A Father's Heart

In the first week of July 2009, I was walking in a parking lot on my lunch break that I rarely walk in. I was walking in one direction back and forth, and did not stray from this path for the majority of my walk. As I was walking a thought popped through my mind that there was going to be a heart on the driveway, and it was God telling me that He loves me. I knew I had heard these words, but I really did not understand where they came from. I shrugged them off as a random thought, and did not think anything else about it. I continued to walk, and became irritated when a semi truck pulled into the lot, and parked right in the middle of my walking path. I re-routed myself to the other side, I guess I will share I exclaimed in my head. It did not take long for something on the ground to stop me in my tracks.



Here is a close up. I turned up the colors a little bit so it is easier to see:



It was at this moment, there will be a heart on the sidewalk, and it is me telling you that I love you rung through my ears. I had forgotten until that point that they were spoken maybe 45 min before I came across it. There are some that would call this a coincidence, but when is the last time that you heard something like I heard that had nothing to do with anything I was doing, and then see the very thing you heard? Unless someone decided to get cute with their blacktop job, there is no doubt in my mind this driveway became a canvas for my Father to show His love for me, in a physical way that my eyes could see. I did not take the picture the day that it happened. It had dawned on me a couple of weeks later that I should capture this moment so that I could always look on my Father's heart to me.

Thank you Daddy for always making yourself known to your children, and thank you for allowing me to have a heart that will accept your many miracles that are always there for the one that will believe. Thank you for eyes that see, and ears that hear. I pray that you will bless the one that is reading this, as well as everyone else that is ready with the gift of earsight. Please help me to remember that what I sometimes perceive as irritating, or as taking me off my beaten path, could just be You steering me away from my pre-set plans long enough, so that You can reveal Yourself to me.

MARY AND MARTHA A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

In Luke 10:38-42, we become acquainted with two sisters that Jesus was very close with. It seemed as if this was the first time they had met Jesus, because of the way that Luke had worded that Martha opened up her home to Him. In this scenario, Martha is distracted running around preparing everything, and Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus,listening to what He said. When Martha complains that Mary is not helping, Jesus tells her that Mary has chosen what is better, and that it will not be taken from her. It seems whenever you hear the Martha and Mary story, it is always about distracted Martha, and Faithful Mary. Poor Martha goes down in history as someone who could not be bothered to sit long enough to listen to anything that Jesus had to say, or does she? Let's move forward in time. Turn to John 11, to the death of Lazarus who is the brother of Mary and Martha. It says that Mary and Martha sent for Jesus to let Him know that Lazarus was very sick. At that very moment Jesus said, "this sickness will not end in death, no it is for God's glory." It notes that Jesus loved all of them, but He stayed where He was for two more days. What happens in the next couple of verses, may give you a different perspective on "busy" Martha. It says when Jesus arrived, Martha ran out to meet Him before He could even get into the village, but Mary stayed home. If you can picture this scenario in your mind. Why did Martha run to meet Jesus, and why did Mary just stay home? Mary the one that was always right at the feet of Jesus. If I had to guess, I would say it was because she lost hope, and maybe a little bitterness. She seemed to be so sad, she did not care that Jesus was on His way. Maybe she was a little hurt and upset that Jesus chose to wait for a couple more days before coming to Bethany. Whatever the reason, Mary remained at home, and ignored the fact that He was coming. Why did Martha rush out to Jesus? Is it possible that some of the the things that Jesus had been speaking to Mary, had actually sunk into busy Martha's Spirit, before it got into Mary's? Let's see why she ran out....

Martha said to Jesus, "Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." Jesus then said to her,"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will never die. He asks her, do you believe this? Martha tells Him that she believes He is the Christ, the Son of God who was to come into the world. Notice she did not say anything about the fact that if she believed in Him, Him she would never die? After this Martha ran to get Mary, and told her that the Teacher was there, and was looking for her. Mary then in obedience (but not belief) got up quickly, and went to Him. When Mary reached Jesus her words were almost identical to those of Martha, however there was one big difference. Mary said,"Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died." Do you notice the difference? There is no but at the end of Mary's statement. She can only see that Jesus did not come, and now Lazarus was dead (because this is all she could see with her natural eyes), Then Mary began to weep. When Jesus saw this, it says He was moved in Spirit, and troubled. It also says that He wept, and the Jews said, "see how much He loved him!" Why was Jesus weeping? It said He was moved in Spirit. I believe He was moved with compassion for the pain of Mary, and the other Jews that were crying. What about the troubled in Spirit part? He would not have been troubled that Lazarus was dead, for He knew that Lazarus would live. This word troubled stood out to me, so I looked to see the context of how these words were used in the Bible in other verses, because I knew that I had seen them before. After seeing the words in a few different passages, I came to the conclusion that troubled in Spirit, was similar to alarmed or discernment of a potential problem, or hurt by the actions of another. Could it have possibly been the fact that Jesus was troubled at Mary's lack of belief in Him? She had a front row seat to the teaching of Jesus. How He must have taken His time explaining everything He was going to do. If Martha was able to say that she KNEW that Jesus could ask for whatever He wanted, and have it, it had to have been from things that Jesus had been telling them all along. It could have also been revealed to her in Spirit. Martha was showing belief, where Mary was showing a loss of hope, a lack of belief. Martha however still seemed to fall short of believing, or maybe understanding all of what He had said. She did not repeat the part about not dying if you believe when Jesus asked, do you believe in what I just said, and her actions next show that this part did not sink in. Jesus told them to remove the stone that was in front of the tomb of Lazarus. Instead of moving it, and expecting Lazarus to be alive, she believed there would be a bad odor of a dead man. Jesus said to her, "did I not tell you if you believed you would see the glory of God?"

So there you have it, Martha at least believed some of what Jesus had been trying to tell them, where Mary shows a lack of belief. We must stop judging by appearances and make a right decision. Yes, Martha was not sitting at the feet of Jesus at the dinner party that Luke describes, but in no way shape or form should we ever utter words regarding a lack of Faith or relationship that Martha had with Jesus. Let's remember each other's good qualities rather than the bad. Let's speak of strengths rather than short-comings, and most of all let's always remember that everyone is on a different path to Christ (though there is only one path to God, through Christ). Everyone will receive Him differently, and just because it is different, does not mean it is wrong. Whatever we magnify will multiply. Let's magnify love rather than judgement. Jesus did.

Both sisters needed to truly BELIEVE in Jesus in order to have eternal life. Perhaps this is what troubled Jesus the most. He knew that neither of them truly believed. Do you believe?