“Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” John 12:3 NIV
This is one of my favorite stories of worship, which is defined as honoring Jesus with extravagant love and extreme submission. Mary gave something very costly to express her love for Jesus. She wanted to express her recognition of how valuable He was to her and what He meant to her. She had seen Him do miracles, including raising her brother from the dead. He had changed her life! Her response was DEEP love for Him!
When I read this account, I wonder about my heart. Do I love Him deeply? When you love someone deeply, the cost you pay to express that love is never too great!
Do I express extravagant love and extreme submission in my relationship with God? Do I value Him and Him alone?
There is a perceived finality in death. More than once I have attended the graveside committal of someone I love. The separation we feel here on earth becomes so real. But Jesus!
These words of Jesus are often read at such an occasion where we stand next to the casket of someone we love moments before they are lowered into the ground:
“…“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”” John 11:25-26 NIV
Jesus experienced the things we do when He walked this earth. He stood outside the tomb of His friend as well. He saw the heartache of those left behind. He felt compassion for those who could only see the finality of the situation. Verse 35 says, “Jesus wept.” But that was not the end. Jesus ordered that the stone covering the entrance to the tomb be rolled back, and then He spoke. “Lazarus, come out!” Lazarus walked out of that tomb fully alive!
This section of Scripture stirs up questions as well as comfort within me. Sometimes I don’t understand why things go the way they do. I find comfort knowing that Jesus has stood graveside and wept. Not because it was the end, but simply because He loved the ones who thought it was.
Then there have been the times I have seen Jesus do miracles that I could not explain and completely turned impossible situations around.
I have often thought how convenient it would be to be able to say, “Do x,y,and z and this will result.”
“Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”” (Verse 40) The glory of God is His manifest presence and power. Simply put, I believe and God will do more than I could ask, think, or imagine within impossible situations. Martha could not conceive that opening a tomb with a dead body would ever be a good idea. BUT with Jesus, what is dead becomes alive.
Do I understand that Jesus truly cares about the things that I am weeping about? Do I believe that no matter what I am up against Jesus is bigger? His Words He spoke to Martha are a promise to me as well. If I believe, I will see His Glory! (Verse 40) I will see He is with me and He is acting in His power on my behalf. He will do miracles. And “even though” I die. I will live! I always win when I believe (trust in and rely on) Jesus, who is Victor over everything including sickness and death!
(I’ve been writing a lot on the Gospel of John lately. I felt like I should share today’s thoughts on the account of Lazarus’s death:)
Good morning! Let’s read John 11:1-16 today!
“So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days,” John 11:3-6 NIV
Being sick is a horrible thing. Especially a major illness. In sickness, there is pain and discomfort. Jesus heard His friend, the one He loved, was sick. BUT Jesus delayed going to His friend for two days…
I have been thinking this morning about God’s delays. Jesus knew all things. He was and He is God. He also knew the end of Lazarus’s story, “…This sickness will not END in death. No, it is for God’s Glory…” God always had a plan. Jesus’s delay was a part of it.
In the book of Isaiah God tells us something that is very important to consider:
““For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV
Jesus knew the reason that Lazarus had to SUFFER and DIE. He knew that He would raise Lazarus from the dead in order to display the glory of God to the people. It was an opportunity for Him to make Himself known in a way the people had not known Him as before. “I am the resurrection and the life.” (Verse 25) Jesus was going to display HIs power over death itself.
There are circumstances of life that we simply will not understand. Sometimes it seems that God is delaying doing what is best for us. We suffer. BUT God wants us to know that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways either. What we think is best may not be what is the best in His Heavenly perspective. We must trust in Him!
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
Is there a circumstance in my life that I am suffering in? Am I trying to make sense out of it? Does it feel like Jesus has delayed? Can I believe and trust that Jesus is always working in every circumstance for my good? (Romans 8:28)
““Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.” Isaiah 43:18-21 NIV
Jesus always makes all things new! What was dead always comes to life at the sound of His beautiful voice!
Today marks the last day of 2025. A New Year is a time of eager expectation of a new beginning. However, we do not have to experience newness just once a year! We can live our lives with each new morning as a new beginning as we pursue a relationship with God!
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV
In Jesus, our past is complete. Whatever happened there can be forgiven, restored, and healed. In Jesus, our present is full and alive. He never leaves us alone or forsakes us. He fills each moment with Himself— the true and abundant LIFE. In Jesus, our future is secure! We have nothing to fear of what is to come!
In Jesus, we can forget the troubling, former things of 2025. We don’t have to dwell in the could have’s, should have’s, would have’s… God is more than willing to do a new thing when we surrender our lives to Him! He has a way of turning things around. What was a dry deserted land inside of our spiritual hearts becomes a beautiful oasis with His living water flowing strong! Whatever was a wasteland and a total loss becomes NEW!
Walk with Jesus every moment of 2026 in the present! Spend time with Him in His Word and in prayer. Then on December 31, 2026 you will be amazed to see all the transformation (making all things new) He has done!
Leave 2025 in the past! Jesus is ever present in our now, and the hope (confident expectation) of what is to come!
Victory over Fear, Unbelief, Anxiety, Worry, People Pleasing
(Originally Written October 4, 2023 for WOW — Women on Wednesdays Ministry)
Father,
I come to you as your beloved daughter that you have adopted into Your family knowing that by Your Spirit, I can call out to you as my “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:14-15) I know I can trust You because I know that You love me, and there is nothing that can separate me from that love. There is no fear of death or fear in life because I know you are always with me. There is no spiritual power- no angel, or demon that can tear me apart from You and Your love. Nothing in the present or the future can divide me away from You. No powers, no height or depth, or anything in all of creation can isolate me away from Your love, God, that is in Jesus Christ my Lord. (Romans 8:37-39) I can rest in this confidence!
I am assured that God is working in all things that I face now or in the future. God is working for my good and His glory because I love Him and am called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
It is Your precious and perfect love for me, Your will to good for me, that casts out all fear that comes against me. (1 John 4:18) I am not subject to anxiety or worry because I know you are my Rock, my Fortress, and My Deliverer! You are the God I take refuge in. (Psalm 18:2) When the enemy comes in like a flood you raise up a standard against him. (Isaiah 59:19) He will not win! You are victorious! And You have given me victory over fear, unbelief, anxiety, worry, and people pleasing because I love you and I keep your commands. I am born of God, and I overcome the world. You have given me faith. I believe in You, Jesus the Son of God. (1 John 5:3-5)
When fear tries to attack my mind, I call out to you God because you are my Help! (Psalm 18:6) When anxiety and worry try to drown me in their torrent, You reach down from on high and pull me out! (Psalm 18:16) When unbelief speaks lies in my ears, I will praise You alone my God because you establish a stronghold against my enemies and you silence the voice of my foe, the liar, Satan! You alone will I serve and worship with my whole heart and you alone will I long to serve, fear of man, people pleasing, has no hold on me! (Luke 4:8)
I fix my mind and my eyes on you alone God. I will not follow any voice of torment because I know Your voice, God, and follow You alone! You are my Good Shepherd. You take care of me and love me greatly! I am trusting that though the thief wants to steal, kill, and destroy, You have come to give me abundant and full life! (John 10:4-5, 10) I submit myself to You alone! I depend on You alone! I obey You alone! I am assured that I can rest in Your care and Your love! (Psalm 23)
In the precious name of Jesus, I pray!
Amen
Verse to commit to memory:
“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.”
“Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.” Romans 16:19 NIV
To be wise is to be learned, cultivated, and skilled…(Webster’s 1828)
Paul commended the Roman believers for their obedience, or their heartfelt submission to the teachings of Jesus. Obedience is very important to our lives as followers of Jesus. What He says we need to listen to / take to heart, and do. Jesus told us that if we love Him we will obey Him. AND our obedience is always for our own good! Because everything that God commands us to do is good.
This is why it is so important to “be wise about what is good” We need to learn about what is good, cultivate it, and be skilled in it. Everything God says is good! Let’s be students of what He says in His Word!
As we study God’s Word and truly take it to heart, we will come to know God better. We will love Him more. We will act according to His Word. Sin will be defeated in our lives. This is what it means to be “innocent about what is evil.” Or another word for innocent is “blameless.”
God has given us everything we need to live as He wants us to. As we obey Him, study His Word so we can be wise about what is good, and live blamelessly when it comes to evil, we will live lives of freedom.
“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” Romans 16:20 NIV
“I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.” Romans 15:18-29 NIV
We live in exciting times! God is working His plan out that He established before the creation of the world.
I know that these statements fly in the face of what the news reports present to us… shootings, turmoil, disunity, disease, wars, etc. It is very dark, but light shines the brightest in the darkness. People are looking for something real. They are spiritually ill, and as believers in Jesus, we have the Truth! We have the cure!
The Apostle Paul lived in a very dark time of history as well. Everywhere he went he shined the light of hope in Jesus Christ. In fact, he made it his “ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known…” (Romans 15:20) God used him in his words and actions to make Jesus known.
This is God’s desire for us today. We were created to know God and make Him known! God wants to use what we say and what we do to reach the broken, hurting, and lost. He wants us to shine His light. He wants to work through us. He will do this, if we will simply yield ourselves to Him, listen to what He says, and obey.
When God works, He works “signs and wonders.” He does things we cannot do on our own. His ways are miraculous. He does what only He can do through the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ accomplishes great things through us. We get to participate!
May we live our lives fully surrendered to God. May we totally obey Him. May we depend on Him for everything we do. Living this way will be exciting. Because God will use us when we are entirely, completely, and totally devoted to Him! We will see Him do great things in us and through us as we participate with Him!
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NIV
We were not created to dwell in anxiety, fear, and depression!
Long ago, in the Garden of Eden, mankind was created to dwell connected to God. We were made to be His image bearers, reflecting all that He is to our world. When sin entered, that connection was broken and that image was shattered. However, Jesus came!
Jesus came to set us free from sin and to enable us to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes into our lives the moment we receive the New Life Jesus came to give us! The Holy Spirit empowers us to live according to our original design as “image bearers” of God.
Our God is a God of Peace. Our God is a God of joy. Our God is a God of hope! By the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives within us, we can be filled to overflowing with His peace, joy, and hope! Yet so many of us do not live our lives this way…
I know this from experience. For years, I lived as a Christian full of anxiety, fear, and depression… I tried in my own power, using man’s ways, to fix the way I felt. All of these attempts ended in failure. Until, I determined that I needed to truly surrender EVERY area of my life to God. I decided that I would pursue Him above all things, and live my life focused on Him!
How is this even possible? By the power of the Holy Spirit! By faith in God and His Word, i.e. trusting in Him!
I was living my life focused on me. I was very me-centered! God made us to live our lives focused on Him. Our thoughts are to be focused on Him and His Word. Our speech is to reflect that focus — speaking His truth and His life regarding ourselves, our circumstances, our families, etc. Our actions will fall into line as our focus is laser focused on God and His Word!
Here is the truth of what we all need… We need to live our lives with this motto: Less of me…More of Him! When we overflow with the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will experience what we were created to be all along: People who dwell with hope— a confident expectation of good; People who trust Him — believe that God said it, I believe it, that settles it; People who live with joy, — an emotion that is excited by the expectation of good; People who live with peace — freedom from disturbance or agitation.
Holy Spirit we ask You to fill us up til we overflow with You!
“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” Romans 15:4 NIV
God is good! Everything He does is good! Hope is the confident expectation of His goodness towards us. When we have hope we are expecting that God is at work in every situation in our lives to bring about the greatest good in our lives. Hope helps us to trust God, believe God, and look to God for everything we need.
On the other hand, life is hard. We live in a world that is corrupted by sin. Death, darkness, and destruction abound in our world. How do we endure in these circumstances? How do we remain encouraged to keep looking towards our HOPE of the goodness of God? The answer to this is the Scripture. God has given us His Word to teach us about Himself. What He teaches us in His Word teaches us to endure. His Word helps us to remain steadfast. It gives us stability in the storms of life. His Word encourages us. It makes us confident that God is who He says He is, and He will do what He says He will do. This is our Hope!
Do you find yourself living in despair? Are you shaken by the circumstances that surround you? God assures us that He has given us everything we need to live a godly life. His Scripture/ His Word is exactly what we need. A daily practice of engaging with His Word will enable us to live in hope. Reading His Word increases our understanding of just how good He is. The more we study it and read it for ourselves, the more we will experience Him. We can be encouraged and enabled to endure. The key is the Scripture that gives us Hope for our lives.
Father, I ask You to fill us with desire for Your Word so that we may live lives filled with Your Hope. Help us to see You better as we pick up Your Word and engage with it. We know that as we do, we will know You are good. We will have a confident expectation of Your goodness i.e. HOPE! I thank You for Your Word that enables us to live in Hope. In Jesus name I pray.
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Romans 13:8-10 NIV
Jesus loves! When I truly get my heart and my mind wrapped around that statement, I am changed. His love reached down into my mess and not only forgave my debt of sins, the areas I have missed the mark, but His love has cleansed me from them and put me in right standing with God. This is not anything I can do on my own. I could never repay Him for what He has done for me. So what is my response? I am indebted to love!
When you and I see how much we are loved by God, our only correct response is to love in return. This is a love for God and those He has placed around us.
When we love, we fulfill the law. Love doesn’t seek its own. Love wants to prosper and benefit others. It isn’t selfish. Love gives itself away for the good of others. “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
Loving as God does — completely, deeply, and selflessly — is not something we can do on our own. As believers, the Holy Spirit dwells in us and pours God’s love out into our hearts. “We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19 NIV
There are times that I struggled to love as Jesus loves, but I can stand on the promise of God. I can ask Him to fill me with His perfect love so that I am not bound up by the debt of sin once again.
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love…”
Your Love 