Good Morning Friends,
Both Mary and Martha were followers of Jesus. They both loved Jesus but how they viewed life and witnessed about Christ were very different. When it came to duty and devotion, those internal motivators, they were very different. Here we learn that it is not an either-or proposition but a matter of ordering with the first thing being of God in the experience of life. The story is one that encourages us to have it all in proper order. Here devotion is always to come before duty…love before the law… attending before acting. Here it becomes clear that we are to learn not just intellectual lessons but be prompted to respond to the transformational demands of choosing a grace-filled life and learn by doing too. Do You Know How To Listen With Love In Order To Build Christlike Communications?
Scripture: Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:38-42 (NRSV)
Let the word of Christ* dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.*
Colossians 3:16 (NRSV)
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Acts 16:25 (NRSV)
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
Ephesians 2:19-22 (NRSV)
Message: The Christian life is being in a loving relationship with Jesus…. following him….listening to his voice…staying near him….trusting in him. It is a path of humility but also this listening and conviction is an art as well as an act of love. It is designed to set us free. Today responding to the supernatural leanings of the Holy Spirit I listen to the still small voice that calls out nudging us to do on earth that which is the way of heaven. Maybe this focused unity of listening is as close as we get to being at the feet of Jesus. The message here is clear. We live in a world that is upset and duty bound… influenced by the cultures of religion, media, business, education, government, family, arts and entertainment. We are captives of culture. We live in a Martha world that is in desperate need of a witness of a reality of God with us…to a love within us. We are prisoners in need of the songs of God.
To reclaim our influence and sanity we
need to stop doing things out of habit and instead begin doing things out of love. We must listen for the opportunities. It is in the listening that people become more alive, clear, and beautiful. Without listening there is no poetry, no music, and no prayer. Here our soul is nurtured in the connection that communication creates. Here the deepest insights of our creative mind emerge as we are comforted by the counselor in a concert for our character in the power of listening. Here Christ mediates both our worship and relationships.
And So, during these stressful times some people have been evaluating the strength of their organizational structures. And by this, I mean both the physically and emotionally and spiritual and intellectual and relational ability of them to withstand stress. In today’s lectionary selection we have an example of weak links and issues of structural integrity. You see, there is a privilege and peril for every person that they might be inspired by God and be strong in the Spirit on a firm foundation of Christ or choose a cornerstone of their motivation that is not of God. Jesus stayed up all night considering the selection of his disciples to build his ministry and still one fell away. You see, relationships are the building blocks of our very salvation. And it all starts where the heart is. But we need a strong mind backed up by smart behavior designed by God for us more so than imposed upon us. When Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, he addressed Gentiles who were now Christians. He wanted them to remember their previous condition as strangers and foreigners, and then provoke them to gratitude to God who was building them together as a community. Their status had changed and now they were members of the household of God. They were now citizens in the Kingdom and identified with others who enjoyed the same relationship with God in the building of a stable life on the foundation of strong relationships with Christ as the cornerstone. Friends, this is not about admiring architecture but about living and loving in a society that is built to withstand the storms of life. So, be confident that having one’s primary identity in Christ will produce peace. The
great purpose in our lives is to identify with and become more like Christ. Listen to the Spirit.
Pray we listen so we might obey. Pray we listen and are nourished by the deep roots of God’s word. Pray we listen to build up others. Pray we listen as a way of fighting the good fight. Pray we listen to be spiritually strengthened. Pray we listen so we might walk a God-designed pathway to joy. Pray we listen to glorify God. Pray we listen in a way to communicate clearly what needs to be said. Pray we always choose to spend time at the feet of Christ. Pray we listen with humility and restraint. Pray we are blessed not stressed. Pray we are not distracted. Pray we have the right focus. Pray
that our listening produces learning and our learning a leaning toward love. Pray we realize that God has a listening heart and will guide us by the Holy Spirit. Pray we bring worship into our daily lives and homes with Christ as the cornerstone.
Pray we are built together in the Spirit as a dwelling place for God. Pray we are secure in the household of God. Pray our lives are built on a firm foundation that is never failing. Pray the whole of our relationships are fit together so that we need not fear the collapse of the structure in our lives.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 