Tag Archives: Mary

Keep Christ in Christmas, December 23, 2019

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Here we are at the last week of Advent. Children wait expectantly to open the packages under the tree. Moms and Dads scurry around for those last-minute gifts and the trimmings for the Christmas feast at the family table. Everyone vies for their favorite Christmas movies on one of the six-thousand cable channels. At least it seems there are that many sometimes. The countdown to Christmas has almost finished.

But what do we expect when the countdown reaches zero?

Too often, the climax we expect feels like a letdown. When the paper and empty boxes pile up in the corner, the plates find themselves in the sink, and the leftovers fill the refrigerator, we sigh and ask, “Is that it? All that work and fuss for this?”

In just a few short hours, it’s all a memory and usually a relatively short one at that. We build our hopes around what happens around a Christmas tree or a Christmas dinner and find that what happens there just doesn’t last. The ribbons and bows and shiny paper don’t bring the joy we thought it would in the end. The perfect present we spent days and weeks searching out doesn’t carry the reaction we thought it would. The feast doesn’t create the festival we expected.

There is a reason why, but most won’t agree. You see, we miss the point. We celebrate Christmas, but forget to invite the person we celebrate. We forget to leave a seat for the namesake of the holiday. We welcome all our friends but put an “X” in place of the most important guest of the season. Even those who call themselves Christian miss this essential ingredient in celebrating this holy day. We forget to leave a place for him as we prepare the schedule crammed with fun things to bring special memories for the future.

Matthew records his birth this way:

The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. His mother Mary had been promised to Joseph in marriage. But before they were married, Mary realized that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Her husband, Joseph, was an honorable man and did not want to disgrace her publicly. So he decided to break the marriage agreement with her secretly.

Joseph had this in mind when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel said to him, “Joseph, descendant of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She is pregnant by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus [He Saves], because he will save his people from their sins.” All this happened so that what the Lord had spoken through the prophet came true: “The virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel,” which means “God is with us.”

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him to do. He took Mary to be his wife. He did not have marital relations with her before she gave birth to a son. Joseph named the child Jesus. (Matthew 1:18-25 GW)

His short journey with us isn’t one most would want. He began his life marked as an illegitimate son of Mary, born in a cave with a stone bed filled with straw as the only place to lay his tiny head. He knew poverty. Most scholars think his earthly dad died shortly after his temple experience at the age of twelve. He became the breadwinner for his family in a village whose residents often operated on the wrong side of the law. And most of those villagers thought he was an illegitimate child, not the son of holy God they worshipped.

People expected the Messiah. The prayed for him to come to rescue them from the tyranny of Rome. They longed for relief from their long trial of oppression at the hand of godless nations after returning to Jerusalem from their defeat and exile.

But surely God would not send his Messiah through a poor peasant from Nazareth. Surely God would choose the wife of the chief priest or some other notable character in the temple to raise his Messiah. He wouldn’t possibly have some peasant girl from the lowest of towns on the dark side of the nation give birth to the savior of Israel.

For everyone who knew him growing up, Jesus didn’t seem to be anyone special. But he knew, Mary knew, Joseph knew that he would redeem Israel one day. He would bring freedom to the captives. They didn’t understand how. They didn’t realize it would mean his death on the cross, and he brought freedom from the penalty of sin, not freedom from political oppression.

But we know. We look back on two thousand years of history and see what God did through his Son, Jesus. We know the changes he made to the world. We recognize the incredible transformation his presence in one’s life brings. Still, we leave him out of our celebrations at this special time of year.

We stay absorbed in the world’s pleasures and what the world offers instead of the real treasure Jesus offers. We remove his name from Christmas, replace it with an X, or just call it the holiday season, so no one gets offended. Then wonder why there is no satisfaction when we get up from the feast or unwrap the last present.

I invite you in the last days before Christmas to stop and meditate on him. Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, our Savior is the namesake of these holy days. He is the reason we celebrate. Be careful preparing the festivities for family and friends that you leave a place for him in your celebrations. Make him the centerpiece in all you do.

If you will, you will find this holiday most enjoyable. If Jesus is in the center of your celebration, this will be one of the best Christmases you’ve ever had regardless of your outward circumstances. Because he never fails, and he never leaves us alone.

Merry Christmas, and thanks for letting me share with you this past year.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

A Sacrifice of Stinky Feet, April 15, 2019

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

As I got to know my wife when we were first dating a hundred years ago. (It’s not really been that long, but after 42 ½ years of marriage, it’s hard to remember life without her.) I digress. When we were dating, I learned her favorite perfume was Chanel No. 5. For a college kid, it was horribly expensive. But you know what present I would get her from time to time? If you didn’t guess it right the first time, you haven’t been hopelessly in love. I saved up enough to buy her Chanel No. 5 every time the bottle was getting low.

One thing I really love about Chanel No. 5, and I think the reason she likes it so well, is that it has such a light scent. It’s fragrance doesn’t overwhelm you when someone walks into the room wearing it. You recognize its presence, but barely until you are close to the person who has used just enough of the elixir to make it known there is something different about their scent. Great stuff.

A lot of other perfumes, colognes, toilet waters I just can’t handle. Someone will walk into a building and it suddenly smells like a 5,000 gallon fuel tanker filled with the stuff just dumped their load in the room. You probably know what I’m talking about. That odor, whether pleasant or not, just overpowers everything until it just destroys your sense of smell and no matter what the smell, you detest it. My eyes begin to water, my throat begins to close, I begin to sneeze uncontrollably. All my doctors tell me I’m not allergic to anything, but what that overwhelming scent gets into a room, my body just goes beserk.

Today’s passage reminds me of those overpowering fragrances since John describes the odor as permeating the whole house. Here is what he says in John 12 verses 1 through 11:

“Six days before the Passover feast, Jesus journeyed to the village of Bethany, to the home of Lazarus who had recently been raised from the dead, where they hosted Him for dinner. Martha was busy serving as the hostess, Lazarus reclined at the table with Him, and Mary took a pound of fine ointment, pure nard (which is both rare and expensive), and anointed Jesus’ feet with it; and then she wiped them with her hair. As the pleasant fragrance of this extravagant ointment filled the entire house, Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples (who was plotting to betray Jesus), began to speak.

Judas Iscariot: How could she pour out this vast amount of fine oil? Why didn’t she sell it? It is worth nearly a year’s wages; the money could have been given to the poor.

This had nothing to do with Judas’s desire to help the poor. The truth is he served as the treasurer, and he helped himself to the money from the common pot at every opportunity.

Jesus: Leave her alone. She has observed this custom in anticipation of the day of My burial. The poor are ever present, but I will be leaving.

Word spread of Jesus’ presence, and a large crowd was gathering to see Jesus and the formerly deceased Lazarus, whom He had brought back from the dead. The chief priests were secretly plotting Lazarus’s murder since, because of him, many Jews were leaving their teachings and believing in Jesus.”

This nard got my curiosity up. I didn’t think I’d ever smelled nard, sometimes called spikenard, so I started looking up some descriptions of the fragrance. I found that it was indeed a very expensive oil in Jesus’ day, and not so inexpensive today because of where the plant grows from which it is derived.

In my search, I found the plant grows in the Himalayas of Nepal, China, and India. So just getting the plant to Israel in Biblical times would be quite the journey. And those lengthy caravans were costly. We know how to build greenhouses in such a way that we can grow almost anything anywhere, now, because we can simulate the environment of almost anyplace on earth, but they couldn’t then, and even today, to simulate the environs of the Himalayas would be costly.

But what about the smell? In all my searches, I found only one person that said nard smelled a little like lavender. That one author must have a terrible sense of smell because every other author I read said the smell is best described as “nard smells like … feet. A few said “stinky cheese.” But the majority of the vote if you do this in a democratic way, nard smells musty, earthy, leathery, … like feet. Think about the smell of middle school boys’ rooms. Feet! Yuk!

So why use nard? Well, it was thought to have some medicinal uses. It calmed anxiety. I’m told some people actually like the musty, leathery parts of the smell. Feet! One of the comments I read said fish stink, too, but that doesn’t make the river any less beautiful. I guess I understand the comment. We put up with my son’s middle school stinky feet smell because he was our son. We didn’t care much for the stinky feet smell, but we weren’t going to throw him out the door because of it. We just held our nose and gagged a little when ever we tried to decontaminate his room every few hours. (Sorry to use you as an illustration, Matt, you were handy, but I could have used any boy your age.)

So why bring all this up about nard? First, just because of the curiosity. But more important, because of the reaction of two characters in the story. Mary poured out the perfume as an act of worship for Jesus. (Whether people liked the smell or not, it was present and if it had a calming effect all the better.) She acted extravagantly in the presence of the one who deserves our extravagance. She didn’t think about the cost, only the act of giving her most prized possession.

The other character in our story, Judas, saw only waste. He didn’t see the act of worship. He only saw a year’s wages dumped on the leader of their little band’s feet. The stinky feet smell filled the room and instead of calming Judas, the oil had the opposite effect. The waste enraged him and he stormed out of the house. Everyone in the house should have been celebrating. Here sitting in the room with them was a living, breathing, eating, talking brother who just a few days earlier classified as a no kidding corpse. Dead. Gone. Finished.

Then we see this third group of characters that are really hard to explain. Jesus just raised Lazarus from the dead. He stood outside the tomb from which he had the stone pushed back and called out his name. Then here comes this man wrapped in a burial shroud smelling like nard and myrrh and frankincense. Everyone there just stands with their mouths open like fish until Jesus tells them to get the burial shroud off of him and feed him. He hasn’t eaten in four days! He’ll be hungry!

So if this guy, Jesus, can raise the dead and talk about scripture like he was there when it was written, why not listen to him? If Jesus can make two fish and five little rolls feed 5,000 men and their families, why would the religious leaders want to turn people away from him? If Jesus can change the lives of the individuals he touches and give them the internal peace they seek by telling them their sins are forgiven, why would the priests be wanting to break their own commandments and kill him?

It just doesn’t make much sense, does it? But you know what? We are often guilty of doing the same thing today. We act like Jesus is not the God we say he is. We act like he doesn’t matter. We act like the Bible and his teachings are not true. We act like there will be no judgment day or not final reckoning for the lives we live. We act like we are the center of the universe and the most important thing around. We act like those Pharisees and Sadducees. We act like we are ready to kill him because he makes life uncomfortable for us and wants to change our ways.

So here we are just a few days from celebrating Easter, for many, just another day on the calendar. For many, just a day which they can lift up as a way of making more sales for candy and clothes and special gifts for those that just want to pretend they are followers of Christ. It is still the season of Lent. In the early church, a time of preparation for those who chose to signify their entrance into the church by means of baptism on Easter Sunday. A time of study, self-reflection, ensuring they really know Jesus, they know his saving grace, and they know the cost of their commitment to him.

Lent, a time of preparation. We can do the same if we choose. We can prepare for Easter. We can do that self-examination and know we true followers of Jesus. We can know his awesome grace in our lives. We can commit to him knowing the cost may be everything we are and everything we have. Our riches, our families, our very lives. We can follow him if we choose. Most will not because in this world, the cost is high. But how about you. I can tell you it is worth it when you walk the narrow path with him.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

The impossible story, March 26, 2018

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com; The Story, Chapter 27; You Version Bible app Engaging God’s Story Reading Plan Days 183 through 189

This week we read about the unbelievable for too many people. It’s the thing that makes them pause and say, “It just can’t be true. It’s not possible. The story is just a story.”

What are we talking about? This week we read about the resurrection. We read the reaction of those closest to him who also recoiled at the thought that it was possible even after watching him do the impossible and them telling them it would happen. We watch Joseph and Nicodemus gently remove Jesus’ broken body from the cross and take it to Joseph’s newly finished tomb. We watch from afar as they race the clock before the sun sets to do some minimal burial preparation of Jesus’ body because nothing can be done on the Sabbath.

We hear of the disciples cowering in locked rooms discussing what they will do now that their king has died. The one they put their trust and hope in lies in a tomb. How could it happen? How could he be the One to rescue them if he is buried in a grave? What happened? Just a few days before, the crowds waved palm branches and cried out their Hosannas. Now he’s dead.

Then we see the Sanhedrin worry about these rebel disciples and the revolt that might arise if they steal Jesus’ body from the tomb and declare that he really did rise from the dead. We watch them plead with Caesar to put his seal and a guard on the tomb so no one would tamper with the body and continue the “farce” this teacher kept up.

We listen to the story of that first Easter morning when the angels meet the two Marys at the tomb and announce that their Messiah rose just as he said he would. We try to empathize with Mary Magdalene as she grieves and begs the “gardner” to tell her where he has taken her master’s body.

But the realization of what has happened begins to dawn on Jesus’ followers. Jesus calls Mary by name and she recognizes her risen Lord. She races back to tell the disciples the good news. Peter and John race to the empty tomb and find the linens collapsed on the bier. Those linens contain no body. The guards recovered from their faint race to tell the priests what happened. The Sanhedrin make up a story to protect the guard.

Two disciples walk toward Emmaus, puzzled by the events of the day, don’t recognized their master walking with them until they sit down to eat and he reveals himself to them. Have you ever wondered about that? I have. I think they were looking for a bloodied, crucified, disfigured man. The one they last saw hanging on the cross. Broken. Bruised. Bleeding. Flesh hanging in strips from the flogging he suffered. Instead they saw the risen Lord. Refreshed. Restored. Resurrected. Perfect. Except for the scars in his hands and side so he could later show Thomas.

Would I have reacted any different? Would I have thought Jesus anything other than a ghost when he suddenly appeared behind closed doors if I were one of the disciples that night? Would I have recognized a restored Jesus if he walked with me on the road to Emmaus? Would I have thought Jesus rose from the dead instead of being stolen by the gardner?

I sometimes we look at “doubting Thomas” and give him a hard time. I think I’d be a lot like him. It takes faith to believe in the impossible. Jesus told them some incredible things over the three years he was with them. He also told them some hard things. “You must eat my flesh and drink my blood to have any part in me.” How do you accept that in the culture you’ve lived in all your life?

If you live you lose your life, you must lose your life to gain it? How does that make sense when you hear it for the first time?

But there it is staring at you. The empty tomb. The reports of the disciples. The more than 500 people who saw him over the next 40 days. The fact that no matter how hard the religious leaders tried to squash the story, people kept it alive. Not just that, thousands upon thousands have been willing to die for this One person. No other figure in all history has changed the world the way this one man did.

All the things people through the centuries have tried to do to stop the message or discredit the story have only served to strengthen it. The risen Lord. The impossible story. It isn’t just a story. It truly is God’s story. His plan to bring us back into a face to face relationship with him. He is a holy God. So much higher in his thoughts and ways that the only way we could come near to him was for him to come to us and become the perfect sacrifice for us.

Hard to believe? So is the perfect balance of nature around us. So is the uniqueness of a snowflake. So is the diversity of humanity around our world. So is the warmth and light of the sun. So is the miracle of birth. All those things are impossible. So is it so impossible that God so loved us that he came to live among us in human flesh so that whoever believes in him will not perish but will live eternally with him?

Impossible? He tells us and shows us in his actions it is not. All things are possible with him. The empty tomb on the first Easter morning is just one more demonstration of the impossible to show us his love for us and his desperate desire to restore an intimate, personal, face to face relationship with each of us. All we have to do is believe.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more about The Story and our part in it. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Music exit

Come on in, I’ve been expecting you, February 19, 2018

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com; The Story, Chapter 22; You Version Bible app Engaging God’s Story Reading Plan Days 148 through 154

The story of Jesus’ birth. Everyone knows it. Even those who have never darkened the door of a church. Even those who try their best to get rid of the nativities in public places and change Merry Christmas to Happy Holidays. Mention “no room at the inn” and people’s first thought is that night in Bethlehem 2000 years ago.

I think we often get the wrong picture of that night, though. I love the story Randy Frazee tells of an elementary school preparing a Christmas pageant for parents. It makes me think about how God would really like us to respond and how we too often respond instead. Here’s the story Randy tells in his book, “The Heart of the Story.”

“…All the important parts were given to the important parts were given to the brightest students. The smartest girl was chosen to be Mary; the smartest boy played Joseph. The next smartest group played the three kings, the angels, and the shepherds.

“There was only one part no one wanted: the innkeeper. Who wanted to be the bad guy who turned Mary and Joseph away? They gave the part to a boy who was a little slower than the others but had a big heart.

“As the day for the big pageant approached, the boy playing the innkeeper began to worry. He couldn’t imagine telling Mary and Joseph there was no room in the inn. What was he going to do?

“Finally, it was curtain time. Parents, relatives, and friends packed the auditorium. They proudly watched the story unfold as their children skillfully carried out their important roles. Meanwhile, the innkeeper grew more and more anxious. The pressure mounted as Mary and Joseph approached. He didn’t know what to do, but somehow he caught a brief glimpse of the Upper Story.

“When Mary and Joseph knocked, the scruffy little innkeeper threw open the door and shouted with a big smile, “Come on in. I’ve been expecting you.” With that the crowd cheered and clapped and the play came to an end.”

Don’t you think that’s really what God has in mind when He shows up? The wait is over. The prophecies are fulfilled. God bursts on the scene in a way no one expected. He used the lower story in some amazing ways to fulfill His upper story. Caesar demanding the census be conducted in each person’s town of their lineage. Bethlehem was just a little village. David left there to build Jerusalem, the capital of the kingdom, remember? And born in poverty in what a family that would be shunned because of the circumstances of His birth. Who would believe Mary had been faithful to her husband Joseph when Jesus came early? She could have been stoned. All the bad things that a family could endure, that family endured. The fateful trip to Bethlehem. The escape to Egypt. Life in the gang filled town of Nazareth. The early death of Joseph, the family breadwinner.

God, by coming to earth in the form of a baby, experienced every single part of life we experience from birth to death. Most of His experiences came from the worst society had to offer. I think He did that on purpose. He didn’t want anyone to say He doesn’t know what we’re going through. He has experienced it all. But stayed true to His Father and His mission to redeem us.

The Jews were looking for a king, not a baby. God came to dwell with us. To live among us. To experience every part of life we experience. He felt all those joys and sorrows that come with living on the wrong side of the street. He knew the heartache that comes from the gossip and slander that launched toward Mary and her firstborn. He knew the grief that comes from the death of those closest to you. He knew the pain of misunderstanding from those around Him, even His own brothers and sisters.

Jesus lived among us, experiencing the life we live everyday. Until Jesus was thirty, he went to work in the carpenter shop every day. He paid excessive taxes to the Romans on the wages He earned. He probably carried some of the soldiers’ packs when He was pressed into service as He walked down the road.

His life was never an easy one. I expect the flowing white robes we see Him wearing in all those pictures and paintings on the walls were not part of His ensemble. I expect He really just had a couple of worn out rags from the local thrift store to wear. I expect the softest bed He ever slept in was that bed of straw in the manger in the cave where He was born. After that, maybe a blanket on the dirt floor or a straw mat on that dirt floor when he was older. Jesus’ life was a hard one that none of us would want to swap.

Yet, like the innkeeper in the elementary school pageant, God wants us to invite Him in when He knocks on the door. He has great things planned for us in His upper story if we will just trust Him and let Him lead the way. We don’t need to worry because He has already experienced this life from beginning to end and knows all about it. He can take us through it and give us peace and joy despite the circumstances we face each day.

How about changing your view of the innkeeper and emulate the new role model when God knocks. Swing the door wide, smile big, and answer, “Come on in. I’ve been expecting you.”

Music exit

We all need mentors, peers, and students? (John 20:17-18), April 27, 2017

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Who do you have in your life helping you along the path? We all need certain kinds of people. Jesus’ words today reminded me of that.
Scripture
1. John 20:17
2. Jesus: Mary!

Mary Magdalene (turning to Jesus and speaking in Hebrew): Rabboni, my Teacher!

Jesus: Mary, you cannot hold Me. I must rise above this world to be with My Father, who is also your Father; My God, who is also your God. Go tell this to all My brothers

Devotional
1. We all need three kinds of people in our lives.
  1. Mentors
  2. Peers
  3. People we are mentoring
2. We often try to journey through life on our own
  1. God made us with the need for relationships
  2. All have different gifts
  3. None have enough gifts and talents to make it through life alone
  4. God created us with the need to reach out to others
3. Mary came looking for Jesus’ body
  1. Came with others to carry out the funerary rituals
  2. Knew she couldn’t do it alone
  3. When Jesus met her in the garden and she recognized Him for who He was, she called Him teacher
  4. He was her mentor, learned from Him
  5. We need someone to pull us along – a teacher
4. Go tell this to all My brothers
  1. Mary ran to tell the story
  2. These brothers were Jesus’ friends while He walked with us
  3. His inner circle gave Him strength
  4. They were His confidants
  5. He knew He was God’s son, but considered them His brothers
5. Reached out to all who came to Him to teach, heal, share the message
  1. God’s kingdom is at hand
  2. Believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins
  3. Jesus is the true son of God
  4. He gives freely of His grace and mercy for the asking
  5. He just asks us to follow His ways in return
6. So who is your mentor? Who challenges you along your Christian walk? Who are you helping progressing along the journey as a mentor to them? We all need those three kinds of people in our lives. Take inventory and see how you’re doing.
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Wills are important (John 19:26-27), April 25, 2017

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Wills are really important. Jesus made a will during His last moments on the cross. Listen to what He said.
Scripture
1. John 19:26-27
2. Jesus (to Mary, His mother): Dear woman, this is your son (motioning to the beloved disciple)! (to John, His disciple) This is now your mother.
Devotional
1. At age 22, I made my first will. My wife had the original and my parents and in-laws both received copies.
  1. Parents and in-laws were a little shocked
  2. Why was I making a will at such a young age
  3. Army wanted every soldier to have a will because we deploy to a conflict at a moment’s notice
  4. Important to let someone know your wishes before you pass away
  5. Avoids family fights over the things you leave behind
  6. Didn’t have much, but told where all of it went
  7. Subsequent wills determined what happened to minor children should both my wife and I die simultaneously or should she precede me in death
  8. I wanted to know who was raising my children and that the values they held were similar to mine
2. Jesus didn’t have much that we know of in terms of earthly belongings
  1. Mary’s son, but not Joseph’s son
  2. May not have been heir to Joseph’s inheritance since he was not his son
  3. May not have owned anything more than the clothes on His back
  4. Don’t hear of material things Jesus possessed
  5. Talks about teaching and preaching accepting what is offered and staying in homes opened to them. Expect that was His practice as well
3. In the room where He at the Passover with His disciples gave them His last will and testament
  1. My peace I give you
  2. I leave my legacy of peace with you
  3. I’m preparing a place for you and I’m coming back
4. On the cross, looks down and sees His mother
  1. May have seen her following at the edge of the crowd as He carried His cross
  2. May have seen her agony and grief
  3. Could not comfort her while the soldiers pushed Him toward Golgotha
  4. Did not want to depart without giving Mary what He had for her
  5. Gave His last will and testament to her
  6. All He could give at that point to keep her from being destitute as a widow in a land that didn’t recognize the importance of women
  7. Mary, treat John as your son. John, treat Mary as your mother. Comfort each other in my absence. Draw strength from each other and care for each other
5. Wills are important, even to Jesus. They are about taking care of the ones you love.
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Can you believe? (John 11:23-26), March 13, 2017

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Sometimes the things people say are just really hard to believe. Can you imagine what it was like for Mary and Martha when Jesus asked them to believe we truly never die?
Scripture
1. John 11:23-26
2. Jesus: Your brother will rise to life.

Martha: I know. He will rise again when everyone is resurrected on the last day.

Jesus: I am the resurrection and the source of all life; those who believe in Me will live even in death. Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never truly die. Do you believe this?

Devotional
1. Some people try everything they can to cheat death.
  1. Trillion dollar industries
  2. Cosmetics
  3. Exercise regiments
  4. Vitamins
  5. Cryonics
2. Imagine when Mary and Martha heard these words for the first time
  1. “Believe in Me and live”
  2. “All who believe will have life everlasting”
  3. Easy until looking death in the face
  4. “Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never truly die”
  5. “Do you believe this?”
3. Two different major sects among mainstream Jews
  1. Pharisees believed in resurrection after death
  2. Sadducees believed death was final and there was no resurrection
  3. Listened to Jesus and believed what He said, believed there was a judgment and resurrection
  4. Couldn’t put together the thought of moving between the two
  5. Couldn’t think about His power over death
4. Still the question hung in the air
  1. Do you believe everyone who lives and believes in Me will never truly die?
  2. Mary and Martha watched their brother take his last breath
  3. They washed his body and wrapped it in linen clothes filled with spices
  4. They put their brother in a tomb four days earlier
  5. He will never truly die? What do you call what happened?
5. We have 2,000 years of testimony from people who have lived the assurance of Jesus’ message.
  1. Still we have trouble believing
  2. Yet Mary and Martha voiced the words and took Jesus to the tomb with the expectation of Jesus doing something spectacular for their brother
  3. If they could believe that we never truly die when we believe in Him, without having knowledge of His resurrection, don’t you think we should be able to believe
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Sometimes you just need to stop and listen (Luke 10:41-42) October 30, 2016

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – James 4-5

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 10:41-42
Jesus: Oh Martha, Martha, you are so anxious and concerned about a million details, but really, only one thing matters. Mary has chosen that one thing, and I won’t take it away from her.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

It’s easy to get busy doing good things, isn’t it? I remember my days as Chief of Staff at the Army Medical Department Center and School at Fort Sam Houston. My calendar was crazy. It wa filled with meetings and appointments that were good. They were important. They needed to be conducted. But looking back, I’m not sure I really should have let my schedule get as crazy as I did.

I let other people handle my schedule and I ended up with back to back meetings every 30 minutes from 7 in the morning until 6 in the evening five days a week and most evenings and weekends were filled with Army, city, and church activities. I had no time left over in the schedule for three years for much of anything. I had to schedule time with Carole and my kids and there wasn’t near enough of it as I look back at those years.

It wasn’t that I was doing bad things, but it certainly wasn’t the best things. Oh, I had an important position and everyone at Fort Sam Houston knew who I was. I interacted with a lot of important people as I acted as advisor to the city council on matters pertaining to the installation at times, state and federal agencies operating in and around Fort Sam Houston, or interfaced with organizations like the Red Cross, Veterans’ Administration, several of the school districts, the medical community in San Antonio, the Chamber of Commerce, and a host of other agencies and activities. I did a lot of good things with all those appointments and meetings and conferences. As I look back at those things, I think I helped the installation, the school and the medical community progress in its care of both military personnel and the civilian community, particularly in the area of trauma support.

But was it the best use of those hours during those three years? Quite frankly, I don’t know. I was able to share my story a few times both with individuals and in public forums giving credit to God for the successes I enjoyed in my career, but I was called to preach in 1980 and I had very little time left in my calendar to preach or provide the blogs and podcasts I’m doing now, sharing God’s words consistently.

So was what I was doing what Martha doing? Going around attending to all the details at the expense of sitting at the feet of Jesus and soaking in the best He has for me? I admit, sometimes I think I was. I think I let my job and those responsibilities keep me from the call God placed on my life on that I promised to fulfill on that September evening in 1980. I still did things with my church. I still kept up my devotions. I still shared with some about the faith I felt and used to keep everything in perspective. But I let the details block out the goodness of just stopping sometimes and sitting at the feet of the Master.

I’m trying to do better. I’m trying to leave room in my calendar for God to work. I try to remember that everything is secondary to His schedule. Like the Good Samaritan that disrupted his plans and spent at least a day and a night tending to a stranger injured on the road, I want to be ready to give up my schedule to the best God has instead of the good I might have planned.

So what about you? Have you let your life get so cluttered with details that you don’t have time to let God intervene with His schedule? Have you planned every moment and hold on to those moments with such tenacity that God can’t get in no matter how hard He tries? That’s what Martha did and she was scolded when she tried to get Mary to stop listening to Jesus and help her with all those preparations.

Sometimes we just need to remember God cares more about our relationship with Him than He does the glitter and glamor and ritual and preparation we seem to do to get ready to meet Him. He just wants us to sit at His feet and listen. Don’t let all the other stuff become distractors from listening to His voice. Even when we do good things we can sacrifice the best if we’re not careful. So how do we know we are doing the best and not just the good?

Stay in His word. Pray often. Listen for His spirit’s prompting and then obey that still small voice that speaks to you. Become sensitive to His voice and obey when you hear Him call. Don’t let anything become more important than His words in your ear. When you listen to Him and obey His call, you won’t be sorry. You’ll discover incredible truth and do incredible things in His name.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

What would you do? (Matthew 28:9-10) July 2, 2016

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Luke 17-18

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 28:9-10
Jesus (greeting the women): Rejoice.
The women fell down before Him, kissing His feet and worshiping Him.
Jesus: Don’t be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee. Tell them I will meet them there.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

You’ve probably seen the popular TV show, actors portray different scenes in public and hidden cameras watch unsuspecting bystanders to see what happens as the action plays out before them. You know the punch line – “What would you do?” Sometimes the actions are pretty bizarre and we would like to think we know how we would react when put in those situations. But do we?

Put yourself in the cemetery on that first Easter morning. You go to the tomb to finish preparing the body of the man you thought would lead your country to freedom. You listened to His words and just knew He was must be the Messiah, but then He was arrested and killed like a common criminal. All your dreams are dashed. But you still want to carry out this last act of respect.

The guards are laying around the tomb either unconscious or so terrified they just can’t move. The stone is rolled away from the entrance. You see an angel sitting on top of the stone. The tomb is empty. Then the angel talks to you and tells you not to be afraid. What would you do? I’d probably be scared out of my gord no matter what the angel said. He just took on a whole Roman squad by himself and rolled away a stone too massive to for any man to move alone. And did it all without getting a speck of dirt on him.

I bet I’d fall on my face in fear. But then Jesus appears, but His skin is no longer ripped to sheds by the thirty-nine lashes He took. His brow shows no sign of the crown of thorns that pierced it. The bruises are gone. The blood that covered His body when you laid Him in the tomb is gone. The almost unrecognizable figure of a man that went into the tomb three days ago is not the same figure that stands before you now.

No, this is the same Jesus you walked with and talked with every day. This is the One who sat with you and explained the scriptures so perfectly. This is the man who loved everyone and taught you to love even your enemies. This is the man you thought you’d never see again until the final resurrection. What would you do?

I would probably faint dead away. I’d probably just fall on my face and pass out cold from the instant fear that ran through my whole body. That’s what I’d probably do. I’ve seen some really strange things in my life and been in some pretty scary situations, but to see Jesus resurrected on that first Easter mornining? Not sure I’d be standing up.

But Jesus says, “Rejoice!” “Tell my brothers to go and meet me in Galilee.”

Wow! I don’t think John Quiñones could put anything like that together. But if he did, I wonder what kind of response He would get? I’m afraid today he wouldn’t get much of one. People would assume it’s some sort of Hollywood special affects or slight of hand. Folks would look for those hidden cameras thinking that since this couldn’t be real, there must be some wizard behind the curtain and start looking for him. I’m not sure with all the SciFi and fantasy worlds we create for ourselves as entertainment, many would even see this scene as the incredible, historic, supernatural, spiritually awakening invitation for all mankind it really was.

But it happened. Jesus spent enough time in the grave to assure everyone in Jerusalem He was really dead. The Roman soldiers who crucified Him testified to it and they knew their job. They had no doubt about His condition when they took His lifeless corpse from that cross. When Joseph of Arimethea put Jesus in his tomb, no one doubted He was dead. No pulse. No heartbeat. No breath. Bled out. Dead. And even if He was alive, He certainly couldn’t have move that stone and walked around three days later after the physical ordeal He went through. Even with our modern medicine, He would spend months, maybe a year or more in the hospital recovering from His wounds. Walking around talking in three days? Healed? No way. Alive? Impossible.

Jesus told the women who came to finish their burial ritual to rejoice. And they did. They fell at His feet and kissed His feet and worshiped Him. Any question they had about His being the Son of God disappeared in that encounter. He was God incarnate.

Then Jesus gave them a job to do. Go tell My brothers I’m alive and I want to meet them. You know He gives us the same message to tell others when we recognize the incarnate, resurrected God of the universe in Jesus, the Christ, the Anointed One. When we finally figure out who He is and let Him be Lord of our life, He tells us to rejoice. Then He tells us to go and tell His brothers He wants to meet them.

Have you told anyone lately that Jesus wants to meet them? He has risen. He is alive. The message is clear. So what will you do?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

God made Mary special (Luke 1:26-56), September 18, 2015

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Luke 1:26-56

Set – Ezekiel 45; Luke 1

Go! – Ezekiel 45-46; Luke 1

Luke 1:26-56
²⁶ Six months later in Nazareth, a city in the rural province of Galilee, the heavenly messenger Gabriel made another appearance. This time the messenger was sent by God ²⁷ to meet with a virgin named Mary, who was engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David himself. ²⁸ The messenger entered her home.
Messenger: Greetings! You are favored, and the Lord is with you! Among all women on the earth, you have been blessed.
²⁹ The heavenly messenger’s words baffled Mary, and she wondered what type of greeting this was.
Messenger: ³⁰ Mary, don’t be afraid. You have found favor with God. ³¹ Listen, you are going to become pregnant. You will have a son, and you must name Him “Savior,” or Jesus. ³² Jesus will become the greatest among men. He will be known as the Son of the Highest God. God will give Him the throne of His ancestor David, ³³ and He will reign over the covenant family of Jacob forever.
Mary: ³⁴ But I have never been with a man. How can this be possible?
Messenger: ³⁵ The Holy Spirit will come upon you. The Most High will overshadow you. That’s why this holy child will be known, as not just your son, but also as the Son of God. ³⁶ It sounds impossible, but listen—you know your relative Elizabeth has been unable to bear children and is now far too old to be a mother. Yet she has become pregnant, as God willed it. Yes, in three months, she will have a son. ³⁷ So the impossible is possible with God.
Mary (deciding in her heart): ³⁸ Here I am, the Lord’s humble servant. As you have said, let it be done to me.
And the heavenly messenger was gone. ³⁹ Mary immediately got up and hurried to the hill country, in the province of Judah, ^40-41 where her cousins Zacharias and Elizabeth lived. When Mary entered their home and greeted Elizabeth, who felt her baby leap in her womb, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Elizabeth (shouting): ⁴² You are blessed, Mary, blessed among all women, and the child you bear is blessed! ⁴³ And blessed I am as well, that the mother of my Lord has come to me! ⁴⁴ As soon as I heard your voice greet me, my baby leaped for joy within me. ⁴⁵ How fortunate you are, Mary, for you believed that what the Lord told you would be fulfilled.
⁴⁶ Mary: My soul lifts up the Lord!
⁴⁷ My spirit celebrates God, my Liberator!
⁴⁸ For though I’m God’s humble servant,
God has noticed me.
Now and forever,
I will be considered blessed by all generations.
⁴⁹ For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
holy is God’s name!
⁵⁰ From generation to generation,
God’s lovingkindness endures
for those who revere Him.
⁵¹ God’s arm has accomplished mighty deeds.
The proud in mind and heart,
God has sent away in disarray.
⁵² The rulers from their high positions of power,
God has brought down low.
And those who were humble and lowly,
God has elevated with dignity.
⁵³ The hungry—God has filled with fine food.
The rich—God has dismissed with nothing in their hands.
⁵⁴ To Israel, God’s servant,
God has given help,
⁵⁵ As promised to our ancestors,
remembering Abraham and his descendants in mercy forever.
⁵⁶ Mary stayed with Elizabeth in Judea for the next three months and then returned to her home in Galilee.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Have you ever wondered why I chose Mary to carry Jesus, the human side of the triune Godhead? What was so special about her that I would come to her to act as the earthly mother of My one and only Son? The answer comes from what doesn’t appear in these verses. Mary never asked, “Why me?” Despite the trouble that would come her way as an unwed mother in a society that would rather stone her than forgive her, she chose to trust Me and bear the Son of God.

What was special about Mary? She believed Me. She watched for the coming of the Messiah and knew that My promises were true. She lived the best she knew how to follow the path I had given for My people. She trusted Me with all her heart. Mary didn’t have special powers or abilities. She didn’t have some secret that others didn’t. You probably wouldn’t have recognized her or been able to point her out in a crowd. She was pretty ordinary… Except for her faith in Me.

Mary knew I could not and would not fail in My promises and when I sent My messenger to announce My intentions to her, she humbly accepted the task without question, only trust. That’s what was special about Mary. But can you trust Me? Yes. Can you accept the tasks I give you? Can you praise Me and give thanks for the situations you face? Yes. Trust Me. Believe in Me. Follow Me. I am the one that will make you special, just like I did with Mary.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.