DON'T GET DISTRACTED!
DON'T GET DISTRACTED!
Sunday, May 8, is the date for Mother’s Day in some countries this year.
Did you know that some countries have a shifting date to celebrate Mother’s Day while other countries have a fixed day of celebration?
Let’s begin today’s post by solving the mystery of the shifting date of Mother’s Day- before we learn an important message from the women of the Apostolic Gospels!
'DON’T GET DISTRACTED!’ is their Mother’s Day message for us and it will help us to help our children become their BEST selves!
Do you want to find out how? Keep reading!
WHY DOES THE DATE OF MOTHER’S DAY CHANGE EVERY YEAR?
Sara McCann’s article answers this question beautifully. You can read her original article by clicking HERE! Here’s a short summary of her main points.
Mother's Day originated as a religious celebration that took place during Lent. Church services were held to honour the Virgin Mary on this day. Because the date of Easter changes every year, the date of Mother’s Day changes with it!
In the United Kingdom (UK), Mother's Day is also known as ‘Mothering Sunday’. This year, Mother’s Day in the UK took place on Sunday, March 27, 2022. The UK, Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man and Nigeria all use the same shifting date for Mother's Day.
On the other hand, in America, Australia, Germany, China, Greece and many other countries, Mother's Day is always commemorated on the second Sunday of May. In these countries, Mother’s Day does not have any religious affiliations. This year, in these countries, Mother’s Day will be celebrated on Sunday, May 8, 2022.
THE APOSTOLIC GOSPELS GIVE US ROLE MODELS TO FOLLOW
Although I was never blessed with my own children, I have had the opportunity to ‘mother’ other women’s children. I think that two of the most important jobs of a mother is to love her children and to pass on the pearls of wisdom that we glean from life. In this sense, everyone has the opportunity to ‘mother’ others! Don’t you agree?
In the two Apostolic Gospels (Matthew and John), 27 individual and groups of women are mentioned. That’s a lot! We are told the names of some of these women. While, for others, they remain nameless.
Were all of the women mentioned in the Apostolic Gospels biological mothers or were some of them mentorship mothers, like myself? We do not know. The Bible doesn’t say!
But what we do know, with certainty, is that once you were included in the Holy Scriptures, there must have been a good reason! There is something in each of these stories that is of value to us! We should pay attention to the lessons in these women’s stories.
What do I think is the most important idea that we can learn from the women of the Apostolic Gospels? Simply this- I believe that these women provide concrete examples of how to please or displease God!
WHO WERE THE WOMEN OF THE APOSTOLIC GOSPELS?
The women in the Old Testament taught us many lessons. Consider, for example, the lives of:
§ Eve
§ Ruth
§ Esther
In the Apostolic Gospels, we also have much to learn from the women who were mentioned. I have provided references for the first mention of each individual or group of women.
1. Mary- the mother of Jesus (Matthew 1:16)
2. Rachel- the symbolic woman from Bethlehem (Matthew 2:18)
3. The mother-in-law- Apostle Peter’s mother-in-law (Matthew 8:14)
4. The dead daughter (Matthew 9:18)
5. The woman with the issue of blood (Matthew 9:20)
6. Jesus’ sisters (Matthew 13:56)
7. Herodias- king Herod’s sister-in-law and lover (Matthew 14:3)
8. Herodias’ daughter (Matthew 14:6)
9. The women who ate from the miracle of the five loaves and two fishes (Matthew 14:21)
10. The woman of Canaan who wanted the crumbs (Matthew 15:22)
11. The women who ate from the miracle of the seven loaves and the small fishes (Matthew 15:38)
12. The divorced woman (Matthew 19:3)
13. The mother of Zebedee’s children- aka ‘The other Mary’ and ‘Mary, wife of Cleophas’ (Matthew 20:20 & 27:61 and John 19:25 & John 19:27)
14. The widow (Matthew 22:24)
15. Pregnant and breastfeeding mothers in the last days (Matthew 24:19)
16. The women grinding at the mill in the last days (Matthew 24:41)
17. The ten virgins (Matthew 25:1)
18. Mary- the first woman with an alabaster box (Matthew 26:7)
19. Caiaphas’ door keeper- the first person who recognised Apostle Peter (Matthew 26:69 & John 18:16)
20. The second person who recognised Apostle Peter (Matthew 26:71)
21. Pontius Pilate’s wife (Matthew 27:19)
22. Jesus’ female followers who watched His crucifixion in addition to the 3 Marys (Matthew 27:55 & John 19:25)
23. Mary Magdalene (Matthew 27:56)
24. The Samaritan woman (John 4:7)
25. The woman taken in the very act of adultery (John 8:3)
26. Mary- Lazarus’ sister and the second woman with an alabaster box (John 11:1, 11:2 & 12:3)
27. Martha- Lazarus’ sister (John 11:1)
You can easily spend six months of daily Bible study learning valuable lessons from these 27 examples!
And a message that I saw on Facebook recently, emphasised to me just how important these Bible examples are. Let me share with you my Facebook experience!
EMBRACING TRUE WISDOM
Have you ever seen this Facebook message before?
Superficially, this quote sounds good. It sounds like a reasonable expectation UNTIL you reflect on the lessons from the women in the Apostolic Gospels.
I have three simple questions for you.
§ Is the ‘pursuit of happiness’ the same as happiness?
§ Is being happy more valuable than having PEACE?
§ Is a feeling of happiness always present when you are doing God's will?
Let me ask you two more questions!
§ If you were not happy but you KNEW for sure that you were doing God's will, would that satisfy you? Could you live with this sacrifice- i.e. fulfilled purpose instead of happiness?
§ What does Matthew 6:33 teach us about what we should be pursuing in life?
Matthew 6:33 (KJV, emphasis mine) says:
'But seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.'
IS IT BIBLICAL TO BE OBSESSED WITH ACHIEVING ‘HAPPINESS’?
Let’s consider some examples:
§ When God sent Moses to Pharaoh, do you think that Moses was happy?
§ When Joseph was in prison for years and years, do you think that he was happy?
§ When Mordecai asked Esther to jeopardise her life (i.e. by approaching her husband to plead the case for her people), do you think that she was happy?
When we examine the women of the Apostolic Gospels, do their stories focus on achieving happiness? NO!
I believe that our first responsibility is to do the will of God. And whether this makes us happy, sad, angry or whatever is actually IRRELEVANT!
When you decide that your purpose in life is to build the kingdom of God, then emotions like happiness (while nice) lose the power to distract us!
Did you know that happiness, laughter and joy are important? Of course they are! BUT, if you make having these emotions the priority and focus of your life, then you could MISS your opportunity to fulfill God's purpose for your life!
Do God's work FIRST! If you have been called to suffer, then suffer with grace! We were created by God on purpose, for a purpose. So focus your energies on that! Christ asks His true followers to pick up their cross and follow Him. Suffering is a part of the Christian experience and we learn this from some of the women of the Apostolic Gospels!
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE VS. SECULAR PERSPECTIVE
Learn how to live a kingdom life from the women of the Apostolic Gospels! These women did not focus their energies on being ‘happy’.
We have all become so self-obsessed in modern times! As a result, many are buckling under the pressure of self-induced stress, anxiety and depression. And what is causing these emotions? False expectations!
There is a false narrative circulating among believers that is teaching us to RUN from suffering and pain and RUN towards constant fun and happiness. But it wasn’t always like this!
Take a look around the world and you will see what some faith-filled believers are doing in difficult and challenging circumstances. They are resilient and they have fortitude because they understand their kingdom purpose!
Uncertainty is normal. Thus, to make it through the storm of uncertain times, we have always required spiritual certainty!
So, as we celebrate another Mother’s Day, let us learn from the women of the Apostolic Gospels. Stay kingdom focused! And let’s teach this wisdom to the next generation so that they are better able to reach their true potential.
Happy Mother’s Day to you all!
*****
‘HARVEST TIME Prophecies’ is the blog post site of TNG Academy. Our blog post site gets its name from Matthew 13:30- the separation of wheat and tares that occurs at harvest time (i.e. the endtimes). Remember, the ‘wheat’ symbolises the things of God and the ‘tares’ symbolise the things of the devil.
The purpose of this blog is threefold.
1. Some of the posts are written to help the reader develop a deeper understanding of the theology of Christ’s core message- i.e. the ‘gospel of the kingdom’.
2. Some of the posts are written for the reader’s personal discipleship journey. We need to understand what God expects from us. After all, all believers should be on a journey of ‘becoming’ our best selves, capable of impacting and changing the world!
3. Finally, some of the posts are written to answer this question:
What would our faith look like today IF we had fully embraced Christ’s doctrines, as recorded by His Apostles, and rejected the doctrines of Paul and the other false apostles?
If we are sincere about our desire to restore Christianity to its roots, i.e. a return to Christ’s original message, then we must start by admitting that ‘while men slept’ (Matthew 13:25) the enemy planted false teachings (tares) into the New Testament!
Visit our website- WWW.TNGACADEMY.ORG, to see our Bible study books. Which books would I recommend for you to read first? Start with these three-
- WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD?
- MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN!
- THE APOSTOLIC SCRIPTURES.
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