Jesus with Joanna and Susanna (Nico Marais)

By

“After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.”

Luke 8:1-3

Joanna and Susanna are two of the women who served and supported Jesus during the three years of His ministry on earth.  They did this as a response to what He did for them.
Joanna was a well-off wife of one of Herod’s stewards.  She had the means to support Jesus’ ministry and she used it for that purpose.
Susanna was a person healed or freed by Christ who then supported Him during His ministry on earth with all she had.  Both Joanna and Susanna were counted as part of Jesus’ disciples.
What I love about these women is that their gratefulness towards Jesus was turned into action.  They didn’t just accept Christ’s mercy and went on with their lives, they gave their time, money, resources and everything they had to Jesus.
Has Jesus done something for you in the past?  How are you thanking Him?  What do you have to give (time, money, hands, abilities)?

A Prayer: Jesus, thank you for saving me.  Please show me what I can give to support your work on earth and give me the courage to part with it willingly and happily for your name’s sake.  Amen.

Nico Marais

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Be Alert (Liz Morris)

By
Image
" And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." Ephesians 6:18 I love the inference that to pray is to be alert. As Paul draws to the end of his letter to the Ephesians, he reminds them of the importance to keep on praying at all times, in many different ways in the Spirit. Prayer is such an integral part of growing in our faith and seeing His kingdom come in our lives, our community and our world. It helps our earthly minds come to know our Heavenly Father and see His plans and purposes unfold. I love the fact that Paul goes on to put in a personal prayer request in the next verse and I am sure that the church in Ephesus often prayed for him along with many of the Christians from the other churches. I am sure too, that the alertness of all the early Christians to pray was essential in the success of the ministry of all the Apostles and the advancement of the g
Read more

Breakfast On The Beach (Penny Cox)

By
Image
"When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread” John 21:9(NLT) I don’t know about you, but when I’m confused or stressed, I often revert to doing something familiar. It comforts me, and makes me feel secure. Perhaps that is why the disciples decide to go fishing at this time. Maybe they were feeling stressed and want the comfort of familiarity. Or maybe they were hungry, or needed the money. Or simply didn’t know what to do with themselves without Jesus’ physical presence. Whatever the reason, despite their best efforts, the fishing trip was unsuccessful until Jesus appeared on the shore, and intervened with a miracle that saw the disciples’ nets filled to capacity. The part of this account that I find so encouraging is that Jesus not only turned up to help the disciples when they had failed to catch any fish, but that he also made breakfast for them. Jesus shows us that he knew exactly what his friends needed; they needed his reas
Read more

Jesus and the strong man (Nico Marais)

By
Image
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis[a] how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. Mark 5:18-20 What precedes today’s passage is the well-known story of Jesus sending the demons from this man into a herd (or litter, depending on who you ask) of pigs that ultimately drown themselves.  The Bible says this man was so strong that chains could not hold him.  When he is set free from his demonic bondage he begs Jesus to come with Him.  Jesus says no and sends him back to his family, friends and his own people to share what Jesus has done for him. This is exactly what Jesus asks each of us to do as well.  We can’t really share Christ’s peace, mercy, hope, power and love via proxy.  We have to encounter it for oursel
Read more