Jesus Marveled

Marvel -  to be wondered at, to be had in admiration

And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented." Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it." Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.” Matthew 8:5-10

I just love that Jesus marveled!  It is easy to read right pass that without pausing because we all marvel, but wait just a second... this is Jesus marveling, God in the flesh is saying…WOW!  Why did He marvel?  Because the centurion’s faith in Him was so great! Greater than anyone else in Israel!

Oh how I would love for Christ to look upon my heart and say,” WOW… you my child, have a faith that I hold in admiration.”  I can feel tears welling up in my eyes as I think about that.  Yes, I know that one day I will be completely sanctified in Christ and He who has begun a good work in me will have fully perfected my faith, but I am just thinking about today and asking Him to grow my faith because I just want Him to marvel again!

Jesus in Every Book of the Bible

I just had to share this with you.  Please excuse me as I type this with tears in my eyes.  How completely AWESOME is JESUS!!   About four years ago my husband was in a church planting meeting, where a group of men came together looking to start a church and people thought My husband was somewhat extreme about preaching Jesus.  Some of them said, "You can't preach Jesus from the old testament." Well my brothers this 11 year old just did!!

Mady Loves Her Bible

I just have to share this cute story about our little Madeleine.  A few days ago she started taking her little Bible with her everywhere like to bed, bath and beyond (lol).  And, “no” I wasn’t paid or perked for that name drop. (lol again)  Mady is only 20 months old so her bible isn't a King James Version or anything, it is a little book that  says” My first Bible” and it contains a few bible story’s.  While reading it to her I told her in a very dramatic voice that God said,” NO! NO!  Do not eat the apples from the tree" to Adam and Eve and when we get to Samson and Delilah I point at Delilah and say NO! NO! Don’t cut his hair!  (A funny side note here, when she looks at the picture of Samson knocking down the pillars, she says, “daddy!” I hope that doesn’t make me Delilah. YIKES!)  So this afternoon she was sitting on the potty browsing through her beloved bible, when all of the sudden I hear her yelling NO! NO! rather aggressively , so I headed right for the bathroom, quickly making my way down the hall, wondering what the fuss was all about.  What did I find?  Not a thing was wrong she was just yelling at Delilah, pointing her finger and everything.   She is so into this bible thing!  I love that she right away correlated, Mommy and Daddy have a bible and so do I, even though they look very different.   Our bibles are big, brown and leather and hers is very colorful and made of cardboard but somehow she still knows they are all bibles even though we never told her.

I guess I am excited because she is noticing that we seem to have our bibles with us a lot and she is trying to be like us.  She sees that we take them in the car, have them at church, use them in the morning and night and that daddy pretty much uses his all the time.  Even at this early age, she understands the Bible is important to us and I feel so blessed to be a good example, at least this one time, because most of the time I pray she doesn’t imitate the not so great things about me, which I fear she sees more than I like.  So now… my prayer is that she falls deeper in love with her bible everyday and of course I hope soon it will be big, brown and leather.

“Praise the Lord! How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments.  His descendants will be mighty on the earth!!...” Psalm 112:1-2a

Enjoy The Ride

It just completely boggles my mind how unpredictable life is! Isn’t it humorous how we still try to plan out everything even though it is completely obvious that we are not in control?  Total DENIAL!! While Kevin and I were out for a run this afternoon I starting thinking “I can’t believe I am running down this street toward that house.  I can’t believe we live here.  I never thought we would… ever!   I can’t even believe I’m even running.  I never thought I would… ever.  I can’t believe that somehow, someway, I am now a pastor’s wife.  I never even dreamed…ever.  I can’t believe I am a mother.  I never imagined….ever.”  I can’t even picture what tomorrow will be like because it is never what I plan or envision.  So while pondering all these things I remembered a verse “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.  Proverbs 19:21  Even though my life hasn’t turned out even close to what I planned I rejoice because I know His plans for me are so much better!    So I know I need to relax a little and enjoy the ride! [so to speak] 

Do you ever feel overwhelmed?  Of course you do… Right?  But what I want to talk about is that overwhelming feeling you experience when you know there is so much to be done and suddenly a loud voice begins to chant…,” You aren’t doing enough!”  I have this feeling a lot especially when it comes to ministry.  There is always a need.  I see so much ministry opportunity, so many things to do and so little time, I just want to help out in everything!  Can you relate?  Here are some examples…  You watch a movie about a missionary and then all you want to do is rush out of the country as fast as you can and save the world.  Or you see a documentary about adoption and now you have plans to adopt a whole orphanage.  Or perhaps someone you love is suffering and you are going to jump into action and save the day no matter what it takes!!  Ok, so these examples are somewhat extreme, but don’t we all go there at times?  Don’t get me wrong, I think all these feelings come out of a soft heart, and we should be open and ready for God to use us in any capacity He chooses, but sometimes we just have to take a step back and realize our limitations - God ordained limitations!  He gave us a physical body that needs nourishment and rest… and our bodies of course are aging and seem to slow down a bit every year.  He also gave 24 hours in a day and a chunk of those hours are to be spent with your head on a pillow!

  So what is my point?  Why am I blogging about this?  Well… with the New Year in full swing we are all busy and I think busyness should not be confused with Godliness.  (I am also writing this to myself, hoping that while I reread looking for spelling or punctuation errors, I may actually listen to my own lecture.)  I used to sprint around in circles thinking, "who am I? What should I be doing?  Where should I go?  How can I help?"  And if anyone told me I should do something I was  going to get it done!  After doing the precept upon precept study on spiritual gifts, I have begun to see things differently.  God has given me at least one gift maybe more and my focus should be to serve His church with what He gave me and stay focused and content.  I think allowing myself to feel overwhelmed and guilty, that I should be doing more, is often times a distraction so I lose my focus and don’t execute my gift. This gift is given to me from God Himself and backed with Holy Spirit power.  When I focus, trust God, and employ my gift, God moves and the devil loses ground!  I also have to remind myself what my current ministry is.  I will always have the same gift or gifts but my ministry may change from time to time.  So what is my ministry now?   What does God have for me today?   When Jesus was here on earth He didn’t set out to do everything but only the ministry God had for Him to do and He was completely satisfied and content in doing only that.  Check out John 17:4 “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.”   So I want to encourage us to stay focused on what God has for us today and trust Him because He can get work done without us!  I’m not talking to the video game addict or couch potato, who needs to stop wasting their life,  but I am trying to encourage those of us who will run our bodies mercilessly… you know who you are!  Saying no and trusting God is not at all unspiritual!

 Lastly, I  want to share this prayer I came across that Kay Arthur wrote…

“Father, help me only to listen to Your voice rather than pursuing self-imposed goals or giving into the demands of others.  Let me accomplish the work You have given me and then leave the rest in Your capable hands.”

Who AM I?

I usually have so many ideas swirling around in my head that I want so desperately to blog about but taking care of a very intense 20 month old little girl absorbs most of my time and energy so I just take it day by day.  Some days I come across something so powerful it just trumps all my other entry ideas and it immediately takes first place in my mental blog catalog!  This is one of those days. 

“My name is Pride.  I am a cheater.

I cheat you of your God-given destiny… because you demand your own way.

I cheat you of contentment … because you “deserve better than this.”

I cheat you of knowledge … because you already know it all.

I cheat you of healing … because you’re too full of me to forgive.

I cheat you of holiness … because you refuse to admit when you are wrong.

I cheat you of vision … because you’d rather look in the mirror than out the window.

I cheat you of genuine friendship … because nobody’s going to know the real you.

I cheat you of love … because real romance demands sacrifice.

I cheat you of greatness in heaven … because you refuse to wash another’s feet on earth.

I cheat you of God’s glory … because I convince you to seek your own.

My name is pride.  I am a cheater.  You like me because you think I’m always looking out for you. Untrue.  I’m looking to make a fool of you.  God has so much for you, I admit, but don’t worry … If you stick with me you’ll never know.” Written by Beth Moore

“A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.” Proverbs 29:23

p.s. A blog (a blend of the term web log) Just thought you might want to know because I didn’t J

A few days ago Kevin said,” Hey Mary let me read something to you.” 

            A note from Max…..

“Imagine that you are an ice skater in competition.  You are in first place with one more round to go.  If you perform well, the trophy is yours.  You are nervous, anxious, and frightened.  Then, only minutes before your performance, your trainer rushes to you with the thrilling news:  “You’ve already won!  The judges tabulated the scores, and the person in second place can’t catch you.  You are too far ahead.   Upon hearing the news, how will you feel?  Exhilarated!   And how will you skate? ... How about courageously and confidently?  You bet you will.  You will do your best because the prize is yours.  The point is clear: truth will triumph.  The Father of truth will win, and the followers of truth will be saved.”  Written by Max Lucado

           

How then shall we run our race dear Christian? … courageously, confidently, joyfully!!!  We are assured the prize if we are in Christ Jesus.   I just keep going back to this story and pondering… Am I living today like someone who is assured of heaven?  Hard to imagine isn’t it? That we can actually live in victory like that!   We can, but this is where we need help from the Holy Spirit to open our eyes.  That is why I love the prayer in Ephesians 1:18-19 ”I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.”  Oh Lord, give us Holy Spirit power to truly see our inheritance so that we can run this Christian race in total freedom and victory!   

p.s.  Happy 63rd Birthday Dad!!

He Lives!! (Part 2)

“But Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently.  Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:24-25

Christ lives to pray for us! 

Do you have a busy day today with a lot of tasks that must get done?  Jesus is praying for you

Are you a student, who maybe has a huge exam coming up?  Jesus is praying for you

Are you feeling alone, heavy hearted?  Jesus is praying for you

Do you have a difficult decision to make? Jesus is praying for you

Are you tired and worn out because parenting is hard? Jesus is praying for you

At least once today stop and think about how Christ is praying for you at that very moment and know that the Father hears and answers His prayers.  How marvelous to know that moment by moment we are never alone and left to our own strength and wisdom because Jesus is interceding for us!

He Lives

This is something that I read the other day and immediately underlined!!   Now of course… I keep going back and reading it over and over, so I wanted to share it with you…

“Many Christians do not sufficiently realize the work which Jesus Christ is doing for us at this very moment.  Many of us believe that He died for our sins.  We believe in His death, resurrection, but we forget that after His resurrection, He ascended into heaven and sat down on the right hand of the Father and began to live for us as truly as He died for us.”  Corrie Ten Boom

“We have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man”

“But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises”  Hebrews 8:1-2,6

In God We Trust?

Jeremiah 17

Thus says the LORD,

"Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind

And makes flesh his strength,

And whose heart turns away from the LORD.  

 "For he will be like a bush in the desert

And will not see when prosperity comes,

But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,

A land of salt without inhabitant. (Vs.5-6)

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD

And whose trust is the LORD.

"For he will be like a tree planted by the water,

That extends its roots by a stream

And will not fear when the heat comes;

But its leaves will be green,

And it will not be anxious in a year of drought

Nor cease to yield fruit. (Vs.7-8)

You know how I love to make my lists.  Here is a good one for you…

Cursed Man                                                                        Blessed Man

Trusts in mankind                                                  Trusts in the Lord

Makes flesh his strength                                      Is like a tree planted by water

Heart turns away from the Lord                        Will not fear when heat comes

Is like a bush in the desert                                   its leaves will always be green

Can’t even see when prosperity comes           Will not be anxious in drought

Will live in stony wastes in wilderness              never ceases to yield fruit

So here is the question of the day.  Who do you trust in?

Do You Need A Blanket?

Do you feel like you are in a difficult situation that is never going to change?  Are you going through something that is just too much to bear and sooooo big that you just can’t allow yourself to hope for victory?  Are you discouraged? Do you feel like giving up?

 Oh come on, you know what I mean!  We all have those days when we shout, “I’m just going to stop praying about this because it doesn’t help and nothing is ever going to change!”  Maybe you have been in a trial for years now and there seems to be no end in sight and you just don’t think you can bear it another day!

 Sometimes when I am discouraged like this the last thing I want to do is pick up my bible and start searching endlessly for that one special passage to make the dark cloud lift.  It almost seems safer to cozy up to the discouragement and try to make it my home.  Well recently while I was cozying up to some less than comfortable discouragement, I was doing a study in the Word preparing to help someone else, and zap I was jolted with the most awesome verse which has not allowed me to stay discouraged for any length of time since.  Of course it was no coincidence that it was the memory verse for the week!   So I eagerly committed this one to memory and I fervently beg you do the same.  Oh and please… Pray it too!

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”  Jeremiah 32:37

NOTHING is too hard for Him, NOTHING is too big and NO ONE is out of His reach. 

So there you go… that my friends is one warm cozy blanket! Snuggle up!! 

Human Hearts Are Amazingly Alike

Throughout Corrie Ten Boom’s travels she talked with people in America, England, Switzerland, Germany, Holland and many more places and one thing she always said was,” human hearts are amazingly alike.”   To that I give a hardy AMEN!  In my few years of ministry I have seen the exact same thing.  We all need Jesus, all of the time!

So this year I implore us to walk closely with the Lord and spend some intentional time in the Word of God daily.  I was reading Kay Arthur last night and she laid out what happens to us as we try to live a life separate from God’s Word.  I actually thought it was one of the best expositions I have heard on the subject of faithful bible reading.  So here it is for you…

“I believe that it is absolutely crucial that you and I slow our pace and discipline our time in order to be in the Word of God on a daily basis.  Why? Because when we’re not in the Word- reading it through consistently- we forget who our God is and what He expects and requires.  We have a tendency to rationalize our humanity and forget His holiness. 

We lose our perspective of eternity and become ensnared in the temporal.  We lose the burning, overriding passion fueled by truth that brings our flesh into subjection.   We lose the heart-desire to be holy, to please God, to be perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect.  We lose the driving inner hunger for righteousness, which comes in those quiet moments of meditation as we sit at the feet of the Most High God in prayer and adoration.”   

Have you seen that progression in your life?   I told Kevin last night that one way I know I haven’t spent enough time with My Lord is that my mind shifts from thinking of eternity to thinking of the temporal.  This may sound strange to you but I think about Heaven often and each day I feel it is closer and more real, but when I move away from the Word, I find that all of the sudden, Heaven doesn’t seem like such a reality anymore. 

I know the emphasis here is placed on what we lose if we don’t remain in the God’s Word, but check this out… Just spin the list the other way…

If I slow my pace and discipline my time and spend time in the Word daily:

I will know God and what He expects and requires

I will see God’s holiness

I will not rationalize my humanity

I will have a heart-desire to be holy

I will have an eternal perspective

I will not be ensnared by temporal things

I will have a burning passion fueled by the truth and my flesh will be in subjection to the Spirit

I will desire to be holy and please God

I will hunger for righteousness

How amazing is that! That is definitely what I want this year!  How about you?

“My son, give attention to my words… Keep them in the midst of your heart.  For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their body”  Proverbs 4:20-22