Distraction at the door, part 4: Obedient Relations

And His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. And it was reported to Him, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You." But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it." (Luke 8:19-21 NASB)

This is a difficult passage, but it has truth we need to understand, whether we want to or not. In our culture, there is a tendency to identify oneself as being a "Christian" without really understanding what that means. In these verses, Jesus took a teachable moment and shed a bit of light on the question of relation to Him.

His mother and his brothers were outside the crowd, wishing to see Jesus, who was in the midst of the crowd. Rather than push through the crowd, they had sent word, hoping He would leave the crowd and come to them. The reason for this is not known, but the implication is that understanding and obedience were not on their agenda. 

He turned to the message-bearer and explained that His mother and His brothers (His immediate, closely related family) were those who hear the word of God and obey it. Did you get that? If we are part of the family of Christ, then we hear the word of God and obey it. Looking at this another way, if we hear the Word of God and do not obey it (or do not even bother to know what God's word says), then perhaps we are not part of the family of God. Relationship brings obedience. 

These are hard words, straight from Jesus, and in our culture we tend to ignore or gloss over them. Who wants this to be true? No one. Not wanting it to be true does not make it any less so. The fact is, according to Jesus, His disciples, His family are the ones who hear and obey, not those who just claim to be related. 

The word translated as "hear" is one we have seen before. It is akouō and means to hear with understanding. This is not the kind of "in one ear and out the other" hearing that does not bring change. This is the kind of hearing that is accompanied by both understanding and life and heart change. 

We do well to ask ourselves how we respond to the Word of God. Is it like a spotlight on the dark places in our heart? Do we embrace the light and allow it to banish our darkness or do we shrink from it, avoiding any clarity and change?

It is not our Lord's intent to leave us as we are, but to make us more like Him. Pray today that we and our loved ones will willingly embrace the cleansing and change He longs to bring through His Word. 

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Link to last night's post is here: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/07/radical-obedience-abubakar-shekau.html

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Our terrorist prayer focus this week is Abubakar Shekau. Meh is the leader of Boku Haram, a radical terrorist organization operating in northeastern Nigeria. He is particularly fond of kidnapping and murder, having kidnapped nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls (many who are still in captivity). Just yesterday, his forces captured a civilian-controlled town, murdered at least 100 people, and made the town his new headquarters. More than 22,000 have been killed in battle between his forces and the Nigerian military in the last few years. Please pray for an end to his reign of terror and for salvation for him and his men.  

Distraction at the door: part 3

And His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. (Luke 8:19 NASB)

Our focus verse continues from the passage about Mary and her other sons outside the door, wishing to see Jesus, who was inside. As you may remember from the previous post, Mary suffered for the common human condition. She was simply and completely human, without a bit of the divinity of her Son. Since she was a young girl, Mary had faced the most difficult challenge imaginable, bearing and rearing the Son of God.  It was a God-sized job for this very human young woman. Mary could not rely on herself if she wanted to do her part well. Totally at the mercy of God, and totally dependent upon the grace of God, she found that they were sufficient. 

It is not clear what had happened in the intervening years, nor why Mary was not with Jesus. I suspect she was allowing him room to fulfill His calling, and that she had other responsibilities at home. Regardless, she found herself outside, looking in for Jesus. 

Perhaps it was as a result of her gentle nature, or maybe fear of the crush of people, but Mary and her boys were defeated by the crowd. How many people would be too many for her to press through to her Son? Somehow, her longing to be with Jesus was not quite as great as her difficulty with the crowd, or she would have pressed through, even if the other sons had to clear a path for her. 

This problem of longing and obstacles is one we all face. To be close to Jesus, our desire for Him must exceed our desire for worldly success and relationships. It must be greater than our desire for anything else. But is it?  Do we desire a closeness with Him that can only be achieved by pressing in, past all the distracting obstacles in our path? 

Today, pray that our desire, and that of our loved ones, to be close to Jesus would be so great that we would willingly overcome all obstacles to have the intimacy He came to give. 

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Link to last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/07/no-telling-about-dogs.html

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Our terrorist prayer focus this week is Ibrahim al Asiri, one of the most creative and dangerous bomb makers in the world. He is sworn to destruction of believers in general and the US specifically. Pray that his terrorist efforts would be thwarted, that a miraculous conversion would occur, and that his fervor for the cause of Christ would exceed his fervor for destruction.