I Will Praise You To ALL Nations

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Jody Neufeld

Be merciful to me, God; be merciful to me because I come to you for protection. 
Let me hide under the shadow of your wings until the trouble has passed.
I cry out to God Most High, to the God who does everything for me.
He sends help from heaven and saves me.
He punishes those who chase me.
Selah
God sends me his love and truth. ..

My heart is steady, God; my heart is steady.
I will sing and praise you.
Wake up, my soul.
Wake up, harp and lyre!
I will wake up the dawn.
Lord, I will praise you among the nations;
I will sing songs of praise about you to all the nations.
Your great love reaches to the skies, your truth to the clouds.
God, you are supreme above the skies.
Let your glory be over all the earth. Psalm 57:1-3, 7-11 (NCV)

This may seem like a rather long Scripture passage. How long have you worried or struggled about something? Would you like to get past that obstacle? Then dig in!

In Nehemiah 8, Ezra the priest stood and read God’s word from daybreak to noon (six hours!). And the people STOOD the whole time! When will we get that serious about God?

When I am struggling, gasping for air in a situation, it is not time to sit down and rest. It is time to let go and step closer to my LORD. Don’t hold on tighter to my burden but take my burden – on my knees – to Jesus and LET HIM HAVE IT! What will holding on do to change the course of events? Nothing! So let it go to the One who has the power and the wisdom to resolve the situation. I may not be able to see a change in the situation but if I push in closer to God; spend more time with Him, I will be changed!

The psalmist says, “Help me, LORD! Help me! Let me hide behind you until the trouble passes.” Paul said that in his weakness, he becomes strong because of God (2 Corinthians 12). And then the psalmist grabs hold of what he/she knows from his/her past experience with God and let’s the praise just flow! Many times I have weakly begun to speak or sing my praises, not sure if I really believed them or even meant them. But the words themselves have power to remind me and get my mind and heart on constructive thoughts instead of whirling over and over and around and around on destructive, going-nowhere thoughts.

“I will sing and praise you to everyone, LORD! You are wider and higher and deeper than I can see or understand!” Paul said in Ephesians 3 that it was his prayer that we would continue to discover the depth and width and height of God’s love. I don’t get it – yet. But it is wonderful when another layer of God’s love is revealed.

For 10 years I walked a difficult road. Many days it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other. God was the Faithful One. Even when I did not lift my eyes up and see Him – He was there. When all I could do was worry and cry, it was Jesus’ Hand on my shoulder or taking my hand to lead me through the boulders and potholes that littered the path I was on. God never gave up on me. I am so very grateful. It’s time to praise my LORD again!

Indescribable by Chris Tomlin

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Show Me Your Way

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Jody Neufeld

There are six things the Lord hates—no, seven things he detests:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill the innocent,
a heart that plots evil,
feet that race to do wrong,
a false witness who pours out lies,
a person who sows discord in a family.           Proverbs 6:16-19 (NLT)

WARNING: Toes may be stepped on during this devotion.

I have shared in this devotion several times the study tool of reading a Proverb every day since there are 31 Proverbs and that makes it easy to read the Proverb that corresponds with the number of the day of the month. Every time I have done it I have wished I could miss Day 6. There isn’t much that can be said to avoid this list of things that God HATES and DETESTS. That is strong language!

Haughty eyes. Pride. P-R-I-D-E. Got any? Whenever I put my way in front of God’s way, that is haughty and arrogant. Any time I look down my nose at another one of God’s children, considering myself as “better” in some way, any way, that is pride. God says, “Come spend time with Me” and I say, “I want to watch TV”, that’s doing things my way instead of His way. It is one of the ways of telling God that I know best about my time, my talents, my life.

Lying tongue. “little white lie”. “I just didn’t offer the information.” If I feel uncomfortable saying or not saying because I know it isn’t really the truth, it’s a lie. And you know where the hardest place for me to be truthful has been? In the workplace. I’m not talking about falsifying documents or even doing something that the world would consider illegal. I am talking about those “dumb” rules that offices and workplaces have about taking personal phone calls or carrying your cell phone during work hours. The rules that are almost seen as an accepted game to get around the boss’ rigid way of doing things. It’s still lying, isn’t it?!

Hands that kill the innocent. Most of us may think we will never be faced with killing someone. I have spoke to military personnel and police officers and they tell me it is an experience that you never forget. No matter the circumstances, you carry that burden with you for the rest of your life. But most of us will be faced with the opportunity to “kill” someone with our words. That was a characteristic of who I was before Jesus came into my life. I could cut someone down to mouse-size with my words. I had a wicked tongue! The tongue is a deadly weapon that can destroy a person’s spirit. As a parent, using words that humiliate a child (like stupid, dumb, ignorant, fat, ugly) leave scars that forever change a child.

A heart that plots evil. It may be easy to blame evil on satan but too often it is our own flesh that desires to “get even”. Jesus taught us as He laid on the cross with nails drilling through His body to always give forgiveness and love. Anger and bitterness that is allowed to fester and multiply in my heart will taint my entire life as I “dream” about how someone who has wronged me will be repaid. Jesus shows me how to keep my heart clean.

Feet that race to do wrong. The time in my life when I seem to gravitate toward choices that were not pleasing to God was when I spent time among the pleasures of this world. I was drinking and watching disgusting movies and TV shows. I was friends with people who brought cussing to an art form. I chose to live in this atmosphere and it wasn’t easy to change directions. I had to chose to make different friends. I had to chose to not watch things that were a temptation to me. And I stopped drinking altogether. Now I am not opposed to drinking wine at dinner or a beer with your pizza – but for me – I can’t do that because I won’t stop with just one beer.

A false witness that pours out lies. What is the difference between this and a lying tongue? To me it has to do specifically with giving false information about what God has done in my life. It is mis-representing God. He doesn’t need any embellishment. God is great enough just the way He is. If my life with Jesus has been blessed without addictions or a life of crime, characterized as a steady walk – then that is the story I need to share, no more or less.

A person who sows discord in a family. This “discord” could be found in a family, a church, or any group. The source of the discord needs to be identified and lovingly – shown the door until they can make the commitment to cease and desist. I know of two churches and countless families who have been destroyed because of one person or a handful of people do not know how to live without speaking and working strife into everyone they are around. It is not easy but Jesus warned how the “yeast of the Pharisees” would destroy (Matthew 6:5-12). Paul, too, spoke about the yeast and the destruction of the immoral person in a fellowship of Believers (1 Corinthians 5). I find it troubling to “expel” someone from a fellowship or family but it is more troubling to allow an entire family or fellowship to be destroyed by a “seed of discord”.

I don’t have a song to end with today. I have only a desire to bend my knees and bow my head as I seek the LORD’S wisdom in all of these areas. It is a passage that I will take with me as I continue to spend time in Jesus’ classroom.

 

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Marriage Gift

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Jody Neufeld

Some Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to trick him. They asked, “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife for any reason he chooses?”

Jesus answered,”Surely you have read in the Scriptures: When God made the world, ‘he made them male and female.’ [Genesis 1:27] And God said, ‘So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body.’ [Genesis 2:24] So there are not two, but one. God has joined the two together, so no one should separate them.”        Matthew 19:3-6 (CEV)

I am no expert on marriage, whether from a theological or sociological viewpoint. I have had some experience from a life-lived view. And I have spent a fair amount of time praying and studying about what God has and has not said about marriage. I have learned to keep going back to Jesus’ classroom to listen more about subjects that trouble me and areas that I need more from Him. Marriage is one of those. Marriage is not easy. I need all of Jesus’ help I can get!

Out of the 57 years of my life, I have been married 31 years. I was divorced after 19 years of marriage. I am now remarried and have been so for over 12 years. I have learned from my mistakes. I do not want to make those again. And while I have no doubt that I will, at best, make plenty of “new” mistakes, I pray daily and humbly for God’s Presence in our marriage to guide us in His wisdom and with His extravagant love and forgiveness.

A “Covenant marriage” is an essential. To me this means, that God and Henry and I entered into an agreement together. God will be the head of our house. It is God that we both seek first in prayer. No item is too “small”. It can be the “little things” like making time to talk to each other or pray together that can grow into a huge wall that separates and destroys. It is this covenant that also takes the pressure off that we in our frail humaness have to make this work. Henry and I have had times in our marriage when I thought “Uh-oh, what can I say to fix this? I don’t understand him!” and God has intervened and we have had an extra-ordinary conversation when suddenly our words become clear.

God can bring you through days of great trial. I’m not going to go into details because I believe many who are reading this have their own stories of great trials and discussing which trial is greater is not only silly but irrelevant. It is a personal experience and can only be quantified personally. I will say that there were days of grief and many days of putting one foot in front of the other with no end to the difficult path that we were walking when Henry and I were so depleted individually that we had nothing left to offer each other. It was God who had the strength to reach out and draw both of us in and kept us going.

There are no shortcuts and marriage must be in your Top 3 Priorities. Here are the Top 3 Priorities in my life. They have been the Top 3 for the last 13 years and they will not change.

  1. My personal relationship with God
  2. My mission that I have been called to do by God for His Kingdom
  3. My relationship with my husband, Henry

You can ask Henry, but he will tell you that he is OK to play #3 behind God. The reality is that when I am where God wants me to be in the first two, my marriage is also where it needs to be because Jesus has been teaching me about things in my life that will make my relationship with Henry – better than “good”. And where are my children and grandchildren? Right after Henry. Whether my children are grown or infants, if I do not put time and effort into my relationship with God and my relationship with my spouse, then I will not be successful with my children. I speak from personal experience. Children need to learn at an early age that their mother and father spend time with God and it is important. They need to see their parents pray and study with Jesus. They need to know where their parents turn for answers and what it means to make a commitment. Children need to see their mother hold their father as a priority in her life. And that their father holds their mother in high esteem and respect.

Jesus goes on to say in Matthew 19 that divorce came about in the days of Moses because our “hearts were hard”. That is still true today. Divorce is a part of our fallen world. A marriage succeeds because all three parties in the covenant commit to keep their promises. God is faithful and will always keep His part and is willing to help us keep ours. It’s the other two parties who decide their “way” or their “pride” is more important. In my life and in the lives of those whom I know who have gone through divorce, one or both parties fall away from their commitment to each other and their commitment to God and decide not to put in the hard work it would take to reconstruct the covenant. There are no shortcuts and we can’t be lazy in our intentions.

As I read back over this devotion, I can read phrases that may seem harsh. I don’t mean to be judgmental and I certainly do not have all the answers or even now have a perfect marriage. I have a covenant marriage and I would pray that for everyone who is or wants to be married. It is a glorious gift to know that God, all-powerful, all-loving is a party in our marriage. It’s the best wedding gift I have every received.

The Wedding Song Written and Sung by Paul Stookey (1969)

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Come, Come on in…

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Jody Neufeld

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speaking in other languages and declaring the greatness of God.

Then Peter responded, “Can anyone withhold water and prevent these people from being baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.           Acts 10:44-48 (HCSB, my emphasis)

Lectionary texts: Acts 10:44-48, Psalm 98, 1 John 5:1-6, John 15:9-17

I think there are going to be many of us astounded when we get to heaven and see everyone that is there. We may be surprised because:

“I never heard Uncle Tommy talk about Jesus.” It’s a sad thing if Uncle Tommy never took opportunities to share what Jesus had done in his life. He missed extraordinary blessings. But it doesn’t mean that Jesus wasn’t his Savior or that Jesus didn’t work in his life.

“Well, I grew up with Sarah and we went to church together all our lives and she never did go forward at any altar call.” Just because I walk forward during an altar call doesn’t make me a Disciple of Jesus any more than living in a garage makes me a car. It is what happens in my heart that matters.

Father God wants all His children to come home to heaven and live with Him forever. Think of your own children and grandchildren, those that you love so much. What would you do to clear a path, a way, for them to come home? “If you who are evil give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give to His children?” (Matthew 7:11) That doesn’t mean God will compromise His standard or His holiness, it means that He will not be constrained by words and man’s doctrines but only by the state of His child’s heart. And He is the only judge of that.

And so I must ask God’s Holy Spirit to examine my heart and convict me if I in any way “withhold” or “prevent” people from drawing near to God. Convict me, Holy Spirit, if I speak any critical or judgmental words that drive people away from the Father.

Did I come to God clean and perfect? NO. God is still convicting and cleansing me from my sins.

Is the fellowship to which I belong perfect? NO. I attend there so it must not be perfect! Jesus said He came to heal and restore. The fellowship should be like a hospital that takes in the hurt and the beaten. We are to be nurses who are the hands and feet of the Great Physician. It is the Physician who determines my sin and how I am to be healed from that sin. He welcomes me while I am still sick (Romans 5:8). Do I welcome sinners into the fellowship? Do I allow the Physician to diagnosis and heal or do I try to shine a bright light on another person’s wounds so they won’t notice mine?

Sing a new song to the Lord, for he has done wonderful deeds.
His right hand has won a mighty victory; his holy arm has shown his saving power!…
Let the rivers clap their hands in glee!
Let the hills sing out their songs of joy before the Lord.
For the Lord is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with fairness.     Psalm 98:1, 8-9 (NLT)

Let us meditate and remember who God is and what He has done and has promised to do. Let us also meditate and remember who we are and what God has (and has not) called us to do.

 Come to Me sung by Kari Jobe

 

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To Whom the Thanks Belong

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Jody Neufeld

One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him, and he began to teach them.             Matthew 5:1-2 (NLT)

Jesus went out to the people. He met His disciples on mountains, on the road, in their homes, and all points in between. He did not expect them to come to Him inside a church. Here in this passage today is arguably Jesus’ greatest teaching and He is doing it on the side of a mountain, not in a building made by man. He is in His sanctuary because the “anointed place” is wherever He is.

I am spending a lot of time this week in thanksgiving because I am remembering that it was about this time 12 years ago that God laid it on my heart to start writing down some of the devotions that He was speaking to me. Three other co-workers and I tried to meet in the morning before office hours to pray and bring God into our day first. We were under a great deal of stress in our jobs and we knew that starting the day with God was the way to start the day! Not very long after that I left that job but decided that I was being given an opportunity to lift those whom I had left behind by sending them a devotion every morning. It began with about 15 people and grew by word of mouth until today – I truly have no idea how many hundreds of people join together in the morning to spend some time with God. It is God who has been faithfully meeting every morning with a good word to share!

Some mornings I have started to write and it just doesn’t come together and then I know that word was for me and not to share. Once in a while (like Wednesday) God will take me back to something He said a year or so ago that I need to hear again and consider again. It’s fun to look back on devotions from 8 or 10 years ago and see how God has faithfully and patiently been growing me up!

If we will take 10 minutes and turn off our phones and go to a quiet place, we will find Jesus there waiting to meet with us every time. Before long, 10 minutes won’t be enough. Time with Him is a time of restoration and refreshing. It is a time to lay down burdens that were never mine to carry. They are the burdens who have no answers in my limited mind and abilities. Giving them to Jesus is placing them in hands that know great pain and great power. Giving them to Jesus is giving that which is precious to me to the One who loves greater and more tenderly than I do.

So if you have received a devotion that blessed you or some time in the future receive a devotion that touches your heart – changing you – healing you – bringing you up and encouraging you – give thanks that Jesus is faithful and knows your needs and sent you that word from His heart. God isn’t constrained by my imperfect transcribing. He reaches out and takes your hand, His child, and leads you into that place prepared just for you and Him. His love is never divided among His children but multiplied among His children. Take time and give thanks because Jesus is faithful!

On My Knees by Michael Ochs & David & Nicole Mullen, sung by Nicole C. Mullen


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In the Quiet Moments

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Jody Neufeld

My son, do not forget my law,
But let your heart keep my commands;
For length of days and long life
And peace they will add to you.
Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart,
And so find favor and high esteem
In the sight of God and man.                    Proverbs 3:1-4 (NKJV)

I know many (myself included) who have been blessed to read and meditate on a Proverb each day. There are 31 Proverbs so it seems a good fit to read one each day. Give it try this summer which means you will read each Proverb three times over the months. I am willing to say that without a doubt you will learn something new each time you read that same Proverb.

The writer of Proverbs says at the beginning that the purpose in the book is to gain wisdom and discipline and understanding so as to lead a life that is just (Proverbs 1:1-7). It is foolish to reject wise teachings and yet how often we cross our arms and declare that we don’t need help and we can do it ourselves! Just how has that been working out for you? Yes, not so well for me either.

My husband and I have entered into a new ‘season’ in our lives and it is wisdom that we are asking from God more than any other request. We ask it for everyone that we lift in prayer. Whether the initial request is for financial relief or physical healing or relationships, it is wisdom from God that directs in right paths and right words and a right heart. Wisdom is seeing beyond my human abilities. It is asking God to give His knowledge to me regarding a situation and then following that knowledge even if I do not understand what I see with my eyes or know with my own mind. Yes, it is directly linked to my faith and trust in God. It may cause me to pause and ask, “Has God ever let me down?”.

I have a notebook that I write down prayers and answers and some of my conversations with God. It helps me to write it down. It can clarify my emotions and bring in God’s voice more distinctly. I love to read back over some pages three months, six months, even a year later. I see God’s ways and His answers that I may not have known when I was in the thick of the situation.

Whether it is following a specific Scripture plan, writing in my notebook, using the Christmas cards I received to pray for people, God uses many ways and many things to build our relationship. He wants our time together to remain fresh and our time together to be something that I looked forward with anticipation. It is not a repetitive ritual that I can do with little thought. It is a vital part of my moment-to-moment life! It truly is Life and Breath to me.

Take time to get quiet and just allow God to “download” His wisdom and love into your life today.

Let It Rain by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, sung by Michael W. Smith

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Do You REALLY Believe?

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Jody Neufeld

[reprinted from April 28, 2011]

In the crowd was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. She had gone to many doctors, and they had not done anything except cause her a lot of pain. She had paid them all the money she had. But instead of getting better, she only got worse.

The woman had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him in the crowd and barely touched his clothes. She had said to herself, “If I can just touch his clothes, I will get well.” As soon as she touched them, her bleeding stopped, and she knew she was well. Mark 5:25-29 (CEV)

I love this story. It is one that no matter how many times I read it, I get tears in my eyes and, unconsciously, bow my head.

Here is a woman, that alone in her society makes her ‘less than’, who has been ill, very ill, for 12 years. She has been ill in such a way that has isolated her from her family, friends, and neighbors. She is like a leper but she doesn’t even have a ‘colony’ of like-people with whom she can associate. No one can be around her because she is unclean. If that wasn’t bad enough, she has spent all her money on every powder, incantation, prayer, and quack that might help her. She is destitute, maybe even suicidal at this point.

In those days, the homes did not have windows. Maybe she heard people outside her home talking about this Jesus who had “healed many” (Mark 3:10), set a demon-possessed man free(and killed some pigs!), and calmed storms on the Sea of Galilee. And she is desperate. She has no other options. Going out into a crowd like she did was inciting the crowd to stone her for contaminating them. But she takes the chance.

I believe it is desperation that is the perfect catalyst for faith that Jesus will respond. Do I really believe? Am I desperate? It is not the beauty of my prayer that brings a response from Jesus. It is not the perfection of my life that makes me worthy of His response. It is the cry of my heart. It is my weakness; my inability to do anything that brings Jesus’ response of compassion and extravagant love.

Not all of us who have cried out to God received the answer that we desperately wanted. Only God can answer my “Why” questions. Only God can judge my heart; my prayers.

God’s answers are in His plan and in His timing. As I spend time with Him, our lives come closer together and I hear His voice and see His heart. My spirit grows in His Spirit. My spiritual sight begins to become sharper. The ‘dark mirror’ that Paul spoke (1 Corinthians 13:12) becomes lighter as I accept and bring the Light of Jesus closer.

Don’t punish me, LORD,or even correct me when you are angry!
Have pity on me and heal my feeble body.
My bones tremble with fear, and I am in deep distress. How long will it be?
Turn and come to my rescue. Show your wonderful love and save me, LORD.
If I die, I cannot praise you or even remember you.
My groaning has worn me out. At night my bed and pillow are soaked with tears.
Sorrow has made my eyes dim, and my sight has failed because of my enemies.        Psalm 6:1-7 (CEV)

Cry out to God today. As Jesus told Thomas, “Stop doubting and believe!” Jesus’ hands will be there waiting for your hand. His ears are already tuned to your voice. His heart already sees and hears your heart. Allow Him to dry your tears and pick you up when you are too tired and weak to do it for yourself. Do not listen to anyone but listen to the One.

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Hang On!

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Jody Neufeld

God will bless you, if you don’t give up when your faith is being tested. He will reward you with a glorious life, just as he rewards everyone who loves him.     James 1:13 (CEV)

Whether I keep up with my family and friends in person or by phone, text, Skype, Facetime, or Facebook – every day I hear “I’m tired.” or “I am overwhelmed.” or “I need us to pray that God will relieve me from _______.” Whether it is a specific situation or a boatload of pressures, this world is not our “home” where we live in perfect peace and without worries. You’ve probably heard the phrase: There is no “testimony” without a “test”. This world will provide me with the tests!

In this inspired promise from God, James says that God will reward me with an eternal life if I don’t give up. So how do I keep on the course?

When the going gets tough, the tough get closer together. When life gets hard, the first response is to pull back and avoid others. It’s the ol’ “pull the covers over my head” routine. If you notice someone isn’t coming to worship and isn’t calling like they used to, it’s a good bet that the person is having a problem. The #1 tool of the devil is to isolate and unfortunately, our nature is to go along with that. So do the opposite and press in closer to God. Bring all the fear and anger and uncertainty and dump them all on God. His shoulders are big enough to take it.

Be like the persistent widow(Luke 18). There’s a great little book to have called The Bible Promise Book (ISBN-10:1557481768). You can get it on Amazon.com used for literally pennies. It will give you the Scripture references for all the many promises that God has made. Grabbing on to the words of God and claiming His promises is at deliberate act to say, “I may not see God’s plan in all of this but I know He is faithful and His promises are true.” and so I determined to stick my hand out to receive what God has promised. When life is tough, I choose to fill my mind and heart with God’s love.

There are no shortcuts to spiritual health. Just as there are no “easy” ways to stay healthy, so there is no easy way to stay spiritually healthy. It takes the same commitment of consistency and prioritizing of my time. I can “fill up” my tank every Sabbath but that won’t be enough to get me through the week. I leak. I need to refill through daily Bible study and personal worship.

Jesus is my Rock. Jesus is my anchor in all storms. Jesus is my shelter. Jesus is my place of refuge when I am surrounded by uncertainty. Jesus will never let go of me. And I choose not to give up on Him.

You Never Let Go by Matt Redman

 

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How Can It Be?

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Jody Neufeld

Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is perfected in us.            1 John 4:7-12 (HCSB)

Lectionary texts: Acts 8:26-40, Psalm 22:25-31, 1 John 4:7-21, John 15:1-8

Mark Twain is credited with saying, “It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.” The Scriptures in the lectionary this week fall into Twain’s category.

The passage in 1 John brings a scene to my mind where the writer, John, sits me down, looks me straight in the eye, and begins speaking these words. I am pinned to my seat with the unvarnished truth of what he is saying, so wishing that I could somehow tell him, “It isn’t so!”.

On the one hand it is easy to shrug and think that the words are so simple and easy. I can dismiss the words with “Some people are just impossible to love!”. None of those excuses work.

I have a real example. God knew that this “love thing” wouldn’t be easy for me. He knew that I need a standard that would be the perfect example. Jesus showed me that loving others was about making a choice. Jesus certainly didn’t live with perfect, easy-to-love people! And besides the 12 (like they weren’t bad enough!) Jesus also had the Pharisees. There isn’t any single group of people harder to love than hypocritical, judgmental “church people”! Jesus showed me how to love and how to “draw the line”. There weren’t many on the “unlovable” side of Jesus’ line!

Look at all of those one syllable words. Love. Love. Love. If we stumble a bit on “propitiation” that just means that Jesus was the perfect sacrifice that brought us together with God.

If we love, looks what happens. God is in me. That’s what happens when I love. God lives in me. Do you struggle with wrapping your brain around the “why” and “how” GOD can live in me? I don’t know why He would want to do that. I don’t understand how it happens I just know that it does. God lives inside of me. I know this because I can do things – like love un-lovable people – because of God. With God I have a tenderness and graciousness that is not part of my core nature. It wells up in me and just overflows out of me. It is God.

Philip shows me how God’s love will take me to meet with people who are not in my “comfort zone” because of the passion that God has for each one of His children. Am I willing to go where He sends me and to whomever He sends me? If I am willing, then God is faithful to bless the receiver and the giver. It just doesn’t get better than that! There are so many who do not know Jesus and if they do, they are not living in the assurance of His love. I don’t have even an enemy that I want to live with that emptiness. God loves. How extraordinary.

Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) contemporary version by Chris Tomlin

If you have not seen the movie, Amazing Grace, based on the life of antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce it is a movie worth seeing. 

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I Am His Servant

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Jody Neufeld

So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”          Mark 10:42-45 (NLT)

A servant. Most of us would say that is not an ambition that we grew up wanting to achieve. “I want to be a servant when I grow up!” No, that wasn’t in my dreams. But Jesus tells me that is my dream now that I am His disciple. Is that a lesson that I am trying to ignore?

A servant lives on the schedule of her/his Master. I have had a couple of friends that embraced allowing God to set their schedule every day with no visible argument. That hasn’t been so easy for me. I like a plan. I like a calendar with notes that lay the foundation for a schedule and tasks to accomplish. Now I do believe that Jesus can give me a schedule. But I also think He wants me to be flexible enough to respond to an immediate need. Like praying for someone right then when a need becomes known.

A servant doesn’t get to negotiate which tasks he/she will and will not do. Jesus showed us that mundane things like enough refreshments at a wedding, feeding people who left home without their lunch, and washing dirty, stinky feet are tasks that He considered important enough to handle Himself. His example tells me that no task is excluded from the possibility of my list. I had a lady, well-educated, prominent job in the community, that whenever we had a weekend conference or seminar at church, she would just quietly take on the task of making sure that there was plenty of toilet paper in the bathrooms and wipe down the sinks, just keeping things nice for the guests. I just happened to catch her doing it one time. I bet she made Jesus smile!

A servant doesn’t get wealthy. A “good” master provides his servants with food and shelter;takes care of them when they are sick. A servant is not paid an enormous salary and may not ever retire. Jesus warned His disciples that they may not even have a place to rest their head like a fox does (Matthew 8:20). Jesus teaches me that my reward is in heaven. It is there that I will find great treasure.

A servant wants to please her/his master and lives just to serve the master. A servant has little ego. The ego is about doing their tasks well and representing their master in a way that brings applause, or glory, to the master, not the servant. The master’s vision becomes the servant’s vision. The servant even obeys the tasks given to achieve the vision when he/she doesn’t understand the “why” of the event.

Jesus leads me in this life from a position that is always in front of me. Jesus shows me how to walk without fear that limits the victory of the battle. Jesus shows me how to negotiate difficult paths and tasks that are signed to me. He shows me by His example to point people toward the Father and to always thank the Father for whatever comes to bless me and teach me. My Master is worthy of my praise, my thanks, and the highest level of any task He calls me to do in His name.

Ancient of Days by Jamie Harvill and Gary Sadler (1996), sung by Ron Kenoly

 

 

 

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