My sister just got me hooked on an author, Francine Rivers. With one novella, she captivated me for two days, I cried, and I got a fresh perspective on the life of Jesus and his mother, Mary.
In the fifth novel of the series, entitled "Unafraid," Ms. Rivers delivers the imagined life of Mary, who was to become the mother of Jesus Christ. Mary is depicted as a devout Jewish girl with a hunger & thirst for God. While I am not of the Jewish faith, I can certainly identify with her desire to be close to God, to understand to will for our lives, for the struggle between flesh & spirit. Mary is depicted as human, yet willing to trust in God.
Some things that stuck me as I was reading:
Mary to Joseph, "Hasn't God always chosen the weak to confound the strong?" and "Think of him. God never chooses as a man would choose." These two sentences grabbed me & made me think. God chose ordinary people, sinners, the most unlikely characters on earth to be his messengers. Why did he do this? to teach us that one need not come from a high station in life, nor have worldly goods or knowledge in order to be effective in His service. Ordinary folks such as you & I are able to carry out His will as well as anyone willing to heed the call of His voice. God's choices confound the world (and often the saints) because we think within the confines of what we "know" - our earthly knowledge & experience. We place boundaries on what we think can be accomplished, not realizing that with God, ALL things are possible!
Joseph speaks of " . . . a return to the relationship Adam had with the Lord in the Garden of Eden." This is what we all desire, whether we're aware of it or not. That communal relationship with our creator is what is missing in our lives. Even though we can enjoy His presence through prayer & reflection on His Word, we have so many other things clamoring for our attention that we do not fully focus our attention on Him. How wonderful it will be to simply bask in His presence, sitting in adoration worshiping him constantly and being filled with joy!
Jesus has told Mary, "Each must choose." She struggles between physically following her favored firstborn and remaining with her other children, who doubt Jesus' claim to be the Son of God. "She must say yes to God and stop counting the cost. Even if it meant giving up her children." She has reached a point where she must follow her heart and hand over her grown children to God, trusting Him to open their eyes & hearts to the truth. This is not an easy thing to do, as many of us parents know all too well!
As Jesus is in the temple, "calling out," so to speak, the scribes & Pharisees: "Mary had never seen Jesus angry, and she trembled a the sight of his wrath." His wrath. These two words reminded me in a HUGE way that Jesus is God! And God's wrath is not to be taken lightly. His wrath destroyed entire cities, tribes, and nations, even the world, save Noah, his sons and their wives.
As Pilate is forcing the masses to choose which prisoner to release: "'Barabbas!'" They wanted violence and bloodshed. They wanted rebellion & hatred against Rome. 'Barabbas!'" The Savior, the Redeemer, the King that most of Israel was anticipating was expected to be a leader of bloody revolution, not of peace & love & righteousness. Ms. Rivers also makes a statement about Pilate's washing of his hands as a mockery of the Jewish ritual of hand washing. I had never thought of it that way before, and while I'm not certain this is historically accurate (the meaning, not the actual washing), it certainly lends a new perspective to the incident. Something to think about and possibly research.
Mary is contemplating the journey of her life, and determines that she is no longer impetuous & impatient, but simply eager for what God will do. We often desire a hasty reply to our prayers & pleas, forgetting that everything happens in God's time, not ours, for He knows what is best. She reflects: "Will you obey, no matter the cost?" "Today I say yes. And today, and today, and today, until there are no more todays left." How profound! An excellent illustration of how we must daily choose to say, "Yes!" Daily we must choose to submit ourselves to His will.
Mary comes to the realization of "How small her dreams had been." This goes back to what I mentioned earlier, that we cannot in our human frame of mind, fathom all that God can do. We can only imagine so big, but He is capable of so much more than that! I, for one, and excited to see just how big He can be!
This book is a very good read, and I highly recommend it. I can hardly wait for Susie to finish the one on Bathsheba so I can start it!
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Selfishness
This devotional was in my inbox last week. The colors on the words are my addition to Dr. Dollar's exposition. The comments at the end are mine.
(1) This line hit me pretty hard. Selfishness is something I've been fighting with my entire life. As the eldest of 5 children, I had nothing of my own,a nd was always made to share. As a parent, you naturally give/share everything you have. I like to share, but it's kinda nice if folks share back (not that I "do" in order to receive - it's just the flesh nature to say, "What about me?") and I seem to know a lot of people who are takers, not givers. I realize that my selfishness comes from fear - fear of having nothing, fear of being alone, fear of not being accepted. Therefore, I pray daily for God to help me in this area; I have to yield my self over to Him so He can love others through me.
(2) So true! I've said many times throughout my life, even before I was saved, that the things I went through shaped the person I became. There are SO many decisions I wish I could have a "do-over" on. The fact is, however, that those decisions eventually led me to accept Christ, for which I am eternally grateful! I am able to identify with others - both lost & saved - and because of my life experience I am able to minister to them with compassion instead of judgment.
(3) Without love for others, everything we do is in vain. The world will still turn, the sun will still set, people will still do what they do & be who they are, even if we do not love them. But how many lives could possibly be changed if each of us took just one day to be kind to EVERYONE, even those whom we usually avoid or casually dismiss simply because it's easier to do so than to try to love them as Jesus would?
I want to learn to love others well, following in the footsteps of my Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ!
| Wednesday, February 13, 2008 | ||||
| Yield To Love Dr. Creflo A. Dollar Love and selfishness are the two greatest forces in life. A person chooses to walk in one or the other every day. What many people call love really isn't love at all. Real love-which is agape love or the God kind of love-is unconditional, limitless, selfless and is not based on emotions. It is extremely tolerant. Unfortunately, most people operate in selfishness. They live in human, emotional love, which has limits, is conditional, requires pre-qualification and has to be loved before it can love. Selfishness is the root of all sin, which is based in fear. As a result, our society is experiencing a tremendous amount of lawlessness, perversion and sin. Families are being destroyed because people are engaging in human, emotional love rather than taking the time to learn about and develop in agape love. Selfishness in the home can creep up in so many subtle ways, particularly between a husband and wife. If you are married, here's a newsflash-it's not all about you! Everything in life should not focus around you and your needs, but rather the needs of your spouse. It is important to find balance and compromise within relationships in order to maintain peace in the home. You can kick selfishness out of your home. How? Yield to love. Jesus gave two commandments that are the foundational principles for every commandment in the Bible: "...love the Lord thy God with all of thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind... love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matthew 22:7,39). When you keep the law of love, you fulfill all of the laws written in the Bible. Have you made the decision to walk in love so that you will fulfill Jesus' commandment and allow God's spiritual principles to work in your life? Or have you chosen to operate in your own way of doing things? Things don't just happen. Life is a series of decisions that ultimately determine your future. One very important decision every person should make is to be an expression of God's love on the earth. There are two laws that govern life: the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which is love; and the law of sin and death, which is selfishness (Romans 8:2). Like curtains on a curtain rod, your deliverance, answered prayers, healing and faith all hang on the rod of love. If you are not walking in God's agape love, then you are limiting what God can do in your life. I encourage you to take the love test by reading 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. After reading this portion of Scripture, you will know to what extent you have-or have not-yielded your life to love. .. BEGIN MP3 FOOTER - Creflo Dollar --> ..> ..>
| ||||
(1) This line hit me pretty hard. Selfishness is something I've been fighting with my entire life. As the eldest of 5 children, I had nothing of my own,a nd was always made to share. As a parent, you naturally give/share everything you have. I like to share, but it's kinda nice if folks share back (not that I "do" in order to receive - it's just the flesh nature to say, "What about me?") and I seem to know a lot of people who are takers, not givers. I realize that my selfishness comes from fear - fear of having nothing, fear of being alone, fear of not being accepted. Therefore, I pray daily for God to help me in this area; I have to yield my self over to Him so He can love others through me.
(2) So true! I've said many times throughout my life, even before I was saved, that the things I went through shaped the person I became. There are SO many decisions I wish I could have a "do-over" on. The fact is, however, that those decisions eventually led me to accept Christ, for which I am eternally grateful! I am able to identify with others - both lost & saved - and because of my life experience I am able to minister to them with compassion instead of judgment.
(3) Without love for others, everything we do is in vain. The world will still turn, the sun will still set, people will still do what they do & be who they are, even if we do not love them. But how many lives could possibly be changed if each of us took just one day to be kind to EVERYONE, even those whom we usually avoid or casually dismiss simply because it's easier to do so than to try to love them as Jesus would?
I want to learn to love others well, following in the footsteps of my Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ!
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