Place it in God's Hands

Luke 12:22-34

Do Not Worry

22Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 26Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
27"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

I have spent a good portion of my married life worrying about money. I am sure that there are many out there who are the same way, yet somehow, God has always provided for us. From the large things to the smallest things He has always stepped in and amazed us. 

When David and I had been married less than a year, we lived at Ft. Campbell, KY and since we had registered Scottsbluff, NE as our home of record, when our driver's licenses were about to expire we had to drive that 1100 mile drive to Scottsbluff to get our licenses renewed. We had a four day weekend, in which payday was to be Saturday morning, but we HAD to leave Friday morning to be able to make the trip in time, so we decided to go ahead and only buy gas. We would eat when got to his Grandma's house in Nebraska. We were going to drive straight through without eating. I was a few months pregnant with Gabby at the time and we had plenty of baby cereal for Brittany who was not even 1 yet. 

By afternoon I was starting to feel really sick from the pregnancy and not eating. David pulled off to get gas and I got out of the car to go inside, stretch my legs, and change the baby. As I walked into the gas station, which was like a little mini mart, a lady walked right up to me with two loaves of bread. She told me they were expired and she couldn't sell them. Then she asked if I could use them. 

God is amazing! He has provided for us many times like the story I just told. I have learned not to worry it has been a long process and sometimes I still find my mind wandering to how I am going to pay this or that bill, or the kids need new shoes, or the lawn needs mowed and the mower is broken, or the laundry has to be done by hand, but I have consciously decided to place it in God's hands and every time I do, I am amazed!

Do you have something that you have been worried about lately? Sit down and tell the Father that it is in His hands and trust Him and He will give you what He has promised!

Are you a Mary or a Martha?

Luke 10:38-42
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

John 12:1-3
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 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. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." 6He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
7 "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. " It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."

Martha and Mary were sisters, yet they were two different people. Martha was a server, a worker. She was busy with all the preparations that needed to be done to entertain Jesus and His disciples. In the second passage, it doesn't say much about her, just "Martha served". Martha doesn't really get much glory for all her service, in fact, if anything, Jesus admonishes her. She worked hard to make sure everyone had their food and drink, she cleaned and scrubbed, she did the dishes, she took care of everyone. Sound familiar? 

Mary, on the other hand was a worshiper. She sat at Jesus feet, gleaning every bit of knowledge that she could get from Him. She took a jar of expensive perfume and poured it on His feet and wiped it up with her hair. She sat and took the time to truly get to know Jesus, to become His friend and to worship Him by doing the most unselfish thing she could think of, washing His feet.

Yet, when Martha complained to Jesus that Mary was just sitting there, what did He say? Did He tell Mary to get up and help her sister? No. He commended Mary for choosing to sit and listen to Him and again in the next passage He praises her for putting Him first stating that we will always have the poor with us, but He is only with us for a short time.

Martha served others first; Mary served Jesus first...and by reading the scripture we can gather that Jesus preferred Mary's way. So how can we be a Mary in a Martha world? 

Jesus wants us to put Him first. When He told the Sadducees what the greatest commandment was...the first thing He said was to love the Lord your God and secondly love your neighbor as yourself. 

Matthew 22:34-39
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 

From this we must assume that Jesus wants us to stop and take the time to truly worship Him, put Him first. Yes, He wants us to serve. There are many verses in the Bible to support that, but He wants to be first in our lives. He wants us to worship Him, to adore Him. He wants to be our best friend. How long has it been since you took the time to sit at Jesus feet and worship Him? If you are a Martha, like me, don't forget to take some time trying to be more like Mary. Service is important, but worship is imperative!

Are you sleeping?

Matthew 26:36-41
36Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
40Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. 41"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

It's so easy fall into a sense of complacency with our Christian walk. I like the definition of complacency...a feeling of quiet pleasure or comfort, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect.

When we become comfortable in our walk with Christ we begin to neglect the basics allowing Satan a chance to sneak in uninvited. Without the power of God's presence in our lives, even though we may be willing to walk our Christian walk, our flesh is weak to withstand temptation. In the disciples case they they fell asleep when they should have been watching and praying with Jesus. They didn't realize the danger, soon enough the guards were there to take Jesus away.

1 Peter 5:8 
8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

The Message Bible puts it this way 
Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping.

We, like the disciples, don't realize the danger of becoming complacent in our walks. Becoming complacent means, thinking we do "enough" or we pray "enough", or we are too tired to worry about reading the Bible. Then we are opening a door to Satan and as the scripture says, "He is just waiting to catch us napping"

We must keep vigilant in our walk, pray, read the Bible, attend church, worship God with all our hearts and soul, put Him first in all we do. Do not allow the devil to get a stronghold in our lives for we are here, but a short time.

1 Peter 1:22-25 (The Message)
22-25Now that you've cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God's living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That's why the prophet said, 
The old life is a grass life, 
its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers; 
Grass dries up, flowers droop, 
God's Word goes on and on forever.
This is the Word that conceived the new life in you

Don't be caught napping, come to the garden to pray with Jesus today! Keep watch with Him, because we do not know when our time on earth will be through, I for one would love to hear those words, "Well done, good and faithful servant"