“From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2. You lust, and have not: you kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: you fight and war, ye you have not because you ask not. 3. You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss (with wrong motives), that you may consume it upon your lusts. (Parenthesis added)
These verses were a call to errant people who were straying from the gospel and away from righteousness and purity. Evidently, they were at odds with each other and were spending a lot of time arguing. On top of that, they were living selfish lives. Perhaps they wondered why their prayers were not being answered. James gave them the answer in verses 2b and 3: “You have not because you ask not. 3. You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts.” The point is that they usually did not ask, but when they did, they asked with wrong motives. What is a wrong motive in prayer? We ask with wrong motives in prayer when we pray only for our own selfish interests. There is an old prayer that is an example of this kind of praying: “Lord, bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife: us four and no more.” This is how the recipients of James’ letter were praying. They never asked for anything outside of their own interests. This is not how Jesus prayed and it is not how all of the great servants of God in the scriptures prayed. The true spirit of prayer is given in 1 Timothy 2:1-4: “I exhort therefore that, first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men; 2. For kings and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. 4. Who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” There are a lot of things that could be discussed in these verses, but my point here is that our prayers are to go beyond our own self interests. We ask with wrong motives in prayer when our prayers are not made in love. For example, Jesus told us to love our enemies, and to “pray for those which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44) As I prayed this morning, I prayed, as usual, for my family. When I prayed for them, the Lord put the Islamic terrorists on my heart. It was as if the Lord was saying to me that it is well and good that I pray for my family and friends, but that I am also under mandate to pray for those who choose to be my enemies. We cannot really love our enemies if we do not pray for them. Think of those people that you consider your enemies. Are you willing to stop right now and pray a loving prayer for them? Would pray that they be blessed? When we come to the Lord in prayer, we need to pray first of all that He cleanse all enmity from our hearts. We ask with wrong motives in prayer when our prayers are not made according to God’s will. John reminded us in 1 John 5:14: “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” Why would we want anything in our lives that was not God’s will for us? When we pray, we should be looking for God’s guidance in our lives. We are more likely to do and say good things to people if we are following the will of God for our lives. It is important that we follow God’s will whether it seems to be to our advantage or not. This is difficult, but it is biblical. I have discovered that if my prayers are prayed according to His will, that, though it might not be what I want at the time, ultimately it will be better. You will discover the same thing. Bro. Joe
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“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12. I know how to be abased (have little), and I know how to abound (have a lot): everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheth me.”
The Philippian Church sent Paul a monetary gift to help with his expenses. In the passage from which the text is taken, Paul thanked them profusely for their generosity, but he wanted them to know that he was not needy. Paul had learned to live in all kinds of circumstances. There were times that he had plenty, and he was content. There were times that he had very little, and he was content. The point was that Paul was never “under the circumstances,” i.e., circumstances, good or bad, did not control Paul’s life. This required great faith in the Lord, for Paul faced all kinds of difficult circumstances. For example: After he was saved on the Damascus Road and began to preach the gospel, there were people who swore to kill him. They declared that they would not eat until Paul was dead. (They must have been awfully hungry thirty years later.) I don’t think that it would be a comfortable thought that somebody out there wants to kill us. It would take great faith on Paul’s part to go on living and witnessing in spite of the fact that someone wanted to kill him. (Put yourself in that position.) Paul faced all kinds of trials as he traveled about witnessing and ministering for Jesus. He wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9. Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” Now look at a list of circumstances that Paul encountered in his ministry: “Of the Jews five times I received forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren….” (2 Corinthians 11:24-26) There is more, but these verses should prove the point that Paul’s life and his effectiveness in what he was doing were not controlled by negative circumstances. Paul was not a super-human hero who could not be harmed by the contingencies of life. He was a flesh and blood man, who had learned to not be controlled by the circumstances of his life. You and I do not have to live “under the circumstances,” because we have the same resource at our disposal that Paul had. Philippians 4:13 gives the secret: “I can do all through Christ (Who) strengthens me.” In everything that he did, Paul knew that Jesus was with him. This meant that he had the Holy Spirit working in his life to enable him to be effective. This meant that he had faith that Jesus could take care of him in all circumstances. Paul could withstand all that he suffered because he had Jesus in his life. Well, is Jesus dead? If we have Jesus in our lives we can also do all things in His strength, just as Paul did. But what if Paul was actually killed? Here is what he wrote in Philippians 2:21: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Paul knew that if he was killed, he would be with Jesus in heaven. I don’t know what circumstances you are facing in your life today, but I do know that you do not have to live “under them.” I know from experience that you can face whatever you have to face with poise and grace, if you believe that Jesus is with you and giving you His strength. If you do not know that, give Him your life today. Confess your sins, and, by faith, invite Jesus into your life. If you do know that, give your circumstances to Jesus today, and let Him handle them for you. It works! Bro. Joe “Then the whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night. 2. All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, if only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3. Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and little children will become plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt? 4. So they said to one another, ‘Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.’” HCSB
This is a sad commentary on the history of God’s people. Just a short time before this, the Israelites marched out of Egypt with their heads held high. Four hundred years of captivity had ended. God had miraculously delivered them from Egypt. He had miraculously gotten them through the Red Sea. He had given them manna to eat every morning and provided quail along the way. What did God have to do to show them that He meant business? Now they want to erase all of this, backtrack and go back to captivity in Egypt. Why? As the Israelites got closer to the “promised land,” Moses sent out twelve spies to spy out the land that they were to conquer. The report of the spies was that it was as good a land as God had said it was. The problem was that the people were big folks, and the Israelite spies, except for Joshua and Caleb, said that they seemed like “grasshoppers” in their sight. Wow! They have gone from the victorious people of God with their heads held high to “grasshoppers.” Of course, you know that they never returned to Egypt but the fact that the thought was there and a plan presented proved a lack of faith on their part. This made me wonder about how many times have I come to a bad place in my life and in my heart devised a plan to “go back to Egypt”? Just as God’s plan for Israel was to forge ahead and not go back to Egypt, so it is with us. . If God wants me in Palestine, He doesn’t intend for me to go back to Egypt. Thus far I have been nice, because I have referred to my own lack of faith. What about you? How many times have you made plans to “go back to Egypt?” Somehow we think that when God makes a promise to us, it will be fulfilled without a great deal of responsibility on our part. It just doesn’t work that way. God has “the promised land” in our future, but there will be struggles and fights along the way to get there. If the struggle seems bigger than God, then we will want to back up and not carry out in our lives what God wants. Where are you sitting now in reference to God’s plan for your life as against what you want for your life? If you are like a lot of people, you will not really worry about what God wants and go on your merry way. You don’t have to worry about going back to Egypt, because you have never left your "Egypt.". But if you really care, you need to plan to face the struggles and fight the fights that are ahead of you to do and to be what God wants you to be. These struggles and fights need to be carried out with faith. And, unlike the Israelites here, we need to realize that though we seem like “grasshoppers” our God is considerably bigger than a grasshopper and is capable of helping us through whatever we need to go through. What happened as a result of this plan to “go back to Egypt”? The Israelites were made to wander through the desert for the next forty years until the generation that left Egypt died out. They wasted forty years because of a lack of faith. How much time have we wasted in our lives because of our own lack of faith? Be sure that I am not fussing at you, I’m saying to you what I say to myself: “Get up off of it. Trust God. Get in the struggle and stop wasting time.” Stop making plans to “go back to Egypt” and get on with what God wants for your life. You can be sure that the Lord does want something for your life and it is worth the struggle to find it. Bro. Joe “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.”
It would be impossible to enumerate the reasons that we know God is good. The main reason that we know this is that He sent Jesus to be our Savior. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God revealed His word to the writers of the Bible. He has given us the privilege of prayer. These three facts should suffice to convince even the hardest of hearts to see God’s goodness. Psalm 34:8 shows us how to personally experience God’s goodness. The psalmist wrote, “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” The first thing that we might ask is what does “taste” mean in this context? One example is that we do not know the taste of food until we try it for ourselves. We cannot experience the goodness of Lord if we do not give Him a chance to show His goodness to us personally. The first step is to receive the gift of His Son into our hearts and lives. We cannot know what it is like to be a child of God until we become His child. That’s why it is difficult to explain what it means to be a Christian to a person who has hardened his or her heart against Christ. I have actually dared people who have this hardness against Christ to ask Him into their hearts and lives. Not many have taken that dare. Furthermore, a person cannot appreciate the Bible until he or she comes to personally know the author. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:2-3: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby, if so be that ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” Have you tasted the goodness of the Lord through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? You will not taste His goodness until you do know Him through a faith relationship with Jesus Christ. You will taste that goodness when, by God’s grace, you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and come to know Him personally. The psalmist wrote: “Blessed is the man (person) that trusteth in Him.” Trust, or faith, is the key that opens the door to tasting that the Lord is good. In Ephesians 2:8, Paul wrote: “For by grace through faith are you saved…” It is trust in Jesus that opens the door into His kingdom. “Blessed” is another word for “happy” in the Bible. The person who trusts in Jesus is happy. This does not mean that every circumstance of the Christian’s life is happy. Christians have unhappy moments just like everyone else. In John 15:11 Jesus said: “My joy I give you that your joy may be full.” The blessedness that we have in Jesus is not the temporary happiness that the things of the world bring, but it is a gift of joy from the Savior Himself. It is joy borne of a relationship with Jesus and prayer in His name. Psalm 37:5: “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” We will never realize the great things that can come to pass in the Lord until we trust in Him. “O taste and see that the Lord is good…” That is good advice. Have you taken that advice? “Blessed is the (person) that trusteth in Him.” Have you experienced that joy and happiness that only Jesus can give? If you have, are you sharing it with other people who have not tasted that He is good? Bro. Joe “From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will you also go away?”
We usually think of Jesus’ twelve disciples as the only people who followed Him. They were appointed as apostles, but He had more followers than "the Twelve." A lot of people followed Jesus because of His miracles, and because they were fascinated with His teaching. But when it became clear that following Him would call for complete devotion, many turned away from Him and went on about their mundane lives. There are many people today who are fascinated with Jesus, but when it becomes clear to them that Jesus will make demands on their lives, they turn away without being saved. I want to explore reasons why I think people turn away from Jesus before they give their lives to Him. People today turn away from Jesus for much the same reason that the people in the text turned back, i.e., Jesus was not what they wanted Him to be. Jesus is who the Bible says He is. I hear and read many things about Jesus today that are not true. There is some idea afloat out there that Jesus does not really care how people live, or what people believe. These people have divorced Jesus from the rest of the Bible. People want to accept Jesus and do away with Paul. Jesus teaches us to be humble and to love all people, but He does not expect us to agree with people who have rejected Him and His calling on their lives. When it became clear to these people in the text that Jesus was not just a miracle worker, and that He would make some demands on their lives, they turned back from following Him. Jesus came to give His life as a ransom for our sins. He came to call out people to serve Him and , if need be, at some cost to themselves. Jesus is who and what He is, and we can’t make Him be what we want Him to be. People turn away from Jesus because He does not always do what they tell Him to do. Some people seem to think that praying in the name of Jesus is simply a formula for success. It is true that we have abundant and victorious life because of Jesus, but our every wish is not His command. It is thought today that all Jesus wants is for us to be happy. I’m not going to say that Jesus is against our being happy, but He wants to make a difference in what makes us happy. Let’s turn to the “beatitudes” in Matthew 5 for an example. In verse 10, Jesus said: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” “Blessed” also means “happy.” This does not tell us that if we follow Jesus, we will not have any problems. It is not just that Jesus is happy when we are happy, but that we should also be happy when He is happy. Jesus will answer all of our prayers, but at times He will tell us what He told Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 after Paul asked for healing from his thorn in the flesh: “And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” People turn away from Jesus because He is not popular with the world. The name of Jesus is almost a lightning rod in some places today. It is like people want to remove His name from the public conscience. Jesus told His disciples in John 15:18-19: “If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. 19. If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” The Jesus of people’s imagination might be popular, but the Jesus who makes demands on people’s lives is not popular, and we will not be popular in the world at large if we follow Him. I don’t mean to turn you away from following Jesus, but to remind you that if you follow Jesus, it must be for the right reasons. Bro. Joe “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
Paul was concerned that people were listening to those who would subvert the gospel. In 2 Timothy 2:14 and 16, Paul warned Timothy about what he should avoid: “14. Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of hearers. 16. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.” It was important that Timothy not get sidetracked by peripheral issues, but that he stick with the truth. This is why Paul admonished Timothy to, “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” This verse is meant for us as well. Timothy was instructed to “study.” The Greek word that is translated “study” in the KJV means "to be diligent, to make haste or to be eager." Those who were teaching false doctrines and arguing that things that did not matter, were diligent in their work; therefore, Timothy was to be diligent in his work. The Bible never tells us to do anything half-heartedly. When we teach the Bible, we are to be diligent. When we sing, we are to be diligent . Whatever we do in our service to the Lord, we are to do diligently. The enemies of the cross today are diligent about hushing us up; therefore, we should be diligent about not being hushed up. By this I do not mean that we should argue and make threats, but that we should diligently live the Christian life and show the world what it means to be a child of God. Just as Paul did not want Timothy to waste his time arguing about “words to no profit,” so should we not let naysayers sidetrack us from living and teaching the gospel. Timothy was instructed to “study to show thyself approved unto God.” Paul did not mean that Timothy’s diligence would make him “approved unto God.” What he meant was that when Paul was diligent about the truth, and about teaching and preaching the truth of Christ, he would show that he was approved of God. We win God’s approval in one way, and that is by putting our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please Him (God).” We are to take Christ and His truth to the world diligently in order for the world to know that God approves what we are teaching and living. When we are half-hearted about our faith, we do not show anybody anything. We should live our faith eagerly and enthusiastically in order to show people what Christian living is really about. Timothy was instructed to “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Our diligence will show the world that we are not ashamed to be Christians, and that we will not abandon “the word of truth.” We should not be ashamed of Christ or His word of truth. When we believe gospel truth, live gospel truth and share gospel truth we should not be ashamed. The world, led by Satan, has always tried to stop the gospel. The enemies of the cross cannot stop the spread of gospel truth, but they hinder us in our proclamation of it if we are half-hearted and ashamed. This message to Timothy is just as vital for us as it was for him. Let’s believe it and live it. Bro. Joe “O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; fear before Him all the earth.”
In this verse, the psalmist called us to worship the Lord. I don’t think we fully realize the importance of worship in our lives. We need to take the time and the effort to consciously worship the Lord. Understand that He does not need our worship, for He is God, but we need to worship Him. It is a call to worship for “all the earth.” In other words, everyone needs to worship God. Everyone will not worship Him, but this does not mean that they do not need to. God’s presence is spread throughout the whole earth, indeed, throughout the whole universe. We need to worship God, as we know Him in Jesus Christ, because He is holy. We are called to worship God in the “beauty of His holiness.” The Bible teaches us that none of us are holy within ourselves. We need to seek the holiness that belongs to God and can be applied to our lives. When we worship God, we are celebrating His holiness. This is what we do when we worship together in church on Sunday. This is why we have times of prayer, sing hymns that celebrate Him, give our tithes and offerings, hear sermons on God’s word preached and respond to all that has happened on a given Sunday. We are gathered together celebrating God’s holy presence. We need to worship God because of His power. Whether we physically kneel in worship or not, in our hearts we should be aware that we are kneeling before the almighty, powerful God. We worship that which we know to be superior to us. This is why in the Bible, for example, angels would not allow men to worship them. Angels are messengers of the power of God... Angels minister to us. In fact, they are called “ministering spirits,” but they are not gods. There is no other being, or thing, that is worthy of worship besides our Almighty God. This is why the first commandment of the Ten Commandments is that we are to have no other gods before Him. We need to worship God as a reminder of our daily need for Him. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” We need to remember that every good thing that we have is a gift from God. This is why Christians pause before meals and say a prayer of thanksgiving. It is a simple acknowledgement that we are dependent on God for our “daily bread.” But we need to be thankful for all of the good things that God has allowed us to have. He does not just provide our “daily bread,” but He provides everything else that is good in our lives. We need to worship God daily because of the great provisions that He has made for us. I don’t think that we affluent Americans fully realize our dependence on God for His provision in our lives. We forget that, “The earth is the Lord’s and fullness therof…” (Psalm 24:1) We need to worship God because we cannot live the abundant Christian life without worshiping Him. Jesus taught us to pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” This is a reminder that it is God/Jesus who delivers us daily from temptation. When we try to deliver ourselves from evil, we find that we cannot do it. Our worship of Him makes us aware of His presence in our daily lives. When we fail to pause and worship Him, even if it is just a few minutes, we are subject to Satan’s temptations. In fact, Satan loves it when we fail to worship God through prayer and Bible reading. Our power to overcome the world is in God’s hands, not our own. Pause now and “Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” Bro. Joe “I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto your testimonies (commandments). 60. I made haste, and delayed not to keep your commandments.”
Have you ever said to yourself, “I should have given a little more thought to that"? I have. In fact, I have also said, “I should have given a lot more thought to that.” We have all probably said about certain things in our lives, “What in the world was I thinking?” The psalmist gave some good advice about stopping and thinking about what we say and do in life. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he reveals to us the importance of right thinking. Right thinking will lead us in the right direction. The psalmist wrote, “I thought on my ways.” We need to stop and think about what direction decisions we make in life will lead us. For example, when a person takes that first snort of cocaine, he or she is asking to be addicted for the rest of their lives. If they would stop and think, they would not give their lives to such a sordid addiction. Perhaps, bad decisions that you have made in your life have not been that dire and life-changing, but they, nevertheless, led you in the wrong direction. The decision can be something like deciding which TV programs to watch. There is a lot of bad stuff on TV that will lead us in the wrong direction if we are not careful. It’s those little bad decisions that add up and lead us in the wrong direction. When you make decisions in life, think about what direction that decision will take you. If you sense that it will not take you in the direction of God’s will, it would be better to take another route. Right thinking will lead us toward God and not away from Him. The psalmist wrote, “…and turned my feet to your testimonies.” The only way that we can make decisions that will lead us toward God and His will for our lives, is to make decisions under the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit to them who would guide them. If we seek His leadership, we can be sure that we will be in God’s will and not away from it. I have made decisions in my life that were led by the Holy Spirit, and I have made decisions that were not. I can tell you from these experiences that following the guidance of the Holy Spirit is better. When Paul and Barnabas went on their first missionary journey, a young man named John Mark went with them. Early in the journey it is recorded in Acts 13 that when they “sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, John left them and went back to Jerusalem." If John Mark had thought through what the Holy Spirit wanted of him, he might not have made the journey in the first place. Stop and think before you make a decision about your life about whether or not it is from the Holy Spirit. Right thinking will reveal to us what our real priorities should be. The psalmist wrote, “I made haste, and delayed not to keep your commandments.” Notice: “I made haste.” This means the psalmist did not waste his time on low priority things, but centered his thinking on high priority things. We can have many priorities that will not make our lives better. God has given us gifts and talents, and we should use those talents and gifts building up God’s kingdom. We waste a lot of time on non-essentials. Please do not read here that I’m telling you to never relax and to never seek entertainment. What I am relating is that there is a time and place for everything, but we are responsible for putting right priorities in their proper perspective. Give some thought to right thinking. Bro. Joe “Mary, which also sat at Jesus’feet, and heard His word.”
The text is taken from the incident where Jesus visited with Lazarus and his two sisters Mary and Martha. Martha was busy with getting the meal ready for Jesus, while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus. Martha was upset because Mary was not helping her with the chores. Jesus told Martha that she was too "careful and troubled about many things, but that Mary had chosen “that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Our focus is on the fact that Mary sat at the feet of Jesus. There are two other incidents in John’s gospel that tell us about Mary at the feet of Jesus. We can learn some valuable lessons from these incidents. Mary learned at the feet of Jesus. The text revealed that Mary “sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard His word.” We also need to get alone with Jesus and “sit at His feet” and learn from Him. Jesus will speak to our hearts and minds as we center ourselves on Him. The reason that Jesus commended Mary was that she sat at His feet and learned from him because she loved Him. If we love Jesus we will spend time in prayer, concentrating on Him. Mary was also commended because she listened to Jesus. I think that Mary was fascinated with Jesus’ teaching and concentrated on what He was saying to her. We need to meditate and concentrate on Jesus through scripture and through prayer, and let Him teach us. We can’t physically sit at the feet of Jesus, but we can stop whatever other activities we spend our time on, and spend some time with Him. We get to know Jesus better as we worship Him. We will be more inclined to do His will if we spend time with Him. Like Martha, we need to learn that there is no other business that we have to do that is more important than learning from Jesus. Mary wept at the feet of Jesus. John 11 gives us the story of the raising of Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus from the grave. In John 11:32 we read: “Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying unto Him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Mary did not complain to all of her friends and relatives about Jesus’ absence, but she took her concern directly to Him and fell at His feet. We need to learn to take our puzzling questions and concerns to Jesus. We will learn when we do that Jesus knows what our questions and concerns are, and He is willing to help us. Psalm 55:33 has a good lesson for us about this matter: “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.” When we face the crises that we will inevitably face in life, we need to run straight to Jesus and spiritually get at His feet and seek His answers and gain from His ministry to us. Jesus is waiting for us to bring all of life’s perplexities to Him, and He will give us understanding and peace. Mary served at the feet of Jesus. In John 12:3, we read, again, about Mary at the feet of Jesus: “Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus.” I think that Mary took the most precious, and expensive thing that she had and lavished it on Jesus. Judas Iscariot was critical of Mary and said, “Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?” Jesus answered him: “Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.” The lesson here is that we should put Jesus first, and all other things will fall into place. No time that we spend at the feet of Jesus is wasted. This time will enrich our lives and make us better Christian servants. Bro. Joe |
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