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“It was noised that [Jesus]was in the house.”(Mark 2:1 KJV)
Traveling about preaching the Good News, Jesus made a trip to Capernaum, as He needed a place to stay, for He had no place to lay His head. (Matt. 8:20 NIV)

The people heard that he had come home. (Mark 2:1 NIV) In those days, word of mouth was the internet of the day. Passing from one neighbor to another, the excitement grew as the news of His arrival spread quickly through the city. (Mark 2:1 TLB)

“Soon the house where He was staying was so packed with visitors that there wasn’t room for a single person more, not even outside the door.” (Mark 2:2 TLB)

Scholars say this was probably Peter’s house. Filled to capacity. Packed with those who loved Him. Crowded with seekers. Crammed with listeners.

What packs your spiritual house, your heart?

* Is it filled to capacity with all of Jesus, squeezing everything else out?
* Is it so packed with love for Him that it overflows to others?
* Is it crowded with thoughts of seeking Him?
* Is it crammed with listening to Him?

Has it been noised that Jesus is in your house?

“If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?” so said Milton Berle. I love that.

But as we all know, a mother can do ten things at once, right? She must do all and be all to her children: nurse, chauffeur, economist, counselor, laundress, chef. As the saying goes, she is chief cook and bottle washer!

But a mother has a surpassing divine mission...To read the rest, join me at The Mom Initiative today.

“You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles.” (Matt. 5:38-41 GNT)

In the King James Version, the words “shall compel” are used in the above verse and are of Persian origin, which means to be a courier, to press into public service, dispatch a mounted messenger, denotes to compel one to go on a journey, to bear a burden, or to perform any other service.

Jesus spoke the above words in His Sermon on the Mount. We understand what He was saying about not to “take revenge,” but what did He mean to “carry it two miles”?

In Jesus’ day, the Romans continued a practice they learned from the Persians about 600 years earlier. Persian messengers or heralds had the royal authority to compel any person or his horse, boat, or any other thing he owned that the messenger might deem usable in order to deliver the king’s commandments.

This is the custom to which Jesus referred.

This practice was made Roman law. An individual from a conquered country was required to carry a load or pack up to one mile on foot if coerced by a Roman. If a Roman soldier saw a Jewish male, adult or boy, he could command the male to carry his backpack or burden for one mile.

The Jews hated this law and would not carry this burden one inch further than the law required. However, they had two options: carry the burden and walk a mile or receive a beating and spend time in jail for defiance.

Therefore, the Jews marked off a mile from wherever they were so they would know in advance exactly how far one mile was if a soldier came and demanded they carry a load. The burden or pack the soldier compelled a male to carry could be anything, even something heavy, dirty, or smelly.

Can you imagine the indignance of the Jews that day as they sat on the hillside, listening to Jesus preach to them, “Go the second mile.” Can’t you just hear the whispers rising up, gathering momentum like a burgeoning wave? Do more than the Law required? Surely not.

What about us today? Do we go the extra mile? Do we go out of our way to help others, to show our love and care for them? Oh, we do for those we love, don’t we? But do we go that extra mile for those we don’t love?

What did Jesus say? Just a couple of sentences later in Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” (Matt. 5:44 NKJV)

Peter reiterated Jesus’ words, “Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.” (1 Peter 3:9 NLT)

You mean I have to be nice to those who are nasty to me, who stab me in the back, who cheat me, who persecute me? If I want to be obedient to the Lord’s words, I do! Ooo! That hurts, doesn’t it?

The first mile is the compelled, have-to mile, but the second mile is the compassionate, want-to mile.

The Lord may whisper to your heart to show some kindness to someone, to do some deed of sacrificial love for one who has been unkind to you. What will be your response?

May you not only walk the first mile but also walk many, compassionate, want-to miles.

~~Thought I'd repost an oldie. Hope you enjoy!~~


An empty water jar balances precariously on her head. Her face is veiled not only to avoid the searing stares of Sychar’s society but also to shield her from the rumors of a ruined reputation.

Too many husbands have drained her nuptial well and now she attempts to fill it with another, an unbetrothed suitor. She must go now to the watering hole, to draw from its depths the water to quench her parched thirst, a thirst that lies deeper than the surface of her tongue.

Slipping through the back streets, she shuffles her way out the city’s gate to fulfill her daily duty. As the sun beats down with its heaving swells of heat, she is forced to come to the well of the ancient fathers at the noon hour. The other women choose to draw water during the cooler hours of the day, coming later to remove their veils, to relax, to laugh, and to gossip, usually about this woman.

The heat of the day diametrically differs from the chill of passion that has penetrated this shunned woman’s being. The empty water jug she now carries on her head parallels the emptiness of her heart.

She hides behind a veil of secrecy, as she tries desperately to become invisible. As she approaches the well, she peers out from behind her veil, and, seeing a man who sits on the well’s edge, their eyes meet. He looks deep into the longing of her soul and sees a parched and depleted well. She sees acceptance beyond anything she has ever experienced.

“Give me a drink,” he asks.

“But you’re a Jew,” she says. “Why do you ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?”

“If you only knew. I would satisfy your hollow yearning from a living well, teeming with waters of life that never run dry.”

“Oh, sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

“Call your husband to come here also,” he says.

“But, sir,” she says, “I have no husband.”

This stranger, peering into her lifeless eyes hiding within the veil, now seems to know her so well, as he recounts the depth of her past existence.

“Sir, you must be a prophet,” she says. Yet, she discerns him to be more than a prophet, for there is no hint of judgment or condemnation in his voice, only the love of the ages.

Throwing off the invisible veil over her eyes, she sees this man for who he really is and receives the love for which she has so recklessly searched. She drops her water pot by the well and runs back through the city gate to tell the others of the everlasting love she has found in the man called The Messiah.

Have you dropped all to tell others about the everlasting love you have found in Christ?

“Go…and tell…”

"…you were not redeemed with corruptible things…But [you were purchased] with the precious blood of Christ.”(1 Peter 1:18a NKJV, 1 Peter 1:19a Amp)
I love some of those commercials that show an item, then list the price of something and, at the end, list something that is priceless.

That’s our redemption: priceless! Priceless...in the sense that we could never repay Christ for the redemption we have received.

But for Him: a very costly price. His life. But still...an unmeasured, priceless gift to us.

Jesus Christ released His earthly life to die an excruciating death on a cruel cross. Is there a greater sacrifice? The disciple John wrote, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13 NLT)

You are that special friend of Jesus; you are worth every drop of blood that He shed and paid for you. If you have accepted that sacrificial offer, you are the precious Bride of Christ, the Beloved Bridegroom.

Jesus paid the asking price for His Bride, “a single sacrifice for our sins [that shall avail] for all time,” (Heb. 10:12a Amp) “who gave Himself a ransom on behalf of all.” (1 Tim. 2:6 NKJV)

The Greek word for ransom, in the above verse, is used only this once in the Bible and means the redemption price of a slave or captive, that which is offered in exchange for another.

In that covenant exchange, Christ suffered death in our stead that we might walk in newness of His risen Life. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10 NKJV)

Redeeming us from our sins and ultimate spiritual death, Christ became our Kinsman-Redeemer, for He “purchased our freedom [redeeming us] from the curse (doom) of the Law [and its condemnation] by [Himself] becoming a curse for us.” (Gal. 3:13 Amp)

The Greek meaning of the word used for redeem, I think, beautifully describes what Christ did for us. It means to ransom, to rescue one from loss to improve opportunity, to purchase one for his freedom from another’s power by paying a price to recover him, or to buy up for one’s self or own use.

He exchanged His life for yours. He redeemed your life to improve it, to give you abundant Life. He purchased you from the power of the enemy, redeeming you from a life of drudgery, from servitude to sin, from eternal loss, as He said, “So that anyone who believes in Me will have eternal life.” (John 3:15 TLB)

Great agony and heartache were the price of your redemption. Truly you are not your own. You were bought with a price.

Love and redemption: priceless!

May you know that Eternal Life that surges through your precious, blood-bought soul. And may the Lord reveal to you His presence in some special way this Easter season.