Welcome to Buoy, a Life in Deeper Water podcast.

Episode 45.Washing the Feet of Jesus Everyday (Mary Magdalene + Psalm 145… adoration powers my witness)

(click here to listen now)

Hello human.

I thought I would be ready to witness about the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life today. But I am not, which reflects so beautifully how the spirit moves from within.

I said in Episode 44, “That doing this (reading God’s word, praying, and loving conditionally), draws me close enough to hear His voice: God’s persuasion happens through the Holy Spirit… and my free will cannot be playing any other song, to hear it.

I do not yet have a spiritual stronghold on what this means. I need more time on this. Honestly, it is because it is where I am swimming in the deepest water, where I am covering the most spiritual ground. I’m swimming, not yet ready to jump on the Holy Spirit buoy.

Adoring Jesus for Five Minutes and Forever

So today, I am reflecting on a challenge I received on Sunday, to spend five minutes a day adoring Jesus. What I loved about landing on adoration is that our Pastor’s message was about Jesus giving us resilience in hardship. That’s not exactly motivation to love on Jesus. But there are so many things that I could say about this that ring true, that when we are in the middle of hardship the most perfect thing that we could do is turn away from that focus and turn toward the one who did the hardest thing of all.  A cross-bearing sacrifice. Because He loves me. He didn’t turn away, because He loves us.

That if we set our sights on him instead of the solution, he will guide us through that hardship and adoration is our path to reset the focus. So, I love that in the context of hardship, but I also know that when someone says to me take 5 minutes here, or here are the top three things you should do…, or ten ways that you can…, or four ways to conquer… I throw up a mental roadblock and think, I don’t really need to calculate my witness for Jesus that way. Not that way.

I just don’t believe that it is a three-step program or a “here are the most important things you need to know.” I think the word of God is all equally weighted, spirit-powered and infused with His nature.

But I can admit that 5 minutes is a fairly long time and it’s longer than we spend on most things. It’s longer because we go from one thing to the next in seconds, not minutes. Researchers report that it takes from 6-15 minutes to change your mood (walking, talking to someone, being kind to someone, meditating, etc.). I don’t want to belabor that, but I do want to think about how knowing that, is a powerful tool for when we need a “reset” in our day. Imagine what Jesus can do in that same time period.  

Kiss the Ground in Reverence

So, the first thing that I thought about was in the form of a question: “what would be something that would get me started, that would be a way I can rev my adoration engine every day. I understand the value of habits and I also understand the importance of meeting face to face with God first in each day.  But because the Holy Spirit is becoming so much more of a presence that I affirm, seek, scout for, listen for, I am also sensitive to being open, not too regimented in the structure of my day. So, I have landed on Psalm 145 and I’m going to end with it, but, as a little mental warm-up for it, here are a few thoughts on adoration.

Adoration comes with words like deep love, respect, divine being. Worship. I think of it as an overflowing affection I cannot control, one that overflows, makes me beside myself. A love that rests in every little crevice of His nature, with a fragrance that brings out the best He has created in me. I l can’t get enough, I am always ready to receive, to welcome, to love the person I adore. And I never quite remember just how much I adore until I see that person again. I discover that love again. My adoration overflows. It puts me in a state of worship.

Most versions of the New Testament do not use the word adoration in reference to our worship of God but translate the Greek word proskuneó as “worship.” Proskuneó means “to bow before or to revere”; the root word, and this is the part I love, means “to kiss,”.

 So, the idea of proskuneó is “to kiss the ground in reverence before someone.”

Enter Mary Magdalene, a woman who had lived a sinful life, came to the banquet, and began to weep, her tears falling onto Jesus’ feet, which she then wiped with her hair, kissed, and perfumed with ointment from a jar. Simon was shocked that Jesus would allow an impure woman to do this.  The Greek word for “kissed” is yet a different word, but it means “to kiss tenderly, to kiss over and over.” Mary Magdalene’s adoration was overflowing.

Adoration Powers Your Witness

 What is adoration in my witness right now? I should affirm this.

I love defining it by walking in the spiritual footsteps of Mary Magdalene:

• Doing whatever it takes to be at life’s banquet with Jesus.
• Bringing my gratitude to His feet. Kneeling at the altar of when He chose me.
• Caring for His love for me, with the spiritual gifts He gave me, as if I am washing His feet every day.
• Leaving the fragrance of my love for Him at His feet.
• Knowing that this will shock others, like it did Simon.
• That it will shock others who do not understand my relationship with my Savior.

If you want adoration to power your witness here is the WHY we adore Jesus. To get you started this can be the first two minutes of your time adoring Jesus.

Words first spoken by David, to his God. And now by us, through our Savior.

Psalm 145

A psalm of praise. Of David.

 

1 I will exalt you, my God the King;

    I will praise your name for ever and ever.

2 Every day I will praise you

    and extol your name for ever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;

    his greatness no one can fathom.

4 One generation commends your works to another;

    they tell of your mighty acts.

5 They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—

    and I will meditate on your wonderful works.[b]

6 They tell of the power of your awesome works—

    and I will proclaim your great deeds.

7 They celebrate your abundant goodness

    and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate,

    slow to anger and rich in love.

9 The Lord is good to all;

    he has compassion on all he has made.

10 All your works praise you, Lord;

    your faithful people extol you.

11 They tell of the glory of your kingdom

    and speak of your might,

12 so that all people may know of your mighty acts

    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

    and your dominion endures through all generations.

The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises

    and faithful in all he does.

14 The Lord upholds all who fall

    and lifts up all who are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all look to you,

    and you give them their food at the proper time.

16 You open your hand

    and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways

    and faithful in all he does.

18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,

    to all who call on him in truth.

19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;

    he hears their cry and saves them.

20 The Lord watches over all who love him,

    but all the wicked he will destroy.

21 My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.

    Let every creature praise his holy name

    for ever and ever.