Verse of the Day 7/29

 

Mark 14:8-9  She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. ⁹ And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her."  English Standard Version (ESV)

 

Our Pastor Fil spoke from this passage yesterday and focused on the first words of the passage.  The NLV condenses it to 5 words "she did what she could".  He went in depth into the passage and then related it people in recent generations from Mother Teresa to Billy Graham.  All of them showed humility but with a willingness to do what God had called them to do.

 

I don't think that Mary had calculated the cost of what she did, nor do I think that she knew of the ramifications or significance of what she did.  She was simply doing what she was prompted and led to do from her heart.

 

I know I've shared this before, but hearing this message and the reference to Billy Graham led me to think of Edward Kimble, someone else who "did what he could" and who was a link in the chain to Billy Graham's salvation experience.

 

Who was Edward Kimble?  "He was a Sunday School teacher and shoe salesman who was deeply concern for a coworker named Dwight. One day, he mustered up the courage to talk to Dwight about his faith in Jesus Christ, and Dwight converted to Christianity on the spot. Dwight later became known as D. L. Moody, the greatest evangelist of his time. We don't know much about Edward Kimble, but we have heard quite a bit about D. L. Moody.

But the story doesn't end there. Years later, when Moody was preaching, a pastor named Frederick Meyer was deeply stirred. As a result of hearing Moody preach, he went into preaching himself. A college student named Wilbur Chapman became a follower of Christ as a result of listening to Meyer's preaching, and he later employed a young ball player to help him with his outreaches. That young boy's name was Billy Sunday. Billy Sunday, who became one of the most well-known evangelists of his day, went to Charlotte, North Carolina and preached. Afterward a group of businessmen asked Sunday if he would return, but when he was unable to, they found another lesser-known evangelist named Mordecai Hamm. On one of the last nights of Mordecai Hamm's evangelistic crusade, a tall, lanky dairy farmer came walking up the aisle. Most people just knew him as Billy Frank. Today we know him as Billy Graham.

Kimble reached Moody, who touched Meyer, who reached Chapman, who helped Sunday, who reached the businessmen in Charlotte, who invited Mordecai Hamm, who then reached Billy Graham. It all started with the simple witness of Edward Kimble, an unsung hero.'   -  Greg Laurie

Are we willing to do what we can when the Spirit prompts us?  We may not know the significance now, but who knows what God may accomplish through a humble faithful act of obedience.

 

In Christ,
Mike

 

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Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

Mark 14:3-9

English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

³ And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,^[a] as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. ⁴ There were some who said to themselves indignantly, "Why was the ointment wasted like that? ⁵ For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii^[b] and given to the poor." And they scolded her. ⁶ But Jesus said, "Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. ⁹ And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her."