Tag: Martha

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Luke Devotionals

Open mouths

Mary of Bethany

She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what he said. (Luke 10:39)

Reading about Mary’s heart always touches me. But by chance, I was praying through Psalm 81 today, and came upon these words.

I am the Lord your God…Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. (Psalm 81:10)

Martha was too busy to receive Jesus’ words. (40-41)

The expert in the law tried to find ways to escape them. (29)

But Mary had a mouth open wide to Jesus’ words. And Jesus filled it.

I don’t know about you, but I want what Mary had. A mouth wide open to the words of Jesus. And more importantly, a heart that’s receptive to them.

How sweet your word is to my taste—
sweeter than honey in my mouth. (Psalm 119:103)

Categories
John Devotionals

Questioning Jesus’ love

Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. (John 11:5-6)

So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Couldn’t he who opened the blind man’s eyes also have kept this man from dying?” (36-37)

One of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! You’re not considering that it is to your advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.”

He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to unite the scattered children of God. (49-52)

Jesus loves us. But there are times he doesn’t act as we had hoped, and we struggle to understand why. During those times, it’s easy to start asking, “Does Jesus really love me?”

But the truth is, often times we know nothing at all. There are things that God knows that we are not considering.

That was most clearly seen at the cross. No one understood what God was doing. Not the priests. Not the Pharisees. Not Jesus’ disciples. Not Jesus’ mother. No one.

But the cross was the greatest expression of God’s love.

Are there questions you’re struggling with? “Why”s you can’t understand?

Let us be like Mary and Martha, who though hurting, didn’t stay away from Jesus, but ran to him. Who kept believing in him. Who kept obeying him.

And like them, the day will come when we will see the glory of God.

On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory.

None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, because if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written,

What no eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no human heart has conceived—
God has prepared these things for those who love him. (1 Corinthians 2:7-9)

Categories
John Devotionals

Running to Jesus

John

We don’t always understand why God does the things he does.

Martha and Mary certainly didn’t. Several days before, they had sent word to Jesus that their brother Lazarus was sick. But Jesus deliberately delayed in coming.

What would you do?

Many people would turn their backs on Jesus, bitter and angry.

But Martha and Mary went to him. In Mary’s case, she “rose quickly” and went to him.

They were upset. They were confused. But they still went to Jesus. And in doing so, they found out that he truly is faithful.

How about you? When you are angry and confused by what God does, do you turn from him? Or do you run to him?

Categories
Luke Devotionals

The most important thing

Luke

I have read the story of Mary and Martha many a time, and it never fails to make me stop and think.

Think about what Luke says. “Martha welcomed him into her home.” (Luke 10:38)

And yet when he entered, she was “distracted with much serving.” (vs. 40—ESV)

Put another way, she was ironically “pulled away from Jesus” by all her serving.

Not only that, she was “worried and upset about many things.” (41)

What was she so worried and upset about?

Perhaps she was worried about trying to please Jesus. To make everything perfect for him. And she got upset when things weren’t going just right.

Sounds like a perfectionist to me. How would I know? I’m a perfectionist myself.

And like Martha, when I serve the Lord, I want everything to be perfect. And when things don’t go perfectly, I get anxious and upset.

Do we know (do I know?) in our heart of hearts that we don’t have to earn Jesus’ favor? That he already not only accepts us, but looks on us favorably?

Or are we constantly running around trying to serve him, and getting worried or upset whenever things don’t go just right because deep down we have doubts that he really has accepted us?

All of us have welcomed Jesus into our lives. But now that he’s dwelling in our hearts, are we pulled away from spending time with him, distracted with “much serving?”

Or do we actually take the time to stop and spend time with him, talking to him, and listening to him?

Of course there is a time for us to serve Jesus. Actually, a better way to put it is that there’s a time for us to serve with Jesus.

But if we forget that he already loves us and looks at us with favor, we will start to lose perspective in life as Martha did.

Look at Jesus’ words to Martha. What do you think is most important to him?

Categories
John Devotionals

Ramping up our faith

John

Martha’s faith was pretty remarkable when you think about it.

Even though Jesus had delayed in coming when her brother was sick, and as a result her brother died, her faith in Jesus never wavered.

So many people in her position would have been so disappointed in Jesus that they would have just said, “I’m done with Jesus. He doesn’t really care about me.”

But though she was clearly hurting, and couldn’t understand why Jesus didn’t come earlier (John 11:21), she said,

Yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. (John 11:22)

You see clearly from the next several verses that she was not at all thinking Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead. All she was saying was, “I still believe in you Jesus. I still believe you are from God.”

She later affirms,

I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world. (27)

Martha clearly had faith. But Jesus wanted her to ramp up her faith. He wanted her to deepen her understanding of just who he was.

So he told her,

I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. (25-26)

Talk about needing to ramp up your understanding of who Jesus is. No mere human could claim this. There is only one source of life, and that’s God.

Frankly, I think Martha’s head was spinning. With a child’s faith, she said, “Yes,” but it’s clear that she did not fully understand Jesus’ words.

And so when Jesus told her to roll away the stone to Lazarus’ tomb, she objected. At that point, Jesus once again challenged her to ramp up her faith in a very practical way: obey him. (39-41)

And when she did, she came to a deeper understanding of who Jesus truly was. That understanding became even more complete when she saw Jesus himself rise from the dead.

Do you really want to know Jesus better? Obey him.

Even when you don’t understand what he’s doing or not doing. Even when you don’t understand why he’s telling you what he’s telling you. Obey him.

In what area of your life is Jesus now telling you, “Trust me. Obey me.”