"Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World"

I'm reading this book by Joanna Weaver. It is very enlightening; shedding some much needed light on my ever wandering heart.

In our Women's Bible Study class at church, ("Me, Myself & Lies") we've been discussing the destructive self-talk we, as women, have a tendency to engage in. Well, this new book I'm reading is also talking about similar things. (Is somebody trying to tell me something?)

Anyway, here are a few nuggets I've gleaned from this book so far (I'm only on Chapter 5!):

"We cannot underestimate the effects of what we think about. Garbage in...garbage out. Out of the abundance of our hearts, our mouths speak...our minds churn....our lust burns....our lives overturn."

Instead, we need to think on Phil. 4:8 things....like excellence, truth, purity and righteousness.

"But How?"

I'm glad you asked!

We need a NEW MIND!! (a B-R-A-I-N double wash - to borrow a phrase from a Nicole C. Mullen's song). Scripture memorization is one way we get that new mind.

Here's another way we get it - by "taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ." (II Cor. 10:5).

Joanna Weaver puts it something like this, on page 44 of "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World": "Instead of being led away by fear or an anxious thought, I took a second look at each thought as it came. Many were incognito, disguised to look like ordinary emotions. But instead of entertaining them, I handcuffed the intruding thoughts and took them to Jesus. Together we interrogated them, asking these two questions:

1. Where did you come from? (What is the source - it is real or imagined?)
2. Where are you going? (Will this thought draw me closer to God or farther away?)

If I didn't like the answers to the two questions, then I took the problem to Jesus and turned them over to His custody."

When Jesus said to Mary's sister...."Martha, Martha....you are worried and anxious about many things..." He was speaking to me as well as to that lovely, hospitable lady of Bethany.

He says to each one of us: "Come, My love, sit at My feet and chase fear, anxiety and worry out the door! Come find everything you've ever longed for. Come find a love so perfect that it covers all your faults and pronounces you 'not guilty.' Come find peace for your soul."

I can just hear him now....."Janet, Janet....."

Is He calling your name, too?

Let's trade our "many things" that make us anxious, for His "one thing" that calms our hearts and fears.....HIMSELF......The Prince of Peace.

Please come with me.......to take our concerns to Him!