Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. John 12:3

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to lose focus in our Christian lives? Sometimes due to the hardness of our hearts, we turn away from the Lord and pursue our own selfish desires in explicitly disobedient ways. Yet at times this distraction is far less intentional or obvious! Sometimes this distraction comes in the midst of good and holy things. We can volunteer at church, attend a small group, or read daily devotions, but we may still find ourselves distracted from our singular desire to know and love God.

It’s possible to do good things for God but separate them from an intimate and personal knowledge of Him.

In John 12, we meet a variety of people. We meet Martha who is busily serving dinner to Jesus and the guests. We meet Lazarus who is reclining at the table. And we meet Judas Iscariot, whose heart is so corrupt that he desires to steal money that was meant to be used to serve the poor. Yet none of these characters are the focus of this story. This story is told to direct our attention fully on Mary of Bethany and the love she has for the Lord Jesus.

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Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. Revelation 3:20

Years ago, my friend Gale called with a passion to pray for me. He had attended a Promise Keepers event and felt compelled by the Lord to systematically petition heaven on my behalf. How refreshing! As a vocational minister of the gospel, I was normally the one offering prayers, but not this time. For a full year Gale called me every Friday. He asked for an update on my prior week’s prayer, what new needs I had and then he led us in prayer together. Wow, this man loved me in the most intimate, helpful way! I gained inner strength by his love that initiated intimacy.

Jesus vividly paints the picture of Himself standing at the door of any person’s life (‘if anyone’). The Lord is the gentle guest waiting outside, ready to come in and engage with the occupant. His generous company receives and gives hospitality. His holy presence offers prayers on behalf of all needy for His grace. His sacrificial life, death and resurrection introduce the gift of salvation to everyone who invites Him in and trusts Him wholeheartedly. Jesus initiates intimacy to those who need Him as Savior and to those who desire to grow in their relationship with Him as friend.

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The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.   Psalm 34:18

While growing up, my mother taught me many valuable truths: every situation has a positive side; everyone has a right to their opinion, and too much talk can keep a problem stirred up. But there is one thing she didn’t teach me that I had to learn the hard way: Sometimes people you love will leave. This is one of those difficult lessons most of us come face to face with in life.

Sometimes people leave because they can’t love; sometimes they leave because they feel guilty about themselves, sometimes because they are afraid of intimacy, sometimes God has another plan for you, and they can’t go where you are going, sometimes because relationships have their seasons, and sometimes because God removes them from your life. (That’s His love and protection!) There are numerous reasons why people leave, but no matter why they leave, it’s important to remember that God loves you and their departure doesn’t have to mean the end of your joy. Jesus never stops doing good for his kids.

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13)

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I [Christ] counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Revelation 3:18

The advice of well-meaning people is not always best. They advise when we should buy or sell something, or borrow money: when we should save money or save more money, when we should give more money. In the case of a relationship, when we should give it a second chance or continue in a relationship, or when we should break it off. When we consider changing jobs, when we should stay or remain in a job, when we should change jobs. Sincere counsel that sounds right—may not be the best advice. Only Christ gives counsel that is accurate 100% of the time.

In Revelation, Jesus’ very insightful counsel exposes the church’s inability to see its unhealthy condition. His remedy is the application of His Spirit’s salve to reveal their need to be clothed in righteousness. Those who recognize their needy state are in a position to receive counsel, but those stuck in denial live in a dream state—perpetually in pain. Money can mask issues, but eventually severe dysfunction drives people and organizations to recognize their sickly condition. The longer the delay—the harder it is to fully recover. Only spiritual riches can truly satisfy!

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The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights.  Habakkuk 3:19

God is your enabler for there is nothing you cannot do that He has destined you to accomplish. It is His eternal enablement that carries you forward. The next phase of your character growth may be painful. The development of your business or ministry to the next level could be daunting. The skills you need as a parent are scary, and it seems impossible to balance work, home, and hobbies. But God is bigger than your frailties, fears, and family. He will enable you if you let Him, so do not carry this burden of becoming better alone. Your Savior is your enabler of bigger and better things. In your own strength you will remain frustrated, frazzled, and stuck. There is no amount of self-discipline that by itself can accomplish God’s results.

It is through the empowering of the Holy Spirit that you are able to endure and execute the will of the Lord (Isaiah 63:11). As a child of God, you can offload your fatigue to your heavenly Father and rest in Him. You can outsource your anxieties to the One who can enable you to execute eternity’s agenda. His grace qualifies you to carry out this life’s assignment. You have been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20) and sealed by His spirit (Ephesians 4:30). You are a valued member of Christ’s community. Others have traveled this road of trust and did much more than survive. They thrived because the Lord enabled them with His wisdom and grace.

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Read | Job 23:10-14

Imagine going to a nice restaurant for dinner. The table is set with linens, fine china, and crystal glasses. The waiter delivers your plate with a flourish. In the middle of that exquisite plate is a single marshmallow. What a letdown! Instead of receiving a nutritious, meaty meal, we are left with a puff of sugar and no satisfaction.

If we become lax, our lives can resemble that disappointing meal. Instead of being believers with a weighty message full of hope, we can find ourselves with nothing to offer but a bit of fluffy sweetness. God’s message is meant to nourish and sustain; our family, our friends, and even we ourselves cannot be satisfied by meager provisions. Our Father wants us to have such impact that people will never be the same after we arrive.

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The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”    Jonah 1:1-2

God may be interrupting your plans. He does this from time to time according to His will. You were going in one direction, and He stopped you in your tracks and led you in an about-face. It can be disconcerting and more than a little scary. But do not be surprised if this happens to you. Your current path may be the opposite of what He intended. Maybe you got in a hurry and ran ahead without Him or maybe you have been reluctant to move forward and missed Him. Either way, the Holy Spirit has now arrested your attention and is leading you into uncharted waters. Like Phillip, you are an agent of God (Acts 8:29). You may be uncomfortable with the assignment because of the novelty in its nuances.  God is moving you out of your comfort zone and into His arena of obedience. If you disobey and stay put, you jeopardize proclaiming Jesus to the fullest.

The consequences of disobedience are not isolated to you alone. They ripple throughout your relationships. Don’t wait for people to be hurt before you say yes to heaven’s directive. God interrupts for a reason and for a season. The reason may be to protect you from a convergence of bad decision-making. You don’t know what’s around the corner in your life, but He does. He is watching out for you, so this severe turn in His will may be to protect you from a pattern of bad behavior. Do not allow pride to keep you from changing your mind. Promptings from the Holy Spirit make pride uncomfortable because it means giving up control and submitting in humility. If you continue to drive forward in pride, you are destined for unnecessary pain (Ecclesiastes 2:23). Take this interruption as a sign from God to slow down, reevaluate, and recalibrate.

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The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. Revelation 3:12

Uncertainty is a certainty of life. Economic uncertainty. Political uncertainty. Financial uncertainty. Relational uncertainty. Physical uncertainty. Those who focus on life’s uncertainties are certain to be preoccupied, even disillusioned by fear and anxiety. Being consumed by uncertainty is like traveling on extremely winding roads while sitting in the back seat of a car, you begin to feel the nausea of emotional motion sickness. Has uncertainty caused fear to overcome your faith?

The Lord describes an eternal environment of stability and security. A place with no fear of what a person might or might not do, because all of the citizens of God’s city are redeemed by the Lamb—Jesus. The city of God is governed by King Jesus—who keeps all His promises. His promises of no more sin, sorrow or suffering are secure. His guarantee of our resurrection and reigning with Him, stabilizes our soul. We are rock solid pillars of faith who worship the Lord in His temple. Emotional stability and spiritual security accompany those who travel with Jesus.

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For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. . .  Romans 3:23-24

There are times in most of our lives when we don’t want to go backward. We don’t want to move back to the city where we used to live because it will make us feel as if we haven’t made progress. We don’t want to go back to our old job because it will make us feel as if all of the skills we learned since then were a waste. We don’t want to go back to doing what we used to do, because going backward makes us feel as if we haven’t gone forward. Going backward feels like failure.

There are times, however, we may need to go back to the beginning of our relationship with Jesus. We need to go back to the place where we first started with Him, which for most of us was the place of desperation. We were desperate because we knew we couldn’t save ourselves. We were desperate because we knew we couldn’t change our hurts, hang ups, and addictions on our own. We were desperate because we knew our old ways of trying to earn God’s favor weren’t working. We knew we needed His deliverance. But then as the Lord liberated and healed us, we exchanged desperation for being self-sufficient, so we tried to earn favor with God through being good enough. We tried to do the Christian life on our own without empowerment from the Holy Spirit. This is why we sometimes need to go back to the beginning to the place of desperation where we first started with the Lord.

Continue reading Wisdom Hunters – Why Desperation is a Good Thing →

And Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.” Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.       Judges 1:12-13

Risk often precedes reward, and reward may follow risk. War is risky because you endanger life and limb. The stakes are high. However, the rewards of war are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The victor enjoys the spoils of war, while those humiliated in defeat suffer loss. Marriage is risky because it entails the co-mingling of money, time, trust, and loyalty. What’s yours becomes hers and what’s hers becomes yours. You become one flesh, for it is a relationship of oneness (Genesis 2:24). But the rewards of marriage are love, joy, peace, companionship, sex, children, and spiritual/emotional maturity to name but a few. The many risks of marriage are overshadowed by the mammoth rewards it hands out to the husband and to the wife.

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Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. Genesis 25:21

A praying husband appeals to the Lord for the sake of his wife. He bombards heaven on behalf of his bride with big things like having babies, and he is consistent in praying for his wife every day for important matters such as peace and security. Prayer is one of God’s select weapons that a husband can wield in defense of his woman. God has called you to be the spiritual warrior of your home, and prayer is your first line of defense. If prayer is compromised, then you have no air support from your heavenly Father.

Without prayer covering your home and wife, you and your family are open to blistering assaults from the devil and his demons. So pray for God’s hedge of protection (Job 1:10). The strategy of the stealth enemy is to keep you busy with only a token of prayer on your breath. An overly active man is probably a prayerless man; a man consumed with his own deal is probably a prayerless man; a man absorbed by pride is probably a prayerless man; a man who serves a small God is probably a prayerless man; a man angry at his wife is probably a prayerless man. A husband whose prayers are hindered is a man who knows he needs to pray for his wife but doesn’t. He is a man powerless as a spiritual leader (1 Peter 3:7).

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