Category: Follow

Martha, Martha

Posted on by Dorci

“As they went, He (Jesus) entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to His teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she came to Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Then tell her to help me.’

Jesus answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed. And Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken from her.’” Luke 10:38-42

Ouch. As a fellow Marthaian, reading these words of Jesus have always made me cringe a little bit.

Have you ever had thirteen people, or more, (including the Son of God) show up at your house unannounced to hang out for a while? What do you do? Maybe you start by running to the fridge to scrounge up something to drink. And what about food? Are they staying for dinner? What could you put together? You start pulling all the food you can find from every shelf and drawer, you think as fast as you’re sweating, taking out pots and pans, plates and cups, you run around the table setting it…  And you’re getting more and more frustrated by the minute.

But maybe it doesn’t end there. Maybe you’re busy finding enough chairs and cleaning the bathroom and washing the dishes and sweeping the floor, and on and on and on.

That was Martha. (And yes, I may have been known to exhibit this kind of behavior.) And then she stops, out of breath.  She can’t take the stress of it all anymore, and she marches herself over to Jesus.

“Don’t you care?”

In other words, aren’t you paying any attention? Haven’t you noticed that I’m doing all this work by myself and I’m stressed out?

Jesus’ answer to Martha was “you are worried and upset about many things.”

He had noticed, and He did care. He saw all Martha was trying to do. He saw she was trying to serve, and while that’s a good thing, He also saw she was doing it with an anxious and frustrated heart. And so He waited until she got to the end of herself and came to Him. I can imagine Him holding out His hand to her, inviting her to join them.

I know how hard it is to stop worrying and racing around trying to do all the things that need to be done in a day, a month, a lifetime, and just sit at Jesus’ feet.

Yes, some things need to be done, but some things can be left for a day, a month, or altogether. There are always things to be done, but Jesus calls us to come sit with Him.  

Martha was worried about giving them temporal food for their bodies but Jesus wanted to give her and the rest of them eternal spiritual food for their souls.

He knows we can do nothing without Him. Anything He calls us to do He wants us to do, not with anxiety, but in His strength, with His wisdom, His knowledge, and most of all, His love. Our first and greatest need is always to sit at His feet and learn from Him.

Who knows, if Martha had joined the rest of them, maybe afterward Jesus would have set a meal before them a la “wine at the wedding in Cana.”

I think we all have at least a little bit of Martha in us sometimes. We can get so stressed about life that we wonder if God even sees what’s going on in our lives. Doesn’t He care?

He sees and He cares, more than we can imagine. He knows that’s why we need Him. In the midst of it all He wants to give us His wisdom, to prepare us for things to come, to show us His will, to give us rest for our weary souls.

Sometimes God has ways of making us sit. When He has something to show us He will hold out His hand to us, one way or another, inviting us to come sit at His feet. And when we do, He’ll make a provision for all those things we are worried and upset about.

For weeks after my stroke He made a way for us to have dinner first by our church family and then for six months by our gracious neighbors. My husband took over many of the responsibilities I’d always had, and my job was to heal and to seek Him, to read His Word, and to write what He’d show me.

It’s been a hard road of frustration and sweat and venting. And every now and then I try to get up and run around, worried and upset about many things. But He keeps “double-naming” me like He did Martha, not in a condescending way, but with love and compassion, and He pulls me back to the thing that’s needed most: sitting with Him and letting Him feed my soul.

 

 

Heavenly Father, we know this life is short and you have much to teach us. Help us not get sidetracked and instead do the most important thing: spend time with Jesus. As we do, please give us His mind and heart and transform us by the power and love of your Holy Spirit. We trust you to provide and make a way and we give you all the glory for what you’re going to do. In Jesus’ precious name I pray, amen.

Unclean Hands

Posted on by Dorci

I love court shows. Well, not all of them, but there are a couple I like to watch. Every once in a while one judge in particular will bring up the concept in the law of unclean hands. That is when a someone sues another person, but they themselves acted illegally, unethically or in bad faith. 

This judge will usually explain it by using an example like this: let’s say someone sold another person illegal drugs and the buyer didn’t pay the seller the amount they agreed so the seller is suing for the money. The judge will explain that the courts can’t do that. They can’t make fair or right something that’s illegal. 

We love justice. God built into us a sense of fairness, of right and wrong. That’s why people protest, why people speak out, why people love court shows. 

The problem, though, is sometimes we’re all too willing to overlook our own sin. 

There are times we stand in prayer before the Father, the ultimate Judge, with “unclean hands.”  We’ve chosen to repeatedly walk a sinful path, to hold onto some sinful attitude, like not forgiving someone for the sin they’ve committed against us when God’s forgiven us for a lifetime of sin, and then ask Him to bless us.

Yes, we ask for forgiveness, and in Christ we are forgiven and won’t face eternal punishment for our sins, but when we’ve chosen sin we can’t expect God to bless us or protect us from the consequences of that sin.  

Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous;
    you surround them with your favor as with a shield.
Psalm 5:12

In Christ, God’s called us to a holy life, a life different than the world, a life of death to self’s indulgence to sin, not only to glorify Him but because He desires to protect us from the consequences that sin brings – the pain and suffering, the lack of peace, sometimes even an early death. 

Our God is more gracious and merciful than any earthly judge, and for a time He may warn us to stop, but if we don’t heed His warning, He’ll give us over to sin’s consequences to teach us so we’ll stop sinning. 

Or, every day, over and over, we can choose to take up our cross, die to ourselves and follow Christ who gave up His life for us. We can choose to be transformed by the renewing of our minds by the work of the Holy Spirit in us, knowing our righteous Father will bless us with His favor – His delight and good pleasure. 

Course that doesn’t mean that by living righteously we’ll never suffer and it doesn’t mean every time there’s a trial in our lives we’ve done something wrong. It just means we live in a sin-filled world. 

Someday all sin will be judged and the new world will be perfect the way God intended it to be in the beginning.  

Until then, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can choose to walk uprightly, glorifying our Heavenly Father, receive His blessings, and rest in His peace.

* * *

Heavenly Father, we ask not only for forgiveness for our sins, but from the heart we repent of them and turn from them. In your strength may we daily walk the narrow road and have eyes only for You. Thank you for the amazing grace and mercy we know we don’t deserve but that you’ve shown us over and over. May we never take it for granted nor abuse it. Out of our love for You and our gratitude, may we always choose to live righteously, giving our bodies to You as living sacrifices. In Jesus’ precious name, amen. 

 

 

One Author, Many Stories

Posted on by Dorci

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

So begins one of the most well-known and best-selling novels of all time. But it doesn’t stand alone. There are countless other stories just as beautifully written and well-regarded. It would be futile to compare them because they’re each beautiful in their own unique way. 


“…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…”  
Hebrews 12:1b-2a


It is oh so easy to compare our lives, our stories, to others. In fact, satan encourages it. And with the explosion of social media, it’s easier than ever to become engrained into our psyche, even subconsciously, to compare everything about ourselves and our lives to others. 

What he doesn’t want us to remember is that we have a perfect Author who writes each unique story of faith.

Our Author knows what what’s needed to advance our own particular epic, strengthening our faith, while taking into account our unique hearts and the varying characters and events of our lives, so that our faith is mature and complete. 

Yes, our stories will be different, but every one is written just as thoughtfully and lovingly as the others, each just as beautiful and miraculous.

The one commonality we share in our stories, if we indeed know Him, is our Protagonist, our Hero, the Champion of our faith. 

So whether our stories begin with “Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy” or “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit,” as long as we continue walking with our Champion, the Author of our faith, we can trust Him with the twists and turns of own adventures, developing our faith until the end.

And then, a new beginning…

 

 

 

To Gaze Upon the King

Posted on by Dorci

I’d like to repost one more piece for you, this one from December 2015. I pray you and your loved ones have a very Merry Christmas as we celebrate the birth of the beloved Child, the Savior, the King.  

***

Oh dear ones, loved so greatly by God, can I ask you to, for just a moment, lay down your tape and scissors?  To take your eyes away from the Christmas movies and your ears from the holiday music?

Can I ask you to come take a journey with me?  We are going to see a King.

There is a little, ancient town full of people who have come to be counted in the census.  All the rooms are full, too.

There is a very young woman who is about ready to give birth.  She and her husband have come a long way and she looks tired and uncomfortable. Her labor pains have begun.

“The barn is available,” they’re told.

Humbly, they make their way to the stable.  He tries to make her comfortable with a bed of hay as the animals make room for a royal guest.

She gives birth and the pain is soon forgotten as joy overwhelms her.  He is perfect in every way.  They gaze upon their miracle child, the one given to them by God Himself.  There is a feeding trough, and he makes a bed for this tiny baby.  The stars are shining on this most special of nights.

Meanwhile, out in the nearby fields, men who only a moment ago were tending sheep now stand in shock and fear as a glorious and heavenly light shines around them and an angel of the Lord appears to them and says,

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

The shepherds are barely able to take it in when a whole host of angels appears, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

They grab their staffs and run to the place where this Savior, this long-awaited Messiah has been born.  He is beautiful and they can hardly believe it.  They have seen the great Shepherd.

Room has been made for this little family of three.  They wonder what the future holds in and through this new and precious life.

Sometime later, other worshippers make their way from the east.  A star has led some wise men on a journey.  It’s been long and dusty, but they’ve been moved by something, Someone, beyond them to make it.  They’ve brought gifts suitable to present to royalty: gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Gold for a King, but not just any king.  A King who has chosen to strip Himself of His heavenly robes and crown and become like us.

Frankincense, symbolizing His priesthood, one that would never end.

Myrrh for embalming, for one day in the not-too-distant future, this King will die for the sins of the world.

The star that led them from so far away has stopped directly over the house where the King lay.  They step inside and bow before Him and worship Him.  They present their gifts, and Mary and Joseph continue to marvel at God’s love, His miracles and His glory.

The world looks different to them now.  Suddenly it is filled with hope and love and promise.  Under the light of the stars was the Light of the world. Salvation was here.

This, they knew, was no ordinary child.

This was a King.

Your Story, My Story, His Story

Posted on by Dorci

“Therefore we also,
since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight,
and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before Him
endured the cross,
despising the shame,
and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2

I love books. While I haven’t taken nearly as much time lately to read as I’d like, I have been living out the chapters of my own book. 

We all are. 

Just like the countless stories we read in the Bible, we each have our own story. Some are more dramatic, some tragic, some adventurous, some joyful, and thankfully, all with a little comedic relief. 

All our stories look different, but all have one Author and one Finisher: Jesus. 

Long before we were born He knew the story that would be written with our lives. He knew how each chapter would unfold and what would need to take place to propel the story forward, to complete our faith, until our story was finished, our faith perfected. 

Sometimes we don’t understand what’s going on.

Why is this happening in my life, and why is it happening now? 

And sometimes we can start looking at other people’s stories, comparing ours with theirs, wishing our story had a chapter or two out of their book. 

But our God is a personal God, and our story is unique. Our Author takes into account its characters and how and what they need in order to develop, bit by bit, until fully grown. 

So while our story may be at times full of pain and questions, we never walk through it alone. Our Author walks with us. 

The choice we have is whether or not to walk with Him. To accept the story He’s given us, and even receive it with thanksgiving, knowing that He’s using it all, the good, the bad, and the ugly, to change us, grow us, and mature us until our faith is complete. 

And somehow, someway, He is making all our stories work together into one grand narrative that ultimately tell one story, His story. A story of grace and mercy, love and beauty. A story of redemption, faith, forgiveness, strength, and hope. 

A story of the gospel, lived out in our very own lives.

One day we’ll see that more fully than we ever can now. Because when the book closes on the story of our lives here, the exciting sequel begins, the likes of which the world has never seen. 

So let’s rejoice that we play a part in the grandest of stories, and that our Author and Finisher is with us and loves us to the end.

In Him,