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Choosing a Mary Heart in a Martha Season

by Marci Ferrell
Biblical Womanhood Christian Living Christmas Easter Holidays Motherhood Thanksgiving

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May we serve out of a heart that is selflessly devoted to Christ.  May all who are around you be touched by the fragrance of Christ. #maryandmartha #martha #christmas @mferrell

 

I'm choosing to remember today to choose the better thing that Mary choose and that was worship. I'm choosing today to sit at the feet of my Lord and worship. @mferrell

You can listen to the post in a podcast version here:


 I’m Choosing:

We are already nearing Christmas Eve and plans that I had to bake or buy or clean haven’t all been finished.  There are gifts I wanted to purchase or send that didn’t happen.  There are cookies I hoped to bake that I didn’t get too and areas I wanted to tidy at home that I didn’t even get close to doing.

I’m choosing to remember today to choose the better thing that Mary choose, and that was worship.  I’m choosing today to sit at the feet of my Lord and worship.

I’m choosing today to serve with a heart of love and thanks for the family the Lord has gifted to me. 

I’m choosing today to ease my husband’s burden in any way I can and to love and cherish my time with him.  

I’m choosing today to love my children well.  That they know they have a mother who loves them not perfectly as our Lord does, but who does love them unconditionally and enjoys being with them always just because they are mine.

I’m choosing today to laugh and love and play with my grandbabies and not miss one smile or laugh or hug or one delightful expression.

I’m choosing today to be mindful to give thanks in and through all things.

I’m choosing today to be reminded there are many hurts we all dealing with and at Christmas, the pains of losses and hurts and pressures and insecurities can seem to be a bit heavier at times.  I pray that I would love my family well and that the Lord would give me some insight into their hearts.  I pray that I would give them the gift of my presence.  

My prayer is that I would love well, that I would see the needs before me of this family I love so much as we are together and that the Lord would help me to continually point to Him.  

I need to be intentional and prayerful to not miss the wonder of the Christmas season, the truth of Jesus – Immanuel – God with us an amazing truth! The God of the whole universe took on human flesh to live and walk among us as one of us, so He could take our sins upon Himself and die for us – an undeserving, wretched people. We have so much to give thanks in and through.

Serving with a Changed Heart:

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

~ Luke 10:38-42

What I love most about the passage above is that we see Martha started out serving and this quote below  from Charles Spurgeon reminds me that her fault was not in that she served:

“The condition of a servant well becomes every Christian.  Her fault was that she grew encumbered with much serving so that she forgot him and only remembered the service.”

There will be much serving this Christmas season and I know I can’t meet every need or carry every load, nor am I meant to, but I pray I can have a teachable heart as Martha did.  I desire the intimacy Martha had with her Savior, and I don’t know how she received the rebuke of Jesus in Luke 10:41-42, but I see a changed woman who has intimacy with Jesus in this passage in John:

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

~ John 11:25-27

My eyes have been opened to the truth of who Jesus is just as Martha’s were.  I hope that we can have teachable hearts that are willing to listen to Jesus, that we would act on what we hear and that we would respond well to His correction when we find ourselves distracted with much serving and take our eyes off of Christ.

Final Picture of Mary & Martha:

The last time we see Mary and Martha is a beautiful picture of two women who are selflessly serving their Lord:

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

~ John 12:1-3

May we serve out of a heart that is selflessly devoted to Christ.  May all who are around you be touched by the fragrance of Christ.  The beauty of Christ is in the fruit of the Spirit that is given to every believer love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal 5:22-23).

I pray that others will see in you and me that Jesus is our treasure.  May we do all things with selfless devotion to Him.

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

~ Matthew 6:21

 

I pray that others will see in you and me that Jesus is our treasure. Click to Tweet

Related Resources:

Podcast EP 11: Serving with a Mary Heart in a Martha Season

Podcast EP 9: Christ-Focused Christmas Celebration Ideas

Christmas Love, 1  Corinthians Style

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World

 

20 Ways to Find Time with the Lord When Your Days are Crazy Busy. {Free PDF Download} @mferrell

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Related posts:

  1. EP 11: Serving with a Mary Heart in a Martha Season
  2. EP 50: 10 Lessons from the Life of Mary
  3. Simple Ways to Keep Christ the Focus this Christmas Season
  4. REVISED! 31 Days to Clean – Having a Martha House the Mary Way by Sarah Mae


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« Simple Ways to Keep Christ the Focus this Christmas Season
Putting on an Attitude of Love in Your Home »

Comments

  1. Jessie says

    at

    Thank you so much for all your post. Truly you share the message of Christ, as if Jesus speaks directly to me. God bless you.

  2. Cindy says

    at

    This was exactly what I needed to hear today. Pierced my heart. I’ve read this story over and over but hit me like a ton of bricks today. That’s the Holy Spirit. Thank you!

    • Marci Ferrell says

      at

      Thank you for sharing that Cindy xo

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Marci Ferrell
Whether you're running errands, doing household ch Whether you're running errands, doing household chores, or sipping your coffee, you can do it in style, reminding yourself and others you are a Thankful Homemaker 🥰⁣
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Shop TH Gear at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
What do you think of when you hear the word discer What do you think of when you hear the word discernment? The dictionary defines it as making a distinction between good and evil and truth and falsehood. As believers, we all desire to be discerning and wise in our choices. As we mature and grow in our knowledge of the scriptures, the hope is we will use that information to make choices in line with God's will.⁣
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We become discerning people by not just knowing what to think but how to think. Being spiritually discerning is an ability to see the world the way God does. This comes about as we grow and mature spiritually into the likeness of Christ. It is about seeing “All That's Good.”⁣
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Read Seeking Whatever is Good at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
“Waiting exposes our idols and throws a wrench i “Waiting exposes our idols and throws a wrench into our coping mechanisms. It brings us to the end of what we can control and forces us to cry out to God. God doesn’t waste our waiting. He uses it to conform us to the image of his Son.”⁣
~ Betsy Childs Howard⁣
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Listen in to EP 23: Seasons of Waiting at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
As I’m sharing this episode, I’m finding mysel As I’m sharing this episode, I’m finding myself in a waiting room on the Lord, and it’s been a long one, and I don’t see an end near.  It has reminded me that when I gave myself to Him, I gave up my “right” to be in charge. The reality is we never were in charge anyway; we just came to that understanding when the Lord opened our eyes to His sovereign control over our lives.⁣
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Even though it is a truth I know or we know, how many times do we want to think that somehow we can effect change in our life situations?⁣
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Waiting is hard because there is no guarantee that my waiting will end in this lifetime. One thing I have learned – my waiting has deepened my trust in the Lord and has helped me to develop patience, perseverance, and endurance.⁣
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It’s also given me different eyes to see with compassion others who are in a season of waiting.⁣
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Listen in to EP 23 Seasons of Waiting at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
Six questions I have written in my Bible that have Six questions I have written in my Bible that have been a help to me over the years may be a help to you, too, to be prayerful and slow to speak. These are helpful questions not just in our friendships but in our marriages and with our children, and truly any of our relationships:⁣
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1. Is this the time to say this?⁣
2. Am I the person to say this?⁣
3. Is it necessary?⁣
4. Is it true?⁣
5. Is it kind?⁣
6. Do I need to say this?⁣
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Listen in to EP 140: Threats to Biblical Friendship at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
We all know that fostering true biblical friendshi We all know that fostering true biblical friendship isn’t easy – it takes work. Jesus told us in John 16:33 that we’re going to have trouble in this world, and trouble does touch all our lives in various areas, but this includes our friendships too.⁣
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We’ll be hurt; we’ll be the ones hurting others; selfishness is a battle; jealousy and envy raise their ugly heads; we have our fears and insecurities, failed expectations, the damage our tongues do to one another, not appropriating the gospel and these all come from hearts that are still battling sin. ⁣
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So when these threats to our friendship with one another in Christ come up, it shouldn’t surprise us that we have these issues, but what we need to keep at the forefront of our minds is how we respond and deal with them when they do come up. ⁣
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I want to walk us through some of these threats, and this list I’m working with isn’t exhaustive – there are many more threats than what I am addressing today – but these are areas that stood out to me that have been a battle within some of my friendships over the years. Sadly, it is often the sin I’m battling in my heart, and I need to get my thinking, attitudes, and actions lined up with God’s Word.⁣
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Listen to EP 140 Threats to Biblical Friendship at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
May we be women who are willing to return to the a May we be women who are willing to return to the authority of God’s Word, embrace God’s priorities for our lives and homes, and live out the beauty and wonder of womanhood as God created it to be.⁣
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Read more at The History of Modern Feminism at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
Women will never find fulfillment and satisfaction Women will never find fulfillment and satisfaction by trying to be "like" men and shedding their uniqueness as a female.  They will only find satisfaction in Christ.⁣
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Listen in to EP 24: Dealing with Our Grumbling & Complaining at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
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