Abba and White Snow

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

[reprinted from November 2, 2010]

“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)

Have you ever seen a fresh snow fall? In order to appreciate it, the snow has to fall during the night and you have to get up before anyone walks or drives their car over it. It is an extraordinary sight! It is soooo quiet that you feel like you are in a new world. Everything seems clean and new. And then there is snow ice cream! Yum!

God says that He takes my ‘scarlet’ sins and makes them like this brand new, pure white snow. That is what He planned and promised. He had Isaiah remind His people. Then when The Promise came, Jesus’ scarlet Blood washed me clean. I remember the night that I felt that clean. I came up out of the water and I felt – like I must have felt after my very first bath those many, many years ago at St. Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau, MO. This time, however, I am transparently clean. There is nothing of the old me left.

It is a step of faith, I think, to believe what God has promised and what He has done. There’s a ‘replay’ button inside me that someone tries to keep pressing. Whether it is me or someone who reminds me of my past, it is easy to allow the tape to play in my head and think about from where I have come and what I was. It is also easy to put that ‘old pair of shoes’ back on. My old self can seem comfortable and accessible. Making a choice to stay to the path I now have is an exercise in learning a new habit. I want to learn and grow. I want to set my sights on my standard – Jesus.

And when I sin – it is a place that I can turn from and start anew. Every time I come to God with a repentant, humble heart and ask Him to make me brand new, He rejoices that His child is home. To take time every day (just like I take time to brush my teeth or my hair) and allow God to examine me, calling to my mind the areas for which I need to repent, is good spiritual hygiene. What a wonderful way to start each day – pure white and brand new!

At the Cross written and sung by Brian Doerksen

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Creation Calls

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

Come, let us shout joyfully to the Lord,
shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation!
Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving;
let us shout triumphantly to Him in song.

For the Lord is a great God,
a great King above all gods.
The depths of the earth are in His hand,
and the mountain peaks are His.
The sea is His; He made it.
His hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture,
the sheep under His care. Psalm 95:1-7 (HCSB)

Big thunderstorms are due in our area today. Last night I received a text from my daughter, who lives in a different part of the country, and she and her family were seeking the safety of their basement as sirens warned that tornadoes had been spotted in their area. They returned safely to their beds later, thank You, LORD.

I see God in the lightening and wind (John 3:5-8). I see Him in the Rocky Mountains, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and Camelback Mountain. I see God in the magnificent blue whales and in a chipmunk. I see God in the first azalea that blooms every spring and in the red and gold leaves of autumn. Some might say that this is all manifestations of the life cycle and can be explained with scientific principles that govern our seasons, weather, genetic patterns in animals as well as humans. I have no problem with that because my God likes order and He set those principles into place. It just took we humans a few hundred years to catch up and learn them!

I love to go to the ocean or to the mountains and just sit and absorb the presence of God. My friends, He is also present in an infant’s hands, so perfectly made and his/her giggle that surely brings a smile to my face. He can also be found in flowers, each with their own color, scent and delicate touch. Let us not miss Him in the every day sights and sounds.

So whether you look out your window today and see driving rain, flakes of snow, bright sunshine, or clouds that have temporarily blocked the sun, ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to see God in all His glory.

Creation Calls written and sung by Brian Doerksen

 

 

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I Need You More

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

The Lord said to Abram:
Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you.”          Genesis 12:1 (CEV)

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil.      Matthew 4:1 (NLT)

Some seasons in my life are just hard. Oh, I can keep the truth that I will come out stronger on the other side for the path that I have come through. I know that is true because God has proven that to me in previous seasons. But when I am in the season and walking that path, it is just hard.

This past weekend in my Sunday School class we discussed Hebrews 11 which is a passage about faith and those who have gone before us and shared their stories. Now Hebrews 11 takes what I call a “cheerleader attitude” about those stories. A cheerleader will continue to yell “Yea, Team!” even when the team is down 55-0 with two minutes left to play. The writer of this chapter in Hebrews glosses the stories with a bit more faith than the participants actually had.

Abram, or Abraham as he became known, did leave and go to the land God showed him but his life journey with God was not without lies, doubts, and hard seasons. Abraham is not part of God’s inspired Word because of his perfection but because of his willingness to try and rely on God to get him through when he was too weak to do it. The same can be said about Moses, David, Esther, Ruth, all the disciples, Mary and Joseph, and Paul.

It is only Jesus who can be held as a perfect example of a walk through this life. From His birth in a barn, escape to Egypt, temptation trial in the desert, attempts to throw Him off cliffs (Luke 4:28-30), and final betrayal by His own people, Jesus stayed the course He was given. But wait …

There is that passage in Luke 22. Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is praying. Is He praising and thanking the Father for all that He has come through? I don’t know by reading Luke 22:39-46 everything that was in Jesus’ prayers that night but I am told that He asked the Father to change His mind and make this season easier. Jesus did not want to continue to walk to Calvary. It was so hard that He began to sweat blood!

Today or this week or this month or the foreseeable future may be hard but Jesus is with me and He knows about hard. He knows how much a ministering angel can help me as I pray. He knows how to help me put one more foot in front of the other in faith when I am climbing a steep hill. He knows when to give me a peek at the victory of Sunday when I am standing in the darkness of Friday. When I need Jesus – He is here.

I Need You More written and sung by Lindell Cooley

 

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Love is …

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

I often take a passage of Scripture and break it down into phrases or sentences, like considering pieces of a puzzle as I put it together to make the whole. The lectionary texts this week are about God’s love at their core, as most Scripture is. I want to keep in mind as I go through this Scripture that it is God’s love,not man’s, that is described here. So I am going to start with I Corinthians 13.

Lectionary texts: Jeremiah 1:4-10, Psalm 71:1-6, I Corinthians 13:1-13, Luke 4:21-30

If I speak human or angelic languages but do not have love,
I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

My husband, Henry, has a gift with languages. He speaks or can understand over a dozen languages. I struggled through Spanish and gave up after one class of Hebrew. Languages weren’t for me but I do appreciate their beauty and history. And God gave us the gift of many languages, including language that speaks my spirit to His Spirit. Yet, here God says through Paul that all those beautiful words are nothing if I do not speak them, use them with love.

If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries
and all knowledge,and if I have all faith
so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.

And here Paul lists all the “important” gifts that, even in this new 1st Church, people had begun to bestow their own human glory upon. Faith, discernment, knowledge, and prophecy are all wonderful gifts from God that He gave to His children to use to build His Kingdom. But if those gifts, or any others, are used with manipulation and self-seeking glory, then God sees it all as worthless.

And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor,
and if I give my body in order to boast
but do not have love, I gain nothing.

All of these beginning verses remind me of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5). I can tithe, give offerings, give myself as a martyr, and yet if my heart is focused on the applause of others, I miss the mark and have not a servant heart. Jesus says that I should do all these things for the Father who is unseen (Matthew 6:5-6).

Love is patient,

This speaks to my closest of relationships! Those of whom I love the most, I expect the most. It also speaks to me about how much patience I extend to fellow Believers. How much patience do I have vs. how much judgment and criticism that I extend? Ouch. God has so much patience with me. How can I do less?

love is kind.

To me, kindness is a gentle, comforting love. When I think of kindness there are people, unassuming people, who immediately come to my mind who have shown me and people that I love such great kindness. They probably do not see themselves as “great” in God’s Kingdom, but they are.

Love does not envy,
is not boastful, is not conceited,

“It’s not all about me.” Oh how hard it is to allow Jesus to show me how to kill the pride in me. The priests and nuns of the early Church were made to beg their soup and kiss the feet of the older members of their community in order to learn humility. Those are certainly humbling ways but in my life Jesus has used His Spirit to illuminate to me when my heart is swelling with pride and focusing on what recognition I will receive.

does not act improperly,
is not selfish, is not provoked,
and does not keep a record of wrongs.

There are so many aspects of my life when I can see that I was keeping a mental “ledger” of the insults and injuries done to me. No greater place than in my marriage and in the Church. In both cases, I expect so much from my husband and from fellow Believers and when they do not meet my standard, there goes a black “X” on the debit side of the book. Jesus was so clear as He said that I will be judged with the same measure that I judge others (Matthew 7:1-5).

Love finds no joy in unrighteousness
but rejoices in the truth.

There is no joy when those who are struggling in their sin are struck down. The revelation of sin is so that the sinner can make a change and be restored to an intimate relationship with God. Remember Jonah? He was angry that the Ninevites weren’t going to get what they deserved but instead had repented and been restored to God (Jonah 4).

It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends.

“How many times do I have to forgive my brother?” asked Peter (Matthew 18:21-22). And Jesus essentially says that there is no end to the number of times that I forgive – unless I want God to put a number on the times He will forgive me!?? I have been blessed to see the power of God’s love to restore relationships that in the world’s estimation were irrevocably broken and should have died. God’s Love cannot be killed only refused.

But as for prophecies,
they will come to an end;
as for languages, they will cease;
as for knowledge, it will come to an end.

What have I made important in my life? Have I made a god of the ministry given to me by my LORD to steward? Nothing. Nothing comes before my LORD. The ministry, the gifts I have been given to further that ministry in God’s Kingdom all must point to the LORD.

For we know in part,
and we prophesy in part.
But when the perfect comes,
the partial will come to an end.

This is crucial. This is where I learn that I am in need of Jesus, His teaching and example, His Spirit to give me His truth and wisdom; the accountability of the Body of Christ as we work together for His Kingdom. We build and we work toward the Day that has been promised.

When I was a child,
I spoke like a child,
I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man,
I put aside childish things.

I have often used the phrase that “I am a big girl Christian” when I am looking at styles of worship that aren’t my favorite or when someone disagrees with something I wrote in a devotion. I ask God daily for His wisdom to know what is important and isn’t. Children will fight and fuss over a toy even when they do not want to play with it. Children want their world to turn their way and do not want to understand about any limitations. They are easily frustrated at people and events that do not make them immediately happy.

For now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
Now I know in part,
but then I will know fully,
as I am fully known.

I have more questions now than I did in 1995 when I first became a disciple of Jesus Christ. I am relying more on Jesus and walking more in faith than I ever have in my life. I hang on to the anchor that is Jesus and wrap myself in the cloak of Hope that says, “One day the shadows and veils of uncertainty will be lifted.”

Now these three remain:
faith, hope, and love.
But the greatest of these is love. I Corinthians 13:1-13 (NLT)

It is God’s love that began this Scripture and was the thread that was throughout. God is faith. God is hope. God is love. The greatest characteristic of all that God is – is love.

I Could Sing of Your Love Forever written and sung by Delirious

 

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Would God be Ashamed?

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

[reprinted from March 26, 2010]

In faith these all died, not having received the promises, but they saw and reached out to them from afar, and they confessed that they were strangers and wanderers on the earth, 14 for those who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been remembering the land they had gone out from, there might have been opportunity to return. 16 But now they aspire to a better place, which is heavenly. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, because he has prepared a city for them.            Hebrews 11:13-16 (HN)

– Henry Neufeld:

As I read this passage this morning, the question came to my mind, “Would God be ashamed to be called my God?”

Would God be ashamed to be called your God? Is God pleased when you announce that you’re one of his children, or does he shudder?

If those questions scare you, you might try taking a look at the lives of some of the people of faith in Hebrews 11—their whole lives, not just the triumphs we often think of—and consider what God did with some people who were ordinary, or in some cases perhaps less than ordinary.

But for today, just consider some of the elements of this passage that tell us what it is that makes someone a person God can be proud of, someone of whom God can say, “I’m not ashamed to be called his/her God.”

1. They all died in faith.

2. They saw and reached out for something that they never received themselves.

3. They confessed that they weren’t home yet.

4. They laid aside things that were behind them; there was no going back.

5. They kept right on hoping and going forward.

There’s a simple thread that goes through all of these items. They trusted God! They trusted him with the past, they trust him with the present, and they trust him for the future. They weren’t people who did incredible things in their own power. They didn’t bring on the kingdom of God through personal effort. They did keep right on trusting no matter what happened.

Do you trust God? If so, even if you have weaknesses (and we all do), then God is proud to say, “I’m ______’s (fill in your name here) God!”

My Tribute written by Andre Crouch, sung by Nicole C Mullen

 

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Accountability – Get It!

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

How much better to get wisdom than gold,
and good judgment than silver!

The path of the virtuous leads away from evil;
whoever follows that path is safe.

Pride goes before destruction,
and haughtiness before a fall.      Proverbs 16:16-18 (NLT)

I am sad today. I am grieving over the fall of a man of God. He has been a pastor and worker in God’s vineyard for many years. Rev. Sam Hinn has stepped down from his position as pastor because he has been in a relationship with a woman who is not his wife. The ripple effect of this will hurt many of God’s children, including Rev. Hinn and his family. But it is the “baby Christians” who are members of his home church, the Dallas-Ft. Worth church that he recently led while their pastor was battling cancer, and many who know him from his books and work with his brother that my heart hurts the most. He was seen as a leader in God’s Church, an example of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. They are stunned and hurt. “The restoration process” will not only be for Rev. Hinn but for these people as well.

It would be easy for me to sit here in my elevated chair and say, “Brother! What were you thinking?” as Rev. Hinn’s sin seems so obvious. Being unfaithful to my spouse is not a temptation for me. But just as that observation crosses my mind, I can quickly list many options that would be a temptation! And Jesus knows my weaknesses. God does not want me to fall. He wants me to have victory in this life but He knows who and what I am (since He created me!) and so He has a plan.

If I read the book of Acts, I see a concept called accountability. It was never God’s plan for Peter or James or John to be the head of His Church. He knew that we were not meant to be solo bodies. We need each other. We need the accountability of each other. Remember how Peter got off track in Acts 10 and 11? Paul holds Peter accountable for his inconsistent, even hypocritical, behavior. Paul has his own problems in getting along with others. I suspect he needed Silas and Luke to keep him in check.

I am so grateful to have an “accountability sister.” A wise person (I can’t even remember who was the messenger that God used) told me about the need for accountability. And so I prayed that God would send me His choice. I had a vision of us sitting at a bistro table with a pot of tea and our Bibles, studying and talking about our LORD. But God knew me. He knew that I had a strong personality and I would need someone that I could not intimidate. And that is who He sent to me and she has been my friend, spiritual workout partner, and encourager for almost 15 years. God has taught us how to balance being supportive with never giving up honesty that corrects and brings spiritual growth.

My friends and fellow disciples, if you do not have a person that holds you accountable in your spiritual life – pray for one NOW! To continue in your spiritual journey without one is like going fifty miles off shore in a rowboat without a life preserver. It doesn’t matter if you know how to swim or how well you know how to swim, you need that jacket to keep you afloat in rough seas. “But I have Jesus!” “But I have the Holy Spirit to correct me!” Yes, so do I but I don’t always want to hear what He has to say. Sometimes my flesh wants – what it wants! I know right from wrong. I know what sin is. I also know how to rationalize “stuff” when my voice is the only one I hear!

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.      Hebrews 10:19-25 (NLT)

Please take this request for accountability to God and see what He says. Look for that extraordinary blessing that God wants to send your way.

Let us pray for Rev. Hinn that his restoration will be God-directed and completed.

Refiner’s Fire written and sung by Brian Doerksen

 

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What Do You Want Me To Do For You?

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

As He drew near Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. Hearing a crowd passing by, he inquired what this meant. “Jesus the Nazarene is passing by,” they told him.

So he called out,“Jesus, Son of David,have mercy on me!” Then those in front told him to keep quiet,but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him. When he drew near, He asked him, “What do you want Me to do for you?”     Luke 18:35-41 (HCSB)

This may be the story that Mark tells in his gospel (10:46-52) and calls the man, Bartimaeus. It’s a good story. It’s a story that I can put myself right into.

I am sitting and begging for help. People pass me by. They don’t even hear me because there is so much going on in their own lives. I am blind on where to go and what to do next. I cannot find my way out of – a situation, depression, an addiction – so many times in my life I have been blind and lost.

And so I call out to Jesus. I fall to my knees. I weep. I cry, “Jesus! Help me!” I even remember a time when I felt that I shouldn’t cry out but just wait – Jesus loved me and He would see my need. I didn’t need to yell. I should just quietly have faith that God will answer.

[Note to self: One of Satan’s trademark ways to work is to take a truth of God and twist it just a little bit to make it not the complete truth of God! In this case, God knows my needs and yes, He will answer often before I even know I have a need. But prayer, or conversation with God, is for my benefit, not His. So call out to God, Jody! He is not offended as this story shows.]

And so Jesus hears my cry and says to me, “Jody, what do you want Me to do for you?” That’s the question. What do I want my LORD to do?

Bartimaeus did not make this complicated. He wanted to see. If he could see, he could move on the next step in his life. He would no longer have to beg.

Last night I was praying and then I read this story. I knew what I wanted. I wanted mercy. I told Jesus that I knew that I didn’t deserve another chance – but I was asking for it. And as surely as I was staring into His face, I felt Him smile. I believe I asked for the “right” thing.

“Receive your sight!”Jesus told him.“Your faith has healed you.” Instantly he could see, and he began to follow Him, glorifying God. All the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.     Luke 18:42-43

I don’t know exactly how Jesus gives me mercy. He just does and I am looking with great expectation as I follow Him and continue to watch and learn. And I will be giving Him all the praise!

Shout to the LORD written and sung by Darlene Zschech

 

 

 

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Humbly I Pray

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

Jesus told this teaching story:

“Two people went to church to pray, one a Conservative and one a Liberal. The Conservative stood and prayed about herself: LORD, I thank You that I am not like others I know – an abortioner, a homosexual, someone who does evil – or even like that Liberal over there. I fast twice a week and give a tithe to the church.

The Liberal stood over in the corner of the sanctuary. She couldn’t even look up to heaven but bowed her head and said, LORD, have mercy on me because I am a sinner.

Jesus said, I tell you that this Liberal went home forgiven in God’s eyes, not the self-righteous Conservative. For if you raise yourself up, you will be humbled but if you are humble, I will raise you up.”          Luke 18:10-14 (my paraphrase)

There are some who read my paraphrase and think I am taking a cheap shot at you. I’m not. I am putting myself into Jesus’ parable and asking, “What are You trying to teach me today, LORD?” The Holy Spirit is taking out His flashlight and shining it into the hidden closets of my life.

It is so easy for me to see sin in other people that is of no temptation to me. It is easy to focus so much on others that I do not see the most awful of sins in God’s eyes – pride. How often do I repent? How often do I come to God with a humble heart and a desire to have every speck of self-righteousness or judgmental attitude or critical spirit wiped out of me?

My recognition of what is sin starts the process of what Jesus calls me to do in this world. The identification of sin and the darkness that surrounds sins just confirms to me how vital it is for me to carry the Light of Jesus Christ and His Good News, unfiltered to others so that they see Jesus in all of His glory.

A label such as Pharisee or Conservative does not make me a disciple of Christ any more than living in a garage makes me a car. Certainly history teaches me that many have called themselves “Christian” and done horrific things in Jesus’ name. Jesus told us this would happen:

“I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith. For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God. This is because they have never known the Father or me. Yes, I’m telling you these things now, so that when they happen, you will remember my warning.”      John 16:1-4 (NLT, my emphasis)

To whom did Jesus speak so harshly? It wasn’t the adulterous woman. It wasn’t Judas. It was the church leadership, the ones who thought they had God wrapped up and wore Him proudlylike a medal on their chests proclaiming them the real deal. They weren’t.

Just before this passage in Luke is Jesus’ story of the persistent widow, teaching me I should pray and never give up. I usually think of that passage when I am praying for someone’s need for healing or restoration. Today I am thinking how I should never, ever stop praying for myself. I have so much to learn from my LORD. He is so very willing to teach me – if I will listen and truly hear.

In the Potter’s Hands by Rev. Steve Hill

 

Posted in John, Luke | 2 Comments

The Light Word

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.
By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.           Psalm 19:7-13 (NIV)

Nehemiah 8:1-10, Psalm 19, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, Luke 4:14-21

The lectionary this week spoke to me about God’s laws. They are a blessing. I must admit, however, that I see the blessing as I look through the grace that is in Jesus Christ.

Nehemiah’s passage is relating how Ezra stood for six hours in front of the people, men, women & children who could understand, and read from Moses’ writings of God’s Law. We have a hard time standing for six verses of the gospel to be read on Sunday morning. We don’t want a sermon to go past 15-20 minutes. And yet Nehemiah says that the people listened for six hours and wept. We aren’t told why they wept but we can assume that it was under the conviction and presence of God that they felt.

Luke’s passage has Jesus reading from Isaiah 61 in His hometown church and telling those present that He has fulfilled the passage, which they accept. But they become very angry when He then refuses to “perform” miracles for them as He had done in other cities. The reading goes on to relate Jesus’ observation that those sent by God (like prophets) are not welcomed in their own towns. Isn’t that the ‘gospel’ truth!

And then there is the familiar 1 Corinthians 12 passage about the importance of all parts of Christ’s Body. Every time I read this passage I am again struck by the ‘order’ of the points of the passage:

  • Every part is important to the growth and function of the Body as a whole
  • A part that may be seen superficially as insignificant is actually vital and given special significance in God’s Kingdom
  • And then the appointments of the Church are mentioned like apostles, prophets, healers, miracle workers – who may be seen by the Church as elevated and honored positions
  • It is not these elevated positions that are seen as excellent but those who seek and work and live their lives in the fullness of God’s perfect love as described in 1 Corinthians 13

God’s Laws, His precepts, His principles are so very precious – a treasure to be guarded in my life as a jewel of worth that I cannot calculate, but also given away freely as I share with others and live my life based on them. They can be found throughout God’s Word from Genesis to Revelation. And every time that I read a passage a new ‘nugget’ of treasure can be found.

I have read Psalm 19 many times and yet today the words joy to the heart and light to the eyes jumped out at me. When life is so difficult and I feel the weight of burdens, God’s law gives me joy and light. It does! Whether it is the beauty of the words themselves or the faithfulness of God throughout generations of His children, I am lifted to know that God is involved in my life and true to His promises.

Tired? Overwhelmed? Uncertain what to do? Read a psalm or a chapter in one of the gospels every day for a week and then think about how the weight of your burdens compare to last week. “My burdens are light,” Jesus says. See if He is right.

Come to Me written and sung by Kari Jobe

 

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Time for Prayer

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Jody Neufeld

[reprinted from April 1, 2010]

– Henry Neufeld

14All of the disciples were devoting themselves to prayer together, along with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers. — Acts 1:14 (HN)

That’s a pretty unpretentious little bit of scripture! It doesn’t seem like there’s much there to build on.

But think about the situation. It has been a roller-coaster ride for the disciples. First they think Jesus is going to drive out the Romans and restore the kingdom. Then he’s arrested and crucified. Their hopes are dashed. But then again there are rumors he’s been resurrected. Finally they actually see him. So, as they ask in Acts 1:6, is it finally time to restore the kingdom? But no, it’s not, and Jesus goes away from them to heaven and leaves them standing there staring.

One of the critical things here is that they kept following a pretty strict and clear agenda of their own. They wanted to see Israel restored, right then, miraculously by Jesus. Their plan was that Jesus would take care of it. The problem was that they didn’t yet recognize just what the difference was between their agenda and that of Jesus.

But now they’re finally ready to get on the program—the one Jesus planned. So they start together, constantly devoting themselves to prayer, being together. The text suggests unanimity. Notice the different groups. There are the disciples who followed him, his mother who questioned him, and his brothers who had opposed him. There were also some unidentified women who had been following him as well. Luke likes to let us know that there were women involved.

They gather together and agree on one thing at least: Pray! So there they are praying.

How often would we be able to resolve problems in our congregations, families, and other groups if we would simply agree to pray together? Too often we have preconditions even to prayer. We want to figure out who has God’s ear before we go talk to God. But if we would just pray and trust God to do his work, think of the possibilities. Let God change other people. Don’t you try to do it.

How often would we discover the problems in our own agendas if we spent time in prayer and listening to God? The disciples had their agenda problems, and those needed to be solved before Pentecost. How did they do it? They gathered together and prayed.

Too often we want to imagine our way forward several steps before we’re willing to “just pray.” Don’t bother deciding how God has to solve the problem. Don’t ask who has God’s ear. Don’t put time limits on the results or social limits on who can participate.

Just pray. Together.

Make Me A Channel of Your Peace written by Sebastian Temple and sung by Dragon School Oxford Choir 

Posted in Acts | Comments Off on Time for Prayer