Are Mary and Jesus on Equal Footing?

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Via StockSnap

Catholics will tell you that they do not worship Mary, and perhaps they don’t. But they won’t deny that they pay the highest respect and honor to Mary – respect that exceeds that of any other great man or woman of God in the Bible. In Catholicism, are Mary and Yeshua on equal footing?

When Yeshua pushed through the crowds, a woman cries out “Blessed is the woman who gave you birth and nursed you” Yeshua’s reply is so interesting. Instead of confirming the woman’s words and saying “Yes, my mother is blessed!” Instead, he says,

“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

In a previous passage, we read that all generations would call His mother blessed. But this passage teaches that there are a people even more blessed or as equally blessed as Mary herself. And those people are the disciples of Yeshua – people who hear the word of God and obey it.

Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses, a thing is established. In the second witness, Yeshua talks about kinship.

Again, Yeshua is talking to a crowd. His mother and brothers are standing outside waiting to speak with Him. Someone tells Him “Your mother and brothers are standing outside wanting to speak to you.” But Yeshua’s reply is again deeply interesting. His reply is…

“Who is my mother and who are my brothers – pointing to His disciples – He says here are my mother and brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven is my brother, sister and mother.”

Usually people put the most important names first, but in this passage, brother and sister come before mother. Mother is last. Yeshua is again making a point about who is truly blessed.

All generations may call Mary blessed, but there are those who are just as blessed – those who follow Yeshua.

If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

foundations

When people ask me why I didn’t move to Los Angeles, the answer is simple… earthquakes.

And while I’m still technically perched on the ring of fire, it’s just something about LA – the city seems more overdue for a quake and more vulnerable than other parts of the West Coast… even if it’s technically not.

I remember the first time I was in an earthquake.

The bed began to sway during the middle of REM, and I incorporated the movement into my dreams. I woke just enough to wonder who was shaking the bed, but I was too sleepy to assume that it was anything other than my husband. When I awoke the next morning, I learned that there was a mild earthquake during the night.

The problem with living in an earthquake zone is that there is no sure foundation. Nothing is anchored because everything reacts to plate tectonics. It is the uncertainty of knowing when a quake will happen coupled with the certainty of knowing that it will eventually happen that makes me feel a little helpless.

Do we not live in a society where many Christians feel helpless? A society where the culture is shaken by lust, greed, and hatred – the moral foundations are crumbling beneath us. What can the righteous do if the foundations are destroyed?

There is only one thing to do… pray.

Pray that God will repair the breach and build up the church. Pray that God continues to be your Rock so that even in the midst of a crumbling world, you can stand firm, knowing that you haven’t built your spiritual life on sand.

God Loves the Immigrant

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Via Unsplash

My former pastor in Chicago married a woman from South America and once explained (during a sermon) she had the opportunity to enter America illegally. But her obedience to God permeated every area of her life, including her desire to live in the U.S.

She did eventually come to the States, but legally.

At the heart of the immigration debate are people who are both confused and angry. There is a fight against bigotry pitted against defensiveness of governmental laws.

I’m not naive to think that love alone is the “answer” for immigration although it’s a good start.

I think the answer for immigration is to duplicate what God has done for us. In the Old Testament, He gave us the Law. In the New Testament, He gave us Love. But love didn’t demolish the law, it fulfilled it.

My thought on immigration is quite simplistic: When people come into the country (legally) respecting the law, we have a duty to love them. And when people come into the country (illegally) disrespecting the law, we still have a duty to love them.

 

Teach a Child to Pray as Soon as He Can Speak

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Via StockSnap

My child barely uttered a word until he was nearly three. When he was two, I started to panic when I realized that he was speaking in the wrong language. His first word was in Dutch – a vestige of my wanderlust.

“We are back in America now. You have to speak and learn English.”

A piece of me felt like a xenophobic bigot uttering such words. But it was true. We were in America, and he did need to learn English.

“When he starts speaking, he’ll never stop,” was the constant refrain of those around me. They were right. He is four and never shuts up. I’m happy that he can speak because it means that he can pray.

Susannah Wesley (mother of John Wesley) is often commended for her mothering. One of her parenting philosophies (that I’ve embraced for myself) is to teach a child to pray as soon as he can speak.

It was over a plate of blueberry pancakes that we first asked our child to bless the food. He said something so simplistic and profound that my husband and I both stopped to look at each other.

His prayer was this: “Jesus you love us. Amen.”

I was immediately ashamed of my long-winded prayers that focused on needs, wants, desires, fears, and worries instead of focusing on the most important thing – Jesus and His Love. This simple prayer continues to be my son’s favorite, and it has become my favorite too.

Walking by Faith and Not by Sight

Via Flickr - Chris Zielecki
Via Flickr – Chris Zielecki

January whisked by, and February is going just as quickly. So much has happened within the first two months of 2015; including a 3000 mile move.

It seems that when my family starts to feel too comfortable, that’s when we’re pushed out of our comfort zone. However, I’ve noticed that when we are pushed out of that zone, things start to get difficult, unfamiliar, authentic and beautiful all at the same time.

I know that God directs our steps and leads us where we are supposed to go. In this case, it was the Pacific Northwest.

When we arrived closer to our destination, the sun was breaking through the clouds, and I took it as a sign. We were exactly where we should be – In the middle of God’s Will.

But God’s Will isn’t always comfortable. But even with the absence of comfort, there is still His Peace in the midst of it all. And there is an ironic reassurance when you don’t know exactly where you’re going because it forces you to walk by faith and not by sight.

Biblical Meditation – 2 Chronicles 20:32-33

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Jehoshaphat did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. But even though he did what was right, and swayed the people under him to do likewise, there was still something missing from Israel to make the worship of God complete, holy, and pure.

The high places weren’t removed.

Detestable places were still standing throughout the land. They were a spiritual and physical eyesore, yet no one seemed to bother to break them down.

Maybe the people thought that the presence of the high places weren’t influencing their devotion to God. Unfortunately, it did affect the nation. The people still hadn’t worshiped the God of Israel with all of their hearts.

How could they, when there were still places for the idols standing in their midst?

Anything can become an idol. A thing, person, place or even an ideology becomes an idol when it supersedes or subtracts from our devotion to the one true God.

When we allow idols to stand in our midst, it isn’t possible to worship God with all of our hearts. Our attention, time, dedication, and devotion is divided between the idols and God. And no one can really, truly serve two masters.

What would Israel have been like during that time if the high places had been removed?

The answer is simple: there would have been whole-hearted worship. And logically, whole-hearted worship precedes an abundance of blessing.

Getting the Heart and Mind to Agree

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Via Unsplash

How do you feel settled when everything around you is unsettling?

You have to dig deep down in a place that you haven’t reached before and allow God to be in that place. If He is the Prince of Peace then peace will reside in you – and the same peace will eventually permeate the rest of your spirit and soul.

One of my favorite books in the Bible is Philippians, otherwise known as the Book of Peace. There have only been a handful of times in my life when I’ve felt a physical, tangible peace. Not inner peace, but a peace that is both inner and outer – a solid peace that blankets the soul and body. The first time I felt that peace was while reading the book of Philippians.

Scientifically (from a biological perspective) you can’t feel peace unless your heart and mind agree. Researchers have discovered that the heart has a literal mind of its own – a smaller brain. And when your head-brain and heart-brain agree this produces a chemical that runs through your bloodstream producing a ‘feeling’ of peace.

Many people are robbed of their peace. It’s because they are in a constant struggle with getting their mind and heart on the same page. However, it’s not just as simple as getting the brain and heart to agree, but specifically getting them to agree on the right thing, or rather the righteous thing. Because it’s possible for your heart and mind to agree on an evil thing.

Evil can never produce peace. It can only produce darkness, which can only be dissolved by light.

In Luke, Jesus talks about heart-mind agreement when encountering a young, rich man who wanted to know more about holiness and heaven. Jesus’s reply to the man’s question of how he could live a righteous life was this:

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”

Peace is as simple as trusting God with your whole heart and mind. But it’s as complicated as trusting God with all your heart and mind because you’ve got to get the two to agree first.

Our Daily Bread (The Lord’s Prayer)

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The Lord’s Prayer is complete. It is whole and it is Holy. There is nothing that needs to be added, and there is nothing that needs to be taken away from it. It is the pinnacle of perfection, and the exact words that we need to say to our Father when we bow down to pray.

Give us this day our daily bread.

The verse above lingered in my head, and then crystalized when I meditated on the scripture that tells us that God will not give us a stone if we ask for bread.

However, George McDonald says something curious about this verse – He says that God will sometimes give his children a stone if they are insistent on trying one. And, I can personally testify that I have asked God for many stones…

Sometimes we want things that bring great sorrow, not knowing what the outcome will be. In our blindness and lack of discernment we believe it will bring us joy.

Our desires can be our demise.

But Jesus also knew that our desires can be our demise, which is why He taught us how to pray… Give us this day our daily bread. He knows that it’s bread we need – not stones. And when we ask for bread…. God will not give us a stone.