LESSONS FROM TWO MARY'S

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     Several years ago, someone shared a great acronym for keeping our life’s highest goal front and center in our heart and mind:  J.O.Y.—Jesus first, Others second, and Yourself last.  Inasmuch as our lives consist of many goals toward which we are striving,  God our Savior knows that we get distracted on occasion; but to the extent that His word and indwelling Holy Spirit are our most reliable compasses for walking worthily of His calling, ala Ephesians 4:1, we can REST in His faithfulness to right our course in our daily pursuits—ergo, our need to pray and not faint.
     Taking the time each day to be STILL in His presence can greatly assist us in anchoring our thoughts in what’s most important to our Lord, as we desire to please Him in all we do.  If you have received Christ into your heart, you want Him to have His way in your life every day.  This, dear reader, requires a regular disciplined stillness of heart on our part!  “Be still and know that I am God (Ps. 46:10).  Sustained peace in Him depends  upon our willingness to be STILL in His presence. (It can be for just five perfectly still minutes before, during, or after your daily Bible reading/ meditation).
       Two “Mary’s” in the Scripture demonstrated this valuable discipline called stillness:  our Savior’s mother in Luke 1:26-37 and Lazarus and Martha’s sister, Mary, in Luke 10:38-42.  In the former case, can you imagine Jesus’ mother, if she had been so frenzied, preoccupied, or simply freaked out to the hilt when Gabriel showed up to deliver Almighty God’s awesome assignment to this lowly Jewish girl?  We cannot imagine Mary tossing out a flurry of verbal ‘What-if’s?,’ or ‘I’m honored, Mr. Angel [Gabriel], but that mission’s ‘out of my skill-set!!” Salome next door’s available!’ We cannot imagine her responding in in such a way, can we?  Instead, we honor Mary to this day for her willingness to receive,  revere, and to trustingly submit to her Lord’s assignment, her fears, notwithstanding.  We see our Savior commending the wisdom of Lazarus’ sister, Mary, when she seized the precious opportunity to glean wisdom, peace, and blessings through her stillness in His presence.  {Remember that old adage: “If Satan can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy!”} Balance in our days is divinely enabled through taking time to be still in His presence.  We do well to emulate the stillness of these King’s daughters as we enter a brand new year! (You brothers, too)!
PRAYER:  Dear Abba,  please  let the personally-reviving and wonder-stirring realities of Your Son’s rescue mission to save “whosoever will believe on Him” be daily rekindled throughout the new year! Thank You, in Jesus’ matchless name!  AMEN!
By Sis. Denise Diggs