Author Archives: Nannette

About Nannette

Wife to The Sweetheart, Mom to the Fantastic Six, Nana to six of the cutest littles on the planet, Author, The Daniel Fast, A Devotional. UPCI ministers.

Pattern your life after me?

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Pattern your life after me?

“Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.”  Philippians 3:17

Paul is speaking to the church in Philippi and gives quite the dissertation explaining to them his credentials first of all, and that he had the authority to even speak to them. He was a Jew by birth, but had abandoned everything in order to follow Jesus Christ.

In verses ten and eleven he says,‘That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death…”

He didn’t want to just know about Him, he wanted that personal relationship with Him.

And finally, he gets to what he wants to leave them with… “Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example.”

Paul was telling them to learn from what he had learned. Follow in his footsteps, pattern their lives after his life. Why?

  • Because Paul was following Jesus Christ.
  • He had walked where Jesus walked.
  • He had endured trials and tribulations.
  • Paul had also been
    • beaten
    • threatened
    • starved
    • imprisoned
    • lied about
    • stoned
    • and many, many other atrocities had been committed against him.

And in all of these things he had NOT wavered. He had learned to give God praise, and to endure, despite his sufferings.

“Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;  In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.” 2 Corinthians 11:24-28.

The Early Christians didn’t have the New Testament to read…no self-help books, Matthew Henry commentaries or Google search to look up hundreds and hundreds of devotions and sermons online.

But they had Paul.

He had lived through persecution after being the Persecutor! Yet, in all of those things he still continued to be faithful and his concern was for the care of the churches.

Could we say the same as Paul did? Could we assuredly tell others to, “Pattern your life after me.”? (Of course correct grammar would change my title to “Pattern your life after mine”? But then my graphic image wouldn’t rhyme!) (insert smile here).

 

A sobering thought!

We have all heard it said that we may be the only Jesus that some people ever see or the only Bible they will ever read. That is why we must be so careful the way we live our Christian lives. That doesn’t mean we walk on eggshells all the time, scared to death we are going to make mistakes.

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” Matthew 5:14,15.

What it does mean is that we should be sure to spend time with the Savior. And the more time we spend with Him, the more we become like Him…the more we radiate His glory and His goodness…then others will see the Lord Jesus Christ IN us. They will want to know Him because He shines through us.

That is what Paul was talking about…pattern your life after me because I KNOW HIM!!

Kingdom2

 

 

One thing is needed

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One thing is needed! #FiveMinuteFriday and the word prompt is Need. Join others and see what they had to say about this word!

“But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:40-42 NKJV.

I have often been intrigued by the story of Mary and Martha, especially when I was younger. I didn’t understand why the Lord rebuked her when she was serving Him and those that were with Him. In my “Martha mind” I thought, “Well, somebody had to do it! Who was going to fix the drinks and the dinner? Who was going to clean up?” And there was that Martha mentality.  Martha was worried about so many things that she had anxiety! You can almost hear it in her voice when she says, “Lord, don’t you care?!”

We all know the effect that stress and anxiety has on society today. We do not know how to relax; we do not know how to rest. We certainly don’t know how to sit in the presence of God and drink in His presence.  She was hurrying around making sure everyone had everything they needed. Martha was worried about so many things that she was loaded with stress! The Bible said she was “cumbered about much serving”, it means she was distracted.

“…And she (Martha) went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” Luke 10:40 ASV.  Can you imagine going to Jesus and ordering Him around?! Martha was passionate to be sure. But Mary chose to sit at the Master’s feet. It wasn’t that she was lazy. It seems that she had been helping her sister. But when Jesus came, Mary knew what was important and it was not in the kitchen. Those things could wait, she knew one thing was needed and it was at the feet of the Master.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33.

One interpretation suggests Martha wasn’t just preparing rice and beans. She was going “all out” as we say. If she had kept it simple she could have prepared dinner AND sat and listened to the Master! He was saying there were other things more important than what He was going to eat and drink that day.  Do not let the important keep you from the needed; take time to sit at His feet and hear His Word!

So what did the Lord mean when He said that what Mary had chosen would not be taken away from her? Mary had chosen the eternal, the Word of God! She had chosen to sit at His feet and listen to what He had to say. She was interested in the Kingdom, in the eternal. She was laying up treasure in the world to come. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” Matthew 24:35 NIV.

Shortly before Jesus was to be crucified, He was at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus again. Guess what Martha was doing? “So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him.” John 12:2.  This is where Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with the costly perfume. Martha prepared a lovely dinner for perhaps her last time. I love her because she was doing what she did best! And this was the time to do it. It was time to serve the One that she loved and called “the Christ, the Son of God”.

There is a time for everything, a time for serving, a time for listening, a time for praying and hearing the Word of God. We must make sure we keep our priorities in order. If serving is something you do best, then serve with all of your heart; but don’t let it get in the way of your quality time with the Savior. Do you excel at singing? Wonderful! Sing with all of your heart and sing unto the Lord! But if you sing for Him, and neglect to spend time with Him, then you are fooling yourself. You have not chosen the needful thing.

Those are just a couple of examples of thousands of things that we can get cumbered with or distracted by. Let us not be like Martha in the kitchen, but more like Mary in the living room, sitting at the feet of Jesus.

For the kingdom

Are You A Wounded Healer?

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Are You A Wounded Healer? You may not even know there is a name for it; you are too busy doing what needs to be done. You have been wounded, hurt, maybe even abused.  We are all wounded throughout our lives, physically, emotionally, psychologically; some of us have been hurt in more ways than we can remember.

A Wounded Healer is one who, although they have been wounded time and time again; they learn to take those experiences and use them to help others during their time of loss, tragedy, grief, and pain or illness. They realize that though they have suffered, they have also learned, and they can now benefit from that suffering.

Now they have become a Wounded Healer.

God isn’t causing the pain but He can use the pain to get your attention and help you grow and teach you compassion and grace. You learn how to minister to others in the middle of your own pain and it helps you heal!

I believe that is what the scripture means when it says, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” Romans 8:28 NLT.

Several years ago some dear friends of ours lost their teenage son in a terrible car accident. He was transported to the hospital and not expected to make it through the night. Their cousins, who had lost their own son at the age of five, heard about the accident and rushed to the hospital to be with them. They were one of the very few who KNEW what that Mom and Dad were going to face in those critical hours ahead and they wanted to be there for them. Sure the hospital was full of people, but there were not many Wounded Healers close by and it was a blessing to have them when they faced the tragedy of losing their oldest son.

These special Angels of Mercy will probably not have a set of initials after their name, they won’t claim to know it all, and they won’t have all the answers.  But they know how to listen, they know how to care, they show up with a casserole, a care package, they sit with you through the night if need be. Sometimes they say nothing at all. They’ve been there. They were wounded, they know. Silence is golden, a hug is better than words.

Jesus is a Wounded Healer. He experienced our wounds by coming in flesh so that He could feel what we feel. “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5. NKJV.

If you have damaged emotions and physical and emotional scars, Jesus is able to take care of those. He gave His life at Calvary and rose again so that we could have eternal life AND be healers on this earth. We cannot have open wounds and be a healer, we must have those taken care of and Jesus is the One who can heal our hurts so we can become the blessing God intended.

Maybe you have never thought you had anything to offer. My friend, I am certain you do. If the Lord has forgiven you and restored you, pray for opportunities to give others hope and a light at the end of their tunnel. Pray for wisdom above all, it is not an easy road to walk but there are great rewards.

Are there areas in your life where you have had opportunity to be a Wounded Healer? I would love to hear about them! Has someone else been a Wounded Healer to you? Feel free to share your thoughts and encourage others here today.

For the kingdom