I just finished reading Twelve Extraordinary Women by John MacArthur..what an amazing book! The 12 women were: Eve: Mother of all hope, Sarah: Hoping Against Hope, Rahab: A Horrible life Redeemed, Ruth: Loyalty and Love, Hannah: A Portrait of Feminie Grace, Mary: Blessed Among Women, Anna: The Fatihful Witness, The Samaritan Women: Finding the Water of Life, Martha and Mary: Working and Worshiping, Mary Magdalene: Delivered from Darkness, and Lydia: A Hospitable Heart Opened. Some of these women were a surprise to me that they would be in this book. For instance the samaritan women and Mary Magdalene. The Bible doesn't give too much information on some these women but one there is one common characteristic about these women that makes them extraordinary: their faith in God. If you look at each of their lives, it is neat to see how God orchestrated each of their lives to bring them to the knowledge of His salvation. Although God used His disciples to witness to some of these ladies it was ultimately His grace working in their lives. Their faith, devotion and love is a great challenge for me. After excepting Jesus as their Savior, there main purpose was to love and serve Him. May I have that same devotion and love to my Savior that these women exemplified in their lives. Out of these 12, there is one woman who I could identify the most with: Martha! Martha, Martha, Martha! I think most women could identify with her as well. Martha had the best intentions of being a willing servant, but she let her wonderful hospitality get to her head. Like Martha, I am a doer and like to get things done. If I were in Martha's situations, I would probably have done the same thing....give my sister the look and tell her to get up and help me! I appreciate Mary's humble spirit and example of what worshiping Jesus looks like. She humbly sat at Jesus's feet, hanging on every word. Her gentleness shows her love and faith that she had in her Savior. Martha had a very serving heart who put on the apron and went to work. The service Martha was doing was not a bad thing unitl the moment she stopped listening to Christ and made herself the focus of attention. Instead of keeping Christ the center of attention, her perspective became very self-focused. This was her expression of pride. How often do I go about service for Christ and end up losing focus of what and who I am doing this for and let my own self get in the way! It is so easy to do...it just creeps in without you even noticing it! That's why I must be on guard at ALL times..not allowing the devil to have a foothold. I like this quote from MacArthur "It is a danger, even for people who love Christ, that we become so concerned with doing things for Him we begin to neglect hearing Him and remembering what He has done for us." pg 167 I think this is some of the problem in churches today. Even though I fail so often, I am so grateful for the grace of God and His patience with me! He never stops showing His unconditional love. What a great God we serve! One more week till I am a Faith girl again! I can't wait to see what God has in store for me this year. Have a great day, God Bless:) | 