First Century Church Wanted

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

Pay attention, my children!

Follow my advice, and you will be happy.

Listen carefully to my instructions, and you will be wise.

Come to my home each day and listen to me.

You will find happiness.

By finding me, you find life, and the LORD will be pleased with you.

But if you don’t find me, you hurt only yourself,

and if you hate me, you are in love with death.       Proverbs 8:32-36 (CEV)

Often I hear people say that they wished they were “part of a first century church”. I don’t think we understand what that really means. We want the “wonders and miraculous signs” (Acts 2:43). But..

Are we willing to meet daily? (Acts 2:46)

Are we devoted to our Bible study? (Acts 2:42)

Are we devoted to prayer? (Acts 2:42)

Do we have everything in common with people in our fellowship? (Acts 2:44)

Are we willing to sell our possessions and give to those in need? (Acts 2:45)

The life of a disciple of Jesus is that – I choose to follow Jesus wherever He may lead. Jesus’ life here on earth ended at a Roman crucifixion. Jesus had to go through Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before the victory of Resurrection Sunday. He asked for a “pass” from the Father in Gethsemane but the Father said, “No”. Jesus showed me that there is a cost to following Him.

When are we going to get it? When are we going to decide that our life with Jesus is more important than anything else? When will we seek, go after, make God’s Kingdom FIRST and trust Jesus for the rest?

That doesn’t mean giving up my job and expecting God to drop ship food and household money to my door every day. It does mean spending more time focused on God than on making money! It does mean sharing Jesus’ Good News with my children, my grandchildren, and others that God’s Spirit brings into my life.

Yes, I want to be a part of a first century church. I want to be connected with Believers who want to grow into that relationship with Jesus. I want to be with people who are devoted and giving and committed to Jesus Christ. I begin with my personal relationship with Jesus. And then I ask Him to show me where to connect.

No church is perfect. Someone shared a story with me about their church: Two families in the church were going through great hardship with illness. The pastor announced in their services that they would not have “usual service” but would spend the time in prayer for these families. I know other stories about this church that tells me that it isn’t a perfect church – but I believe they were found pleasing in God’s eyes on that day.

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Whose Opinion Matters?

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

They want to serve themselves and not Christ the Lord. Their flattery and fancy talk fool people who don’t know any better.     Romans 16:18 (CEV)

These people grumble and complain and live by their own selfish desires. They brag about themselves and flatter others to get what they want.    Jude 16 (CEV)

No matter your age, no matter your lot in life, what people say about you passes through your ears to your brain and, too often, gets stuck there. 99 44/100% of the time, whatever is said isn’t truly accurate and so should not be replayed in your head. But it is.

Paul, the most prolific New Testament writer, and Jude, that tiny, often missed letter just before Revelation, warn us about people and what they say. They use the word flatter. Paul’s warning seems to be pointed to those in the Church. He speaks about people who cause division and put obstacles that are in direct opposition to Jesus’ teaching. Yes, I know Believers who do that. “Keep away from them” Paul says (v. 17). Keep away from them if we are both Believers? Yup. They aren’t perfect and God isn’t done with them any more than He isn’t done with me! If you join a fellowship looking for perfection, you will be disappointed.

People say hurtful, destructive things offhand and purposefully. It seems to start in us very young and begins with “joking around” as we say things that “tease” or “cut down” in order to get a laugh. Is it really funny? We know that words are powerful. God spoke all that we know into being. God’s Word is Life. We also know that satan’s full-time job is to accuse us – and so his words try to destroy.

My husband wrote a book a few years ago, When People Speak for God. He is often asked by others, “How can I know what God’s will is for my life?” They want to know if their ideas, plans, decisions are from the voice of God – or not. Have you ever heard someone tell you that God told them to tell you something? How do you know it’s really God? How do you know it isn’t the person’s voice and it is, at best, mis-heard and at worse, a manipulation?

For although we are walking in the flesh, we do not wage war in a fleshly way, since the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.   2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (HCSB)

We must intentionally consider the power of words in our lives. We must understand their power and utilize what God has given us to know and see His truths. He says we should “take captive every thought” and put them under the control of Jesus. It is Jesus that knows what is truth and what is just another lie of satan. It is the power of His Spirit that give us the discernment that we need to filter truth from lies.

We also need to recognize that it is God’s opinion, and only God’s opinion, that matters in my life. The applause of people, their appreciation for what I do, their criticism, their disapproval of what I do and to whom I devote my time can not be of importance to me. When I pay attention to what they think, I am not paying attention to what God thinks.

So let us take time today to take capture every thought and put it under the authority of Jesus and His Holy Spirit. Let us seek to hear Him and listen only to Him. That is Life to me.

Posted in 2 Corinthians, Jude, Romans | Comments Off on Whose Opinion Matters?

Marinating in Love

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

Behold, Yahweh stood above it, and said, “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed. Your seed will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.”      Genesis 28:13-15 (WEB)

Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me.

You know my sitting down and my rising up.

You perceive my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word on my tongue, but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether.

You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me.

This knowledge is beyond me.     Psalm 139:1-6 (WEB

The Word to me today is that the knowledge of God’s love is really beyond my ability to understand.

Jacob has met with God. Jacob is given promises by God. He will have descendants as numerous as the dust on the ground. And those descendants will cover the earth. Now Jacob did not have a concept of the reality of that promise. He didn’t know how big the earth was. He didn’t know about the Western Hemisphere. And as extraordinary as that promise was, look at the last two sentences.

“Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.”

God. Creator of all that is – makes the promise that He will not leave me. Do I get this? The promises made to Jacob were also made to his descendants. They were made to me. They were made to you.

God will never leave me. Would you go to the Mall of America with your infant child and just leave them? “I’m sorry, child. You’re too much trouble. You’ve been too naughty. I’m going to go find some child who is better.” God is the perfect parent. He loves without conditions.

God knows that I will go off His path. He will not leave me and He will bring me back to the place He has for me. If I shake my fist, turn to my way, God will be there when I realize that my way didn’t work and turn back around. He will lead me home. He will not leave until He has completed the work in me (Philippians 1:6).

God knows me. He knows every dusty hidden corner. He knows every corner of my mind. There is not a thought that I have that He does not hear. And despite knowing all this about me, God chooses to be right here with me. He isn’t standing off and away from me. He is here. In front of me, behind me, wherever there is a place, God is there with me.

Genesis 28:17 says that Jacob was frightened by God being in the place with him. When I allow God to come close, am I frightened? What frightens me? Think about that.

I can keep God at a distance if I just keep walking a bit off His path. I can say my memorized prayers, sing my distant songs, as I show up for the obligatory one or two hours each week. Take time off during the summer and holidays. Don’t get too fanatical about God. Just believe in Him but don’t make Him the #1 priority or head of my home. Don’t give God the final control. (Notice I said “give”.

Romans 8 was another lectionary text for this week. It also tells me about the depth of Jesus’ love. I am going to be marinating in that study, in His presence this week. Will you join me?

Posted in Genesis, Psalms | Comments Off on Marinating in Love

Take the Egypt Out of Me, Lord!

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

From Henry Neufeld (Scripture is from his own translation)

3And the Israelites said to them [Moses and Aaron], “Oh that we had died by YHWH’s hand in Egypt, where we sat by cauldrons of boiling meat and ate bread until we were satisfied!” For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger!”   — Exodus 16:3 (HN)

There are just so many things one could say about that text! Unfortunately I not only hear the voices of my neighbors and my fellow church members in that chorus—I hear my own voice.

“Why, God, have you called me here? Life was so much easier when ________.” You fill in the blank for yourself.

What can get quite humorous is when those of us in church leadership get together and start talking about what’s wrong with our lives, one of the things we’re certain to complain about is, well, how much people complain! There’s something paradoxical about complaining about how much other people complain.

But look again at the text. What the Israelites are wishing is that God would have killed them in Egypt. Better to be struck down by God than to starve to death following him out in this wilderness.

That’s the problem with delivering people. We may not like where we are now, but as soon as we move on, we’re going to forget the problems of the past and remember all the better points. In the present we’re likely to forget the good things and remember all the bad ones.

The Israelites remembered pots of boiling meat and enough bread to eat. They forgot the taskmasters, the beatings, the work quotas that were too large, and the fact that they couldn’t move on. Supposing God had struck some of them down. Can you imagine the complaints of unfairness?

“Here we are, getting whipped and beaten, and all we have to eat is this lousy bread, and the boiled meat is pretty tasteless. God lets us be tormented and then he strikes us down. It would be better to take us out into the wilderness where we could die of hunger — at least nobody would beat us! Instead God strikes us down here!”

Complainers don’t get satisfied. They can’t be delivered, because they take their bondage right along with them. There’s always something. First there’s no carpet in the church, then the new carpet is the wrong color. If the Bishop sends a new pastor, he’s disrupting the ministries of the church that were just beginning to stabilize and grow. If he leaves the pastor there, he’s just letting things get stuck in a rut. How can we grow if we don’t get some new blood in the leadership?

Being a complainer, however, is pretty human. I think we’re all there at one time or another. But God is in the deliverance business and he’s going to try to deliver us even from our complaints, if we’ll let him.

The Israelites wondered why they couldn’t just go straight to Canaan. We’ve been delivered, why not follow the straight road and get where we’re going? But God realizes that we take who we are along with us, and he has to get us to drop off all that garbage along the way.

You can take the person out of Egypt, but it’s much harder to take Egypt out of the person!

I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that God is going to make us take the journey of deliverance, to get Egypt out of us, just like he did the Israelites. The good news is that God is going to make us take the journey of deliverance, to get Egypt out of us, just like he did the Israelites.

We might as well get used to it. Now please notice that I’m not saying God is calling us to a life of misery. God is quite willing to get us out of misery, provided we will let him get the misery out of us.

I can look around me and see many, many things for which I thank God. If I choose to think about them I can be happy. I can find dozens of things to complain about or worry about. If I do that, I can be miserable. Even more important, that complaining and misery will not accomplish one single thing to make any of those things better. Jesus says worry won’t add time to our lives. Neither will complaining. It won’t solve our financial problems, make our families happier, build up our churches, or improve the weather.

All it does is make us more miserable.

Oh that God had slain us in Egypt? Rather, let God slay the Egypt in us!

 

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I Don’t Have the Strength – But…

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

When he rose from prayer and went back…      Luke 22:39-45 (NIV)

I received two calls yesterday from people who are just at the end of their rope. They are tired, overwhelmed, and ready to give up. The irony was not lost on me that they called me because that is the way that I feel too often these days.

Because of copyright issues, I cannot post the lyrics to a song that comes to my mind, expresses my feelings very well, and then leaves me with the comfort and strength to keep going one more day. It’s called Take My Life by Third Day. I hope you will stop and take two minutes and eighteen seconds to listen to it before you go on. 

Third Day was not a group that I was familiar until my son, James, bought the CD with this song on it. I didn’t really listen to this song until after he died. He never talked about what he was thinking when he bought this but James wasn’t complicated in his theology. His relationship with Jesus was pretty straight forward. He said that “God is in the miracle business” and so he knew that God was able to heal him of cancer. He also knew that God did not always do that.

Jesus was God. He was also fully human. He knew what a Roman crucifixion was about. Maybe He had a divine revelation and ‘saw’ what was coming to Him as Judas and the church leaders made their way with the Roman guard through the streets toward the Garden. However Jesus knew, Luke, the physician, describes the magnitude of the effect on Jesus by graphically describing his physical manifestation.

I have had some horrific times of despair that drove me to my knees, tears streaming down my face, and sweat pouring off me. I didn’t sweat blood.

Please take from me – my life – when I don’t have the strength to give it away to you, Jesus. – Third Day

We are not promised that we will know the full picture of our lives. Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). Jesus told us to stay close to Him because the world would hate us. We might be killed in the name of God, and yet we should remember that He gave us The Comforter and should rest in that peace because He had overcome the world (John 14-16). Minutes before Jesus was arrested, He was praying for you and for me (John 17). We must be important to Him if He prayed for us.

When I reach this place of despair, I am trying to “figure out” too much. Many people might say that it is crazy or not responsible to just move from day to day. I would love to know God’s plan for the rest of my life. I would love it if He would tell me where I am going to be in the next year, the next month, even the next week! I only know today. And He promises He will give me what I need – for today. I believe Jesus showed me how to build my faith. He showed me in the most horrific way that when all seems lost on those dark Fridays – hang on – Resurrection Day is coming!

I’m taking time right now to stop and pray. I asking God to take my life. I don’t have the strength for today, but Jesus does. I don’t have the wisdom for today, but Jesus does. The problems are a mess. Jesus is in the miracle business so He knows about messes. So I am going to take the mustard seed size faith in Him that I have and I am going to ask the Holy Spirit to remind me of all those other times, in my life, the lives of others I know, and in the Bible, when God came through in a mess and made something good of it. And then, I’ll get up from prayer and go back … today.

I am grateful that those two people called on me yesterday. Jesus taught me and encouraged me. I pray they received the same from Jesus.

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No Rain – But Tears

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

[reprinted from September 29, 2008]

Help, God—the bottom has fallen out of my life! Master, hear my cry for help!
Listen hard! Open your ears! Listen to my cries for mercy.                   Psalm 130:1-2 (The Message)

This is a word of encouragement for everyone who reads this today. If you are having a bad time in your life and the words of the psalmist rings for you – God is listening!

These words may be the cry of your heart if you have or had an illness or you are a farmer and the rain has not come. You may have had a disagreeable discussion with your spouse or your son or daughter. Your job may be a dragging you into a pit that seems to have no stairway out.

“I am crying out to You from this pit, LORD! Hear me!”

God is listening. How do I know? Because others have told me. Joseph cried out to God from the pit his brothers had thrown him (Genesis 37:23-36). He is rescued from there, seems to be in good shape, and he is thrown into a pit again…Pharoah’s prison (Genesis 39:19-23). He is used by God to free others – but is left in that jail for another two years (Genesis 40:23-41:1).

“Hey, LORD! Have you forgotten me?”

David is chased all over Israel by a paranoid, angry king! He has a couple of opportunities to kill the king – but he doesn’t (1 Samuel 18-19, 24, 26). David, the anointed one of God, hides in caves and has few friends.

“God! Protect me from the hundreds who want to kill me!”

Even David was a sinner and felt short of God’s glory (2 Samuel 11-12). But God-in-the-flesh, Jesus, came to be through David lineage (Matthew 1). God had a plan all along!

If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance?
As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that’s why you’re worshiped. I pray to God—my life a prayer— and wait for what he’ll say and do.

My life’s on the line before God, my Lord, waiting and watching till morning, waiting and watching till morning.     Psalm 130:5-6 (The Message)

God is mercy. He is also merciful. He is full of mercy. He hears our cry and answers – not because I deserve it – but because He loves me. I am His child. He is goodness and kindness. Yes, He disciplines and sometimes I am in that pit in order to learn something. Call it a form of ‘timeout’! But God’s eye is on the timer and He will not leave me or forget me. He rescues me. He pours out His love on me because He has com-passion!

God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to him.   1 Peter 5:7 (CEV)

So take all that stuff that makes you feel heavy, overwhelmed, and hopeless and give it to the only One big enough to handle anything. Take that step of faith and trust Jesus.

 

 

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I Chose You

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

The word of the LORD came to me:
I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
But I protested, “Oh no, Lord GOD! Look, I don’t know how to speak since I am [only] a youth.”
Then the LORD said to me:
Do not say: I am [only] a youth, for you will go…”                  Jeremiah 1:4-7 (HCSB)

“Jody, before you were a glint in your earthly parents’ eyes, I had a plan for you.” God said this to Jeremiah, to me, and, yes, to you. I have always been God’s child. He has always had a plan for me. But unlike the angels and animals, He gave me choice. Some might say that difference in me from the rest of His creation was a mistake.

As I wandered and struggled through these last 50+ years trying to figure out what I was to do in this life, I have certainly wished it was easier. My personality would have liked a Plan Book divinely delivered to my home the day before I began kindergarten so that my life was mapped out. Based on the gifts that God gave me, I would have then followed His plan and achieved the Kingdom goals that He had for me.

Instead I have taken numerous rabbit trails as I alternately ignored and tried my own way of doing things. I tried to go back to school to get higher degrees as supervisors told me I needed to do that in order to “get ahead”. Every time I tried, the door to opportunity would slam shut! God was trying to get my attention and steer me back to His plan. And His plan wasn’t about me being a success in the world’s eyes.

Jesus says that I should go into my prayer closet to pray (Matthew 6:5-6) and I should not let others know when I do something good (Matthew 6:1-4). It is doing all these things because God is watching and it is He that I want to please.
God has a plan in my life. Am I willing to spend the time with Him so that I know His mind and His voice and will desire to stay with His plan? Will I rely on His strength, both physically and spiritually, to accomplish His plan? Will I listen to people who speak Kingdom Principles or the world’s “get more”, “you can have it all”, and “do it yourself” philosophy? That becomes a very difficult question when it is family that is steering me away from God’s plan, however good their intentions.

When I say “Yes” to God’s plan, it is with His gifts of strength, wisdom, and even talents to do things I may have never done. I have a friend who has made gorgeous banners for worship. This type of art was never part of her life and yet, when God wanted those banners, she was willing and so God infused her with everything she needed to be able to do this work. She was willing. And that is the question that God posed to Jeremiah, to Peter, to Paul, to Thaddeus, to Thomas, to Priscilla, and to me.
Are you willing to go???

Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and told me:
Look, I have filled your mouth with My words.      Jeremiah 1:9 (HCSB)

Lord, fill my mouth, my heart, and my spirit with Your words as I willingly go where Jesus leads me.

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Do I Have Time to Garden?

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

[Jody note: Every Monday I will be sharing my thoughts and what I have learned from the lectionary texts from the previous day, maybe one of the four, maybe all four.]

One day, Jacob was cooking some stew, when Esau came home hungry and said, “I’m starving to death! Give me some of that red stew right now!” That’s how Esau got the name “Edom.” Jacob replied, “Sell me your rights as the first-born son.” “I’m about to die,” Esau answered. “What good will those rights do me?”

But Jacob said, “Promise me your birthrights, here and now!” And that’s what Esau did. Jacob then gave Esau some bread and some of the bean stew, and when Esau had finished eating and drinking, he just got up and left, showing how little he thought of his rights as the first-born.       Genesis 25:29-34 (CEV)

“how little he thought”. As I look back on what these devotions and all the other personal time that God and I spend together have been saying to me – the thread that I see is “priorities”. It isn’t any surprise actually. Every day of my life, I make decisions based on priorities. How will I spend my time. To whom and what will I give the finite amount of time I have. What is important to me?

No matter how much a parent may tell a child, “I love you”, if the parent does not give of their time and attention, the child knows that the parent’s love is questionable. If the parent doesn’t put the needs of the child before their own, the child receives that message of what is really important to the parent.

Esau chose to meet his immediate needs. He wasn’t going to literally “starve”. He was hungry so he decided food was more important than his birthright. Oh, how often I have made that same decision. Chose food instead of _____. Yes, Jacob was a manipulative little twirp but if Esau had sought wisdom before making a choice, Jacob could not have tempted him with a bowl of bean soup.

God promises me wisdom. As much as I need. His wisdom will not run out. Jesus promised that the Spirit would remind me of Jesus’ words (John 14:25-26). No matter what the circumstance, I have a Helper. I have whatever I need to make good choices, to set good priorities.

Then he taught them many things by using stories. He said: A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. While the farmer was scattering the seed, some of it fell…      Matthew 13:3-4 (CEV)

Jesus taught using stories that the people of the time could relate to. Maybe it’s because I’m a farm girl at heart but I get these stories, too. I see “priorities” in this passage also.

Jesus said that my “job” as His disciple is to go and make disciples, teaching them all that He has taught me (Matthew 28). God sows the seeds into lives. People aren’t all sitting around in a church, ready and willing to hear God and obey Him. They are out in their world with terrible events happening, seductive distractions, and their own willful, rebellious spirits keeping them from hearing and accepting God’s words. As a disciple-maker, it is my job to break up the hard ground, chop down the weeds, and cut out the thorns. With the guidance of God’s Spirit, I am given opportunities to share and teach others about who and what has changed my life.

When the LORD calls me home, what will be my legacy? What footprints will I leave behind? Will it be about the “stuff” I have? Will it be how many books that I was a part of publishing that made money? Or will it about about how many disciples love Jesus just because I was willing to be used by Him?

Priorities.

 

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Our God

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

No one is greater than God. So he made a promise in his own name when he said to Abraham, “I, the Lord, will bless you with many descendants!” Then after Abraham had been very patient, he was given what God had promised.        Hebrews 6:13-15 (CEV)

As a publisher, one of the key characteristics that I look for in a Christian book is relationship. Having a Biblical foundation is important but if what you are sharing with me is just theory and facts then it is not going to bring it ‘home’ into my heart until you bring that to my relationship with God.

Here in the midst of arguably one of the most difficult books of the Bible to understand, God presents me with a nugget that I can dig out and think about. I am shown the faithful promises of God from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

I take the first sentence and begin to worship God. The lyrics of Rich Mullins Awesome God come to my mind. No one is greater than Jehovah. He is Creator. He is Savior. He is Redeemer. He is Father. He is Friend. He is Spirit that speaks to my spirit when words fail me. He has always been. He will always be. I think of Agnus Dei by Michael W. Smith. It becomes so personal that I may end up on my face like John the Beloved (Revelation 1:17)

He has many names but calls Himself I AM. It is in His own name that He makes His promises. He has never broken any of His promises. I can count on Him when everyone else deserts me (Psalm 27:10). In seasons of my life when the winter seems desolate and long, God is there. He is my refuge and strength when trouble may appear to overwhelm me. It is His shield that covers me. It is His belt of truth that speaks to my spirit. It is His peace that cuts through and creates that calm that cannot be explained. It is His breastplate of our righteous relationship that reminds me of Whose I am.

I don’t know how truly patient Abraham was all those years between God’s promise and His fulfillment of that promise. The writer of Hebrews seems to take a bit of liberty with his view of the level of commendation that “the greats” deserve (Hebrews 11 list). Reading Abraham’s story or Moses’ story or Peter’s story tells me that it is not perfection but a willingness to be that brings victory. In every story, the opportunity for God and His child together accomplishing the goal is the power of the testimony.

So when God wanted to prove for certain that his promise to his people could not be broken, he made a vow. God cannot tell lies! And so his promises and vows are two things that can never be changed.

We have run to God for safety. Now his promises should greatly encourage us to take hold of the hope that is right in front of us. This hope is like a firm and steady anchor for our souls. In fact, hope reaches behind the curtain and into the most holy place. Hebrews 6:17-19 (CEV)

That Hope is Jesus Christ. He is the fulfillment of God’s promise to make a way for His children to be with Him in paradise for all eternity. A relationship for all eternity. If spending time with God is not something you look forward to and desire to do now, then make a change. Ask God to show you how He wants to bring you closer. Maybe it is in prayer, conversation. Maybe it is in worship. When you sing the songs or hymns, do you feel them? When you read God’s Word, does awe, joy, holy fear or reverence come on you? Take a step of faith and trust God in a way you never have. A relationship with God is alive which means it will always change and grow. Check the pulse of your relationship with God. Is it alive?

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Choose You This Day

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn’t come on My own, but He sent Me. Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to My word. You are of your father the Devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of liars. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Who among you can convict Me of sin? If I tell the truth, why don’t you believe Me? The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.”     John 8:42-47 (HCSB)

John 8 begins with Jesus going to the Temple to teach. They bring Him the woman they caught in adultery. (And we think that our trial system is flawed!) Stop a minute and go back to read the passage above again. Think about coming into church this week, Jesus steps into the pulpit, and this is what He says as His eyes make contact with each one of us. Not a feel good sermon, is it? Did any of His truth-arrows hit home?

Jesus says that if I love Him, I will obey Him (John 14). It is simple, isn’t it?

If I do not obey Jesus, then I am obeying satan. That is simple also. It is not what I want to hear, however. I want there to be an Option C. This is the option where I get to do what I want to do once in awhile. It doesn’t work that way with God. If I do not obey God then by default I am obeying the enemy. Satan is a murderer. He kills the ‘good’ inside of me because he cannot live or dwell in the same space with what is of God. Paul makes a clear statement in his letter to the Galatians (chapter 5) about what is from God and what is a ‘gift’ from satan. The fruit that comes from God has a distinctive taste, doesn’t it? The fruit from satan has a distinctive stench also. The question is: Am I willing to invite the Holy Spirit to shine His light on the fruit in my life and cut out any rotting, stinking fruit so that more sweet, fresh fruit may grow?

Jesus warns me to listen to His words. It very easy for me to get around that statement. I just won’t listen or read His words! I’ll let my Bible look good on my desk and gather dust because I never crack it open. I’ll rely totally on my pastor or Sunday School teacher to spoon feed me what they have learned, what they believe and not put forth any effort of my own.

It’s summer. It’s vacation time for many. Good thing God doesn’t take a vacation from my life! God doesn’t sleep. He doesn’t tell me that he’s taking two weeks or two months off and He’ll see me again in August! And why is that? Because He loves me! He’s my father and dads do not take vacations from being a father. He’s always there. And He wants me to always be there with Him.

So what is my decision today: Will I obey God’s commands? Or not.

 

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