Bringing my 'to do' list to Jesus

I have a lot in common with my hamsters.  

I do a lot of running around, but I don't always get anywhere. 

I can sometimes feel like if I'm not exhausted then I've not been trying hard enough. Maybe some of you can relate. 

This morning I felt draw to the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42.  I tried to read it slowly and see what God wanted to show me. 

It says 'a woman named Martha opened her home to [Jesus]' in verse 38.

This reminded me of the teaching Jesus gave on the sheep and goats in Matthew 25:35 where he describes the evidence of those who are true believers: 'you gave me something to eat . . . and you gave me something to drink . . .  and you invited me in'. 

Martha's heart was to love and serve Jesus. She was truly His.

Her sister Mary also truly loved Jesus and was His.  Her love for Him expressed itself in sitting at the Lord's feet listening to what he said (verse 39). She just wanted to be with Him, to worship Him, to drink in His words.  Her devotion was expressed by simply spending time with Him - giving Him her undivided attention.  

Martha's love for Jesus was expressed in service.  Verse 40 says that the preparations 'had to be made'. It was important and necessary to feed Jesus and his disciples. It was a valid way to express love for Him. It was good. 

What was wrong was her resentful attitude that Mary wasn't helping, and her sense of superiority about her own choices.  She felt that she was doing what was right by rushing around busily, whilst Mary was 'lazy'. Martha was judgemental of her sister.  

She also tried to publicly shame her. Rather than quietly whispering to Mary, "I could really do with a hand," she went to Jesus, who would have had everyone's attention.  Everyone would listen to His response and be guided by how He responded. 

Martha wanted to be publicly validated for what she was doing and her sister publicly reprimanded and shown to be 'lesser' or inferior.

Jesus saw straight into Martha's heart. He said, "You are worried and upset about many things."  He could see that this wasn't the only thing Martha was worked up about; it was one of many. Perhaps Mary not helping at this point was the final straw; the final irritation that released a whole dam of frustration and revealed the true state of her heart.

Martha was not casting her cares on Jesus here. She was asking him to validate her cares; to say she was right to be worked up about this situation. 

How humbling. Because Martha sought Jesus' approval publicly, she had to endure his rebuke publicly. 

Jesus starts by saying her name twice.  

Oh the love He expressed as He said her name. 

Oh the longing in His heart for her to be set free from her wrong attitude. 

Oh the kindness and gentleness with which He told her that He knew. He saw. He understood the 'many things' in her heart that were worrying and upsetting her.  

Oh the grace with which He pointed her to what her soul really needed.

There were so many things that needed to be done.  So many things other people were doing or not doing that were stealing Martha's peace.  Jesus cut through her priority list, her judgment call as to what was really needed.   

The bottom line is, no matter what is on your 'to do' list today, only one thing is really needed. 

That is to sit at Jesus' feet. Not performing for Him. Not achieving a spiritual 'to do' list of reading a number of chapters or going through a prayer list. 

Still yourself enough to hear Him speak.  

Yes, read His Word - but only to listen to His heart speak to Yours.  Not to earn favour or to feel pride in your accomplishment 'for Him'.  

Yes, pray - but not 'empty words' of duty; but truly, honestly opening up the mess of your heart to Him.  Because He knows it all already anyway!!

How many days I rush into my 'to do' lists, telling God I'll squeeze Him in when everything else is done.  But it never is. 

There are always more jobs to do. 

This is what I am starting to learn to do:

Lay your 'to do' list at His feet first thing in the morning. 

Ask Him what's on His list for the day.  

Here's His first answer:

'Spend some time with me.'

'Listen, listen to Me that your soul may live' (Isaiah 55:3)

'Receive my love'

Sometimes He shows me I have things on my list that don't need to be there.

Sometimes He prompts me about things I wasn't planning to do.

When I get that right - spending time with Him - first thing, it's amazing how I manage to accomplish things that matter with the rest of my day too. 

Thank you Jesus for what you have shown me in your word. Help me and my friends make this our habit - to lay our 'to do' lists before You each day and spend a few moments sitting at Your feet. Amen.

 

God's laundry basket

 

"Seek the Lord while he may be found;  call on him while he is near.  Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.   Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon."  (Isaiah 55: 7-8)

I used to read this with fear.  Maybe it was already too late.  Maybe I've already messed up too many times.  I've read too much of the Bible to be allowed to get away with my poor behaviour.   

But now I read it in a different light.  'While he may be found' is any time that we are alive.  This is the opportunity we all have in our lives.  It is a promise - when we repent and turn to the Lord, he WILL have mercy on us.  He will FREELY pardon.  

Repentance looks like forsaking the things we've been doing.  It's not just saying sorry and carrying on.  However, when we do turn to Him in repentance, the promise of pardon is certain.

God is looking for us to turn to him because He wants and wills to have mercy and to pardon us. 

It got me thinking about my laundry basket.  My kids clothes get dirty.  I expect them to get dirty.  It's part of living and doing things.  I don't get mad at them for having dirty clothes (unless they spill something down their front just as we are about to walk out the door!).  

What does get me annoyed is when they don't put their dirty clothes in the wash but just let them build up in their rooms in heaps on the floor. 

My job as mum is to wash the dirty clothes. I go to the laundry basket, take the clothes from there, wash them, dry them, sort them and return them to the right rooms.  Everyone else's job is simply to get their dirty clothes to the wash basket.  Not much to ask you might think!  But somehow they find it surprisingly difficult.

It struck me that we're a bit like that with sin.  God is saying, "Bring your sin to me.  I will freely pardon.  I will wash them so that they are as white as snow."  But we let the sins heap up in our lives.  We kick them in a heap behind the door and try to forget about them.

God is offering us pure white shining robes of righteousness, bought at the price of Jesus' blood.  Don't walk around in dirty clothes. Don't let sin pile up in your heart.   Bring it to Him.  He'll do the rest. 

Who are you stuck behind?

 

Yesterday morning my daughter Charlotte was ready for school early.  

"Wow! How did that happen?" I asked.

"It's because of Peter!" she replied.

Peter had bounced out of bed on the dot of 7am.  He'd efficiently done all his jobs and helped the rest of us with ours and got himself ready for school in super quick time.  His motivation?  He wanted to look something up about a computer game and knew he would only be allowed to do it if he was all ready for school with enough time to spare.  And because he was up and being efficient, somehow it rubbed off on the rest of us and we all found ourselves ready early too!  

It reminded me of a joke where a man arrived to work late and his boss asked, "Why are you late?"  He replied, "Sorry, I was stuck behind a tractor."  The next day he arrived to work early and his boss asked, "How come you are early today?"  The reply came, "Oh, this morning I was stuck behind a Ferrari!"

I thought about how birds fly in a V formation because it's easier to fly just behind another bird.  My husband tells me cyclists do it too - cycling in the other person's slipstream makes your ride easier. 

This got me thinking about how we influence one another and also how we are influenced by the things we watch, read and listen to.   I heard a preacher a number of years ago talking about how each film you watch 'takes you on a journey' that influences and colours you - just a little, but all those 'just a little's add up over time.  

So I reflected - who am I 'stuck behind'?   And what is it like for others who are 'stuck behind' me?

It made me want to be more intentional about what I let influence me.  

There are so many ways to do this. When I want to be inspired and strengthened in my spiritual walk, I read the blogs of people who point me in the right direction.  I love biographies and autobiographies that flesh out what following Christ looked like for that person.  You can use apps and social media to keep bringing things in front of you that point you back to God.  There are YouTube videos, podcasts, radio and TV stations and no end of other ways to connect with Christian encouragement - especially now all our churches have begun putting their services online. In the past year I've found an app that has really helped me listen to scripture too.  Nothing like hearing the message straight from God Himself!

So what could be a model, example, encouragement, inspiration to you today in your spiritual walk?  

And maybe you could share something - in a message, in person, on social media?  - that might encourage someone else?  If you find something encouraging or helpful, chances are someone else will too.  

'Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today.' Hebrews 3:13

Let's help one another fly further and higher!

A feast with Jesus

The other day I was reading in Mark 14 the story where Jesus sends his disciples to get the Passover meal ready, which was to be his last meal with them on earth.   He gives them instructions of how to find the house and tells them that the owner of the house 'will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready.' (verse 15).  

When I read that I started to wonder about this owner and his family and how come he had a large room, all ready for Jesus to use. 

I thought about Passover, and how all the Jews would be celebrating it on the same day.  They would all be gathering together with family to eat this special meal together.   My guess is that large rooms were at a premium.  

I imagined the owner of the house and his wife.  He must have been reasonably well off to have a large room upstairs that could just be used for entertaining.   I imagined his wife planning who she would invite, the decorations, menu and seating plan.  Then I imagined God just whispering to the owner's heart, "I have another use for your room.  Don't use it for your own Passover celebrations.  Just keep it free. You'll see why later."

I imagined him telling this to his wife and her possible reaction - indignation, frustration, incomprehension, even scorn maybe?  I imagined her protesting, "But where will we eat?  Just down in the kitchen like an ordinary meal?  How will that make it special?  I was going to invite your brother and his family - they won't be able to squeeze in to our kitchen!  What is God going to use it for?  Is it just going to sit empty? You're crazy!  What am I going to say to my friends! I'm never going to live this one down."

As with all true offerings to the Lord of significance, I believe there was a cost and a spiritual battle that owner had to fight to obey that word and keep that room free without knowing what for.  He would have looked like a fool.  But God greatly honours those who are prepared to look like fools for Him. 

And when Jesus' disciples turned up at his house?  That's when God whispered to his heart, "This is it. Say yes."  And he did.  What an honour.  What a privilege. He got to offer Jesus his best room in which to eat his last meal on earth.

Then I imagined meeting this man in heaven.  I imagined how he would be boasting, "Did you know, it was my house Jesus ate his last meal at!?"  I imagined if I were him, that would be the thing I was most proud of; most glad I had done in obedience to the Lord. 

And God has honoured him by this mention of him in Scripture, read by millions 'wherever the gospel is preached'. 

I thought, "I wish I could somehow do something like that for Jesus."  And immediately God said, "You can." And he reminded me of this verse:

Revelation 3:20 (The Passion Translation) "Behold, I'm standing at the door, knocking. If your heart is open to hear my voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with me."

I realised, I do actually have an opportunity to offer Jesus a room to eat in. In fact, he wants to eat with me!  My heart is that room, and he waits for me to make it available for him. 

So, I want, when I meet that owner of that house in Heaven, to be able to say back to him, "How wonderful! What a privilege!  I made the room of my heart available to him also, and we ate together every day.  It was the most wonderful privilege of my life." 

My prayer for myself and you today is that we will walk through today with our hearts open to His whisper as to how He wants to use the 'room' we have in our hearts today.  

Lord Jesus, please come in. Please feast with me in my heart today. Amen.  

God's love is everywhere

 

I was going for a walk this morning, when I caught sight of this petal that had got caught on another plant that was sticking out into the path.  The pink petal looked just like a pale little heart and immediately it made me think of God saying "I love you."   I stopped to take a photo and as I looked I saw that there were actually loads of heart shaped petals on the ground that I'd been walking over, not taking any notice of. 

It made me stop and think - how often am I walking over expressions of God's love without even really realising it or thinking about it? 

God's love for us is 'hidden in plain sight' all around us, if only we would stop and look. 

The petals came from these beautiful flowers.  The heart shape of the petals is more hidden while they are still on the plant, but it is still there.  

I just encourage you today to stop for a moment and look around you for evidence of God's love.   I guarantee you will find some! 

The trust is the help

Psalm 28:7

The Lord is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song I will praise Him.

I came across this verse the other day and was turning it into a prayer. 

So I prayed: "God you are my strength.  You are my shield.  I trust in You."

And as I prayed I committed a particular situation to God and chose to put my trust in Him about it. 

I felt a real release and sense of a burden lifted. 

Then I came across the next part: "and I am helped"

At first it felt like the deal was: I trust in God and then He helps me i.e. He will then do something that will change the situation and be helpful. 

But then I realised that I had already been helped.  Actually putting my trust in God was the thing that helped me! 

The situation hadn't changed, just my perspective on it. 

I basically recognised that God is in charge and that I couldn't sort it.  I reminded myself that He is good and He loves me.  He knows everything about the situation and He is able to do whatever is for the best in this situation. 

And then the final part of the verse is also the natural consequence of trusting God - 'Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.'

When you truly trust God, you can rejoice, even when the circumstances haven't changed. 

I realised the importance of rejoicing and praising God, and singing even when I'm still in the middle of the challenge.  

God is good.  Put your trust in Him and see what He will do in your heart!! 

It's okay to be you - God made you on purpose

So often I listen to a great speaker or read a great book or hear about someone doing something amazing and think "Wow, if only I was a good enough Christian I would be like them."

It's easy to think that great leaders, speakers, writers, evangelists etc have somehow 'earned' their position by their effort.  This is not to belittle their effort, obedience and faith.  But unless God called them to the job, they couldn't do it.  

Joseph in prison couldn't make himself ruler of Egypt.  He just faithfully served in whatever ways he could in his circumstances. 

As Jesus travelled around, the Bible mentions some women by name who went along and helped meet his needs.  But some of them are just referred to as 'and the other women; and we know nothing more about them.  

Were they fulfilling God's call on their lives? Yes!  

Was their call to be famous? No!  

Was their work and service important and significant in God's eyes? Yes!

The widow with two mites is famous, although we don't know her name. God honoured her in this way because the rest of her life was lived loving and trusting God and all of that lead to the moment that is recorded in Scripture.  

Yet how many other widows have there been that have never had their story told down here but will receive great reward and recognition in Heaven because of their great faith, trust, love and service of the Lord in the small unseen things He called them to. 

I'm realising I need to stop seeing Christian leaders as 'better' than 'ordinary' Christians.  Christian leaders are simply Christians following God's calling for them to be leaders.  But God does not call all 'good' Christians to be leaders.  

Christian leaders didn't earn or deserve the 'right' to their position.

Paul says at the beginning of Ephesians:

'This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.' Ephesians 1:1

What he's saying is: I didn't choose to be an apostle.  It is what God chose for me. 

Some of the mostly godly women I know have no position of leadership but humbly, quietly serve the Lord in many hidden and unseen ways.

God wants people in all different situations of life to be able to minister to all sorts of different people.

Don't strive for a 'better' calling.  Accept the gifts, limitations and situations God has given you for now and serve Him in that. 

When God told Samuel to anoint Saul as king, Saul was looking for his father's donkeys. In fact he'd spent three days looking and was at the point of giving up trying to find them.  Not exactly thrilling stuff.  But when God decided Saul would be king, God gave Saul the anointing and gifting to the king:

1 Samuel 10:6-9  'The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you . . . you will be changed into a different person . . . do whatever your hand finds to do for God is with you . . . God changed Saul's heart.' 

God called Saul.  He gave Saul his Holy Spirit.  He changed Saul's heart.  

Saul's part?  'Do whatever your hand finds to do'

Don't try to be someone you're not.  Accept the calling, anointing, equipping and provision God has given you for the place you are in right now and situation you are in.  Just do what God gives you to do.  Serve Him faithfully in that.  

When it is His right timing, He will lead you to the next thing. 

David was anointed as king but it was 15 very tough years before he actually became king.  He demonstrated his understanding of God's calling on his life because he did nothing to try to make himself become king.  He just tried to keep serving God and trusting Him through all the things that happened. 

What is my calling?  It can be many different things, but this is true for us all:

Trust Him in the situation you are in.

Praise Him in the situation you are in.

Serve Him in the situation you are in. 

Let Him lead you on the paths He has for your life. It's ok to be you. 

 Psalm 23: 3

'He leads me along paths of righteousness for His Name's sake.'

Waking up in the middle of an overly familiar verse.

 

When you first start learning to play scales on the piano, you start with the easiest scale - C major. It's the one with no sharps or flats.  Just the white notes.  It's easy.

But actually, by the time I got to Grade 8, I used to find it the hardest.  Why?  Because it was so hard to actually stay awake and concentrating while you did it.  You just fell asleep in a sea of white notes and would 'wake up' with no idea if you had done two octaves or three yet or whether you were remotely on track to finish with your thumb on the final note. 

It can be the same with certain verses of the Bible too.  Do you know the ones I mean? 

The ones you've heard a MILLION times.

They are so familiar that you can barely even stay awake as you read them - 'For God so loved . . . '  - and you zone out because you can't believe there's anything new to hear.  It sounds terrible but it's true. 

This morning I felt like I 'woke up' in the middle of a familiar verse.  And I realised I'd been getting it so wrong for so many years.  

Here is my old 'soundtrack' or 'internal commentary' on Matthew 6:33

'Seek first' - It's hard work Claire. You've got to put the effort in. It's really down to you to try hard enough.  You've got to make this happen.

'the kingdom of God'  - Well this is about people being saved, so I must do evangelism and bring people to church and feel guilty about all the people I've not converted or tried to convert.  I'm really not trying hard enough here.

'His righteousness' - Basically I've got to try really hard to be as good as Jesus.  Which I will definitely fail at. So my duty then becomes to feel guilty about this and beat myself up about it sufficiently to hopefully please God that at least I'm sorry about it. 

'all these things will be added to you' - This means you get a nice, easy, comfortable life with no stresses or difficulties.  This means you will always feel content and cheerful because things will go your way.  If I don't experience this then it's because I'm not doing the first part right. 

THEN GOD DONKED ME ON THE HEAD WITH A LARGE STICK (metaphorically speaking) and gently suggested that this verse actually means this:

'seek first the kingdom of God' - Let go of trying to be your own king and run your own life. Just seek God Himself and let His wisdom guide you. Stop trying to be the boss and make it happen. Just ask Him to be Your King and teach you how to live His way.  His way is generally better!

'and His righteousness'- Actually Jesus offers us HIS righteousness as a FREE gift.  Lay your sins down at the cross.  Ask Him to forgive and cleanse you. And RECEIVE the incredible robe of righteousness He bought for you at the cross.  You don't have to earn it. You don't have to deserve it. Let yourself be forgiven and live in the joy and peace of that. 

'all these things will be added' - Let God pick what things HE wants to add to your life.   His choices are better than ours. Always. 

Thank you God that it's really all about what You do for me.  Help me live in the joy and freedom of that truth. Amen.