Love God in Silence

The other morning in my devotions God spoke to me. This is what he told me:

If you can't get under what God has put over you then you'll never be able to be over what God wants to put under you 

-- Adrian Rogers --

I stand in need of prayer. Those who have met and gotten to know me know how much I struggle with this. I hate this flaw in me but I have come to realize that I would never have a relationship with Christ today if it weren't for my past. That part sounds so weird.

Isaiah 33:2 (personalized)

Lord, be gracious to me; I long for you. Be my strength every morning, my salvation in time of distress.

Early the next morning I was listening to a message from a woman's conference and this is what I took away with me from it ...

When I become harder at heart I have a decreased appetite for God's word. That brings about an increased shallowness. A hard heart is easily offended. My hard heart sets my husband up for failure. Forcing myself to focus on Christ is the only cure.

I know that the verses God wants me to learn and apply to my life are ...

Proverbs 15:1-2

1) A soft answer turns away wrath,

But a harsh word stirs up anger.

2) The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly,

But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.

1 Timothy 2:11

Let a woman learn in silence with all submission.

Psalms 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

The last one is a verse you will always find attached to my name. I kid you not! I bought a bookmark with my name, I saw a plaque with my name and every time that verse in Psalms 19:14 is written on it!!!

Because of Jesus ...

There is a God who hears our cry.
There is life beyond failure.
There is forgiveness.
There is nothing to fear.
There is acceptance.
There is hope beyond death.
On the wall of the
North Kildonan Mennonite Brothern Church
Winnipeg Manitoba

The Point of the Story of Mary and Martha

Have you ever noticed that the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42) comes right after the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)?
There is a purpose in that — the authors of the gospels arranged their material very carefully, with thought and intention.

The connection between the two is not hard to see. The story of Mary and Martha is intended, in part, to correct a possible misunderstanding of the parable of the Good Samaritan.
The parable of the Good Samaritan tells us how we are to be as Christians — we are to show mercy to others whenever the opportunity is before us, and indeed we are to seek out opportunities to do good and serve. We are to “go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37), just as the Samaritan did. This is what it means to “love your neighbor as yourself” (v. 27).
But we could mis-apply that by allowing true service to transform into mere busyness. This is what we see with Mary and Martha. Mary “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching” (v. 39). Martha, on the other hand, “was distracted with much serving” (v. 40). When Martha asked Jesus to rebuke Mary and help her serve, Jesus said “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (vv. 41-42).
The lesson: Do indeed be radical in doing good, just like the Good Samaritan (v. 37). But don’t take this to mean that you should be scrambling around frantically, over-committing yourself and becoming over busy. We ought to sacrifice and endure hardship. But don’t let your service to others distract you from the ultimate reason for your service, which is Jesus himself.
Serve, but don’t be frantic. Sacrifice and go out of your way, but don’t neglect devoted time to worship and prayer and reading the Bible. The point of seeing these things together here in Luke 10 is that there is enough time for both. Don’t let your service turn into frenetic anxiety.
And here’s one other thought: We also see here that God values — indeed, requires — both action and thought. Radical action for good is illustrated in the Good Samaritan. And deep consideration of the teaching of Jesus is modeled in the story of Mary and Martha. Don’t play doing and thinking off against one another. Do both. There is time for both and, ironically, each serves the other.

Found this at this online site http://www.whatsbestnext.com/2011/09/the-point-of-the-story-of-mary-and-martha/

picture: https://media.ldscdn.org/images/media-library/gospel-art/new-testament/jesus-mary-martha-396319-print-do-not-copy-notice.jpg

Scars

Scars remind us where we've been ... they don't have to dictate where we're going but sometimes things happen to tear those scars wide open again". 
- RtB -