Serving

For as long as she could

remember she loved

inviting strangers

to her home for a meal.

She lived by these words,

“Do not forget to entertain

Strangers, for by so doing

some have unwittingly entertained

Angels.”

 

As she served them, she shared

her faith.  She wanted them

to know that there was a

God in heaven who loved

them.

 

Many of them were

touched by her hospitality.

They were lonely or going

through a tough time and

this woman was welcoming

them into her home, feeding

them and talking to them.

Not all of them were interested

in hearing about God or religion

but they were grateful to her

for her kindness.

 

She wasn’t discouraged by their

lack of Interest in spiritual matters,

but she knew that she had

shown them the love of

Christ by the way she treated them.

Sometimes sharing the Gospel

came not from words but from

actions.  Still, it was a thrill for her

when they accepted Christ.

 

Initially, her family and friends

were concerned that she was

inviting strangers into her home

but she assured them that God

led the people to her.

She thanks Him every day for calling

her into the Hospitality ministry.

 

“I love to feed and talk to people,”

she said, “and that is why God chose

me for this work.  I am so blessed.”

She has been doing this for years.

and will continue to do so until

she is called to another ministry.

 

Source:  Hebrews 13:2

Doubted

Acts 12:13-16

Have you ever told someone something and he or she didn’t believe you?  No matter how much you try to convince that person he or she just isn’t buying what you are saying.  How did it make you feel?  Hurt?  Angry? Frustrated?

When the apostle Peter was arrested and thrown into prison, fellow Christians got together and held a prayer meeting.  While Peter was sleeping, an angel of the Lord went to the cell where he was shackled between two sleeping guards, woke the disciple and led him out of the prison.  After Peter realized that this was not a dream or a vision, he went to the house where the believers were gathered.

He knocked on the gate and a girl named Rhoda answered.  In her excitement at seeing Peter, she ran back to tell the others instead of opening the gate and letting him in.  However, her good news was met with doubt.  “You are beside yourself!”   And when she insisted, they told her that it was Peter’s angel.  Short of grabbing them and taking them outside to show them, there was nothing Rhoda could do to convince them.  Fortunately for her, Peter continued to knock and this time they heard him and opened the door.  They were astonished to see him.  

Why were they astonished to see him?  Why did they doubt Rhoda?  Weren’t they praying for Peter?  Didn’t they expect God to answer their prayers?  Have you ever prayed for something and when God answered the prayer, you couldn’t believe it?  This reminds me of when Jesus had appear to His disciples the first time after His resurrection and even though they saw Him and He spoke to them, they still didn’t believe.  They thought He was a Spirit and were terrified.  And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?” (Luke 24:38).  And when the women went to tell the disciples that the tomb was empty and what the angels had told them, they didn’t believe them.  According to Luke, “their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them” (Luke 24:11).

It doesn’t feel good when you tell the truth and people don’t believe you.  If you were Rhoda what would you have done?  Would you have admonished the others for not believing you?  Or would you just let it go?  I think if I were Rhoda, I would have encouraged the others to join me in prayer and we thank and praise God for coming through for Peter.  This was a time to rejoice and give thanks, not contend with your brethren.

She Saw Her Risen Lord!

After He rose early Sunday morning, Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene.  Earlier that morning, when it was still dark, Mary went to the tomb and found the stone which had covered the entrance rolled away.

Distressed, she ran and told Simon Peter, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”  Peter and John ran back to the tomb.  John stayed outside and looked in and saw the linen cloths lying there, but Peter ran inside.  He saw the linen cloths too and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.  John saw and believed–not that Jesus had risen but that His body was not there, for as yet they knew not the Scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.   He and Peter returned to their homes but Mary stayed.

She stood by the tomb weeping.  She had gone with sweet spices so that she could anoint him.  Where had they taken His body?  She stooped and looked inside it and was startled when she saw two angels there.  They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She told them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” After she said this, she turned and saw Jesus standing but she didn’t know that it was Him.

Jesus asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
And she, thinking that He was the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

Then the stranger called her name, “Mary!”  Her heart leapt with joy as she recognized that voice and she turned around, crying, “Rabboni!” which means “Teacher”.  The tears of sorrow turned to tears of joy.

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”

Mary hurried off to tell the disciples that she had seen their Lord and gave them His message.  Mark wrote in his Gospel that when she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.  She brought good news to the disciples and all who followed Him so that they too would stop mourning and weeping and rejoice like she was.  Unfortunately they didn’t believe her.

Mary Magdalene was the first person to see Jesus alive.   “It was she out of whom he had cast seven devils; much was forgiven her, and much was given her, and done for her, and she loved much; and this honour Christ did her, that she was the first that saw him after his resurrection. The closer we cleave to Christ, the sooner we may expect to see him, and the more to see of him” (Matthew Henry, Commentary on Mark 16).

Mary was not satisfied that her Lord was not there and she wanted answers.  She didn’t leave like Peter and John.  She stayed there.  And she was rewarded for her trouble.  She learned that His body was not taken away as she had feared but that He had risen.  She saw proof that He was indeed alive.