There are only three instances in Scripture that give us information about Martha. From these accounts, we can see that Martha had a brother named Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead, and a sister named Mary. Martha had misplaced her priorities on this occasion and was corrected by Jesus. Later, at a supper for Jesus in the home of Simon the leper, Martha was once again serving while Mary her sister was worshiping Jesus by anointing His feet with a costly perfume.

Martha was the first one to run and meet Jesus when He came to their home after the death of Lazarus. It was at this time that Martha said she knew Jesus could have prevented Lazarus from dying and that, even then, she knew He could raise him from the dead. She made a confession of faith in the deity of Jesus, every bit as strong as Peter’s, which received a blessing from Jesus.

Martha was not wrong in serving Jesus and His disciples. Other women ministered to Jesus in this way without being corrected. Serving was a good thing, but Martha had put it in the wrong place. Her problem was priorities — not what she was doing. It was a great honor to have Jesus in her home and to be able to hear His personal words to her household. Martha should have given this the same priority that Mary did.

Just like Martha, many people today are occupied with things that keep them from hearing the words of Jesus. It is easy to recognize and turn from things that are obviously sin, but even good things that we are involved in must be prioritized so that nothing takes the place of seeking first the kingdom of God.

This question of “who is my neighbor” can be used by Satan to deceive us in more than one way. Not only can he deceive men into thinking they have fulfilled the command to “love thy neighbor as thyself” when they haven’t, but he will also try to apply this command in a way that condemns those who are seeking to fulfill it, by making them think they are not doing enough.

We cannot meet the needs of every single person in the world. Jesus wasn’t teaching that. This wounded man was directly in the path of these three men. The priest and the Levite had to walk around him. Jesus is simply teaching that we should take advantage of the opportunities we have. The fact that we can’t help everyone is no excuse not to help anyone.

Jesus, through this parable, defined a neighbor as any fellow human being who crosses our path and is in need of our assistance. The Samaritan went to the full extent of his ability and beyond, to help the man. The priest and Levite did nothing.

There was a racial and religious hatred between Jews and Samaritans. Devout Jews would not associate with or even talk to a Samaritan. The priest and the Levite that passed by this wounded man were his fellow-countrymen, and yet they didn’t help him. This Samaritan, who was considered by religious Jews to be of another nationality, was the true neighbor. Jesus made it clear that you could not define “neighbor” on the basis of geographic origin or your familiarity with someone. A neighbor is anyone that God puts in your path.

Just as with this lawyer, pride causes many people to resist the truth of justification by faith in the grace of God. This lawyer loved himself and the public recognition his “holy acts” gave him. He was not willing to love God first and his fellow man ahead of himself. His was not a sincere question but rather an evasive question to shun responsibility. This man was seeking to be justified in the sight of God through his actions. He knew he had not loved everyone as he loved himself, so he is tried to interpret the scripture (Lev. 19:18) in a way that would conform to his actions. He wanted to define “neighbor” as just his close friends whom he had treated well.

Self-justification always produces excuses, while repentance and faith toward God produces obedience.

The basis of our salvation is grace – that is, God’s undeserved, unmerited favor toward us as expressed in providing redemption through Christ Jesus.

The means of God saving us is through faith. Through faith we accept God’s free gift of salvation, which was provided by grace. So we are saved “by grace … through faith. “Notice that we are not saved by grace alone. We are saved by grace through faith. Faith grants us admission to God’s grace. Without faith, God’s grace is wasted, and without grace, faith is powerless. Faith in God’s grace has to be released to receive what God has provided through Christ.

Just as sodium and chloride are poisonous by themselves, so grace or faith used independently of each other are deadly. But when you mix sodium and chloride together in the proper way, you get salt, which you must have to live. Likewise, putting faith in what God has already provided by grace is the key to victorious Christian living.

We were never instructed to have a Ph.D. in demonology. However, some justify focusing on Satan and his activity to an inordinate degree. This will actually encourage demonic activity and become a device that Satan can use against us.

As Paul said, we should not be “ignorant” of Satan’s devices. We certainly need to know that the devil and demons exist, and we need to recognize when we are facing demonic activity. But we need to keep our focus on the Lord.

Some people who are excessive in “spiritual warfare” actually spend more time talking to the devil each day than they do talking to God. That’s not right.

The best defense against the devil is to be so “God-centered” that we give no place to Satan. People who are very sensitive to the devil’s presence usually do so at the expense of being sensitive to the Lord’s presence. David said, “If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there” (Ps. 139:8). Any time Satan’s oppression is there, God’s presence is present too (Heb. 13:5)! It’s just a matter of which one we focus on. Focusing on the devil is a trick of the devil.

Our total ability in the Christian life is found in Christ. It is not our ability that makes us strong, but our availability to Christ that enables us.

Paul said, “For when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor. 12:10). He was saying that when he recognized his inability and, therefore, relied on the Lord, then the Lord’s strength flowed through him. We can do all things THROUGH CHRIST.

Although these are examples of God’s protection from harm caused by the physical creation, this scripture is also speaking of mastery over the spiritual realm of the enemy (i.e., Satan). This Scripture does not say that Satan cannot inflict any harm. The scriptures abound with examples, and warnings of the enemy’s damage on the godly and the ungodly alike (2 Cor. 2:11, 2 Tim. 2:26, 1 Pet. 5:8-9). However, he cannot harm us when we are walking in faith in Christ’s redemptive work.

There are no unique temptations. The devil likes to make us think there are. If he can convince us that no one understands, no one has ever had this problem before, then he can isolate us and take away our hope. But any temptation we face is just some variation of the same old thing. It may come in a different sized box, be wrapped in a different paper, and have a different bow, but the contents are the same. Understanding this diffuses much of the power of temptation.

Even though temptation is universal to mankind, we are not left on our own. God is faithful. Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are, and yet He overcame every time (Heb. 4:15). Part of His ministry is to specifically aid us in overcoming temptation (Heb. 2:17-18). Most of us have experienced times when we thought we couldn’t resist another minute. Either we were wrong, or we were on the verge of a breakthrough. The Lord promised that He would not allow us to be tempted above what we are able to bear. So, at those times when you can’t stand another minute, stand two and this promise will pull you through.

It was the power in the name of Jesus plus the disciples’ faith in that power that made the demons subject unto them. This can clearly be seen in Acts 19:13-17 where certain Jews called on the name of Jesus in an effort to cast demons out of a man. They used the name of Jesus, but it didn’t work because they had not put faith in that name.

These Jews were itinerants who used incantations to effect deliverance for people who were demon possessed. The first-century historian, Josephus, wrote of an exorcism that he witnessed in the presence of Vespasian and many of his soldiers. The exorcist supposedly followed a ritual passed down from King Solomon to effect the deliverance. There is no doubt that men throughout all history have tried to resist demonic spirits, but as this example proves, only Jesus and those who have received His life are successful.

Those who relegate demonic spirits to the realm of superstition do not believe in the entire Word of God. The Gospels alone contain over 90 references to the devil or devils (demons). The Apostle Paul said when writing to these people in Ephesus, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). The devil and demons do exist, but all believers in Jesus share in His total victory over them.

The name of Jesus is not magic. It does not work like a charm. As Peter said, “His name, through faith in his name” (Acts 3:16) is what brings results.

Peace is the result of casting our care upon the Lord through prayer and thanksgiving. However, many people are asking God to give them peace so that their cares will leave. It doesn’t work that way. Through faith we cast our cares on the Lord, and then God’s peace comes. Christians who are lacking God’s peace have not taken their cares to the Lord and left them there. All Christians have peace. It is a fruit of the Spirit that is always present in our born-again spirits. Cares will blind us to God’s peace. When we eliminate the cares, peace flows.

Being carnally minded doesn’t just tend toward death, it is death. Likewise, being spiritually minded doesn’t just tend toward life, it is life and peace. A person who says he or she is spiritually minded and yet is experiencing death is deceived. If we would just dominate ourselves with the spiritual truths of God’s Word, we would receive only life and peace.

True peace, which comes from God, only comes by grace through faith. No one who seeks to obtain right standing with God by his own effort will ever have God’s peace. Human peace is only experienced in the absence of problems. Those who only know human peace don’t experience it very often and to a lesser degree. But God’s peace is independent of circumstances and infinitely greater in supply than any problem we could ever have. God has given us His supernatural peace to enjoy. What a blessing!

It is commonly thought that an evangelist is someone who has a passion to lead people to the Lord. But every believer should have a passion for souls. When presenting the Gospel, we are not just presenting a theory about God but the factual account of God’s dealings with man as revealed through His Word, with the ultimate witness being the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Our personal witness of the reality of Jesus being alive in our lives brings Christ from theory to reality.

The early Christians had experienced the love of Christ in an intimate and life-transforming way. This motivated them to reach their known world with the Gospel of Christ more than any generation of Christians has done since. They didn’t have the benefits of our modern technology, but they did have the benefit of being full of the love of Christ. Experiencing the love of Christ causes us to be filled with the fullness of God (Eph. 3:19) and makes us a witness that the world cannot resist (John 13:35).

Today, much of the emphasis of the church is placed on techniques of evangelism or spiritual warfare. We motivate people to witness through feelings of guilt or punishment if they don’t. Much of our evangelism has become as dead and non-productive as that of the cults who knock on doors and argue people into their way of thinking. The early Christians had a much greater impact on their world because they were full of, and motivated by, the love of God. The church today needs a revival of our personal relationship with the Lord. When we can say with Paul that the love of Christ constrains us, then we will impact our world for the Lord too. You can’t give away what you don’t possess. We need to personally know the love of Christ in an experiential way before we try to share it with others.

It is interesting that Jesus used a little child to illustrate humility. Although it is true that little children have a purity and humility that is many times missing in adults, they certainly are not selfless. A child comes into the world totally self-centered, wanting what he wants when he wants it. Parents are to train children out of this self-centeredness.

One of humility’s dominant characteristics is a God-dependency and not a self-sufficiency. The truth of humility being the key to greatness or success was not new. Jesus gave this truth new meaning by walking in humility as no one ever had before.

This path of self-denial to greatness is exactly opposite to the world’s path of exalting self at everyone else’s expense. The path of humility could not possibly work if there was no God. We would simply be trampled underfoot.

Humility is a step of faith – faith that God is the judge and that promotion comes from Him (Ps. 75:6-7), and faith that God will resist the proud but give grace unto the humble (1 Pet. 5:5). Humility is trusting in God and not in ourselves. This is why it is easy to be humble when we’ve failed, and conversely, hard to be humble when we’ve achieved great success. This is precisely why Paul commanded Timothy not to put a novice into a position of leadership in the church. Pride is self-sufficiency and self-exaltation while humility is self-denial and dependence upon God.

God’s kingdom is founded upon this principle of humility before honor. God’s kind of love is selfless as can be seen by Jesus’ own actions. Pride is the only reason that strife comes (Prov. 13:10); so remember, humility is the key to walking in love with our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

This was quite a miracle. Not only was the money supplied for their taxes, but it was the exact amount needed, and it was from the first fish that was caught.

Although this sets the precedent that God can supply our needs in a miraculous way, it’s important to remember that God doesn’t counterfeit money. He didn’t create money in the fish, but rather he had the fish miraculously find and swallow the exact Roman coin that Peter needed. It’s a mistake to just pray and then wait on God to rain the money down from heaven.

As Luke 6:38 says, God uses men (and sometimes fish) to give finances to us. He can do it in a very unexpected, supernatural way but it will involve people and existing currency. We need to believe the Lord hears and answers our prayers and then pray for the people He’s going to use to deliver the answer. This could be our employer, the person who buys our goods, or any number of people.

The Lord also blesses what we set our hands to do. When in need, we should seek God’s direction for something to set our hands to and then trust Him to bless it and multiply the results of our work. But one hundred times zero is zero. Many people have missed their miracle because they never took that first step of faith and used what they had. God can give you a creative idea today that will bless you and make you a blessing to others. Seek and you will find.