Mothers Day Message from 2001
Posted by: balderman <balderman@...>
Mothers Day 2001
Today is Mothers Day
This is the day when we try to focus on why ANYONE would want to be a mother!
I strongly believe that The Joy of Motherhood is what a woman experiences when all the children are finally in bed.
MOTHERHOOD IS NOT FOR WIMPS!
I know that the most common word heard around our house is MOMMMMMYYYYY!!!!!
I have often wondered about the special bond that a woman has with her child.
She carried this baby inside her body for 9, very long, months.
This is guys cant grasp -- We have no frame of reference for this.
Today, Mothers Day, I think we need to look at three mothers in the Bible and try to figure out what message God is trying to send us through them.
1.
Genesis 18:11-14, Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" And the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?' "Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son."(NKJ)
Prayer
Sarah was 90 years old (Abraham 100).
She had been barren all these years
She had become very discouraged
Sarah had wanted children all her life, but had given up hope.
To her this news sounded to good to be true
She simply could not believe that she could have a baby at this age
and what kind of dad would Abraham be at 100 years old?
Sarah doubted that God was able.
The whole idea was so outlandish that she laughed to herself about it.
You know what? GOD HEARD HER LAUGH!
We cannot hide even our innermost thoughts from Him!!
In about 9 months Sarah came to know the REALITY of Gods Holy Word
THERE WAS NO DOUBT THEN!
Gods Devine Promise is more powerful than our human logic.
I think the main message of Sarah is faith and patience.
We need to have the faith to believe that God will do what He says He will do and the patience to wait for His timing in doing it.
The story of Sarah got me thinking about older women and their place in the church and in pour lives. You precious ladies have a very powerful ministry to the younger mothers of your church family and your neighborhood.
I found a little poem that I think expresses this ideal very nicely:
Were older women, Lord
Our children are grown.
Is our lifes purpose over?
Is our usefulness gone?
No, my daughters, look in Titus,
See what Paul has to say
AS he writes his faith son
For to teach Gods true way.
Older women must be there
To train the young wives
How to really love their husbands
How to touch their childrens lives
You are Gods appointed teachers
And must train the younger ones
To live quietly, be clean minded,
To spend time keeping their homes.
You are Gods teachers of goodness
And fulfilling such a roll
Calls for each one to be Holy
With a quiet respectful soul
If youll take Pauls admonition
And make Gods way your desire,
Youll be useful to His Kingdom
And He wont let you retire!
(by Linn Richter, May 1997 Home Life Magazine)
Praise God for Saintly Ladies of Experience!
2.
Luke 1:41 - And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. (NKJ)
Elizabeth was the mother of John the Baptist
She was about six months along when Mary, Christs mother, visited her.
When Mary spoke a simple greeting to Elizabeth the unborn baby John leaped in her womb!
This is a pretty Pentecostal thing for a Baptist to do!
This was a 6 month old unborn so it was very likely that the mother had felt little Johnnie move before
BUT THIS WAS DIFFERENT
The baby leapt as if it were trying to tell its mother something.
HE WAS
Even in the womb John the Baptist was trying to proclaim the coming Messiah.
He was telling his mom that they were in the very presence of God Almighty!
Have you ever been in such close proximity to the Living God THAT YOU LEAPT?
So close to His Glory that your face shined like Moses?
Or perhaps more of us stay so far away that we are too weak to leap.
Even in the womb both of these babies belonged to God.
You know, when God blesses us with a little baby it is really only a LOANER
What do you mean preacher? ..I PAID for that thing!! ITS MINE!
No, He only gives them to us for a short time, to teach them, to care for them and to love them.
They, as we all do, belong to Him.
I would like to share a story with you. It is a story of Jesus asking women if they would be mothers.
Ill lend you, for a little time, a child of mine, He said,
For you to love while she lives and mourn when shes dead.
It may be six or seven years, or twenty two or three,
But will you, till I call her back, take care of her for me?
Shell bring her charms to gladden you, and shall her stay be brief,
Youll have her lovely memories as solace for your grief
I cannot promise she will stay, since all from earth return,
But there are lessons taught down there I want this child to learn.
Ive looked the wide world over in my search for teachers true,
And from the throngs that crown lifes lanes I have selected you.
Now will you give her all your love, nor think the labor vain,
nor hate Me when I come to call, to take her back again?
I fancied that I heard them say: Dear Lord, Thy Will be done!
For all the joy Thy child shall bring, the risk of grief well run.
Well shelter her with tenderness, well love her while we may,
And for the happiness weve known, forever grateful stay;
But shall the angels call for her much sooner than weve planned
Well brave the bitter grief that comes and try to understand.
(by Edgar A. Guest)
3.
I picture God having this very discussion with Mary before He planted His seed inside her virgin body.
Could Mary have known how much of an impact this small baby would have on the world?
Could she have known the heartaches?
Can any mother?
Could Mary have known that she would one day see her Firstborn hanging from a tree?
John 19:25-27 - Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home. (NKJ)
Marys firstborn Son was hanging from a Roman Cross.
He was beaten and bloody.
He was fully exposed to the crowd.
Mothers, how do you react when there is a spear shoved in your sons side and blood and water gush out?
How painful and agonizing this day must have been for Mary.
The very effort it must have taken Him to just get the words out concerning His mother was immense. How painful these words must have been, both for Him to say and for her to hear.
Marys husband Joseph had passed away by this time and it is very likely that Jesus had been taking care of her; had been her only support.
Now, with Jesus dying, how would Mary live?
Even at the point of His death, Jesus was very concerned about the care and welfare of His mother.
God makes a way. God provides for those He loves.
Even when He is dying for the sins of ALL CREATION He is concerned about His mother.
How many of us today tend to forget to call or write our mothers simply because we are too busy or something came up?
That is not Gods way.
Jesus provided for His mother the best way He could
with a Kingdom Kind of Love
through John, the beloved.
Here are two people grieving over their loss.
Looking for direction
Seeking comfort and peace
Jesus places them together to care and comfort one another.
GOD IS GOOD
Think of the trust Jesus had in John
He trusted his mothers are in his hands
John stayed in Jerusalem with Mary until she passed away
He obeyed God until his mission was complete.
Jesus died on that cross FOR Mary.
He died on that Roman Tree of death and was gloriously resurrected so that, through Him, All CREATION might be saved.
No other mother has suffers so much.
No other mother has been so richly blessed
Lets look at the book of Mark to see what happened when Mary Magdalene and Jesus mother Mary went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus with oils.
Mark 16:5-6 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.(NKJ)
Can you image the joy Mary must have felt then?
HE IS RISEN!!
My Son isnt dead!!
All the things He told me were true and this is real!!
I bet Mary was shouting the Victory!
Victory in Jesus
Glory to God in the Highest!!
This should be our joy also.
HE IS RISEN
The sacrifice for our sins has been made!
The debt has been paid!!
We can step out of death and into the light of eternal life!!
GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST!!!
No greater gift has any son ever given to His mother that everlasting life
No greater gift can we receive.
This is a free gift that we cannot work for.
When Jesus comes to us, when He calls us to turn away from the world and come to Him, we have but two choices:
YES OR NO
We can choose the narrow gate that leads to eternal life or the wide smooth road that leads to eternal damnation.
You have a choice today
Which will it be?
Yes or No? Heaven or Hell
I ask you the same question Pilate asked the crowds at the trial of our Lord before He was crucified:
What shall I do with this one called Jesus?
What will you do with this Jesus?
