She Has Chosen the Best Part

 

 

In Mark 13:35-37 Jesus tells His disciples, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know when the master of the house will return—whether in the evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or in the morning. Otherwise, he may arrive without notice and find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Keep watch!”

 

Jesus was warning his disciples about staying vigilant to the end.  He was speaking of His return and wanted them to not let their love for Him wain as time went on.  Our job, as Jesus notes, is to stand firm, not lose heart, and do not let our love for him wane. . 

 

Thayer’s Greek Lexicon notes that to fall asleep, Strongs #2518, katheudó, metaphorically, means to drop off, yield to sloth and sin, and be indifferent to one’s salvation. [1]  One wanes and their love becomes cold. 

 

In Matthew 24:12-13, He says something similar: “Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.”

 

The opposite of this, as mentioned in these verses in Mark, is to keep watch.   It is Strongs# 1127, grégoreó, and means to stay alert and keep watching for His return. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon notes that it is taking heed, giving strict attention, and even to be alive or live.

 

In 1 Thessalonians 5:6, Paul tells the church to not sleep like the others do (who do not have salvation) but to remain awake and sober.   And in Ephesians 5:14-16, Paul says to wake up from the sleep of the dead and pay attention to how you walk.  We are to walk wisely, “redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

 

In all of these verses, we see that there is a walk of the dead.  It is the walk of those who do not know Christ or have salvation. We also see that it is possible to walk this way after salvation and are warned not to live this way.  Rather, we are to be intent, awake and alert.

 

In other words, we are to give up our old ways of doing things, and walk carefully, living life with Christ at the center, living purposefully, with faith, courage, and boldness.  We are to live with eternity in mind and not for our own pleasure or purposes. 

 

Does your life line up with the path that God has for you?  If you accept God’s salvation and then ignore such great a gift, by continuing your old practices of sin, there is a warning here. 

 

1 Peter 2:1-2 says, “So get rid of all evil behavior.  Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.   Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.  Cry out for this nourishment...” 

 

Let’s face it, sin is a detractor for our life.  There is absolutely no time in life that we can look back and say, we wish we had kept a certain sin in our life longer because it benefited us.  There is no time that sin does anything but steal life from us, wear us down and distract us.

 

The best thing we can do in our lives is to eliminate sin.  Wherever we see it, if we can get rid of it, we will have a better, fuller, and more peace and joy filled life as a result.  It will free up more time for us as well.  

 

As Paul notes in Romans 7:15-20, getting rid of sin is a struggle.  Our sin nature is active and constantly pushing us in the wrong direction even when we desire to do what is right.   Hebrews 12:1 tells us to throw off those things that hinder and entangle us.  James 5:16 tells us to confess these sins to each other and pray for each other.  Romans 6:11 tells you to count yourself as dead to sin and the verse in 1 Peter 2:2 tells us to cry out for true nourishment. 

 

While these all seem like different methods, it comes down to taking your stand against sin and not allowing it to continue to hinder your life. We need to know our limits and not allow ourselves to get so extended that we continually faulter with sin.

 

This brings me to the second point on time.   How are you spending your time?  Where is it being invested?  Are there things in your life that you invest in that are not sin but do not have eternal Kingdom value?  Are they worth eliminating?  The cares of this world, if we carry them along and tend them, will weigh us down.  They will distract us from things of real value and take our time.

 

We see this with Martha in the Bible.  She is worried that dinner is not going to be ready on time and people will be disappointed.  She had an opportunity to sit at the feet of Jesus and she spent it running around making dinner.  While loving others and doing good is honorable, she missed it by not seeing when to drop everything and sit at the feet of Jesus.

 

While love is eternal and care for others matters and makes a difference, sometimes we can put too high of expectations on ourselves.  We want to accomplish more than what God wants from us or we are making the wrong things the priority.  Judas made money his priority and it ended with him selling out Jesus for 30 shekels.

 

The poor widow, however, put all she had into the offering.  She gave everything she had to God.   We also see this with Mary.  She takes her life savings in the alabaster jar and breaks it open, pouring it out on the feet of Jesus.  With all that they have, they were putting everything into the offering of worship of God.  Neither of these ladies were wealthy but they gave all they had to the Lord.

 

In giving everything to the Lord, our lives should look different than the world’s.   They should look the opposite.  Rather than taking the time to earn wealth, we are called to invest what we have into the Kingdom of God.  

 

For myself, I wonder, what am I missing?  Where am I wasting my time?  Where am I putting the wrong things as a priority?   Where are things outside the Kingdom taking priority in my life?  I sometimes feel a little that I am chasing my tail.   The more I do, the less I have to give. 

 

This is where the question of what do I have to give comes in.  One author notes that there are programs, events and outreach activities that are not inherently bad and may even be accomplishing some Kingdom purposes, but they lack the fullness of the Kingdom.   They write, “The problem is when we live disconnected from what we truly have to offer.”   [1]

 

We fail to move from good to great because we fail to live empowered by the Holy Spirit.  We do good but only as far as our natural abilities will take us.  These authors speak of Peter telling the beggar, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you.” (Acts 3:6)

 

Peter and John walked in the power of God and offered it to others.  In doing this, they could do good that was only connected to God and came from a place of dependence.   Rather than give this beggar some coins to get through the day and brighten his day a little (which would have been kind), they gave him legs to leap for joy!

 

Perhaps some of the good that we do, as kind as it is, is not God’s best because we miss giving people what they really need.  We miss reaching over the balcony and pulling down from heaven the fullness of all God has for them.

 

As I think about that, it breaks my heart.   I still remember life when not a day went by that I didn’t want to die.  I thought about death all the time.  But what God had for me was not this kind of life.  He didn’t have for me to struggle through life miserable.  What He had for me was freedom.  It took someone who knew the power of God to lay hands on me and my whole life was rocked.  It was like getting out of a wheelchair and walking as someone turned the lights on.  Joy unspeakable and full of glory! I am so glad and grateful they didn’t settle for giving me a little kindness in my misery.   

 

This author notes that the journey toward unlocking revival is all about rediscovering our inheritance—the one more infinitely valuable than any silver and gold [2].    This author notes that we cannot be content with a counterfeit spirituality that lacks power.  This was never presented as the gospel [3]. 

 

The authors quote, Dr. Michael Brown, Theologian and revival historian:

        “I am absolutely convinced that the Church of today is not fully experiencing what Jesus died for and not yet becoming what He prayed for.  There is something infinitely more and completely other than what we are walking in today.  There is a power, a purity, an authority, an anointing, a glory that we have barely touched.  The Lord is coming for a beautiful Bride.  There is much preparation, restoration, and reformation still to take place.” [4]

 

They note that “Normal Christianity” used to carry with it, tongues, joyfulness, prophetic words, visions, miracles, signs, wonders, healings, and deliverances [5].   This is what we are looking to revive.  We are looking to bring heaven to earth where we do not have a tame gospel but a power-filled gospel that operates in the gifts.  

 

I remember sitting at the cross at my second church when we were in a full revival.  How it looked was that the gifts of the Spirit were moving freely among us.  People were being healed and restored, both emotionally and physically.   Also, God’s presence was powerfully among us.   I remember as I sat at the cross, I kept telling God, over and over, “I am so content. I have never felt so content in all my life.”  Now I see that what the contentment was about was justice being done among us where the blind received sight and the lame walk.  It felt like unexplainable, bursting from the seams, joy! 

 

The opposite of this for me is not living a life of sin but living a natural life without intimacy and His power.  It is going through the motions of day-to-day activities and not really hearing or seeing God move.  Underneath somewhere, I long for His overflowing goodness into the lives of those who are stuck.

 

My pastor asked this last weekend what makes us discontent.   He suggested that asking that question would get to our deeper purpose as it would tell us what we are motivated to do something about.  For me, it is suicides, overdoses, and losing people needlessly.

 

When Zoraya was planning to be euthanized, it broke my heart.  I wanted her to come and live with me. I wanted to introduce her to Jesus and take her to church.  I thought about flying to Norway to see her but I didn’t know how to find her.  Also, one of my friends just lost her daughter earlier in the year to a fentanyl overdose. She left four children behind.  And some years ago, I lost a friend who frequented a suicide connection call where I volunteered.  Suddenly, one week I didn’t hear from her and found out some weeks later that she took her own life. 

 

It pains me deeply to see this happen.  My heart hurts because I know it does not have to be that way.  I know their lives can be totally different.  I know there is hope for the hopeless.   I know lives can turn around on a dime when we cry out to God.  Why do some slip through our fingers?  Over the past 10 years, suicides have increased dramatically.

 

Once I had a dream about a girl who was being bullied at school.  She went in her house and was going to commit suicide.  I cried out with everything within me trying to negotiate with God for my life for hers.  I just wanted her to live and know the joy I had with everything inside of me.   My heart broke for her.

 

Besides suicides, on the children of the night that were being stolen and put into slavery, forced to murder their parents and join military forces, I once became so overwhelmed by God about this that I couldn’t eat for three days.  I just sobbed in my prayer room and couldn’t stop until the situation was turned around. 

 

What does this tell about my purpose?  I know He is the answer to every pain and heartache.  He is the Great Restorer and Equalizer.  He brings life to everything He touches.   The scripture that comes to my heart is Psalm 63:2-3, “I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!” 

 

I can’t unsee what I know He is capable of.   I long for more. I want to see more provision for the broken and hurting.  More freedom to those in bonds and suffering with mental illness, and more healing to those riddled with trauma.  At the end of the day, if I could see that young lady from my dream find freedom rather than suicide, I would trade my life for it if I could.

 

 Why does God allow His church to lack His power?  Why does He let some slip through our fingers and break?  And how would I even go about ordering my life around seeing His power unfold and His Kingdom come in the places He calls me to go?  At one time, I thought I had answers, but I don’t seem to have them anymore.  I would love to be like Peter and John and see the lame leap for joy as they stand on their feet for the first time.

 

Sometimes I do not understand, but I deeply long for this kind of gospel to fully manifest on the earth. At certain places and times, I see this gospel and it brings joy.  I go to this one ministry on occasion where I pray for people to be healed or delivered and I have fully seen it manifest.  When I receive a tearful hug after someone is delivered, it brings me ear to ear joy. I feel so in awe and full.

 

In these places, God has demonstrated His power and brought freedom.  But when I go other places and pray for people, sometimes it feels more like a process than His power. Why is this? 

 

Or, I experience a connection and His power in worship but then lack to see it in prayer afterwards. In some cases, it feels like I have even lost my enthusiasm around it as people don’t even come up for prayer.  There can be times where I stand in faith, my prayer partner visits for a while, we pray, and they walk away as we hope that God has done something for them.  I feel empty and not full by the experience.

 

Why is this?  Why do we not always see God respond in power when we pray?  John 14:12 says that “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.”

 

According to these authors, the Christians who move in this power or spiritually hungry people who press in to access greater works and extraordinary miracles [6].  Why do we fail to seek this and press into it?   Why am I not more hungry for this?

 

These authors note, “Revival is not the church waiting around for God to move if He so wills; it’s recognizing that God has already made the ultimate move toward earth at Pentecost, and now it’s up to us, Jesus’ body on earth, to align to what He is doing.  As we operate in sync with what He is doing—when we move as He moves and speak what He says—the Holy Spirit will roar out of a people who carry the glory!

 

Lord Jesus, let it be so!  Revive my heart and revive the church!  I do not want to miss all You have for us.  Let your purposes be accomplished in power on the earth.

 

1.    Located at: https://biblehub.com/greek/2518.htm

2     -6. Sparks, Larry and Werner, Ana.  Accessing the Greater Glory: A Prophetic Invitation to New Realms of Holy Spirit Encounter. 2019.