isn’t the choice then the parent must show the child that there are consequences to their choice to disobey. It’s so much better to explain consequences to a child of 5 than to a teen of 15 who has never experienced consequences.

Galatians 2 When a parent lives their faith in Jesus, then their children see first hand what it means to commit their life to Christ and the blessings that come with that commitment. If a parent’s faith is all about the Law – go to church, wear certain clothes, follow certain rituals, agree with specific behavior in public and then do whatever behind closed doors – then I believe a child grows up without knowing God’s grace and mercy. A child needs to know about asking forgiveness and serving others. They need to know Jesus as He is every day.

Luke 7 Jesus loved. Oh how important it is that we teach our children truthfully how to love like Jesus. There is no immigrant or race that is not loved by Jesus. There is no child of God who is not loved. If by our actions or words we say we hate an ethnic group, a homosexual, a drug addict or any one that we have judged as a sinner, then we are teaching our children that God will only love them after they have become perfect. Jesus loved me first and died for my sins. He continues to love me and works with me to become the child of God who shuns sin and loves Him more.

Psalm 5 God hears my cries for help. He answers my prayers. He is happy to talk with me every day. No, He doesn’t like my sin at all. Because of His great mercy, I can come into His presence and worship Him, receive the conviction of my sin, and be restored – every day!

Fathers, remember it isn’t about biology as much as it is about the love that God has given you for His children that are in your care. Be blessed this week and listen to what your Father has to say to you. It will be the best gift you get.

Father’s Eyes written and sung by Amy Grant

 

 

 

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No Doubt – Not A Theologian

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

When Jesus had finished speaking, he told Simon, “Row the boat out into the deep water and let your nets down to catch some fish.”

5 “Master,” Simon answered, “we have worked hard all night long and have not caught a thing. But if you tell me to, I will let the nets down.”6 They did it and caught so many fish that their nets began ripping apart. 7 Then they signaled for their partners in the other boat to come and help them. The men came, and together they filled the two boats so full that they both began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this happen, he knelt down in front of Jesus and said, “Lord, don’t come near me! I am a sinner.” 9 Peter and everyone with him were completely surprised at all the fish they had caught.      Luke 5:4-9 (CEV)

My husband and I are Christian book publishers. We have over 85 books in our catalog now. Of those books, there are only three books that I totally agree with. They are the ones that I have personally written. (My tongue was in my cheek on that statement.) My husband has worked very hard to communicate the mission statement of our publishing company and how we prayerfully decide what to publish and what not to publish. He just wrote another blog yesterday related to this entitled, My Personal Views and Energion Publications. There are doctrinal subjects (creation vs evolution and homosexuality to name only a few) that just seem to push buttons and make otherwise kind, reasonable Christians erupt into unreasonable, I’ve-got-to-convince-you people. What has all this to do with Luke’s telling of Jesus calling His first disciples? It came to my mind because I was also told yesterday that a theologian, Karl Barth, says that all Christians are theologians by definition. Well, I disagree. I am no theologian!

Jesus has selected some fishermen out of all the people He may have passed by on this particular day. He didn’t select people who were great students of the Torah or priests from the Temple but just a bunch of guys. He then proceeds to speak to them in words and in a scenario that they might at least have a beginning point of understanding.

Jesus takes the fishermen out and asks them to fish at a time of day that is usually not the most productive time. He also asks them to do this when they are tired and unhappy about their lack of success. And when they brought the huge catch into the boat, they did not attempt to do it alone. They called for help from other fishermen. And then Simon, not yet Peter the Rock, probably says the first totally true statement to come out of his lips from his heart, “I am a sinner, LORD. Don’t come near me.”

I am a sinner in need of a savior, and Jesus Christ called me out and in His power saved me and made me a fisherman, not a theologian. No where in the gospel does Jesus say He needs defending. No where in the gospel does Jesus say, “I will make you great theologians.” And He did not say in Matthew 28 that I should “Go and make theologians.” but instead He says I should make disciples, teaching them to obey what He has commanded me. It is not just about all the words that I say but the fruit of what my life is in Him.

The first disciples were fishermen, tax collectors, tradesmen and women who saw their sin and humbly followed the Savior. They didn’t see Him all the same. They didn’t share Him with all the same people and in all the same way. What they had in common was Jesus. What they could all agree upon was Jesus.

Give Me Jesus written by Fernando Ortega and sung by Vince Gill

 

 

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Do I Hear the Cries of God’s Children?

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

After this
I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity;
then your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your old men will have dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
29 I will even pour out My Spirit
on the male and female slaves in those days.
30 I will display wonders
in the heavens and on the earth:
blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and awe-inspiring Day of the Lord comes.      Joel 2:28-31 (HCSB)

There are people in my life that if I read their blogs or devotions, I know before I start that my toes are going to feel some pain. J. Lee Grady, pastor and contributing writer with Charisma Magazine is one of those people. His recent article, There Are No Indian Reservations in Heaven, woke me up to a need in God’s Kingdom that I have ignored.

I grew up along the Mississippi River in the heartland state of Missouri. I was a Girl Scout for ten years and our area council was called Otahki. It was called that to honor the memory of the Cherokee nation who in 1838 was forcibly removed out of their ancestral land in northern Georgia and marched across (going through my home town) to the Oklahoma territory. It was called The Trail of Tears because 3,000 Cherokee died on the march, mostly women and children. Sounds like some of the events described in the Bible, doesn’t it?

On Pentecost, Peter, now filled with the Holy Spirit, stands before thousands and proclaims again the prophet Joel’s words. Every time I have heard those words, I have smiled and received that encouragement for myself. In the context of the entire Bible, I would do well to remember who are the slaves and poorest of the poor.

In the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, the unemployment rate is 80%! Can you imagine? 8 out of 10 people have no means of income. Life expectancy is the lowest of anywhere in the Western Hemisphere except Haiti; that includes Central and South America! It’s unbelievable to me that there is a place in the United States and we are allowing it to continue. To do something about it, we don’t have to buy a $1000 plane ticket or even get a passport. Read J. Lee Grady’s article and if God speaks to your heart about His Native American children or you know someone working in Native American missions, drop me a line via email (jody@energion.com).

My heart was quickened by J Lee Grady’s article. What has quickened your spirit lately? What outreach are you involved in? To whom are you the hands and feet of Jesus?

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord written by Andy Park and sung by Lindell Cooley

 

 

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How Do I Find the Gain in Loss?

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

I want to share with you today an exerpt from a book I wrote a few years ago about loss: Grief: Finding the Candle of Light (ISBN#: 1-893729-50-8 Energion Publications. 2007)

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The most often quoted book of the Bible about loss has to be Job. I am going to use it, too, but hang in there with me and maybe God will show us some ‘stuff’. Sometimes you can find a precious pearl that is worth a great price!

Job is righteous. That means he had a relationship with God that was good. He raised his family with God as the center.

Then the scene cuts to God. He is having his weekly or monthly meeting with the angels and Satan comes, too. He tells God that he has been “roaming around”. God – yes, GOD, points to Job as an example of what His children should be. Satan tells God that he thinks the reason Job is so “good” is because God has given him a good life and so he has nothing to complain about. So God tells Satan that he can do anything he wants to torment Job through his family or possessions but he can’t touch Job himself.

So Satan strikes Job’s stock (he makes his living and feeds his family from that) and kills all of the herds and ALL of his children! All in one day! Job’s response: he grieves. He tears his clothes and shaves his head (that’s what they did in those days) BUT Job utters those righteous words: “Naked I came into the world – naked I will leave. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Praise the name of God!”

Satan isn’t done. He isn’t satisfied with Job praising God in spite of his losses. Satan says that if Job becomes ill then Job will curse God. So God tells Satan he can bring sickness on him – but he can’t kill Job. Satan does that. In the agony of his illness, Job’s wife even tells him to curse God and die! Here’s a ‘pearl’ from Job: “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (Job 2:10) Job got it. God is in charge of good and evil. Does that mean that God created cancer? No, but God allowed it. If God doesn’t have the ultimate control over everything then how can I believe that He is GOD?! Let’s go on:

As if Job doesn’t have enough trouble with a foolish wife, Job also has three friends that – well, he could have done without! In Chapter 3, Job tells his good friends how he really feels about all that has happened to him. He is grieving. Chapters 4-37 is the discussion between Job and his buddies who are trying to figure out the “Why?” of it all. They only succeed is showing the limitations of their abilities to think and reason out our limit-less God!

I think God gets tired of their chatter and begins to speak in Chapters 38-41. God reminds Job of who He is. God is creator of all. He has always been and He always will be. God created the boundaries of everything. Nothing happens without His word. God reminds him that he, Job, is the created, not the creator. Job will not be able to know the complete mind of God. He will not be able to understand everything. It is too BIG with everything inter-connecting in ways we cannot fathom

Job replies in the last chapter that he now ‘sees’ and ‘repents’ for doubting God’s love. And God forgives Job because he accepts Job’s prayer and sacrifice for his friends. The story ends with Job receiving multiples over multiples of possessions and having more children.

What does that tell me? (Remember – you will have to seek your own answer to the ‘why’ question)

Job received extra-ordinary blessings from the Lord because he was faithful. Questioning God doesn’t mean that I reject Him! It means I love and know He loves me – enough that He is not offended or threatened by my questions! Did Job forget the children he lost? I doubt it. One child doesn’t replace the life of another. God blessing me in one area doesn’t make me forget the loss in another. I just ‘see’ the love that God has for me. I know He hasn’t walked away. I know that God isn’t punishing me. God’s love isn’t conditional. It just is.

Why did James die at the age of 17? Why couldn’t God have done a miraculous healing and used James as an awesome testimony to His power? I know which one I was praying for! I know which one I was believing for!

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19 (NIV)

Jesus called Peter and Andrew and then James and John as his first disciples. He made them fishers of men. God used James to catch a lot of fish. Members of his high school band came to know Jesus through his life as God gave him courage and peace that went far beyond his years. Adults that knew him came closer to God as they prayed for him and watched him walk a path that even they didn’t want to walk. When I lowered my fists and went to my knees, I realized that I could not have asked for any thing better. My son was a disciple of Jesus Christ. He finished his race. He kept the faith. His reward is assured and eternal.

I received this answer. God may have more for me down the road. God will answer you also. It will be your answer to “Why?”

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God continues to answer my why questions. It has been a point of great intimacy and love between us. I am so grateful for His faithfulness, compassion, courage, and wisdom to face each day.

It is Well with my Soul written by Horatio Spafford & Philip Bliss and sung by Hillsong Worship Team

 

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Oh, How He Loves!

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?” 34 But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”

36 Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them,37 “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”     Mark 9:33-37 (NLT)

I love this story. It is also recorded in Matthew 18 and Luke 9. I often think that if three of the four gospel witnesses remembered and thought something was important to record, I need to pay attention to it.

God knows me. Jesus knew the disciples were arguing among themselves. Did He know the subject? Wouldn’t surprise me! But there is something that happens when we “come clean” and tell the LORD what is happening in our lives. The disciples didn’t want to admit what they were talking about because, on some level, they knew they had done wrong. I’m like that with God, too. When I am walking on my own path and doing things my own way, what some might call my conscience is actually God’s Spirit telling me that I am distancing myself from Him. Yes, God knows me, for better or worse.

God tells me. Jesus does not leave His disciples in their sin. He doesn’t leave me in mine either. Jesus is called Teacher in the gospel. Jesus doesn’t condemn the disciples for their wrong thinking and arguing. He corrects them and teaches them. Jesus wants me to be better. He wants me to grow and learn and then pass what I have learned to others.

God wants me. Jesus takes a child and teaches the disciples then, and continues to teach us now, the depth of His love. God’s love is not about the proud and the famous. God’s love is tender and uplifting to the small and weak among us, like when I am small and weak. He tells me that when I make time, encourage, show kindness, and in any other way, show love to those who may be overlooked, I am welcoming Him; I am welcoming the Father.

It is a wondrous and comforting thing to know that Father God, Creator of all that is, cares about me and wants more for me. It’s a hard and humbling thing to know that God’s love is so great that He loves me in spite of my sin and wrongs. He loves me enough to correct and teach me. He is there to see every tear, every loss, every success, and every celebration. He is always there. He is always everything.

Praise the Lord!

Let all that I am praise the Lord.
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.

3 Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
there is no help for you there.
4 When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
and all their plans die with them.
5 But joyful are those who have the God of Israel[a] as their helper,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.        Psalm 146:1-5 (NLT)

Jesus, Lover of my Soul written and sung by Lindell Cooley

 

 

 

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Still the Same

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

Soon Jesus and his disciples were on their way to the town of Nain, and a big crowd was going along with them. 12 As they came near the gate of the town, they saw people carrying out the body of a widow’s only son. Many people from the town were walking along with her.

13 When the Lord saw the woman, he felt sorry for her and said, “Don’t cry!”

14 Jesus went over and touched the stretcher on which the people were carrying the dead boy. They stopped, and Jesus said, “Young man, get up!” 15 The boy sat up and began to speak. Jesus then gave him back to his mother.

16 Everyone was frightened and praised God. They said, “A great prophet is here with us! God has come to his people.”

17 News about Jesus spread all over Judea and everywhere else in that part of the country.    Luke 7:11-17 (CEV)

Lectionary texts: 1 Kings 17:8-24, Psalm 146, Galatians 1:11-24, Luke 7:11-17

The people who determine these lectionary texts are offering some texts with difficult subjects. It will be interesting to see what people decide to teach and preach about next Sunday. Those of you who have been with me for a few years know that I will not dodge a difficult text so I am going to consider this story that Dr. Luke relates in his gospel.

Some may think that this is nothing more than a story of a miracle that happened over 2000 years ago. And some may dismiss the story and claim that the ignorance of medicine during this time produced a false miracle because the young man was just in a coma, not really dead. Even Hollywood would tell tales of people who found themselves reviving in a body bag in the local morgue, misdiagnosed as dead. As an RN for over 35 years that included time in critical care units and with hospice care, I’ve never misdiagnosed “dead.” There’s a definite stillness, skin pallor, and rigor that characterizes a person who is dead.

So I believe this story to be true. Even a young, seemingly healthy man in this time could be struck down by what may have only be known as a fever. Cutting your finger on a rusty piece of metal in those days was a death sentence as there was no tetanus vaccine.

It is the plight of the mother that moves Jesus with compassion. Jesus knew that the young man was safe and secure in the Father’s arms but the widow was neither safe nor secure in her present circumstances. She no longer had a male to protect and provide for her. Widows without male children often found themselves starving to death as they begged on the streets because they had no job opportunities other than prostitution or slavery. And so Jesus, God Himself, returns the son to his mother, restoring a family to safety.

The people praised God for this wonderful act but the gospel also tells us that they were frightened. I wonder if we would have to admit that we have not evolved much farther in our own response to miracles. We want to dismiss miraculous phenomena with scientific explanations or just not speak of them at all. We provide little or no opportunity in our worship for the sharing of miracles, whether it is a physical awakening or a spiritual breakthrough. We wonder why newspapers and news reports aren’t telling the stories of “good” when we do not even share such stories in our churches! When will we stop blaming the world for not being more Christ-like when we who are His disciples are reluctant to open our mouths and do as He told us:

“Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.” Matthew 28:19-20 (CEV, my emphasis)

Every Move I Make written by David Ruis and sung by David Crowder Band

 

 

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Come Away

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

“I am the vine;you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.” John 15:5 (HCSB)

I’m going to spend some time alone with the LORD this week. I’ll see you all next Monday. Be blessed in your time with God! — Jody

Posted in John | Comments Off on Come Away

Joy Comes

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

Weeping may last through the night,
but joy comes with the morning.         Psalm 30:5 (NLT)

It’s a short devotion today. It’s come from my heart, short and sweet.

Have you ever noticed how things often seem so very large and dark at night? Babies wake up at midnight with fevers, not at noon time. Emergency Rooms are busier in the middle of the night, not so much in the afternoon. Have you ever not been able to sleep because of worry about a problem? And does the worry seem to help the problem? It never has for me.

Jesus asks that question in Matthew’s gospel (6:27). He tells me that the Father provides for the flowers and the birds of the air. The Father provides. It all comes down to trust, doesn’t it?

God sees our problems and how we worry and lose sleep over them. He sees how we try to figure them out for ourselves. He wants to guide us to the best path. All we have to do is call Him.

I hope with this short devotion that you will take the time to read all of Psalm 30. The writer will share his testimony about trusting God through the difficulties of life. It will be a blessing to you. I’m going to go read it myself again.

El Shaddai written and sung by Amy Grant

 

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Memorial Day 2013

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared, and so had the sea.2 Then I saw New Jerusalem, that holy city, coming down from God in heaven. It was like a bride dressed in her wedding gown and ready to meet her husband.

3 I heard a loud voice shout from the throne:

God’s home is now with his people. He will live with them, and they will be his own. Yes, God will make his home among his people. 4 He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever.      Revelation 21:1-4 (CEV)

I am a weeping patriot. I love to see our flag flying in the breeze at the ball park. I can get a lump in my throat during the National Anthem…no matter how bad the singer! I do not apologize for these emotions. I don’t want to forget the cost of freedom. I don’t want to forget to thank our Father that He has inspired young men and women to stand ready to defend His great love for us through this country called America.

There is nothing “glorious” about war. It’s horrific. The cost is great. War should cost otherwise there would be nothing to stop it. It isn’t a video game. It isn’t to be looked at with philosophical eyes but with reality.

The VietNam War was my first personal experience with war. My brother was drafted just after he was married and right out of college. By the grace of God, he did not get sent to Southeast Asia. Gary Schemel always comes to my mind when I think of the war. He played basketball with my brother when they were in high school. He was drafted into the Marine Corps, went to VietNam and returned in a casket. To this day, I do not like to watch war movies. But I watch the Memorial Day and Fourth of July celebrations from Washington DC. I watch with a tissue in my hands because I want to honor the men and women and their families and never forget the price that has been paid and continues to be paid.

I briefly considered going into the service when I was in college. It was a financial consideration. The Navy or Air Force would pay for my education and in return I would give them four years of service. I decided against it because I thought there was a more than even chance that, given my experience, I would be sent to a hospital or MASH unit in Southeast Asia. And now I am too old to be in active service. But am I?

Each of us has been gifted by God to build His Kingdom. God speaks to each of us about how He wants us to use these gifts to show His love to His children. There are many, many men and women who have served in the military who are broken and hurting. Is God whispering in my ear about these children? Could I make a contribution to Wounded Warriors? Do I know a wounded warrior that I could bless with an offer of friendship? Is there a way to hold out my hand to a warrior and let them know they are not alone? LORD, open my eyes and heart to Your voice that speaks of Your opportunities. Here I am, LORD.

Memorial Day. A time for many to spend with families on a beach, a lake, or a river, cooking over hot coals with a cold drink in their hand. Life is good. May I not forget the price that has been paid for this beauty and Who is responsible for me being here.

Open the Eyes of My Heart, LORD written and sung by Paul Baloche

If You’re Reading This written by Tim McGraw, Brett and Brad Warren, sung by Tim McGraw

 

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