widows

Watching Pennies

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And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. Mark 12:42-43 ESV

Last week we had just finished our Christmas caroling time at a nursing home and began to pass out some large print Christmas devotional books as our gift to the residents. Most of them lit up with smiles and thanked us for the book, but when one of our volunteers came to a table in the back, the lady reached out and slipped three one-dollar bills into their hand. Despite urging her that she didn’t need to pay for our gift, she insisted, “No please take it! I want to give something!”

That dear lady not only reminded me of the widow in today’s verse, but she also showed me that longing to give is a basic desire of every heart. Some of us, unfortunately, have had that desire dampened by people who have taken unfair advantage of us. But Jesus never mentioned anything about how well the two little coins she contributed, were spent. What mattered to Him, was that the love she gave with, made the gift precious. None of the rich guys who went ahead of her and made a big deal of their offerings had impressed Jesus. But the small sacrifice that she eagerly gave with a pure heart was a treasure to Him. That also reminded me that whether we have gold, frankincense and myrrh or just two pennies, God sees more than pennies, and He is watching our hearts today!

Chosen to Serve Tables

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Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, Acts 6:3-4 ESV

If you hadn’t read the beginning of this chapter you might think that these guys were being selected to be missionaries, teachers of theology or pastors of large churches. But in fact, they were picked to serve food at the tables of widows. They were in charge of a first century “Meals on wheels”!  We rarely stop to think that ministry is so mundane and unspiritual. But the early church considered feeding widows and supplying the needs of the poor as the front-line duties of the leadership. When these so-called “unspiritual duties” were neglected by the apostles, the entire church began to complain. Notice they didn’t complain about the lack of sermons or the rarity of miracles. They got mad because no one went to feed the elderly widows. The church felt that the most important ministry was to act as the family to the widow and as mothers and fathers for orphans.

When we are ready to help with for the most needed ministry in our local church, we just might be amazed to see what happens next!

Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem…Acts 6:7

Don’t Forget to Pray!

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And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint. Luke 18:1

Did you ever feel like just giving up on something you have been praying for? There are times I can’t even think of a single reason why God would want to listen to me when there are people with far greater needs and who have much more faith than me. And so Jesus knowing how easy wat is for us to give up praying told a story about a widow and a judge. This widow had a lot in common with most of us. She wasn’t well connected, rich or powerful and besides everything else, the only person she could turn to for help was a corrupt politician!

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In face of that most of us would have thrown in the towel, moved away or started complaining to our neighbors. But she wouldn’t quit. Instead, every morning she went down to the judge’s house and knocked on his door. She knew that he was not a good guy and that he didn’t want to help her out. But despite the odds she kept asking him, “I need a protection from abuse order from my enemies.!” Now some would not have wanted to keep bothering the judge. Maybe we would have tried to make friends with him first. But she decided that driving him crazy was the quickest way to get his attention just long enough so he would just do his job! And guess what? Despite all the odds the judge finally threw up his hands one morning shouting; “Oi vey! Alright already! I’ll give you what you want!”

Then Jesus reminds us that when we pray God is not like that judge at all. Instead God who is our judge is good! He wants to listen! God loves to answer our prayers. So why should we ever give up? Why should we should ever think He doesn’t care? God is listening and if we are faithful to knock on His door every morning He will answer us one day in ways far greater than we can ever imagine!

Don’t Forget to Pray by Peter Caligiuri © 2020 All rights reserved