He Allowed Her To Worship Him….

It seems every time someone realized Who Jesus was, He refrained them from acknowledging it to others. The demons that He cast out were silenced. In all the healings He performed, He most often told the people to tell no one. Here in this passage we find a woman of little discretion, adoring Jesus in front of some prominent guests. She wiped His feet with her tears and hair. Then she anointed Jesus with very expensive perfume. Jesus never stopped her. He allowed her to worship Him right in front of all these people. It’s the only occasion in the NT that this type of adornment was allowed in His presence. If we read the other gospels, we find out that this happened right before His crucifixion. It was an early version of anointing His body for burial. I guess we will never know the full extent of why Jesus allowed only her to publicly adorn or worship Him, but we do know that she was forgiven of her sins and her faith “saved” her. All I know is when we truly worship God, lose ourselves in the process, He reveals more of Himself to us. This story gives all people hope. From the most vile to the most religious, and from the most guilty to the more innocent, faith in Jesus saves us. It’s the only way God chooses to reconcile us back to Him. I can’t argue with that, can you?

36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard He was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind Him at His feet, weeping. Her tears fell on His feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing His feet and putting perfume on them.39 When the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, He would know what kind of woman is touching Him. She’s a sinner!”40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” He said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people–500  pieces of silver to one and 50  pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer Me water to wash the dust from My feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet Me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing My feet.46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint My head, but she has anointed My feet with rare perfume.47 “I tell you, her sins–and they are many–have been forgiven, so she has shown Me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that He goes around forgiving sins?”50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:36-50

Wisdom Is Shown To Be Right By…..

When you apply wisdom to your life, by living it out, it proves itself to be true. What good is knowing something, something that will not only benefit you but others as well, if you don’t put it into action. The fastest way to get depressed is to take in truth, but never apply it to your life (let it out). That’s what wisdom does, it takes in truth, then applies it to every aspect in one’s life. Give wisdom a test drive and you’ll be amazed how it plays out. Integrity has no holiday. It will have your back every single time.

35 But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.” Luke 7:35

If Jesus Has The Power Over Death…..

If Jesus has the power over death, and He is for us, then what do we have to fear? Why don’t we trust Him more? I find myself wondering why this is so easy to forget. Maybe that’s why adversity is the only thing that jogs my memory, bringing me back to the reality of this truth.

11 Soon afterward Jesus went with His disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed Him. 12 A funeral procession was coming out as He approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, His heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” He said. 14 Then He walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” He said, “I tell you, get up.” 15 Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.16 Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God, saying, “A mighty prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited His people today.” 17 And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside. Luke 7:11-17

This Amazed Jesus…..

Do you want to amaze God? I mean really make Him pleased? Put 100% of your faith into Him, and watch what happens. The Roman officer believed Jesus could heal his sick servant, so easily, that He didn’t even have to be there to do it. He believed Jesus could just give the command to be healed from where He was (far away) and it would happen. This amazed Jesus. It pleased Him so much that He announced that He hadn’t seen this kind of faith in all of Israel. When we trust God with our entire life, and believe He can do anything, it pleases God. When we please God, He is glorified. Pleasing God is all about faith. Where we put it, and how much of it we put into action. We live out our faith not to prove it’s real, or too see how much we have. We live out our faith because God is real, and He is the only legitimate recipient worthy of it. Stop wasting your time trying to find worthy objects to put your faith into. Place your faith in God, and He will give you more of it, along with all that comes with pleasing Him.

1 When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people, He returned to Capernaum. 2 At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer was sick and near death. 3 When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask Him to come and heal his slave. 4 So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. “If anyone deserves Your help, he does,” they said, 5 “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.”6 So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble Yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. 7 I am not even worthy to come and meet You. Just say the word from where You are, and my servant will be healed. 8 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”9 When Jesus heard this, He was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following Him, He said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” 10 And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed. Luke 7:1-10

God Knows Us Better….

I’ve stated this truth many times, but it keeps coming up in scripture as I read it throughout the year, so I will mention it again: God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our thoughts and intentions. He knows what we will do before we do it. And He knows our attitude towards all things. The world preaches “self love”, “look inside to find yourself”, and “forgive yourself”, but all of this doesn’t lead to the “utopia” the world promises. The only way to truly know yourself is to know the One Who made you. Knowing God helps us know ourselves. Knowing God helps us see ourselves for what we really are, sinners. Knowing God helps us see ourselves for who we are, chosen by Him to be loved and blessed, adopted into His family. If God isn’t part of our life, then all the pursuits of trying to know ourselves will fail miserably. And all we will be left with is disappointment, regret, and confusion, because we cannot redeem ourselves, only Jesus can.

21 And when great disasters come down on them, this song will stand as evidence against them, for it will never be forgotten by their descendants. I know the intentions of these people, even now before they have entered the land I swore to give them.” Deuteronomy 31:21

What He Has Revealed To Us….

Just think about the knowledge and wisdom God has? Think about all the things He knows. I can’t even fathom a small percentage of it, and I have a big head. If God knows everything, the good, the bad, and the ugly, don’t you think we should take heed to what He has revealed to us? As a non-believer, people are clueless when it comes to the things of God. Yet Nature is still a witness that leaves no man without excuse (Roman chapter 1). When we become believers, we are giving so much more insight into the how’s and why’s of life. We are given an intimate view into Who God is. As this passage says, “we are not accountable to the secrets God has not revealed.” However, we are responsible to the ones He has revealed. As believers it is our responsibility to point others to Him. And there’s no better way than through the simple message of the Gospel. It’s called “Good News” for a reason.

29 “The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that He has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions. Deuteronomy 29:29

The Moment You Think Sin Is Okay….

The moment you think a sin is okay and start to justify your actions, watch out. I’m not saying this to live your life like God is the Russia KGB agent, but I am saying that living a life with a mindset that believes God is always best. This mindset will always protect you. It will lead you back to God if you fall short. And it will prevent many heartaches in your future. The minute we allow justification of sin to creep in, it’s the minute a regrettable trouble is born. It’s not the sin that’s the big issue, it’s our attitude towards it.

“Those who hear the warnings of this curse should not congratulate themselves, thinking, ‘I am safe, even though I am following the desires of my own stubborn heart.’ This would lead to utter ruin! 20 The Lord will never pardon such people. Instead His anger and jealousy will burn against them. Deuteronomy 29:19-20a