O, Martha, Martha, where is your Mary heart? O, Martha, Martha, would you seek to have a Mary heart? My husband has whispered to me at different times in different seasons.
I reflect on years gone by and all the many Christmases through the years. And quickly my mind is brought to the thought that it’s all going to be an avalanche of emotion for any number of us… all the Christmas wouldda, couldda, shouldda’s will bury us in anxiousness, disappointment, frustration, regret and, if we’re not careful, resentment — unless we determine to be rested in the fact that only one thing is needed. Simple acknowledgement will not prevent the fretting and fussing. Even a decision to keep things simple (famous last words) will not prevent the longing to make things special at. any. expense. All the previous year’s decisions to not get caught up in the frenzy of shopping, decorating — all the getting and doing — will be forgotten unless we intentionally, gracefully carry ourselves through this Christmas season.
But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Luke 10.40-42
I hope you’ll take time to listen to the following video clips — a three part series, foundational to both marriage and Christianity… about a God who is passionate and full of life. And the Bible: the greatest love story ever written… God created marriage and He is passionate… Unless we have this life and this passion, we’re not an accurate reflection of our God who created these emotions and marriage and romance and love.
Sometimes we see Jesus as a great Saviour, but do we see Him as a great role model? Regarding your marriage… Francis Chan says, “…It’s not, ‘Are you happy?’ ” “When people watch you interact with your spouse, do they see Jesus Christ in you?”
Whoever claims to life in Him, must walk and live as Jesus did. Do we follow in His steps?
Watch Francis Chan and his wife, Lisa, as they minister in this three part series: Christ Centered Relationships
Hey… how’s your day going? Anybody ask you that yet today? What’s going on in the theater of your mind today? I hope you’ll be encouraged on many levels today.
I can’t pinpoint the thing that drew me to remembering this today — to humming this song (The “Sunscreen” song… a piece attributed to Baz Luhrman that he used by permission, originally written by Mary Schmich). If it’s too loud, turn down your speakers… the intent here is not to blare some rappy tune but I hope a few of these life-experience tidbits of advice might be of some encouragement to you. The thought that things aren’t always as they seem keeps running through my mind today.
Truly, the longer I live, the more I see blatantly, that things aren’t always as _____ as they seem. You know, the bleak, sad, hard, difficult, long, terrible, fat, earth-shattering… whatever things. It’s hard to remember this sometimes, though, isn’t it?!? It’s not until we look at the big picture or the bigger picture that we gain a bit of perspective. And, ultimately, it’s not until we look at God’s picture — His design — His character — His purposes — His promises — that we gain proper perspective. Regardless our circumstances. It only takes a moment of looking back, looking around or looking in the Word to see that our thoughts or perspectives or circumstances are not the only thing going on, not the worst thing happening — or, not the most important thing occurring. Everybody’s got stuff going on — everyone’s facing challenges or a lot of whatever. Everyone’s got questions, a bombardment of opinions, decisions, thoughts. Everyone’s dealing with something. And, to be sure, it’s not in a song, a philosophy, a regimen or in whatever or wherever else we might try to find peace and truth. It really is in the Person of Jesus Christ and in His life and the marvelous Truth of His Word we find all we need for life. But, in life, when we most need to seek answers, when we most need help we often least ask for, see or accept it.
It is always there…
2Timothy 3.16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:.
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I’ve been working through a workbook to a book I read a number of years ago — Nancy Leigh DeMoss’s Lies Women Believe and now, the corresponding workbook. I’ll be writing more on this. So, I’ve been rereading some things I read years ago and marveled that I’m still dealing with several of the same struggles. Interestingly, it’s part of what’s gotten me to work on habits, thought patterns and more. I’d been wanting to work through/eliminate the struggles, but it’s always too daunting to revisit painful areas of life or, realizing how little progress I’ve made and the why’s behind the what’s happening now in some of my thoughts and reactions to things makes resolutions difficult. But one thing I’m continually reminded of is the great fact that when things aren’t going right or my thoughts and reactions aren’t right, they can usually be traced back to a lie I’ve believed or something I’ve not recognized as a lie — but a lie nonetheless: something contrary to what God says. Thus, when struggles come, there’s a decision that must be made at that juncture: Am I going to fall into the lie? Am I going to entertain the lie (about myself or about my situation or about someone else)? Or, am I going to ask: What does God say about this — what has God done about this — What is true here? Again, troubles and temptations we face can usually be traced back to a lie we’ve believed. And our next actions need to be based on Truth — or we’ll repeat the same sin spiral.
I viewed some of Nancy’s clips and then came across this one withJennifer Rothschild and thought it might be helpful to someone today — now, some of this breaks down and there could be some argument as to some aspects of the points, so I encourage grace here so that the Truths can be understood and some freedom realized. I took notes and posted them below the clip for you:
Here’s a mini recap: Lie #1: Who I am and what I struggle with is the same thing.
I am my weakness. My struggle identifies me – my weakness defines me. Your struggle is not what defines you, it’s what God can use to refine you. We are not the culmination of what we’ve failed at… who we are is a reflection of God’s strength in our weakness. Who you are is not what you struggle with. Who you are is who God says you are.
Lie #2: Who I am and What I do is the same thing. You are not a human doing – you are a human being. Our identity is not what we do, it’s who He says we are. It’s a lie to base our identity upon what we do — we must base our identity on what God says; His Word never changes.
Lie #3: Who I am is not good enough.
When we live with a Performance driven mentality, rather than a Provision driven mentality, we’ll inevitably feel like what we do is not good enough, because we don’t always perform perfectly and we make the mistake of associating our performance with what makes us acceptable. And that’s not true. But when we live with a Provision driven mentality, we recognize that what God has performed on our behalf or what He’s provided is always acceptable.
So, here’s Jennifer’s advice, are you believing lies? check out your behaviour…. it reveals what you believe. Look in the New Testament — seek all the I AM statements about Jesus. See who He is. Make the connection: How does His life, His identity impact your life, impact your identity and how does that impact your belief system and therefore, your behaviour.
It’s sure hard to change habits, isn’t it?!?! Habits are so engrained in us that sometimes probably often times we think we’re never ever going to change — our flesh is selfish!! We often think maybe we just need more will power or more self control. Have you thought this, too? I sure have… I’ve thought that after all this time, I sure ought to be____________, or I sure ought to have done__________; but I’m not and/or I haven’t. I know I have desire, I have ability, I have resources… and then I think on “will-power” – you know, the depletable resource we try to keep going, trying to refuel until we realize we’ve run out of fuel? This may happen over an hour, a day or a week or longer. The thing that’s so hard is that shear “will-power” is short lived – it’s so easily depleted. It often seems that will-power is vapor… but for sure, it’s depletable.
de·plete/diˈplēt/
Use up the supply of; exhaust the abundance of.
Diminish in number or quantity.
Synonyms: exhaust – drain – empty – use up – evacuate
I’ve come to see that it’s actually a very good thing that “will-power” is short lived and so easily depleted. I sure see that it’s why I so often see my need of the Lord so significantly — if I could do all this stuff on my own, I would think I didn’t need Him. And because I’ve seen I cannot do all this stuff on my own: I *do* need Him. I shake my head wondering why I continually live like I don’t need Him… Like, I’ve got this, Lord, I’ll call on You if things get tough. Fact is, I don’t always call on Him *when* things get tough. And it’s never, ever a question of whether things will get tough or not — for, sure things will get tough.
So… I’m reading different things about repatterning behaviour – or, as one author says, overwriting a bad habit with new behaviour. The premise is that bad habits cannot be eliminated entirely but that they can be overwritten. By overwriting a bad habit, that bad habit is turned into a good pattern or a good routine. As an example, when a bad habit has overtaken a life, it isn’t generally something that will be easily changed/eliminated — so if there’s a desire to change that bad habit, it’s necessary to line up solutions or new patterns along with some sort of reward for sticking to the new pattern.
I’ve found it so hard to lose weight… or, actually, to lose weight and keep it off. It’s not a matter of will power when I’ve been able to accomplish the goal of weightloss, it’s a matter of fueling that depletable resource or setting up solutions for pitfalls. Continuing on with the consideration of weightloss as an example, I remove the trappings or pitfalls and I fill those spaces with healthful alternatives and activities. For example, I might have cut vegetables on the counter for snacking, cold fresh fruit in the fridge, cold lemon water in a pitcher. I have found that if I let myself compromise, the next compromises will come sooner and heavier than each before. A little phrase I’ve brought to mind over and over: Make no provision for the flesh… make right provision for the flesh. I take away or don’t go where my fleshly desires tend to wander and because I know where my flesh tends to wander, I make provision for such times.
This principle works on so many levels. From ways I’m spending my time, to computer use, to thought patterns, to responses, to scheduling… I need to continue repatterning… repatterning… repatterning. I need to do this over and over and over again until I overwrite bad habits (or when beginning new ones). Amazingly this repetition sincerely does become habit — part of the fabric of my life. As an aside, to be very candid, I feel so weary when I’ve recognized that I’ve wandered from the path that had become such a good pattern. When I fall… and fall back into that bad habit, thought pattern, etc., etc., I’ve learned that I must continually resort to the Lord, to the patterns He set before me. I recognize sooner, repent sooner and more quickly request and renew my strength in Him.
The most important thing for me to remember is that I must patiently hope in the Lord and not be discouraged when I don’t see overnight change in my life. I must see that day by day, in faith, He is changing me.
It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3.26 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Romans 8.25
For the month of October (and surely, I pray, beyond) I’m determined to love every day. Now, that could read: I’m determined to love every day or I’m determined to love every day. I’m conscious of this double meaning or double intent and, therefore, have decided to aim to graciously pass through/live in/focus on living each day of this month on purpose. I had come across an article, then a book and then a radio program (surely not be accident — and by the third time I could see this) keying in on the phrase: Love is a choice. For surely, it is true, love — or the response of love/to love is a choice! We can let come what may, speak before we think, judge a matter before we consider it, respond without thinking. Any or all of those reactions happen every day to us – in us – through us. But the decision to love — the decision to react in love – the decision to embrace the day/season/month — just might prove to be more challenging with the sun’s rising and setting each day.
One of the several things I’m doing/planning to do during this month is to pray each morning for specific needs that actually require more love than any other tangible thing. Another way I am planning on utilizing is to see or to watch for what the Lord has for each day by going to the Scriptures to search in the tenth chapter of a book (books of the Bible in no particular order) and the corresponding verse of the day. So, today for example, I took a look at Hebrews 10.2. I’ll choose the third verse in a different book tomorrow… the fourth verse in a different book the next day and so on. October being the tenth month and using the calendar number for each day of the month gives me a great framework.
Getting back to basics… doing the things we used to do… making soup! bread! soap! and other good things… lighting candles, singing together as a family, working on projects. There truly are so many good things to do there’s no reason to mourn the passing of summer and all that means and fret at the entrance of the next season and all its marvelous possibilities.
There’s a reason for this decision and resulting exercises… and if you have difficulty with changing seasons, low light, cold temps, family changes, etc., etc., you already have an idea what I’m talking about and can easily see why it’s so imperative, so necessary to embrace the day, to take every thought captive, to be renewed daily in the spirit of your mind and to give no place to the devil. I can look back and sincerely say: an idle mind is surely his workshop and a failure to plan is a sure plan to fail.
May the Lord bless you every day of October… and beyond.
ed, note… this letter was saved in drafts and now today’s the 16th [I so needed this today] :
And He took them up in His arms, put His hands upon them and blessed them. –Mark 10.16
You know that… you know it’s a new day and whether you’ve faced it with dread or with joy, the truth is that today’s a new day. Dear sister, dear friend, dear mama… today’s a new day and if you’re in the valley today, it’s been my prayer as I’ve prepared to write this note, that *you* will rest in the Lord today.
No matter how the devil hounds us, especially in the valleys, we must determine today to quit looking for a way out of the valley or a way we could have, should have, would have done something different… we must determine to stop thinking we can change our yesterdays.
I sit by the window and see the beauty of the day and determine to seek only that which is good. Today.
You have today. That’s all you’ve got: today. Maybe it’s someone you love, someone you ache over that has you in a valley today. Maybe your life’s filled with regrets over what you couldda, shouldda, wouldda done. You can’t see it today, maybe, but you will have joy through this storm. If you’ve got a prodigal today, do something today… pray, call, pray, seek to communicate, pray, quit doing the stupid in your life and live the rest of your days — by the grace of God — according to all that He has commanded you.
If you’ve botched friendships, schedules, plans, relationships — whatever — you cannot do a thing about the yesterdays — in terms of thinking they could be or could have been different — but, by God’s grace and His work in and through you — there can be a change in you today. Sure, things could have been different, but they weren’t. So… today. You have today.
May the Lord bless it and give you peace.
Two years ago today our dear son Timothy woke from a coma… I could not have known that day how many “new days” I would experience, how many disappointments I would face, how many misunderstandings, regrets, stupid things, problems, joys and sorrows, delights and losses I would face. But, one thing I have held in my heart and in the forefront of my thoughts is that God is only good all the time and whatever happens, it’s not in the troublefree, carefree, effortless times we grow… it’s in the valleys we grow. It’s in the valleys we learn to walk hand in Hand with the Saviour. It’s in the valleys we cement our faith in Him. It’s in the valleys that trust is imprinted on our hearts. It’s in the valleys we grow in grace.
I’ve entitled today’s post: Be ♥ Ready because I think we often forget that that’s a calling we have — as believers, as mothers, as family to: be ready! The Lord has given us different mandates to be ready… to make ourselves ready.
Readiness will bring gladness and rejoicing! “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” –Revelation 19.7 And though, we may not know when that day will come, we do know that it will come. We are commanded: “Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.” –Luke 12.40
We have opportunity, while it is called today, to seek the Lord, to know Him and make Him known. We have opportunity to study, to learn, to yield, to obey, to repent and do what He’s designed and called us to do. And as we “work out our salvation” we will be growing in grace from glory to glory.
Do you have hope? Do you have joy? Do you have a ready answer?
Maybe you’ve thought long about this and do have hope and joy and a ready answer — praise the Lord if you do. But maybe you’re not sure of the hope in you… maybe you’ve not entertained this question literally or in your mind. Today would be a good day to sit down and write out the hope that’s in you. Maybe your walk with the Lord is young… maybe you’ve not experienced questions of others or haven’t ever articulated your faith. I’d say it’s very important to collect your thoughts, to write out your testimony, to make sure your faith, as it were.
In 1Peter 3.15 we read: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”
Many think it’s hard to witness or articulate to others who Jesus is or what Jesus has done… but it’s really very simple… it’s as simple as giving an account of where you were and where you are today and where you’ll spend eternity. If we run out of things to share, the simplest thing to remember is to tell about Jesus. Learn to love to tell the story of what Jesus has done for you, His love and His atoning sacrifice. Some accounts are as simple as: whereas I was born blind, now I see.
A plane had engine trouble and crashed near our home over the weekend and while the pilot did sustain some injuries, they did not prevent him from communicating as he was being pulled from the wreckage.
He was so lucky, many were saying as they surveyed the damage. Many asked if we feared having our home in such a location and on and on the questions and statements flowed. At the time, and surely at the end of the day, all I could continually consider was the matter of being ready… ready to do whatever the Lord calls us to do and ready to meet Him face to Face. Surely, early that morning, that pilot did not think: Hmmm, today I’m going to have a brush with death. And we certainly didn’t think, Hmmmm, this morning, we’re going to watch a plane go down.
But every day, things come up, things happen that should be reminders to us to be ready… to be ready to enter our eternal home, be ready to serve another, be ready to give a witness of what the Lord has done for us. For even a portion of what the Lord has done for us could not be told.
Hebrews 9.27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
Be ready… be ready to run, be ready to answer, be ready to give, be ready to serve… be ready to proclaim. You never know what a day may bring… and were you to know that today would be your last, would you be ready to meet the Lord?
If, in addition to my Bible, I could keep only one of my devotional books, I think A Diary of Private Prayer (John Baillie) would likely be the one I would keep. Through the years, this little volume has blessed me immensely, encouraged me tremendously, and has carried my thoughts to the Lord continually as each of the thirty-one morning and evening readings have seemed to me to be inspired each time by the Lord and has been used of Him to remind me of commitments dear to me. As life seems to move more swiftly than ever before and as changes in my family and in my own personal life seem to be increasing exponentially, I find that this little timeless book becomes more of a treasure as the years go by. I have an original old printed copy, but reprints are available at Amazon and elsewhere.
Here’s an example for you… may you be blessed.
First Day Morning
Eternal Father of my soul, let my first thought today be of Thee,
let my first impulse be to worship Thee, let my first speech be Thy name, let my first action be to kneel before Thee in prayer.
For Thy perfect wisdom and perfect goodness: For the love wherewith Thou lovest mankind: For the love wherewith Thou lovest me: For the great and mysterious opportunity of my life: For the indwelling of Thy Spirit in my heart: For the sevenfold gifts of Thy Spirit:
I praise and worshipThee, O Lord
Yet let me not, when this morning prayer is said, think my worship ended and spend the day in forgetfulness of Thee. Rather from these moments of quietness let light go forth, and joy, and power, that will remain with me through all the hours of the day;
Keeping me chaste in thought: Keeping me temperate and truthful in speech: Keeping me faithful and diligent in my work: Keeping me honourable and generous in my dealings with others: Keeping me loyal to every hallowed memory of the past: Keeping me mindful of my eternal destiny as a child of Thine.
O God, who has been the Refuge of my fathers through many generations, be my Refuge today in every time and circumstance of need. Be my guide though all that is dark and doubtful. Be my guard against all that threatens my spirit’s welfare. Be my strength in time of testing. Gladden my heart with Thy peace; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
I mull over this phrase from time to time as I consider the many opportunities I’ve had, the many opportunities I’ve botched and the many opportunities I’ve either missed or passed up through the years. The missed and passed up opportunities have probably hounded me as much or more than the opportunities I’ve botched. Usually, but not always, I’ve had or take a second opportunity to repair or at least attempt to make up for that botched opportunity and usually (but not always) things have turned out okay. But still, it’s those occasions I missed or passed up — those opportunities are the ones I most regret. It’s probably bcz I’ll never know what could have come out of what should have been. But then… even as I share this I know this flies in the face of my strongly held belief that God is, indeed, sovereign. It is in these times I could be labeled a Calarminian. :-S I know God is sovereign and what will be will be — it’s just that I can’t ever seem to be fully reconciled to that fact in the face of missed or rejected passed up opportunities.
For example: I may botch up talking with someone about the Lord — I may get all intense or neglect to be succinct or whatever and come away feeling like I really messed up that opportunity to share the gospel, to draw someone into conversation and prayerfully into the kingdom. But then I must consider that faith is of the Lord, and that person’s redemption is of the Lord — though He does use cracked pots to pour out His message of salvation and redemption.
My missed opportunities or passed up opportunities have been those times, though I may not have recognized it at the time, when I clearly had the grace of God to do this or that thing and I frittered away the time or I didn’t make a call or I made the wrong call or I thought my way of handling a situation would suffice or whatever… and an opportunity to do good, to help, to encourage, to correct, to confess an offense or whatever was missed or lost.
I can’t go back and recreate those opportunities — but I can seek to correct losses and offenses and as I do so, I must leave the results to the Lord and then I can use those missed or passed up opportunities to prompt me the next time such an opportunity arises, presents itself or even seems to be present. God is mercifully helping me through the years in His loving kindness, all my missteps, my failings, miscommunications, misunderstandings, resentment, fears, regrets, losses, etc., etc., to watch — really watch — for opportunities and seek to not miss them. All these problems, especially in the last couple of years, have surely taught me that opportunities come and go — good ones and difficult ones, and it’s really imperative to daily be in the Word, to daily be in prayer, to keep short accounts and, perhaps above all, to seek God’s will and direction for each of the opportunities He brings my way.
This phrase continually comes to mind: “God does not call the equipped, He equips the called.” So, that being understood, as responsibilities go, I know that mine is to watch and receive, His is to present and provide, mine is to obey, His is to guide, mine is to be willing , His is to be filling, mine is to be poured out, His is to be glorified.
Opportunities come and go… O, that I would be found faithful in them.
O, Martha, Martha, where is your Mary heart? O, Martha, Martha, would you seek to have a Mary heart? My husband has whispered to me at different times in different seasons.
But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Luke 10.40-42