Devotional

An email devotional that I receive daily ("Girlfriends in God" through Crosswalk.com) was ironically similar to what I had been writing about in my last posting. Thought I'd share:

Today's Truth
"...Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things." Luke 10:41

Friend to Friend
I've never heard any woman exclaim, "I am soooo Mary!" Indeed, we live in a world with our Martha sisters, "whipping up our meals for Jesus", serving Him in the church, running around for Him in the community, and knocking ourselves out for Him at home!.

Let me rush to say that Martha was loved and affirmed by our Lord. And she was passionate in her love for Him. She served Him with a heart of devotion and in keeping with the role of the Jewish woman of her day. Yet, we see in the scriptures that she was overly occupied and too busy and distracted with much serving. (Luke 10:40 Amplified)

The choice becomes ours -- to live our lives mostly like Martha, or mostly like Mary. I am beginning to understand the truth that Mary-Living, is the greater of the two. Each one of these lifestyles can get out of balance, but I am learning to put more energy into being like Mary, than doing like Martha. Jesus said that Mary had chosen that which was to her advantage. (Luke 10:42) He is saying the same thing to me:

"Cindi, it's to your advantage that you spend time with me..."

You see, your time with your Heavenly Father each day, is not for your punishment, but for your blessing. As you quiet yourself before the Lord, you'll come to see stressful daily living in a new light. As you consistently come before Him each day in worship, scripture study, and prayerful meditation, your mundane, maxed-out lifestyle will be refocused, redirected, and refreshed!

Yes, your Creator-Designer who knows His plans and purposes for your life invites you to spend time with Him, capturing His thoughts and sharing His heart. When you do, He'll pour out His love to you in extravagant kinds of ways.

Yes, there are times when we need to be Martha and times we need to be Mary. Being Mary will give you joy for those times you must be Martha. That's the proper order of loving . . . and living.