Distracted

Scripture:    Luke 10:38-40

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving.

It is so easy to be distracted by what needs to be done. We all lead busy lives, if you ask someone how their day or week has been they will nearly always reply with how busy they have been.

I am so easily distracted with the things of the world around me -phones, people, tv, work, to- do lists, emails etc etc.

In verse 42 Jesus goes onto to tell Martha “but one thing is necessary.” That one thing is focusing on Him, not on the dishes or the state of the house for a special guest, or what needs to be done. This is so hard because we judge people by how busy they are or what they achieve, so that the expectation is that we need to be busy. Mary sat at Jesus’s feet listening to His words while Martha was in the kitchen crashing, bashing and complaining about the help she was getting. Did it bother Mary, no way and that is my goal to sit and listen without any distractions about what God is saying to me.

Other Reading

• John6:27
• Psalm 27:4

Prayer

Lord I want to sit at your feet and just listen and not be distracted by the things going around me. Help me to keep my eyes on you especially when there are many distractions around me. Lord show me the distractions for what they are and guide me in dismissing them away from my life. Not to deny their existence but not to be anxious about them and to cast them off in the belief that you have them in control. Amen

Gently does it!

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Gal5:22-23 ESV

I have difficulty with this one. Holy Spirit gentleness is what I want more of, but I find that many times I have to check myself when something is not going well. Its not that I am rude or show anger towards people, its just that I get intolerant, especially when mistakes are made. I tend to default to my flesh which tells me to just do it myself and then I find myself grumbling quietly.

I recently had a meeting that had the potential to be difficult as members of the meeting had previously expressed anger during other meetings. Before the meeting I had decided to pray for gentleness and gentleness was the fruit I was to carry into the meeting. I believe because I followed the Holy Spirit’s prompting the meeting went very peacefully and everybody was calm and reasonable. The outcome produced a very productive time and everyone chose to work together quite reasonably. Upon reflecting later on the meeting I realised that the fruit of gentleness was noticeably evident over all of the participants and was disarming and encouraging.

Bomb disposal. A critical time of gentleness.

I was reminded again how gentleness or meekness can be very disarming and uplifting in a conflict.

While searching for an image on gentleness I came across images of Jesus cuddling a lamb, this made me chuckle as I don’t see this as a true image of a gentle Jesus. Yes Jesus cared gently for every lamb (you & me) but He also showed great gentleness when He reached out to Peter while walking on the water. I think if it was me I would have waited till we got back into the boat and then given him a lesson on faith and water walking in front of the others. But Jesus just quietly and gently said to Peter   “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Peter got back into the boat with the others, with his confidence still intact. He learnt from the experience and he didn’t carry it as a failure but was able to go on and continue to be bold and courageous as he walked into new territory. Jesus used this water walking experience as training to disarm fear and to give Peter encouragement and boldness for future faith testing events. He is constantly and gently training us all through our experiences.

Another story of Jesus’s gentleness is from John 8, the story of the woman caught in adultery. The Pharisees were trying to catch out Jesus and to see whether He would follow the  OT law. When challenged He quietly and gently spoke, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” This wisdom and gentleness disarmed the Pharisees into checking themselves and one by one they left. The fruit of gentleness was infectious and it moved from the oldest Pharisee to the youngest, until all had been convicted. How many of us would react like this or would we be the type that would challenge them with “You brood of vipers” and start lecturing and pointing out the sins and weaknesses of the Pharisean men. How disarming and encouraging would this be? I wonder if the men who were challenged by Jesus on that day went home to reflect on their lives and what became of them. Did they go onto become followers of Jesus?

Gentleness of spirit is also humbleness which is today, a rare element in people. With a strong social media network of facebook, twitter, linkedin etc humbleness takes a back seat. Our society has become a “look at me” one where people are continuosly trying to build up their image of who they are and what they do. Gentleness is putting others first instead of trying to beat them in knowledge and experience. Phil 2:3However it is very hard to resist the desire to show off when you are with people who are trying to build up their own egos in a group of egotistical people. Just as the fruit of gentleness is infectious, so is the fruit of egoism and that is where next weeks fruit is needed, ‘self control’!

Thoughts

• Gentleness or meekness is not wimpiness. It takes strength, training, courage, boldness and self control to walk in gentleness
• Real humbleness needs to be acknowledged more amongst people who are displaying it.
• Selfies – what is that about and who cares!
• Many times true gentleness requires a wiring up of our mouths
• Gentleness takes time, something that is difficult in our “I want it now” society
• Examples of humble people – the people who are quietly, gently feeding the poor, helping in the background, not looking for recognition
• “We’d all like to be humble. But what if nobody notices?”
  John Ortberg, pastor, author

Prayer

Lord help me to walk in a spirit of gentleness and humbleness. Check my thoughts and my words before I step or speak out. Show me when I am displaying arrogance or ungentleness and teach me a better way. Develop in me a check so that before I step out or speak out I will seek your wisdom and guidance so that I may show your gentleness and thereby build up and encourage others. Lord give me your words to speak into peoples lives not my fleshly words. Lord I pray for your kingdom of gentleness to be present in our society that each and every person I meet or speak with will know your gentleness for their lives. Show me others that display humbleness and meekness so that I may learn what it truly means.

 

Victory

The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord. Prov 21:31 ESV

God expects us to work towards what He has in store for us. Last week we read about Saul and his army sitting around under the pomegranate trees while his son Jonathan was on the move advancing towards the enemy when an opportunity arose for him to defeat the enemy with God’s help. I am reminded of an often mis-quoted scripture, “God helps those who helps themselves.” Which is not in scripture and was originally written by ancient Greeks as plural Gods but has been evolved to “God” in our modern day culture. But God does expect us to be busy, not just waiting for Him to act. We need to be working towards His plan for us, it will happen, the victory belongs to the Lord.

Work is important to God, He gave Adam the task of managing the garden Gen2:15, this was before the fall. All of Jesus’s disciple were working when He called them out into ministry. The expectation is that we are busy preparing ourselves for His promise while He is busy making it happen. Jesus called Peter out of the boat, He wanted him to start the process, He wanted him to move towards Him. He didn’t want him to just sit in the boat and wait till He arrived, Jesus wanted to see Peter’s faith in action.

The verse in Isaiah40:31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint, tells us that we will find extra strength and power if we “wait.” “Wait” in this is qavah in Hebrew and it means “to wait or look eagerly for”. In falconry there is a term “waiting on” which means that the bird is flying eagerly searching for prey. Another meaning is “lay in wait” it doesnt mean to be resting it is an active verb.

While we are waiting we need to be active, moving toward His promise. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Hab2:3 NKJV   AND VICTORY  WILL BE THE LORDS. AMEN

Look who’s here!

Matt8:14 And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever.

While reading this passage it struck me that he is married with a home and family. Peter would have been so excited taking Jesus back to his place for dinner after an amazing day of healings, a leper (vs2), the centurion’s servant (vs13) and the 3 chapters of teachings on the mountain. They would have all been abuzz with the days activities and were probably wanting to sit around over a meal to discuss what had happened that day.

This short passage is sandwiched between the Beatitudes and the calming of a storm and comes across to me as a small whisper of an event. But after reflecting on it I am amazed by the simplicity of it. Jesus comes to dinner at Pete and Andy’s place and sees Peter’s mother-in-law severly ill. It wasn’t just a fever, it was a severe illness and Jesus just simply touches her hand and she is healed. But not just enough of a healing to be better, but she is now up preparing food for them. It was simple but so dramatic, no fuss from Jesus or Pete and his wife.

I have been in situations when I have come home from work and somebody in my house has been ill, but have I just simply touched the person to heal, no, the prayer for healing is usually the last thing after questions about the sickness or injury and then suggesting going to the doctor, taking a panadol or resting up. Jesus just came in touched her and went into the lounge to put his feet up.

Thoughts

• Why do we complicate healing
• It should be our first thought and action when we hear of someone ill
• If Jesus came to my house what would he find

Prayer

Lord I thank you for this word in Matthew and simplicity of it. Jesus I recognise you as the great healer and you have promised us that we can do the same and greater (Peter went on and healed with his shadow) Lord show me the people who need healing and I ask that I can have the boldness to hold their hand and request a healing. Not for my benefit but for your glory and that your name will be lifted high.

Lord I pray that my home is a sanctuary for you to dwell in. You are continuosly welcome in my home and I want others to know that you are there living with us, not by the pictures on the wall or the Bible on the table but by the atmosphere in this sanctuary. I pray that our home will become a refuge for others to come to and seek and find you.

I pray that your mighty works will become the norm and that we will see your signs and wonders move through this land so that many will come to believe in you and what you did for each one of us.

Amen