Prayer Practice
Breath Prayer – Take 2-3 minutes today to pray a simple breath prayer. Get somewhere quiet and relaxing. Breathe in deeply, and then breathe out fully. As you breathe in, ask God to fill you with His presence, grace, love, peace, etc. Consider using the list of spiritual fruit in Galatians 5:22-23. As you breathe out, offer to God the things you need Him to take from you – sin, doubt, shame, anxiety, fear, etc. Pray this way for just a few minutes, trusting God to work, and then begin reading today’s Scripture.
DAILY READING
REFLECTION
At the Feet of Jesus
by Kelsey Bacon
There is a lot going on in this chapter--a lot of healing, a lot of teaching from Jesus, overall just a lot of evidence of his Lordship, of his identity as the Son of God. But there's one story that I want to focus on today, mostly because it just strikes me in the heart every time I read it. It's the story of the woman with the alabaster jar.
This woman came to Jesus--bravely, I might add, as she interrupted his time with one of the Pharisees. She came to him, broken, emotionally distraught over her own sin, overwhelmed by his glory, by his goodness. And she offered to him what little she had: her tears, her hair, her precious perfume, her heart. And Jesus saw what deep love, what deep humility and gratitude she felt.
I am in awe of both the woman and of Jesus in this moment. I am in awe of the woman for her humility, for her own recognition of the sin in her life and the way that she lays herself down at Jesus' feet and just gives everything to him, knowing that that is a better option than the life she's had. And I am in awe of Jesus for immediately seeing her heart. In verse 47 Jesus says, "Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--as her great love has shown." I marvel at the deep love, humility, and openness the woman shows to him, and I marvel at the tender care, heart, and forgiveness that Jesus gives her.
This story always just makes me want to fall at the feet of Jesus. There is a song by the Christian band Rend Collective called Alabaster that beautifully sums up the way I feel when reading this story. As you reflect further today, give the song a listen and reflect on the lyrics:
I am broken at Your feet
Like an alabaster jar
Every piece of who I am
Laid before Your majesty
I will bow my life
At Your feet, at Your feet
My lips, so lost for words
Will kiss Your feet, kiss Your feet
Oh, the gravity of You
Draws my soul unto its knees
I will never be the same, no
I am lost and found in You
I will bow my life
At Your feet, at Your feet
My lips, so lost for words
Will kiss Your feet, kiss Your feet
1 comment:
Good morning, Kelsey.
First, thank you for your loving insight into today's scripture. I have always related to this story as it mirrors my own deep sense of the forgiveness of my sins, which were many. He has rescued me from the darkness and brought me into HIs light (Colossians paraphrased). Her love for Him was expressed with as much genuineness as anyone I have read about in the Bible. I think we all will fall at His feet when we come into glory. My salvation was so great in my eyes that on more than one occasion I have laid prone beneath the cross at Lytham Road church and tried to express my deep, heartfelt gratitude for His atoning sacrifice on the cross. I have been blessed with an overwhelming sense of my sins and how deep and wide is the love of God expressed in giving His only Son that I might live a new life, now and forever. I know the Word is truth as it plays out in my life and that of so many I am blessed to call brothers and sisters in Christ. We have all been rescued from the dominion of darkness. No wonder the Word tell us " he who loves much, has been forgiven much". Or as Jesus says to this woman, "Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
Today is the first time I noticed the tag line of Jesus--"as her great love has shown". There is the evidence of one's forgiveness of sins, that we can now love freely and sacrificially. God is so good and merciful.
Thank you, Kelsey. You and all the team. taking the time in writing these blogs are a blessing to us at UALC.
Robin Lorms
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