Saved by Faith (Luke 7:50)

And He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." (Luke 7:50 NASB)

 Saved by faith. What a beautiful truth! sōzō, the Greek word translated here as "saved" is so rich in meaning that it contains a lifetime of truth in this one word alone. Sometimes translated as "healed" or "restored", it conveys the idea that the person has been healed of a deadly condition, restored to a former condition, and saved from certain perishing. It is a complete, full-service salvation. 

BlueLetterBible.org defines sōzō as "to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction".  For this woman, salvation meant that she was healed of the torment her sinful life had caused, washed white as snow and restored to a right relationship with God, and rescued from the certain destruction her lifestyle would have caused. She was saved in this life, but her faith also brought eternal salvation, as well. 

Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, later wrote For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8, 9 NASB)

There was nothing this woman had ever done that could bring her the Great Rescue from eternal damnation or the rescue she so desperately needed from herself and her sinful actions and desires. Freedom could not be manufactured by any amount of good deeds. It came by faith alone, in Christ alone, through grace alone, and it still does. Her freedom was born at the feet of Jesus, and it still is. 

There is no sinner so vile, no wrongdoing so heinous that our God cannot forgive, cleanse, heal, save. No one is so far from grace that sōzō is not possible. No one. 

Are you weary with your own sin? Are you exhausted of watching the mistakes of a loved one? There is only one place to go with that weariness. The feet of Jesus is the place where rest, refreshment, and restoration are always available. Don't tarry, dear ones. Go to Jesus with your burdens, and receive the sōzō you so desperately need. 

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Link for last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/06/maggie-turn-loving-and-praying.html

Maggie's Turn: Loving and Praying

For those who don't know, I am Maggie the Wonder Dog. I'm an eleven pound Shih Tzu, and I live and work on a farm in northeast Mississippi. If you haven't read about my exploits, you really should! I have lots of fun and lots of wild adventure. 

I had a bad time of it a while back, though. You might've heard about it. My mama went to run errands and came back with a surprise. It was not jerky. Oh no! It was a baby sister!  I do not recommend baby sisters. Your mama will not let you eat them and they are too little to play. They also look EXACTLY like GREMLINS!!! It was quite a shock, as you might imagine, but, being a Wonder Dog, I rose to the occasion. 

Well, my mama says I should tell the truth. It was awful. You might not believe this but not only did I have to break in a baby sister, I had to take her on as an Apprentice Wonder Puppy!!!  It has not been easy. Not at all. Mamie only wants to hop and hop. I have told her she is not a rabbit but she says hopping is fun. Kids!

Anyway, after a lot, lot of work, I have taught Mamie (that's my apprentice) to do her pooh outside. What a job that was! She said outside was too far away and when a girl's gotta go, she's just gotta go. Good grief! I don't know if I can make a lady out of her or not!  I have been more successful teaching her tricks. That is only because she gets bits of jerky for tricks. She is not interested in learning. She is just interested in jerky. I taught her about jerky, so I guess that's okay. 

You would not believe all she has learned. She can sit, but she hops the whole time she's sitting. I don't really call it sitting, but mama said it would have to do. She can shake hands AND she has learned to dance like a ballerina. No luck yet with sneaking like a spy though. That's okay, because spies sneak. They do not hop! A hopping spy is a terrible spy! 

You might be able to tell that I have tried hard to be a good trainer for my apprentice, but I have to constantly be on my toes. It is a full time job training an apprentice wonder puppy! 

A surprising thing happened. Last night my mama said, "Maggie, Mamie is going to have surgery tomorrow, so you will be by yourself for a bit, but she will be home soon." Surgery. I didn't know that word, but it had a hissing sound at the start and it didn't sound good. It made me think of the hissing snake that tried to bite Ole Lou. That didn't seem like anything my baby sister needed, and I told my mama so. She said, "Oh Mags, it's an operation. They will knock her out, cut her open, take out her uterus and her ovaries, make her nostrils bigger, pull her baby tooth, sew everything up, and she will be good as new before you know it!" Someone should tell my mama there is such a thing as Too Much Information! That about made me sick!

I do not like this "knocking out" business Mamie is very little. If someone knocks her out, they could smash her head. I hope they don't use a hammer for that! And "cutting open" is as bad as knocking out. If God wanted Mamie's parts out, He would have given her a zipper. That's what I think, but it sure isn't what my mama thinks. She's all about cutting. She loves that kind of gory stuff. Yuck. 

Also, this business of pulling her teeth is just a bad idea. Wonder Dogs need teeth for catching chickens and shaking them. Oops! My mama just saw that. Sorry. Wonder Dogs need teeth for eating their delicious, healthy food that their wonderful, loving mama (who would never spank them for shaking chickens) provides. :) 

Now, my mama said Mamie would be home soon. Soon. That's what she said. I waited all day long, but no Mamie. When Mama got home, she brought groceries, but no Mamie. I ran round and round but I couldn't find Mamie anywhere. First mama leaves and comes back with a sister, then she leaves with my sister and comes back with no sister! I don't know what to think! 

If you know where my sister is, please let me know. We don't have good success lately with leaving and coming back. The barn cat left and when he finally came back, he fell over and got stiff as a board. I don't want Mamie turning into a board. No, I don't!

Anyway, lots of people prayed for me and Mamie today, and I thank you. Dr. Thomas did just fine with the surgery and even though he cut Mamie open, he closed her back. I was dreading her being open, so that is really good! He told my mama that Mamie would be able to breathe good now. Maybe she will be able to sneak like a spy after all!

I know you also prayed for me when Mamie and I were getting started and were having such a hard time. Since I have a little break from teaching my apprentice wonder puppy, I thought I would take the chance to tell you thank you for that, too. When you prayed for God to help us, He did. When you prayed for me to learn to love Mamie and for us to get along, that's what happened. We got "knitted together with strong cords of love." (Colossians 2:2). These love cords are really nice. Except when your baby sister is in the hospital. That's not nice at all. 

Hey, I just thought of something! If you are having trouble with your baby sister, or anybody else for that matter, you just let me know. We will pray for you to get some of these good love cords. They are really nice. You will be so glad you did!

The end. By Maggie the Wonder Dog

PS. I forgot the Wonder Dog lesson of the day, so here it is. 

Love and pray. 

If you can't do that, pray until you love.

And that's really the end. 

By Maggie the Wonder Dog 

Faith and Fidelity (Luke 7:50)

And He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." (Luke 7:50 NASB)

The word translated as "faith" in this verse is pistis. This word is sometimes translated as faith, assurance, or fidelity. Translated as faith, it is used to indicate an absolute, unwavering certainty of something. This woman had the absolute certainty that Jesus was the Messiah and that He had the power to both forgive her sins and set her free from her bondage to sin. She staked her life to that truth. 

This word is also sometimes translated as fidelity. It expresses a sense of solidity and constancy. One who has fidelity is unwavering and solid as a rock. That is the kind of faith the woman with the alabaster vial had in Jesus. She was so certain of her faith in Christ that she was through with wavering, through with being tossed about by her sin and her sinful desires. She was a lost sheep who had been found and she was done with her wandering, finally, permanently done with going astray. 

It is the kind of faith in God we should also have. When we, too, have pistis, we will likewise be done with our straying from Christ. That is not to say we will never sin again, but our wandering and our bent toward that sinful lifestyle will be done. Our love for Christ will supersede our love for this world. 

This kind of faith is born in a desperate weariness of sin and the price it exacts. It is found in the same position this weeping penitent woman assumed. When we, like her, willingly and humbly position ourselves at the feet of Jesus, filled with sorrow for our sin and in overwhelming joy at the love and mercy of God, we, too, can have this kind of faith. 

How does our faith compare to the faith of this woman? Do we have a firm, unwavering assurance that brings freedom and life or are we still clinging to some of the vestiges of our old life?

There is freedom in pistis. Pray today that we and our loved ones would embrace this saving, life-changing faith and be done with wavering and wandering astray. 

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Link to last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-terrorist-prayer-list.html

The Terrorist Prayer List

The morning of 9/11, a patient called to cancel their appointment. "America is under attack," they said.  We quickly set up a television and watched in horror as the Twin Towers began to crumble, our sense of security crumbling right along with it. As the death toll mounted and the news of the terrorist plot unfolded, an interesting thing happened. At the same time that there was a turn towards God, there was an intense anger towards our attackers and a desire for vengeance that was pervasive. 

Like many communities around the country, ours had a prayer service and my church was the host church. People were asked to lead prayer for government leaders, for the injured, the missing, the families of the victims, all those affected. When one of the organizers discussed the program with me, we talked about the importance of praying for our enemies. Someone would have to lead the community in praying for Ossama Ben Ladin and his band of terrorists. 

As it turned out, that someone was me. I don't know what that prayer did for anyone else, but it reminded me that we are not powerless. As disciples of Jesus, we are servants of the Most High God. We can approach Him in prayer with confidence about anything, including terrorists attacks and the terrorists that carry them out. 

Praying for the terrorists did something else. It humanized the terrorists and helped me to see them as sinners in need of mercy and grace, just like I am. As the years have passed, I've prayed for terrorists off and on when a particularly heinous situation occurred. 

Not long ago, my boss said something about praying for the terrorists, and I was surprised. "Aren't you praying for the terrorists?" he asked. "Well, yes. I pray for terrorists, but not every day."  Then, the Nigerian schoolgirls were abducted, and I began to wake up saying, "Lord, have You released your girls yet?" Praying for the terrorist abductors has been a consistent part of praying for those girls.

Today, the subject of terrorists came up again several times. Three Israeli teenaged boys were on the way home for Shabbat when they were abducted by terrorists. Nothing good is likely to come of this, and once again, I find myself praying for terrorists. 

As I've considered the terrorist prayers, I've begun to wonder what would happen if the body of Christ began to pray consistently and regularly for specific terrorists. After 9/11, there were playing cards with the names and pictures of suspected terrorists. What if we had a "worst terrorists in the world" prayer list and prayed for them on a daily basis? Do you think God would move in some way? I do. Scripture tells us He will. If the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, and it does, then we can pray for terrorists, confident that God will intervene in some way. He might even draw them to Jesus so that they become disciples and fishers of men. 

I will never be a soldier or carry a gun and hunt down terrorists. I will never be the one at the front of the line protecting our nation from harm. I can, however, be at the back of the line, on my knees, praying for God's protection and mercy. I can be the one who, through prayer, helps to bring the lost (including the world's terrorists) to Christ.  

As a matter of fact, you can also be the one doing battle in prayer. Who's with me in this? Will you step up and pray for the redemption of the most violent, deadly terrorists in the world?

Start now by praying for the terrorists who have abducted those Israeli boys. Can you make a difference in this? Yes, indeed, so start praying and don't stop. It's a big job but someone needs to do it, and it might as well be us! 

The Power of Position (Luke 7:38,49)

and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.

Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?" (Luke 7:38, 49 NASB)

Real estate agents often say, "Location is everything".  In these verses, we find the importance of location before God as well. 

In the first instance, the repentant, weeping woman positioned herself behind Jesus and at His feet. It was the position of a follower (from behind) and of humility (at His feet). When she dried His feet with her hair, she was not only behind Him, she was kneeling at His feet, a position of penitence. Her physical position wordlessly demonstrated the attitude of her heart toward Christ. She was a repentant, humble disciple and, as she knelt at his feet, her sins were washed away and her eternal destiny was secured. She became a clean, new woman. 

The other guests took a very different position. They were "reclining at the table with Him".  These people chose a position of equality with Christ. They sat beside Him. There was no humility. There was no evidence of penitence or discipleship. In the end, they recognized that the woman, that weeping bundle of brokenness on the floor, had gained something they had not, and wondered about it. Her sins had been forgiven. There seems to have been no doubt about it. "Who is this man?" they wondered. They wondered, but neither their position nor their hearts changed, and their question went unanswered. 

The position, or "location" we choose to assume before God is vitally important, and has eternal consequences. Do we opt for an equal position, expecting that our opinions and desires have equal merit before our righteous and holy God? Do we assume the position of penitence, humility, and brokenness? There is a vast difference of heart accompanying those two positions, and we do well to examine our own position before God. 

Giving our own desires and opinions equal or greater weight in comparison to God's may be the way of our world, but it is not the way of forgiveness and healing. Only one person left the dinner party that night with a soul redeemed by mercy and grace, and it was not one of those sitting at the table. It was the weeping bundle of brokenness on the floor. Her position of humility before Christ may have seemed untenable to those at the table, but it yielded her an eternal reward, and it can do the same before us. 

Pray today that the position we and our loved ones assume before God will be one of humility and penitence. Pray, too, for the brokenness that leads to true discipleship and a life redeemed by mercy and grace. 

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Link to last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/06/all-kinds-of-knowing.html

All kinds of knowing

The towering stack on the edge of my desk responded to a whisper of a touch by plummeting to the ground, scattering pieces of stray paper half-way across my office/library. There was nothing to be done but sort through the mess, throw most of it away, and organize the rest. 

As I began to sort papers, I came across a scrap on which I'd written a quote. "It's a shame to have known someone so long, but never know Him".  I have no idea who said it, but he was speaking about rediscovering the object of his faith. 

After accepting Christ as a child, he had continued to be involved in church activities. He had attended Sunday School and worship services every week, along with Sunday evening and mid-week services for years. Attending church services did not make a relationship with God, however. It wasn't that he didn't want to know God better. The problem was that he didn't know it was possible, much less how to begin. 

He had attended a men's retreat designed to build leaders and strengthen the local church. He thought it might make him a better deacon. He had no idea it would transform his life. Over the course of the weekend, he began to understand about discipleship and how to be a disciple. He had know about Jesus all his life. He had finally begin to know Jesus. 

He was right. It is a shame to know everything there is to know about someone, to think you know someone, only to find you've spent a lifetime without ever really getting acquainted. It is tragic when that someone is Almighty God. 

Being a disciple. It's more than church attendance and tithing. It's a relationship that will transform your life as well as the world around you. How well do you know Jesus? 

Who is this Forgiver? (Luke7:48,49)

Then He said to her, "Your sins have been forgiven." Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?" (Luke 7:48, 49 NASB)

This verse is easily overlooked in the midst of the story of the woman with the alabaster vial, but it has an astonishing bit of information. Jesus looked at the woman and spoke a precious gift into her life. "You are forgiven".  How amazing that must have been for the weeping woman at His feet! She had suffered enough because of her sin, and He was banishing that sin, sending it as far as the east is from the west. That is what Our Lord does with the sins of a repentant sinner, and it is a heartbreakingly beautiful gift every single time. 

Those at the table with him heard the exchange, and were, not surprisingly, taken aback. As one person turned to another, they began to ask, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?" This is the amazing tidbit. They were not asking if He had the authority to forgive sin. That was apparently a foregone conclusion derived from watching the exchange between Jesus and the woman. 

How about that? One weeping, worshipping, repentant sinner kneeling at the feet of Jesus and receiving His forgiveness was such a powerful visual testimony that an entire roomful of people recognized with no uncertainty that her sins had been forgiven. They did not doubt that Jesus had forgiven her sins. They simply wondered Who He was that He was able to do it. 

This little verse should be like a knife cutting through our pride and our reserve. If one broken sinner receiving forgiveness is such a powerful tableau that a roomful of people could recognize the power of Jesus, what would He do with our repentance if we allowed Him to use it?

That question bears repeating. What would He do with my repentance if I allowed Him to use it? What would He do with your repentance? How many lives could be changed?  

Oh precious ones, may we stop hiding our brokenness and allow our Healer to touch those sin-scarred places and make them whole. May we allow Him to use our healing in such a way that all those around us cannot help but to believe.