Luke 10:42
If Jesus comes to your home, what would you do? Would you ask Him to sit down and then start serving Him? Or would you sit down and start drawing from Him? Would you let Him serve you and fill you up?
Jesus walked into the home of two sisters, Martha and Mary. (Luke 10:38) Martha saw His weariness. She knew that Jesus had been walking for miles, going about doing good, healing the sick and meeting the people’s needs. Obviously, He must be tired, she thought, so she saw Him as someone she had to care for.
Mary, however, saw beyond Jesus’ external weariness into His divinity. She saw that He was someone she needed to draw from. And by doing that, she made Him feel like God — the Savior who had come to serve her and not to be served by her. (Matthew 20:28) Jesus even commended her for choosing the better portion!
Our human minds just find that hard to believe. Some people tell me, “But Pastor Prince, the Bible says that it is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) When it comes to man, that is true. But when it comes to God, He wants to give. In fact, unless you learn how to receive from God, you will have nothing to give to man.
Which sister gave Jesus the sweeter feast and filled Him up? Martha who was busy preparing food for Him? Or Mary who sat still and drew deeply from Him? It was Mary. She made Jesus feel a sense of His divine glory. She allowed Jesus to be the giver, to be God.
Like Martha, we always reverse the roles. We somehow think that God needs our service, but He actually wants to fill us first. Mary’s ears and heart were more precious to Jesus than Martha’s hands and feet.
We use our ears and hearts to draw from Jesus. We use our hands and feet to serve Him, and there is a place for that. But our sense and appreciation of God’s divine fullness is more precious to Him than all the service we can render Him. And when you draw from Him, you cannot help but become a great giver and server.
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A founding member of New Creation Church, Joseph initially served as an elder and associate pastor. However, his unanimous appointment as senior pastor in 1990 marked a turning point in the history of the church, which started experiencing phenomenal growth. Under Joseph's leadership, the church congregation has grown by more than a hundredfold—from about 150 to more than 31,000 attendees.
Having built and established the leadership and congregation of New Creation Church on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ, Joseph is now actively fulfilling, around the world, the mandate that God has given him to preach God's unmerited favor without compromise. He heads Joseph Prince Ministries, Inc., an international, non-profit organization that seeks to build, encourage, and inspire people with the gospel of Jesus Christ through television broadcasting as well as a new media technology. Joseph's ministry as a pastor, teacher, conference speaker, and author continues to transform many lives, setting people free from the heavy yoke of the law, guilt, and condemnation by pointing them to Jesus and His finished work at Calvary.
Joseph believes the best in people and is committed to helping them discover how they can reign in life through the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. His desire is to help this generation of believers understand the new covenant of grace and realize how greatly blessed, highly favored, and deeply loved they are by their heavenly Father.
In addition, both Joseph and Wendy are moved by the plight of less fortunate children, especially in Asia, and consider it a calling and an urgent priority to provide practical help through Joseph Prince Ministries, Inc.'s missions initiative and humanitarian projects.