Category: Biblical Wisdom

I recently read the resurrection account in John where Mary Magdalene was searching for Jesus. In John’s account, she is the very first one to the tomb and the first to see the stone was rolled away. She frantically ran to find Peter and John to tell them what had happened.

Then they ran to the tomb to see for themselves. The men checked out the empty tomb and went home. Mary stayed and cried. She turned around and glanced back inside and saw two angels sitting there and still continued to sob. They asked her why she was crying.

Now, most people who see angels are filled with fear; not Mary. She had been in mourning for three days and at this point, she must have been inconsolable. Why didn’t she ask the angels where Jesus was or who they were? Wasn’t she curious? They are messengers from God. They probably would have told her. But, she didn’t ask. She told them why she was crying and turned around to go.

Now, here’s the really interesting part. She then stood face to face with Jesus and He asked her why she was crying. She proceeded to tell Him and He said one word to her. “Mary” He called her by name and she knew.

Mary was so frantically looking for Jesus in the place where she thought that He should be, that she missed Him where He was.

Let’s ponder that concept for a moment. How often do we miss encounters with Jesus because He’s not where we “think” He should be?

The Bible tells us we may see Him in the face the hungry, or the thirsty, or the stranger, or the sick. In fact, we should probably look for Him wherever there are people in great need, which is quite often not at church, or places that are clean and shiny. The Savior born in a manger, never chose to live in a palace. He chose to live among the common people.

He also chose to hang out with some questionable characters and shared the truth with them. What does that say to us? Where should we seek to serve Him?

Most of us have also at one time or another, found ourselves like Mary, frantically searching for Jesus, wondering where He has gone. We wonder why He doesn’t answer our prayers or reach out to us. We may even miss angels in our lives pointing the way and in our own self-absorbed, panic, we rush right past Him.

But, if we can force ourselves to be still, He will call our name, just as He said Mary’s name. He is here. He is reaching out. We only need to still our minds and hearts and listen.

He still has important things to say.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Our sermon last Sunday touched on the story of Lazarus and his miraculous resurrection from the dead. The focus was on the days afterward and his sister Mary specifically, but he was part of the message.

Yesterday, the online Bible study that I’m following was about Lazarus. The reading was from John 11:1-44, if you want to check it out.

Since I don’t believe in coincidences where God is concerned, I began to wonder and then pray about what God was trying to show me in the Lazarus story at this moment.

There are so many beautiful illustrations of Jesus’ love for humanity in the story. What did God want me to see? What relevance in particular, did it have right now?

As I read it again, I remembered that the sermon last week pointed out that the moment Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead became the moment the Jewish officials elected to mark him for death. The text says, “They plotted to take his life.”

It’s almost too evil to fathom. Just moments before, raising Lazarus, Jesus wept with his sisters Martha and Mary, demonstrating that He knew what it meant to be fully human and how death devastates us and separates us from our loved ones.

Then He did the unthinkable, the amazing, the miracle that only God can do. He raised Lazarus from the dead after four days in the tomb. He restored Lazarus’ life and the relationship between him and his sisters.

This was a moment of pure joy and celebration. There was no downside here. God was here on earth, walking with humanity and restoring life. How could anyone in their right mind want to stop that kind of goodness, power and grace?

But, the Jewish officials at the top didn’t see it that way. Jealousy, greed and fear are powerful fuel. Darkness hates the light.

As I pondered the reaction of the people in charge, asking myself how anyone with any good at them at all, could possibly be against Jesus, I was reminded of some of the events going on right now.

Christians are being slaughtered in the Middle East, simply for being Christians. There is a large underground Christian movement in Iran of all places. Christianity has exploded there. There were an estimated 500 Christians there in 1979 and now 370,000 is the generally accepted estimate, even though they could be imprisoned, tortured or killed for following Jesus. Why does the Iranian government care if its citizens worship Jesus?

Why are Christians around the world persecuted and killed for following Jesus? What is so threatening about His message and His life?

Could it be because that even after 2,000 plus years since His death and resurrection, He still offers new life? Could it be because He still offers redemption and restoration? Could it be because He is still the light of the world?

Jesus said, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil, hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” John 3:19-20

There will always be persecution of Jesus and His believers until He returns a second time. Darkness hates the light and always will. But, for those of us who are Christians, we have to remember that we are the light that represents Him and we are called to spread it far and wide, keeping in mind that in the end, now just as it was over 2,000 years ago, Jesus wins.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

I was subbing in a fifth grade class yesterday and I had a break because my students were at art. I took a deep breath because it had been a hectic day and I was basking in a little quiet time. It didn’t last long.

One of my favorite students who I had earlier that day, walked in with a smile on his face and said, “Hey Mrs. Gaines are you good at….?” The words froze in the air as I said a silent prayer pleading, “Please God, don’t let it be math.”

The words social studies, were the next words he spoke and I was flooded with relief. Snicker at me if you must; thinking that any simple-minded adult should be able to do fifth grade math, but you would be wrong. They have changed how math is done.

I have no idea who they are, but I’m here to tell you, a simple math problem which used to take all of four lines on a sheet of notebook paper, will now fill a page. I can get the right answer, but they aren’t looking for the right answer. They want to know how you got it and often times it involves drawing pictures. Can you imagine?

Now, social studies is history. History doesn’t change. I love history and I happily helped that young man with his social studies questions. Seems that the facts from the Great Depression are the same as they were when I was in school. Can I get an, “amen?”

The way school curriculum has changed drives me crazy, but as I was thinking about it, there are very few things in life that don’t change. Fashion and style change. Attitudes change. Laws change.

The church even changes. When I was a kid, we would have never worn pants to church. It was dresses and heels. But, now blue jeans are the norm. We wouldn’t have dreamed of eating or drinking in the sanctuary, but now people bring in giant tumblers of coffee.

People change sometimes for the better and sometimes for worse. But, God doesn’t change.

The Bible says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.” Hebrews 13:8-9

In an ever-changing world, Jesus stays the same. The Bible still stands. Man may try to rewrite it to suit ourselves or to better explain it, like common core math attempts to. We can make it needlessly difficult, if we so choose.

But, in the end, we are saved by grace and grace alone, because God loves us.

“I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death, nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

And that, will never change. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Yesterday, our sermon was about the Prodigal Son found in Luke, Chapter 13. It’s a familiar story for most of us. I’ve heard many sermons on it. I’ve heard sermons focusing on the forgiving, loving father. I’ve heard sermons that focus on the righteous son, as well as sermons that focused on the wayward son.

I suppose the focus for the reader is most often, which of the characters he or she most closely relates to. But, yesterday, the pastor pointed out that many of us have had the opportunity to be all three of the characters, at some point in our lives. I know I have. I can relate to all three.

But, as I sat in church thinking about the father and his sons, I began to think of all of us who are regular church goers, those of us who strive to stay on the right path and stay close to the Father. How do we feel about those prodigals who come in after, as Jesus put it, “squandering their wealth on wild living?”

More importantly, how do we treat them when they come to church to worship or to seek?

How do we treat the pregnant teenager? We can say we don’t believe in abortion, but are we willing to help support the young mother and her baby? What about the prodigal who was raised in church, but chose to do drugs and is now fighting that addiction? What about the man that we know has been unfaithful to his wife and is now a single father? What about the kid who walks in off the street covered in piercings and tattoos?

What is our reaction to these people? While at this point in our lives, we may be the righteous son in the story, we are called to act like the Father, not like the son in the story.

We are called to be forgiving. We are called to celebrate every single soul who finds its way home, no matter how off the path we may feel they have been. We are called to act that way because Jesus says God acts that way.

Jesus felt so strongly about giving everyone the opportunity to be forgiven and go to Heaven, that He willingly died for every one of us, so that we could be redeemed, all of us, not just some of us.

I suppose Lent is the ideal time to ask ourselves how we feel about all of the prodigals out there who are searching for forgiveness and love. Jesus taught that we are to welcome them with open arms.

Sometimes we can forget, but Jesus is so good about gently reminding us. Perhaps you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

I love that Jesus was such a great storyteller and to me, a great storyteller is not someone who uses long eloquent words that have me running for a thesaurus. He had a simple message for simple people. Humanity has a way of making the even simplest things in life complicated, and we can do a fabulous job of complicating our faith too.

I’ve been thinking a lot about prayer lately and the power it gives those who choose to use it daily. It draws us closer to God and over time, turns us into serious warriors.

One of my favorite parables that Jesus told, is the one found in Luke 18: 1-8. A widow kept going to a judge in town to plea for justice. For a long time he refused, but then eventually, he decided to grant her request because she was going to wear him out.

Jesus wanted his disciples to never stop praying. He wants us to never stop praying.

It can be hard sometimes when we have prayed for something in particular, for what seems like forever. We sometimes can begin to wonder if God is even listening.

Luke 18:1 tells us that, “Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and never give up.”

There are so many important things that Christians should pray about, but we sometimes get frustrated because we feel like God isn’t listening. They can be things ranging from marital issues, to sickness, to financial issues, to problems with friends and family. They can also be global issues like terrorism, violence, and national elections.

Jesus reminds us in this parable that God does hear our prayers and persistent prayer pays off.

Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Paul is also reminding us that God is always listening, even when our circumstances seem dire.

There are many reasons to be unhappy about the twists and turns our lives take. There are many reasons to be fearful about the state of our world at the moment. But, if we remember that God is in control and to pray about everything that concerns us, we will be heard. We will be comforted. We will be answered.

The Bible tells us so.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂