His Precious Jewel - A Godly Perspective on Suffering

"'They shall be Mine,' says the Lord of hosts, 'On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.' Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him." - Malachi 3:17 -18 NKJV


       When this life verse was given to me by a dear friend with the gift of prophecy, I was just a child. She spoke to me regarding some other things which I will not speak of now, but these verses have been my lifeline and what I cling to during my darkest hours. When I was younger, they seemed beautiful and mysterious - a promise that I was, indeed, special to Him. As I have gotten older and sought the Lord's wisdom, I am learning the true nature of what it means to be one of God's jewels.

To El Shaddai

 I trust You, Father, because I know You love me. I know this because You show me every day.

Sharing in the Broken Bread

"And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.'" - Luke 22:19 NASB
       As we partake of holy communion, the loaf of bread is blessed and broken, symbolizing Christ’s body being broken on the cross. He was broken and died that we may have life. Christ asks us to remember the sacrifice He made, but He wants us to do more than just remember it. He wants us to share in it.

Secret Servanthood

‎"Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, 'If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.'" - Mark 9:35 NASB 

      

       Though there is nothing wrong with competetiveness, it (along with almost everything) can ...become a bad thing when taken to extremes. Balance is the key. Today, we live in a dog-eat-dog, destructively competetive world. It has become not only acceptable, but expected for people to annihilate the competition in order to climb their way to the top. In such a society, how can we combat having destructively unbalanced levels of competetiveness? What does real servanthood look like?

Dirt Always Rubs off on Clean (Well, Almost Always...)

       Recently, during a class discussion, my professor made the comment that dirt always rubs off on clean things. That is why people who were considered to be unclean were not allowed to be present with the general population in the Israelite culture. If someone who was considered clean touched someone who was considered unclean, the clean person would become unclean also. He or she would remain unclean until such time that the criteria for being considered clean were met and a ceremonial cleansing was performed. This idea of uncleanliness infecting what was clean is pivotal for understanding the spiritual implications of the passage of Mark 1:40-45 ~~~

"And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, 'If You are willing, You can make me clean.' Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, 'I am willing; be cleansed.' Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, and He said to him, 'See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.' But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere."