The Extravagant, Sinful, Forgiven Woman

Simon, a Pharisee, heard about the miracles Jesus had performed and invited him to dinner at his house. This could have just been for appearances sake, or perhaps Simon was sincerely curious about this famous miracle worker.  Either way, he’d heard about Jesus and wanted to learn more for himself.  Whatever Simon had in mind for the meal, things didn’t turn out the way he’d planned.
 

During the meal, a woman entered the room.  It was common for uninvited guests, even beggars, to sit along the periphery of a room, listening to conversation and hoping for leftovers.  However, this woman’s entrance seemed to grab everyone’s attention because she had a notorious reputation. 

 Some scholars speculate that she may’ve been a prostitute, in financial debt, the wife of someone with a dishonorable career, or a woman who’d committed adultery.  We don’t know the reason for her shame, but the community did-they knew her background, talked about her, and looked down on her. 

The uninvited, sinful woman shockingly broke cultural taboos.  She dared to approach Jesus, an honored religious teacher.  Then, taking on the job of a servant, she cleaned and anointed His feet.  In a culture of strict gender segregation, she dared to touch Jesus’ feet-with her tears, her hair, and even her lips.  

Jesus’ reaction was equally shocking: He didn’t recoil from her touch or publicly reproach her.  Instead He accepted her worshipful expression of devotion, love, intimacy, and gratitude.  He defended her. He used her as an example of one who “loved much” (Luke 7:47). 

The woman didn’t care about what people said or thought about her-she just wanted to serve Jesus.  She was unashamed to show her love for Him.  She understood the deep forgiveness of Christ and wanted to serve Him.  

Who are you in this story? 

The judgmental, uptight onlookers? 

Simon? Who pretends to have it all together and know it all, but is missing the big picture? 

Or the sinful woman that sees her deep need for a Savior and is willing to give extravagantly and humbly draw near to the Forgiver?

I'll Make A Man Out of You

If you’re a Disney fan, then you immediately heard the beat of a drum and Donny Osmond singing as you read the title of this post. For those of you that are not Disney fans, or too young to remember the movie Mulan from 1998, here’s a synopsis: Mulan is a girl, the only child of her honored family. When the Huns invade China, one man from every family is called to arms. Mulan's father, who has an old wound and cannot walk properly, decides to fight for his country and the honor of his family-though it is clear that he will not survive an enemy encounter. 

Mulan, who just got rejected by the matchmaker (arranger of marriages) because she had set her on fire, decides to prove that she is worth something and steals away to take her father's place in the Chinese army. Mulan then joins the other troopers at a training camp under the leadership of a man named Shang. Shang has a zero-tolerance policy for weak, lazy, immature men-hence the name of the song I’ll Make A Man Out of You. 

So many women have a Shang approach to dating. I love a good project-as do most women-and that has unfortunately carried over into the dating world. But ladies, it is NOT our job to take a boy and mold him into a man.  

Trying to be in a relationship with a man’s “potential” is risky (not to mention exhausting!). You find yourself investing all of this time and energy all for the result of little-to-no return. What we see as building him up and encouraging him, turns out to just be making things more convenient for him. STOP. IT. 

It’s like hiring an employee and giving him a complete benefit package before he’s even become qualified for the job. He’s not going to learn the necessary skills when you are over compensating for him. In fact, he’ll do as little as possible; just enough to get by and get what he wants. Do you really think enabling him is going to push him to higher levels? 

It’s not your job to build a man.

Questioning God's Goodness in the Midst of Hard Things

I am the queen of pity parties when things don’t go according to my plans. The last time that I dived down into my self-induced pit of despair, I really wanted to be mad at God.  How could He let such things happen to me?  Doesn’t He love me anymore?

Have you ever had this type of dialogue between yourself and God? Over the years I’ve learned that in times of adversity I am forced to become utterly dependent upon the Lord and His strength.  In fact, the hardships we face are often instruments used to bring us to this point.

What does the Bible have to say about difficult, challenging situations in our lives? James tells us to consider it joy when we encounter various trials. Why? Because the testing of our faith produces endurance (James 1:2). 

Endurance isn’t a word that surfaces often in my vocabulary. To have endurance is to suffer through the trials patiently. I don’t know about you, but when I am in the midst of a trial, I just want to get through it quickly. And I certainly don’t consider at the time what the situation could be teaching me or how it could be changing me for the better.

I find great comfort in the fact that God sees it all; He knows how things are going to end and while it may seem bleak to us, the future is not dark to Him! We know all of these truths as believers, so why do we continue question God and His goodness in the midst of hard things?  We question God when our hearts are not lined up with His.

“Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen in temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

God doesn’t ask us to act as though our problems do not exist.  He asks us to trust and endure the process, knowing that He works everything out for our good. We can rest assured that the trials of this life are temporary. 

          Perhaps the hardships of life that you wish you didn’t have to face, are your opportunity to see the rescuing,

redeeming, enabling, power of God working in you and through you.  May we endure well.

Pro-people in a Pro-choice World

With an emphasis on the sanctity of life throughout the month of January, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the “my body, my choice” mentality in our culture today.  

  All throughout Scripture children are described as a blessing and a gift from the Lord.  But as we are well aware, our culture considers children an inconvenience and all too often as “optional”. 

 I think it’s pretty clear as to where the Church stands on these matters in theory, but what about in practicality? Of course we don’t want that baby to be murdered, but is the Church a refuge for scared, single mothers that have made the choice to keep their unplanned, fatherless child? Or do they feel the weight of judgmental glances and whispered remarks? 

 Sanctity of life goes beyond unborn babies, it extends to those we encounter that have made poor choices, are in poverty, and even those that are just flat out different than us.

In 1 John, John not only speaks of the great love of the Father, but calls us as children of God to mirror that love one to another.  This love he speaks of is a visible, tangible love; not mere words and concepts. 

 

 “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

1 John 3:18 

May our actions match our stance on life. May our love go beyond our words. May we be “pro-people” and not just pro-life.

Let's Talk About Sex

Let’s be honest here.  The title peeked your curiosity, but we need to make this stuff clear, y’all.  We all know by now that the Bible teaches that sex is a good thing within the right context. That it is a unitive act that is intended to bring together (unite) husband and wife in closeness.  

We also know that the Bible commands us to actively practice and pursue purity. In fact, Jesus said when put in lustful situations, we are to remove and throw away whatever causes us to sin (see Matthew 5:27-28).  

But here’s the real point I want to make.  Sexual purity is not just about the physical acts, but about what happens in your heart.  Purity isn’t just about how you behave and react-it begins in your soul.  

Why is sex and sexual sin such a big deal? Well, beyond going against God and His Word (aka: sin), sex outside of the biblical boundaries of marriage is sinning against your own body (see 1 Corinthians 6:18).  

How are we to respond to such temptations?

1. Flee.  Seriously, get away from it. Make like Joseph in Potiphar’s house and literally run away from compromising situations (Genesis 39:11-12, 1 Corinthians 6:18). 
2. Have some self-control for crying out loud. We don’t have to gratify our every desire.
3.  Walk in obedience to God and His Word-the Bible says you will be blessed by doing so (James 1:25).

Jesus, in His grace, will give you the power to be faithful in the midst of aching desire.

Lackadaisical Obedience

There’s something about the beginning of a new year that seems to inspire us to do better; to grow and challenge ourselves.  At the beginning of 2017 I chose a word to dwell on throughout the year.  That word was “vision”. I selected this word based on the first half of Proverbs 29:18 which states “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (KJV).  We have a God-given purpose and vision and I wanted to spend the year striving to turn my eyes to the Lord and follow HIS plan rather than my own. 

For 2018, I have chosen the word “intentional”.  To be intentional simply means to do everything on purpose.  It is so easy to be lackadaisical in the various areas of our lives: our walk with the Lord, relationships, discipling others, etc. 

One of the best ways to sharpen yourself is to be intentional with others.  I challenge you to invest in others.  Sharpen one another. Encourage one another.  Be intentional in one another’s lives.

When we become internally focus and self-absorbed, we become blind to the needs of others.  Even at church it is easy to coast through services, events, and activities without even engaging with one another.  Let’s be honest, things are a lot less messy that way-but that’s not the Church.

I think James says it well.  “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:22).  We can know what God asks of us, but, as James states, if we are hearers of the word, but not effectual doers, then we are like someone who looks at his natural face in a mirror, for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

Let’s not forget what kind of people we are in 2018 and be intentional in doing what the Lord has called us to do.