My Twins

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

So I tell you that all her sins are forgiven, and that is why she has shown great love. But anyone who has been forgiven for only a little will show only a little love.” Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Some other guests started saying to one another, “Who is this who dares to forgive sins?”

But Jesus told the woman, “Because of your faith, you are now saved. May God give you peace!”                           Luke 7:47-50 (CEV)

Today is a wonderful annual celebration in my spiritual life. It is the birthday of my oldest children, who also happen to be twins. [Side note: Twins, whether biologically identical or fraternal, are not 2 halves of one person. They are 2 distinct people who just happened to have been born on the same day, in the same family.] Like most parents, I suspect, this day brings memories to mind that cause smiles and a reflection on how quickly the years go by.

The process of birth is so foreign and scary, even to a medical person like me. It seems that your body is out of control and operating on some unknown ‘command center’ that does not disclose a pre-plan. Even in this age or technology and tests, there are still surprises that can occur.

I did not know I was having twins. I had three ultrasounds during my pregnancy and only one child was identified. Only one child was monitored during labor. It is a good thing that God could count and took care of the monitoring and determining that a c-section was a good idea.

Throughout my pregnancy I was also plagued with ideas that my child would be the object of some “punishment” for past sins. I have had other parents tell me that they, too, were “frightened” that something would “go wrong”.

Jesus tells me here that there is no sin too great for His forgiveness. In fact, He repeats that forgiveness and love so that the woman knows no matter what her sin(s) might have been, she is forgiven.

The Pharisees want to condemn and beat up on the woman. Why is that? Is it a human flaw that we must magnify another’s sin with our condemnation so that maybe no one will notice our great sin? Does it feel good to condemn someone? Or does it feel best to see someone restored?

I celebrate this day for the double portion (2 individual, extravagant blessings) that God heaped on me! I am no one special except in the eyes of my Father who looked at His bruised and battered child and said, “I am going to give her this day more than she could ever imagine!” And He continues to not only love me extravagantly but love each of them with His extravagant forgiveness and healing, too. Celebrate the day!

 

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Twinkies? Or Brussel Sprouts?

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

My friend, Greg, invites me to his “Fishin’ Hole” blog in the mornings (you know you catch good fish at that time!) and I encourage you to read a recent text, “Eat the Spinach”. I was also driven to my Bible by J. Lee Grady this week and his thoughts about Rob Bell’s new book, “Love Wins”. I really like to read what people have to say when it makes me turn to God’s Word to “test” or explore deeper into God.

Many years ago, Rev. Steve Hill, an evangelist told me that sometimes God gave him “Twinkie Messages” and sometimes they were more like “Brussel Sprouts”. The thing is – I like Brussel Sprouts! But I could substitute that vegetable for eggplant and get the point!

God speaks to me. In His Word. By His Holy Spirit. Through fellow Believers. In all that He has created. Sometimes He is silent. He may be waiting for me to “get in position” to hear Him. I may be too busy, too distracted. I may be still convinced that I can work the situation out myself, with my own brain and good sense.

I believe that sometimes when God seems silent to me – He is actually speaking something I do not want to hear. God is the perfect parent and sometimes parents must say “No”. Children would rather their parents always say “Yes”. Example: You’re in the grocery store with your children doing the shopping for dinner. They want hot dogs and hamburgers. You say “No” because you are planning a dinner for some guests who will join the family. The children do not want to hear this. They may even “pitch a fit”. Their ears are deaf to anything except what they want.

(Watch as I step ‘way out on a limb!) It is in the very difficult questions, when I perceive that God is not responding in a way that He has responded in the past that my ears become distant to His voice. Issues like healing vs death, heaven and hell and who goes where, God’s call on my life and how He wants me to use my gifts in His Kingdom are all difficult with “God answers” that are specific for each person and each situation. The one question that has only one answer is: Does God really love me? The answer is an emphatic, resounding “YES!”.

It is that voice that is speaking that answer that I want my ears to always hear. I may not always like God’s answers but I pray, I desire, to never doubt the love of my Father. Like the child that I am, I may turn away and lock myself in my room when I do not get what I want. But like most children who know their parents love them, I will come out and I will rejoin my family. My Father and I will sit together again and I will listen to His voice and receive His love.

 

 

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Worship

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

From there, Jesus went along Lake Galilee. Then he climbed a hill and sat down. Large crowds came and brought many people who were crippled or blind or lame or unable to talk. They placed them, and many others, in front of Jesus, and he healed them all. Everyone was amazed at what they saw and heard. People who had never spoken could now speak. The lame were healed, the crippled could walk, and the blind were able to see. Everyone was praising the God of Israel.          Matthew 15:29-31 (CEV)

This isn’t the day that Jesus fed five thousand. On this day, he fed four thousand. He is in a Gentile region on this day. Jesus didn’t teach like He did the day He fed five thousand. But He was only with the five thousand for one afternoon while He stayed with these people for three days.

For three days, Jesus did an unbelievable things…He healed. It seems like Matthew could have been a bit more descriptive; told us a bit more about what happened in those three days when all those people were healed.

Imagine what your reaction would be if you broke your hip and it just healed on its own without surgery and pins and you were never able to walk again? And then Jesus touched you and you were able to run and jump!

What if you were born blind? Jesus spoke to you and His was the first face you saw!

I can’t imagine if I was deaf all my life and then because I spent some time with Jesus, I heard my child say, “Mama”.

Matthew says that people were “ amazed at what they saw and heard”. I somehow do not think the word ‘amazed’ begins to cover it! Four thousand people were amazed and sharing their stories – their testimonies. They were so amazing because they were the truth about Jesus.

And the people were so amazed that they praised God. I wonder how they did that? Matthew doesn’t tell us but I can’t make a few guesses. I bet they didn’t sit down and write out a creed or doctrinal statement about how they should praise. They didn’t sit in neat little rows inside a building they built. And they didn’t wait until the Sabbath to do it, did they? They just did it. They praised God. And Jesus’ heart was so touched that He wanted to feed them. He wanted to break bread with them.

Worship is ‘thank you’ without any filter. It’s straight from my heart to God’s. It’s realizing I have been given more than I can give back. It’s knowing that I was limping along when God touched me and now I can leap. Worship cannot be silenced any more than God’s love and peace can be marketed or given a price tag.

It’s gratitude to my Savior from my saved heart. It is offering worship to my Healer by my healed heart. So let’s worship now.

 

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Trust God and Do…

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

 

Trust in the LORD and do what is good; dwell in the land and live securely. Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you your heart’s desires.      Psalm 37:4 (HCSB)

Here is one of the many verses in the Bible where it is easy to skip the first statement and grab hold of the second statement because it’s a promise of good things! But if I am looking for the good things of the promise – then I need to look at the words of wisdom in the primary statement.

The big question today for me is: Do I want to delight myself in the Lord? Do I want to be obedient to what God wants in my life? Do I look for God’s way? Do I study and listen so I know what that is?

These are soul-searching personal questions. I can fool anyone, even myself, but not God. If I allow God’s Spirit to meet and examine my heart – then my relationship with God becomes clear – it becomes righteous – a right relationship. And then the desires of my heart are also the desires of the Father’s heart for me! We are on the same page. We are of the same mind.

Proverbs tells me to trust God with all my heart (Proverbs 3:5-7). Hold nothing back, nor look to myself for wisdom. So why do I? Could it be that people have been found to be less worthy of my trust and so I am projecting this on to my relationship with God? Has He responded (or not responded) in a way that causes me to question? And how do I react to that? Pull back? Has that worked for me? So why not try a different response? Pull in closer! Spend more time with Him and learn more about God. Turn to Jesus. Look at His responses to the Father’s answers. Listen to the Holy Spirit so I hear the truth of what God is saying and doing, even when it might be something that I do not want to hear.

God is my refuge and strength and He is my help when troubled times come. I will not accept fear but look to God as my fortress just as He has been for generations before and will be for my children, grandchildren, and generations to come.

Excuse me. I have some things to discuss with my LORD, my Savior, and my Friend.

 

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Jesus’ Prayer is my Prayer

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

I originally posted this October 8, 2008. I am here again today praying for so many who are battling cancer. My heart is always about their healing. But if God says that they have finished their race faithfully, I do rejoice that they have left this alien land and have gone home.

Some may find The Message paraphrase very different from The Lord’s Prayer they know. I hope you will take time today to read this version and then also say the version you know in your heart.

[Jesus said,]“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best— as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.                         Matthew 6:7-13 (The Message, my emphasis)

Once again I am in the gap praying for a friend and also praying for someone I haven’t yet met. They are battling cancer. It is terror and overwhelming fear that I see in them with my physical eyes and with my spiritual eyes. How to move from that place??!!!

Jesus is passionately telling me how to pray in this passage. Here in the midst of His most famous sermon — He speaks of prayer. He tells me to pray quietly and succinctly. Get real in my prayers and get to the point in prayer:

*God — You are Creator
*Your name is above any other I could call on
*You will have the final word in this world
*Give me what I need today
*Forgive me…every sin…forgive me
*I forgive every sin committed against me
*Lead me today away from the evil one an his schemes and temptations

That’s it. Say it. Mean it. That covers it. Any more additions are words said that help me to get to that place of peace passing understanding. And that’s OK to say the rest — but realize that begging God isn’t necessary. Talking God into helping me isn’t necessary. God is already there! God is already dealing with the problem!

Because he is lovingly devoted to Me, I will deliver him; I will exalt him because he knows My name.

When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble.
I will rescue him and give him honor. I will satisfy him with a long life and show him My salvation.         Psalm 91:14-16 (HCSB)

God has so many promises. He even said in Isaiah 65:24 that before I call on Him — He answers and He hears while I am still trying to get the words out of my mouth!

Join me now and pray for those who are in battle. Stand firm and know that God is here!!!

 

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The Pay Off

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

They spent their time learning from the apostles, and they were like family to each other. They also broke bread and prayed together.

Everyone was amazed by the many miracles and wonders that the apostles worked. All the Lord’s followers often met together, and they shared everything they had. They would sell their property and possessions and give the money to whoever needed it. Day after day they met together in the temple. They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely, while praising God. Everyone liked them, and each day the Lord added to their group others who were being saved.      Acts 2:42-47 (CEV)

Signs and wonders. Sharing food happily and freely. Praising God. Adding to the saved numbers. I want that! I want to be a part of that! I want to – spend time learning, break bread, and pray.

I could blame it on my humanity that I want all the benefits without fulfilling the responsibilities and it would be true. But if I know it’s true, it seems like it would make sense to make a change!

Any athlete or student will tell me that to succeed it takes daily study and time with the “subject”. If I want to receive the benefits of a miraculous, wonderful (full of wonder) relationship with God, then I need to spend time with Him every day.

There are many classes in which I spent hours sitting, taking notes, and even passing tests, and yet, I can tell you now, I learned nothing. I was not engaged in the class. I did not care to retain information about the subject because I did not see the sense or what the “pay off” was to retain information about the subject. In some cases, I was correct. I learned that “pi r squared” will tell me the area of a circle, but I’ve never used that formula in the last 40 years. I learned how to diagram a sentence and I’ve used the grammar principles in that lesson to write two books and proofread many others.

Spending time with God is a sure bet to bring payoff. I did a study one week in these devotions where I tried to find Scripture that I knew did not apply to me! I had no problem identifying Scriptures but when I went to write the devotions – I had no problem writing a devotion because there was “stuff” for me to think about! Go figure!

Doing this devotional every day has kept me faithful to the “habit” of coming together with God every day. However, there is always something more. God does not want a “token” check-in every day. He wants my heart to desire to spend more time with Him so that our relationship grows. He doesn’t want to settle and He doesn’t want me to settle either.

The next three months (through the summer) is when many of us attempt to find some vacation time. We want to do summer activities and plan a vacation whether it is a week or a long weekend. But we don’t consider that God would take a vacation. He doesn’t. But if we let our time with Him slide, He doesn’t not beat down any doors to get our attention. Do we stop eating during the summer? Of course not. Just as I keep a balanced nutrition daily to stay physically healthy, so I must pay attention to my spiritual health no matter what the month.

So rid yourselves of all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, desire the unadulterated spiritual milk, so that you may grow by it in [your] salvation, since you have tasted that the Lord is good.       1 Peter 2:1-3 (HCSB)

 

Posted in 1 Peter, Acts | Comments Off on The Pay Off

God Rested – and so am I

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

By the seventh day God had finished his work, and so he rested. God blessed the seventh day and made it special because on that day he rested from his work.    Genesis 2:2-3 (CEV)

Yesterday my day ran very long. And so today I am taking a Sabbath rest. I am not always obedient and well-balanced in my work and rest. So today, as I rest, I am going to do a word study on “rest” and learn more from God. Here are some of the Scripture I will be reading if you would like to join me:

Genesis 1-2

Psalm 19

Psalm 122

Isaiah 61

Matthew 5

Luke 12

John 14

1 Thessalonians 5

Revelation 1-3

 

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Five Loaves and Two Fish – Who Will I Serve?

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

[This is] the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines before Pharaoh defeated Gaza. This is what the LORD says:
Look, waters are rising from the north and becoming an overflowing wadi.
They will overflow the land and everything in it, the cities and their inhabitants.
The people will cry out, and every inhabitant of the land will wail.

At the sound of the stomping hooves of his stallions, the rumbling of his chariots, and the clatter of their wheels, fathers will not turn back for their sons, because they will be utterly helpless.                         Jeremiah 47:1-3 (HCSB)

This passage of Scripture could be read to people who have lost their homes and land to floods right now. This was what God said to the Philistines who had some “God justice” coming their way. And it did happen.

But what about the people in Missouri and Illinois, Mississippi and Tennessee, and now, Louisiana? I read an article on msnbc.com that said, “Poor taking the brunt of Mississippi bulge”, meaning it is primarily the very rural poor that are being flooded out of their homes and left with nothing. Where is God’s “justice” in that?

…he told the crowd to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up toward heaven and blessed the food. Then he broke the bread and handed it to his disciples, and they gave it to the people.                Matthew 14:19 (CEV)

The message that I am hearing today is that in all these terrible ‘disasters’ there is an opportunity for us (disciples of Jesus) to reach out with His love and help those in need. If I think about a farmer who makes his living on land that is now several feet under water and grasp that this family not only has no home but no way to produce their income, however I may think of my own lack, I have more than that.

The boy came to hear Jesus speak. He brought a lunch with him which was more than many others did. Would it feed all those people? It did not require higher math to figure that answer! Jesus’ disciples did not see how so little could cover much. Jesus did.

Just a side note here: Did you notice that Jesus looked to heaven before offering the answer to the food problem? If you read about Jesus’ day, He had received the news of John’s death and He was being followed by a huge crowd of people who wanted. Maybe Jesus felt the human fatigue and looked to heaven to say, “You have to do this, Father.”

Jesus shows me that if I am willing to offer my little, He will make it huge. Be willing to do that in the midst of my own “busy” life. Just think what would happen if we all gave when and what God asked? Think of the shock of the people who would find hands and feet to walk with them through these disasters. They would not feel alone and overwhelmed.

I do not have much but I have more than I need. May I turn my eyes toward the Father and ask Him to bless my bit of “more” and watch what will happen as He takes it to feed the needs of others.

Posted in Jeremiah, Matthew | Comments Off on Five Loaves and Two Fish – Who Will I Serve?

Hope

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.               Genesis 1:26-27 (HCSB)

I have been blessed to be able to travel some and see the Rocky Mountains, the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and a Missouri field filled with ripe wheat and corn. I’ve lived in a home that seemed to be strategically placed in the path of the cardinals’ migration and watched then fly across my lawn like small streaking red flags. I have stood on the shore and watch dolphins jump and flip on waves that sparkled like diamonds in the sun. I’ve seen a waterfall inside a cave that comes from an undiscovered river and flows on to an undiscovered place. And yet none of these ‘wonders’ is made in God’s image. It is only in us that He put something of Himself. He gave us choice.

The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”                Genesis 2:15-17 (HCSB)

From the very beginning, God gave us a choice to obey…or not to obey. He gave us a choice to love…or not to love. Being God He knew all that would be. And He had a plan. From the beginning, He loved us with a perfect Father’s love. Only a blood sacrifice with only the perfect Lamb would make the perfect atonement for our sin of disobedience. Nothing less would be enough.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it.        John 1:1-14 (HCSB)

Jesus was God in the flesh. Jesus was in the Garden when I became the image of God. He was there when that …something called ‘choice’ was placed inside of me. Jesus was there when I made the choice to reject Him. He was there when I made the choice to accept Him and for the time between. His Spirit has been working inside of me since that time to continue to make choices of obedience and slap me on the back of the head when I turn towards disobedience. From beginning to end God has been there and continues to be there just for me. That is a true story of eternity. It is what fills me with Hope.

 

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Toddlers

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Jody Neufeld

Whenever I complain to you, LORD, you are always fair.

But now I have questions about your justice.

Why is life easy for sinners? Why are they successful?

You plant them like trees; you let them prosper and produce fruit.

Yet even when they praise you, they don’t mean it.

But you know, LORD, how faithful I’ve always been, even in my thoughts.

So drag my enemies away and butcher them like sheep!                  Jeremiah 12:1-3 (CEV)

Sometimes this life is just…not good. Another word, “unfair”, comes to mind. I do not have to think about the last 10, 20, 30 years of my life and not recall situations and events that just have no “fairness” or “goodness” in them. And I see others and wonder why they do not have these trials. Why me?

Jeremiah, the prophet, is known in most Biblical circles as “the whining prophet”. The title is not without support. However, I feeling some kinship with him today! Jeremiah was unique in his reflections about his spiritual struggles with God and the trials he had to endure. Is this a reason to call him a “whiner”? I find it hard to believe that Isaiah, Daniel, Amos, Joel, or the others never had a struggle. Maybe they weren’t honest enough to record it.

I want so much to be strong in my relationship with God. I want to be so connected that doubts and questions are not part of our relationship. I want to live in God’s peace. I want to walk confidently in His trust. When I am on my knees, that is where I am. When I get up from knees and move in my own power, doubts and questions are at the forefront.

And like a newborn baby

Don’t be afraid to fall.

And remember when you walk

Sometimes we fall.

 

So, fall on Jesus.

Fall on Jesus.

Fall on Jesus and live.

(Untitled Hymn by Chris Rice. 2003)

I have known people who wandered for most of their lives, looking for ‘home’. As I was writing this, I acknowledged where ‘home’ is for me. It is on my knees. My mind has been brainwashed to believe that kneeling is a position of weakness. It is not. It is a position of strength. Realizing that there is much I do not know gives me more strength and power because I am, like a child, turning to my Father, asking Jesus, listening to His Spirit to tell me what is next. And God is the perfect Father. He picks me up when I stumbled. He doesn’t love me less because I do stumble. He shows me how to walk better by putting my feet in His footprints. I can always fit!

Let’s not be afraid to fall. Let’s not be afraid to say, “I don’t know”. Let us just fall on Jesus…and live.

Posted in Jeremiah | Comments Off on Toddlers