Heart Condition

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“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” Matthew 15:19-20 ESV1

Read Matthew 15:1-2, 10-20 & Mark 7:1-5, 14-22

My son was born with a heart defect. Because of his condition, we learned that some of the bacteria which dwell in one’s mouth would like to thrive in one’s heart. Bacteria that causes little problem in the mouth can cause serious, life-threatening infections in the heart. To prevent such complications, when my son was young, he always had to take an antibiotic before he went to the dentist. Similarly, not only does a mouth and heart connection exist in the physical realm; it exists in the spiritual realm, as well.

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We’ve Got a Problem

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For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die,’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ Matthew 15:4-6a ESV1

Read Matthew 15:1-9 & Mark 7:1-13

We’ve got a problem in the church, at least in the United States of America. Wives are lonely, and children are being neglected so husbands and fathers can hold leadership positions. Children are running unsupervised through church buildings several nights a week so their mothers can practice with bands which must perform at three services each weekend. Young mothers are living in exhausted frustration because they have no help and no mentors. Retired people are squandering their time in coffee clutches and meaningless activity only to feel utterly useless. Seniors are forsaken, wasting away in nursing homes. The list goes on.

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No Time to Yourself

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Now when Jesus heard [that John the Baptist had been killed], He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed Him on foot from the towns. Matthew 14:13 ESV1

Read Matthew 14:12-36

Jesus had just received some heartbreaking news. One of His best friends, one of His close relatives, the person whom He probably respected most out of everyone on Earth, John the Baptist, had just been brutally murdered. John had been in prison for standing up for what was right. Now, there was no hope that this innocent man would be released; he was dead.

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The Power of a Woman

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And Herodias had a grudge against [John the Baptist] and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. Mark 6:19-20a ESV1

Read Matthew 14:1-12 & Mark 6:14-29

I am a woman who is more than fifty years old. I am a daughter, a sister, a mother, a grandmother, and a friend to other females. I have spent decades of my life ministering to women. In all these years of being a woman and interacting with women, I have discovered that we are powerful creatures.

God has given the woman a marked capability that has the potential of being used for good or for evil. This endowment can be used to tear down or build up. It can be used to give life or bring death. The women we will consider in today’s text used their God-given female power to destroy.

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Are You Out of Your Mind?

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When His family heard it, they went out to seize Him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” Mark 3:21 ESV1

Read Mark 3:20-21, 31-35 & 6:1-6; Matthew 12:46-50 & 13:53-58 & Luke 8:18-21

Close your eyes and imagine yourself walking along the dusty streets of an ancient village called Nazareth.

“Picture Nazareth with a population of around 400 in the first century. The roads [are] unpaved and public buildings [are] few. The houses [are] all one story, made of mud and stones and topped with thatched roofs. The windows of the small dwellings [are] usually high ‘allowing for light and ventilation but keeping passersby from peering in on [occupants] asleep on … straw mat[s] …

[Watch as women] … grind [their] flour, cook, and eat [with their families] in … courtyard[s].’ [See as] neighbors [come] together in … adjoining courtyards … ‘Everyone [is using] limestone or chalk cups, mugs, bowls, and storage vessels.’ … [They are consuming mostly] bread [which makes] … up about 70 percent of their daily calories…

Welcome to life in the first century. They [live] en masse, [eat] with the neighbors, and [travel] in caravans. While no home is perfect, there was one in Nazareth that [houses] a boy who [is] … [This Boy’s name is,] Jesus. [He is] exceptional. Yes, utterly perfect and morally flawless.”2

But so many in Nazareth are unaware of just how special Jesus is.

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Rules, Rules, Rules

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He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27 ESV1

Read Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28 & Luke 6:1-5

During the raising of our children, my husband and I were blessed with some excellent parenting resources. From one of those sources, we gleaned the valuable advice: Rules without relationship equals rebellion. That truth, paired with other wisdom and the help of God Almighty, allowed us to develop a home with high standards bathed in grace and love to which our children responded beautifully. It is too bad the Pharisees of old weren’t able to discover such life-giving truths from the resources available to them, the Law and the Prophets. Instead, they exhausted themselves making up new rules, trying to enforce those requirements, and attempting to punish anyone who broke those man-made laws.

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Rest Comes Through Revelation

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In that same hour, He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will.” Luke 10:21 ESV1

Read Matthew 11:25-30 & Luke 10:21-24

As I sit down to write today, I am full of emotion and surrounded by uncertainty. My husband’s job of thirty years is in jeopardy. My oldest daughter and her family may soon have no place to live. My youngest daughter was rejected for the internship toward which she has worked for two years. And there is so much unpredictability concerning my son’s application to graduate school that my heart is racing.

I have no idea what the next week will bring, let alone the next month or year. Yet, I have worship music blaring, and tears of gratitude are running down my cheeks. Why? Because we have been through uncertain times before, and God has never left or forsaken us (see Hebrews 13:5-6). Instead, through each problematic time, He has revealed Himself in a more significant measure to us. The process hasn’t always been easy, but each new revelation has given us what we needed to continue in this life in accordance with His plan for us.

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Greater Than

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“Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.” Matthew 11:11 ESV1

Read Matthew 11:11-19 & Luke 7:28-35, 16:15-17

Why did Jesus declare, “’Truly, I say to you, … there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he’” (Matthew 11:11)? Similarly, what did Jesus mean when He said, “’Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father’” (John 14:12)? And why did Jesus comfort His disciples by saying, “’I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you’” (John 16:7)? It is because something magnificent happened when Jesus completed His mission on Earth and went back to His Father in Heaven. It is something even better than hanging out with Jesus on Earth. In fact, it is something that is grander than humans could have imagined.

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When Doubt Creeps In

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Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Matthew 11:2-3 ESV1

Read Luke 1:13-17, 39-45; Matthew 11:2-11; Mark 1:4-8 & John 1:6-7, 23-34

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, John knew Jesus was the Messiah from his very beginning. The angel Gabriel told John’s father, Zachariah, that John “would be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15b). Shortly after Mary became pregnant with Jesus, she went to visit her relative, Elizabeth, Zachariah’s wife, who was pregnant with John. “And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, [John] leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women and blessed is the Fruit of your womb! And why is it granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy’” (Luke 1:39-44). When John first “met” Jesus, he knew Jesus was special.

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Taking Up Our Crosses

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“If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” Mark 8:34 ESV1

Read Matthew 10:34-39, Mark 8:34-38 & Luke 14:25-33

Maybe it is because we have become accustomed to adorning ourselves with cross jewelry. Maybe it is because we find it fashionable to decorate our homes with cross accents. Maybe it is all of the gracious blessings we receive because of our association with Christ, but in this day and age, we have lost the horror of the Cross. Even when we speak of bearing a cross, we only mean that we are enduring some unpleasant circumstances. But when the first-century followers of Christ heard Jesus say they must take up their crosses to be His disciples, they would have been both confused and dismayed. Continue reading →