The Secret Garden Chronicles-Anointing Jesus' Feet

Today our "Lovely Ladies of the Lord" met at the lake for a time of prayer, fellowship and encouragement from God's Word.  The Lord could not have chosen a more beautiful and peaceful setting than this...

And thanks to a kind fellow on a motorcycle, who just happened to drive up as we were trying to take some pictures of our group...he immediately offered to take our picture so that we could all be included.

After a time of prayer and then feasting on our bagged lunches (and "Twinkies", thanks to one of the ladies...a first for me! I kid you not! Pretty good...), we opened our Bibles to the Story of Mary of Bethany anointing the feet of Jesus, in John's Gospel, 12:1-11.  We talked about what a loving and tender moment this was... 

3.  "Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped  His feet with her hair.  

And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil."

and then how Jesus defended Mary's actions when criticized by Judas...

John 12:7

"But Jesus said, "Let her alone; 

she has kept this for the day of My burial."

We wondered how Mary knew that Jesus was about to be crucified and buried, when the others seemed to be still so oblivious to this...and we were reminded of how back in the book of Luke 10:38-42, we were told the story of Martha and her sister Mary when Jesus came to visit them in their home...and remembered how Martha complained to Jesus that she had to do all the work while Mary 

in verse 39

"sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word."

And remember how Jesus kindly rebuked Martha in verses 41-42:

"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."

I wonder if Mary was learning even back then what Jesus' purpose on earth was...to "seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10).  

Maybe Mary had paid better attention to everything Jesus was teaching them...and she understood that in order for Him to save us from our sins, He would have to be the only perfect sacrifice...

I also noticed in John 12:2 that when Jesus came back to visit them in Bethany, "they made Him a supper; and Martha served..."

So here again, Martha was busily working to make sure everything was served just right, and Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet again...this time she was anointing His feet with her most prized possession, and was wiping His feet with her hair.

Mary knew that Jesus was going to die, because she had sat at His feet and listened.  She paid attention to everything He was telling them, and the Lord impressed it on her heart to do this loving deed for her Master, Whom she loved.

We asked ourselves today, "What would WE have done?"  Would we be like Mary, giving the Lord our richest treasure; lavishing fragrant oil upon His feet and wiping them with our hair...or would we still be like Martha, quietly serving, which is not a bad thing in itself, but missing out on the greater blessing because of our constant busy-ness...or would we be like Judas...critical and condemning...calling Mary wasteful and too extravagant? (see John 12:5-6)

How often do we hold back our BEST gifts, and keep them for ourselves rather than give them to Jesus, lay them at His feet for His glory and honor...our talents, gifts, praise, worship and adoration...

Do we offer these gifts up freely to the Lord, or do we hold back, criticize those who do, or stay so busy we have no time for such "nonsense.'

As we approach Good Friday and Easter Sunday, it is a good time to reflect on our attitude about serving and worshiping our Lord.  

• What is my BEST gift that I can give Him? 
• What am I holding back?  
• How can I change my critical spirit and open my heart to lavish my costly oil upon the beautiful feet of Jesus, Who gave EVERYTHING for me???

Lord, help me to no longer hold back the precious gifts You've entrusted to me.  Help me to open my heart, home, and hoarded treasures to give to You as I honor and glorify You and lift You up in praise.

Thank You for this beautiful picture of Mary anointing Your feet today.

And thank You, Lord, for the amazing sign in the sky that we noticed as we sat there together thinking about how to better worship You.  It was a blessing upon our little group as we sat in awe of You and felt Your Presence as You wrote Your love message to us in the sky.

These pictures may not look like much to you, dear readers, but to us today it was a glorious sign in the sky of God's Presence and pleasure over our little group.  At the very tip of this cloud/vapor was a beautiful teal color, and a little bit of other hues following in its trail.  The photograph does not do it justice at all...but to us it was so lovely...right when we were talking about the anointing of Jesus' feet for His burial...it just appeared in the sky and we noticed it and were in awe.

There was no sign of rain or other vapor, but the color in this was so striking we could not miss it.  We all acknowledged that it was a gift from the Lord to us at that moment, showing us His glory.

Thank You, Jesus...You are my King, My Lord and Savior...

"You Are My All in All..."

"You Are My All In All"

Na na na…holy

You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
Seeking You as a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I'd be a fool
You are my all in all

Taking my sin, my cross, my shame
Rising again I bless Your name
You are my all in all
When I fall down You pick me up
When I am dry You fill my cup
You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name

You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
Seeking You as a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I'd be a fool
You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
Worthy is Your name
Worthy is Your name

What precious gift can I lavish on my Lord at this time of His passion...He poured out His very life for me...what can I do to show Him my love?  Something to ponder...for all of us.

Be blessed, my friends.   Jesus is worthy of our praise....