Busyness… This chapter gives accounts of the disciples going out proclaiming the Kingdom of God and healing the sick in all the towns and places Jesus was about to go. AND the account of Jesus spending time at Mary and Martha’s house. Martha was so busy cleaning and cooking as Mary sat at Jesus feet listening to Him.
In all the effort and work that went on in this chapter, two things were pointed out to be the MOST important:
1. Your names are written and Heaven.
2. Sitting at Jesus feet listening to what He says.
Those two things are still the most important for us.
To have our names written in Heaven is to belong to Jesus, to have our names written in the book of life. (Revelations 20:15).
To know Jesus is to be near to Him and listen to what He says — have an intimate relationship with Him. It is knowing Him, His word, and spending time in prayer.
We can accomplish much in this life that will only burn up and be gone. May we choose what will be eternal — Jesus Himself.
Crowds were following Jesus everywhere. They wanted to experience His healing touch and to hear His words.
When Jesus and His disciples were in private, Jesus asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” The disciples said, “John, Elijah, the prophets of long ago come back to life.” Jesus asked “But what about you?”
What we think about who Jesus is, is important. If He is “God’s Messiah,” the King of Kings, then He deserves the place of King within our hearts. As Lord and King, Jesus tells us how we are to follow Him.
”Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”
Luke 9:23-24 NIV
We must abandon our ways, take up Jesus’s way and follow Him! Jesus’s way is the cross. The cross requires total surrender of ourself (death of our independent ways) so Jesus can live in us.
The crowds, who followed Jesus, could only experience Him from a distance. It was the ones who were His disciples that got to experience His intimacy and friendship.
This is true of us today. We can know about Jesus from a distance, or we can know Him intimately. But we must come to Him on His terms— the cross. His disciples will take up their cross and follow Him.
“(All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)“
Luke 7:29-30 NIV
God has a purpose, an intention, a design with an end in mind. How sad it is to miss that purpose!
The religious leaders, who rejected Jesus, rejected God’s purpose for themselves. They were wrapped up in their personal power and prestige. Instead of repenting, or turning from their prideful, selfish ways, they fought against the purpose God had for them. The rejected God…
However those who were the outcast and the sinners, were the ones who turned from their own ways. They “acknowledged that God’s way was right.”
We have the same choice in our lives today. God has set before us the choice to come to repent from following our own sinful ways, “acknowledge God’s way is right,” and to follow Him or to continue living however we want to live after ourselves, not God…
We were created to know God and to make Him known. That is our purpose. May His purpose be our highest aim!
Years ago the President of the United States spoke at a venue 30 minutes drive from my home. The preparations for his arrival were extensive. Security, the press, state officials were all in action. Publicity of his arrival was everywhere. If you wanted to see him you had to prepare for him to come.
Someone greater than the President has arrived, Jesus the Son of God. In our chapter today, John announced Jesus’s coming. Curiosity consumed the common people.
John preached a baptism of repentance from sin to prepare the peoples’ hearts for Jesus to appear. People despised by the religious elite wanted to know how to be prepared for “God’s salvation.”
“Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?””
Luke 3:12 NIV
We know the story goes on. Jesus did indeed come. He became our Emmanuel, God with us. How do we respond to our invitation to come to Him? Have we “Prepared the way for the Lord” in our hearts?
The tax collectors, the most despised of sinners by the Jewish religious elite came because they wanted more than the wealth they had amassed and approval of the occupying army, the Romans. They asked a question that rings in my heart today. “Teacher, what should we do?”
As we take a few moments each day to prepare our hearts to celebrate the arrival of Jesus to our world during the first Christmas, may we ask the same question. He will not turn away the most despised and desperate one who is trapped by sin. He will not turn us away. What should we do in response to the one who longs to baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire and bring us into a relationship of oneness with Him?
May we ask Jesus the same question the tax collectors asked John all those years ago. “Teacher what should we do?”
“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.”Psalms 40:1-3 NIV
I often find myself very aware of my ability to jump into a pit feet first, with no regard for the repercussions. I am keenly aware of all the times I’ve made poor decisions, bad choices, and willingly disregarded the truth of scripture in order to go my own way. The truth be known, I have been really good at ending up in a pit of sin. I have also been the queen of beating myself up for those bad choices for the rest of my life… Regret, guilt, and shame have known me well…
Recently I have been contemplating a series of poor choices I made during my early adult years. Today, I heard the Lord tell me, “Janet, you’re really good at concentrating on your power to get into a pit, and ignoring My power that has pulled you out!” How true that is!
This morning I am sitting on my East facing upper deck awaiting the sunrise. It hit me, I live in more blessings than my young adult mind could have ever conceived. Yes, I have lived many years dwelling in the pit of fear, anxiety, and torment. But today I am free! I don’t have to go back and revisit the pits I’ve willingly jumped into. I don’t need to try to figure out how I fell in, how deep the different pits were, and what all the long standing effects of dwelling there are. I simply need to sing the “new song of praise” He has put in my mouth.
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 NIV
It is enough to rejoice in the freedom I now live in and leave all the chains behind! I’m free!
Early morning before the sun is officially up is a beautiful time. As I sit on my east facing deck this morning, I am struck by how God thought of EVERYTHING to point to the greatness of His love.
The crickets are still in chorus right before the dawn. The neighbor’s roosters have joined in. An owl is singing his nightly song in the distance as well. God made all these sounds as a comfort and a joy. I can miss them if I don’t take the time to simply sit and enjoy.
What a lesson! I’ve got what seems to be a million plus one things to do today, but God wants me to sit and listen to His chorus of love He has written for me.
That’s how it is with our God. So often we run around disconnected and thinking about “our” lives. When He deeply desires for us to share His life that satisfies our deepest longings.
He made me for this, to sit with Him, to listen, to tell Him about all the things on my heart. He made me to experience Him.
Not only does His creation call out for me to think upon Him, He has given me His Word. May I cherish every word and sentence of His love letter to me!
He loves! God loves us deeply and we can miss it all together if we refuse to stop being all about ourselves and turn our eyes to Him. He has so much to give that He offers to us! The question is will we come to Him, offer our hearts to Him, and receive?
John 3:16 “For God so loved the World (you and me) that He gave…”
Early morning before the sun is officially up is a beautiful time. As I sit on my east facing deck this morning, I am struck by how God thought of EVERYTHING to point to the greatness of His love.
The crickets are still in chorus right before the dawn. The neighbor’s roosters have joined in. An owl is singing his nightly song in the distance as well. God made all these sounds as a comfort and a joy. I can miss them if I don’t take the time to simply sit and enjoy.
What a lesson! I’ve got what seems to be a million plus one things to do today, but God wants me to sit and listen to His chorus of love He has written for me.
That’s how it is with our God. So often we run around disconnected and thinking about “our” lives. When He deeply desires for us to share His life that satisfies our deepest longings.
He made me for this, to sit with Him, to listen, to tell Him about all the things on my heart. He made me to experience Him.
Not only does His creation call out for me to think upon Him, He has given me His Word. May I cherish every word and sentence of His love letter to me!
He loves! God loves us deeply and we can miss it all together if we refuse to stop being all about ourselves and turn our eyes to Him. He has so much to give that He offers to us! The question is will we come to Him, offer our hearts to Him, and receive?
John 3:16 “For God so loved the World (you and me) that He gave…”
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 NIV
I have been thinking a lot about the devil’s tactics to steal, kill, and destroy. It’s probably because I am teaching a Bible class about that very thing. The verse above has been on my heart and in my mind. Last night, I actually had a dream with regards to it.
In my dream there was an African lion, with a large mane. It was prowling about the parameter of my house. It was waiting for someone or something to wander from the safety of my home. The lion could not penetrate that safety. It waited, watching me and everyone who lived with me and our every move. Then Snowy, my Great Pyrenees went outside of the safe zone of my house. The lion attacked and she was torn to shreds. I was so heartbroken.
I retell this dream because this really is how our enemy, Satan, works. As we abide in the safe zone of God’s dwelling, which is Himself, we have nothing to fear.
“God is our refuge and strength…” Psalms 46:1 NIV
He is our only defense against Satan and his destruction.
The problems come when we wander from His safety. It is when we decide we don’t really want to dwell up close to God, which requires: total submission, total obedience, and total dependence on Him. We would rather have things our way. So we try to keep one foot inside of His protective zone and one foot outside of it. This is living like we did before we came to know Him. It is there the enemy prowls. He knows when we are vulnerable, and then he attacks, shredding us to pieces. His destruction in our lives has ripple effects reaching to our spouses, kids, family, friends, and beyond.
There is one other zone I would be remiss to not mention. It is where those who have not even come close to God at all dwell outside of safety. If you are there, you are in grave danger. You may not believe in the lion who prowls, but he believes in you and there is nothing he would like better than to destroy you! In fact, if you are honest, he has already begun to destroy your life.
So why all this talk about lions and dreams this morning? There is only one safe place. It is close to Jesus dwelling in Him. It is relationship with Him. As we abide in Him, we will hear the lion roar from a distance, but we are in the safe zone having nothing to fear.
Where do you live your life? Are you wandering far from the safety of Jesus? Are you exploring the edges of your safe zone by playing around with sin? Or are you snuggled up close to Jesus, as close as you can get? Are you daily desiring to be even closer obeying, submitting, and depending on him? That is the only safe place to be.
Momma friends- keep the main thing the main thing! Jesus first!
Remember your little ones are like a flower bed. You need to sow good seed into them and tend their little hearts as they grow. If you do, you will see good fruit. You cannot give them what you don’t already have. If you want your babies to know God you have to live that in front of them. You may have a great heritage passed down from your Parents or Grandma and Grandpa. But if we do not take that heritage of knowing God and make it our own it will mean nothing in our lives. Relationship with God is not something you inherit from someone. It is something you have on your own personally.
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 NIV
This is what I wrote on Facebook 9 years ago, the day of my youngest sons baptism:
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” 1 Peter 1:4
While holding my oldest son as an infant, I can remember as a young mother looking at the baby God had blessed me with, and praying with all urgency that God would mark his heart, that at a young age God would speak to him, and that he would serve God with all his heart for all his days. I have prayed this same prayer over each of my children at different times. I have walked into their rooms at night just to watch them sleeping and found myself kneeling besides their bed asking God to keep their hearts close to Him. That God would speak to them, and draw them to Himself and place a call on their lives. A prayer that at the time seemed kind of scary because God could call them all into missions and send them continents away from me, but whatever He wants for them is what I want for them. God has given me the privilege of praying with each of my kids to ask Jesus into their hearts, each of them at very young ages: 5 years, 4 years, 5 years, 4 years. At times I thought they seem so young, God if they don’t understand please continue to work in them and draw them close to you. Today marks a special event in the life of my youngest son. With a sense of urgency he has been asking over and over to be baptized. He told me the other night he heard the Holy Spirit tell him he needed to be baptized again. Years ago we allowed him to be baptized at the age of 5 because he asked and asked to be baptized then. When pondering if this was a good idea to let him be baptized so young, I continually heard the verse of Jesus saying, “Let the little children come to me.” over and over in my head. My husband and I decided to let him knowing that at an older age he may want to be baptized again. I am humbled on how faithful God has been to fulfill my deepest desire as a mom, that my children would have a real relationship with Jesus, not just one that is based on the relationship my husband and I have with God, one of their own. Wednesday night I made it late to church. My youngest had a flag football game. As soon as it was over, he looked at me and said, “Let’s go! How much of church do you think we missed?” He loves playing football, but he loves going to church more. He wasn’t too thrilled that the games were on Wednesday night, but it is what it is. As I walked into the room where the youth group was being held, my youngest daughter was thoroughly involved in worship, eyes closed, hands raised. My older daughter was singing and playing the piano in worship to God. Then my oldest son, 19 years old, paused his singing, and with an urgency about him talked about how worship was a special time that God had created us for. How God wants more of us. It struck me how he no longer talked like a kid, but as a man, a man of God. I thought about those times besides his bedside praying for God to mark his heart. I thought about my daughters and the conversations we have had lately about God and living for him. I thought about my baby boy, even though he is 10 years old, joking with me this week that he is going to be president some day, if not that then a preacher, maybe both. This morning my heart is full. God has allowed me to have the privilege to sow seeds into the hearts of my kids, and I am getting to see just a little of the fruit from it. There is nothing greater than seeing your kids walking in the truth no matter where God may lead them. They are His. May His gifting and calling on each of their lives be fulfilled. I am one blessed momma.
“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”Deuteronomy 30:19-20 NIV
This morning I am made keenly aware of the truth within these words. I have contemplated how often I have seen situations where the fruit of these choices are being displayed in my life and the lives of others. There is a blessing of life when we choose God’s Life. God offers us His spiritual prosperity, blessings, and enjoyment of Himself when we choose Him as our life. These blessings are poured out not only upon ourselves but on our children and their children and so on. BUT we must choose to pursue Life in a relationship with Him!
We have another choice which is death and curses. It is living our lives separated from the author and creator of life, God. This life is lived as we focus on ourselves- our wants, our desires, our ways- instead of God’s. It is a life with no relationship with God, apart from Him. When we choose that life, apart from Him, we live far from peace, joy, and love. We are in turmoil. Our emotions reflect that— anxiety, anger, bitterness, worry, etc. Our relationships with our family, coworkers, children, and spouses reflect that turmoil. When we choose our way instead of life we choose turmoil, and that turmoil will consume us and pour out on everyone we are around.
The question we need to ask ourselves is: What have I chosen for my life? God’s Life in relationship with Him or the death of choosing to not follow Him 💯, separated from Him?
