Iron Rose Sister Ministries

Written by Therese Martin, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Washington

My great-granddaughter Ava had been spending the day with “the Nanapapa”. That’s her name for us; not “Nana and Papa”, oh no! We are The Nanapapa, a sort of combined source of hugs and treats and vanilla ice cream. The day was over, and her daddy came to pick her up after work.

“Daddy!” she squealed, running full speed into his legs and wrapping her arms around his knees. He didn’t fall over; he just reached down and picked her up in a loving embrace. She started telling him about her day, and asking if they could stop at her favorite fast-food place on the way home. She was a happy little girl!

I started to wonder; as daughters of God, are we as excited about our Father in heaven as Ava was about her daddy? Spiritually speaking, how often do we do that? How often do we run excitedly towards God, our loving Father, our Abba…our Daddy? How often do we fling our arms around His knees and let Him know we’re so glad to be with him? To be able to bring Him our problems and just say how much we love Him?

As we age, our lives change. We aren’t little girls any more. We are young women, then new brides, then mothers, then busy women juggling full time work, school age children, and maybe caring for our parents. We’re so busy! Then we are older, with all the physical pain that sometimes brings, and often emotional pain as well. We can’t even imagine running!

When we think of ourselves as daughters of God, we forget that he is God of time and space as well as heaven and earth. When we talk to Him, it’s with all the burdens of our present, serious, grown-up selves. It’s the 40, or 50, or even 70-year-old self that comes to talk to her Father, not the four-year-old!

But to God, we are still the four-year-old! Fifty or sixty years was just a second ago. He doesn’t see the wrinkles or sagging skin. That’s just the outfit we are wearing at the moment. He sees the shiny new soul He just made a second ago. To Him, we are His precious little girl. He’s a very proud, excited father who loves to talk with us at every opportunity.

Let’s look at the Easy Reader’s Version of the New Testament for a simplified rendering of that important lesson from Jesus:
““And when you pray, don’t be like the people who don’t know God. They say the same things again and again. They think that if they say it enough, their god will hear them. Don’t be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, we pray that your name will always be kept holy. We pray that your kingdom will come— that what you want will be done here on earth, the same as in heaven. Give us the food we need for today. Forgive our sins, just as we have forgiven those who did wrong to us. Don’t let us be tempted, but save us from the Evil One.’” (Matthew 6:6-13 ERV)

We have turned that simple process into a rote, memorized formula. What if we look at those principles of prayer from the perspective of a little girl who really loves her Daddy? What might it sound like? It wouldn’t be formal or serious, that’s for sure.

“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy! There you are! I missed you so much! I love you because you’re so awesome! I wish you were with me all the time so everyone could see you! I wish everyone loved you the way I do! I wish it so much!

Hey, can we get some fries on the way home? I’m really hungry. I want fries every day! Can we have fries every day? Pleeease? Oh, sorry, Daddy, did I step on your foot? I am so sorry I hurted you and gave you an owie, but I love how you always forgive me. I should do that for other people too, huh? Even when I gots an owie? Okay, Daddy, I’ll try. Oh, look, I almost stepped in that hole! Thank you, Daddy, for lifting me up so I didn’t fall. You always take good care of me. You are so wonderful and I love you so much! You’re the bestest daddy forever and ever!”

As we get caught up in the hassles of daily life, the demands on our time, family responsibilities, all the blocks and burdens of normal existence, do we forget who we really, really are? Don’t ever forget you’re Daddy’s little girl, who loves Him so very much and can’t wait till it’s time to go home for reals.

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Written by Kathy Thompson, Office Assistant for Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas

In the gospel of Luke, towards the end of chapter 10, we read the story about Jesus when He came to have dinner at Martha’s home in Bethany. As women, we may have heard multiple lessons about how stressed and distracted poor Martha was when Jesus and His apostles came to eat dinner at their house.

But I’d like to take a minute and look a little closer at Mary in this story.

Let’s suppose that Mary had come over to her sister’s home to help prepare and serve dinner for a very special visitor and His 12 friends – no small feat. Even in modern times, with refrigeration and large indoor kitchens, it isn’t a cake walk to serve dinner to 13 guests! There were many details to take care of, much preparation that had to happen so that the meal would come off in a smooth and timely manner. And, of course, it had to be especially delicious, in honor of their special guest. I imagine that hospitality was very important to Martha, and, on this occasion, she depended heavily on her sister to help make that happen in the most seamless way possible.

In some ways, we women haven’t changed much over the centuries. We all want to offer visitors to our homes a clean and comfortable environment and delicious meals. And make it all look easy, even effortless, while in fact, there has been a large amount of thought, preparation and work put into it beforehand, right?

Let’s imagine that as Mary busily helped her sister in the kitchen, she caught snippets of what the men were talking about in the living room. The more she heard of what Jesus was teaching His apostles and her brother, the more she wanted to hear. Before long, she couldn’t resist slipping into the room and finding an out-of-the-way place to sit and listen. Then she began just drinking in every word that came out of His mouth. His words were unlike any she had ever heard! They were sinking deep into her heart, penetrating her soul and she just couldn’t get enough. His teachings made perfect sense to her, on many levels, some she didn’t even understand herself. They uplifted her, challenged her, inspired her, and I can imagine that these were words she had longed to hear all her life, but had never heard until now.

Imagine her reaction as she slowly began to understand that she had, sitting in front of her: the Son of God! The Messiah that was to come into the world! The One that she had been taught her whole life to expect and wait for. He was here! In her small town! Sitting in her sister’s living room!
All thoughts of the meal preparation disappeared from her mind. The fact that she had come to help Martha was no longer important. All that mattered was this amazing Man and His teachings! All she wanted was to get to know this Man better and hear more of His life-giving words!

Are we ever that focused on Jesus?

A song comes to mind that I love to sing: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face; and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”

I imagine that is exactly what happened to Mary on that afternoon in Bethany, so many years ago: Mary focused on Jesus. Not the meal she was supposed to be helping with, not her sister. Only Jesus. And everything else faded to dim.

What did Jesus think of Mary’s laser focus? When stressed-out Martha asks Him to direct her to help, His reply is: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42). The good part: feasting on Jesus’ teachings.

We read in Colossians 3:1-3 “If then, you’ve been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Mary was seeking the things above, not the things of earth.

So now we ask: How can we do the same? How do we focus on Jesus like Mary did? And set our minds on things above? Life tends to go flying by in a blur, doesn’t it? We have so many responsibilities and activities and interests…so many things distracting us from putting our full attention on our Savior.

How do we stop and take time for the Lord every single day, every hour?

What would it take for you to turn your focus to Jesus? It’s different for everyone.
For me, the change in focus, came with the sudden death of my husband, last summer, to Covid. We had just moved to a lovely small town to retire. Then he passed on to his reward in paradise and I found myself in a new town, in a new church where I didn’t know anyone yet, without my sweet husband, feeling, in essence, completely alone...

But you know, I was not alone. God was there with me. He gently picked me up and carried me through each painful step. He provided a loving Christian family who reached out to me, cared for me, and prayed for me, even though they hadn’t known me up until now. I drew closer to God than I had ever been in my lifetime. Laser focused on Jesus.

Each of our journeys through this life are different. It doesn’t take a death in the family to refocus our eyes on the Savior. What would it take in your life? You can decide at any moment, like Mary, to set your eyes on Him, to listen to Him and feast on His teachings.

Today, in 2022, we can sit at Jesus’ feet anytime we desire. We have, sitting in front of us, the Son of God. We can drink in His every word. We can allow His words to sink into our hearts, penetrate our souls, and we won’t be able to get enough. You know that His teachings still make perfect sense today, they uplift us, challenge us, and inspire us. We just open the Bible and there it is, all that He had to teach us, laid open in front of our eyes.

Sisters, I’d like to encourage us all to be like Mary and allow Jesus’ teachings to fill us up, to the extent that it’s all we want to focus on. Let’s allow the things of earth to grow strangely dim as we read about His life, hear His parables, and understand the will of God for our lives in His Word.

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children (daughters) of God, and such we are…” (1 John 3:1a).

It’s so great a love that we can’t help but turn our eyes upon Jesus, until everything else fades.

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