JESUS: "My friend Peter, I have an assignment for you that you are well qualified to carry out for Me. Since you have also been rejected by the world and the church, you have an inkling of what I went through when I was on earth. Since you were also rejected by your own people because of Christ in you, you can feel my pain. You have also learned first-hand how precious it was to my heart, when Mary of Bethany poured out the alabaster jar of spikenard over Me and wiped my feet with her beautiful hair. The spikenard was the equivalent of a year's wages. Her act of devotion will be a memorial to her for all eternity. I spoke those words then and I am resurrecting them now and forever. I want to remind everyone that those who prefer to sit at my feet, comfort my wounded spirit and broken heart. They know that I am not only their victorious Lord, but also remember that I am their wounded and suffering Savior. They bring me a gift I will never tire of - the gift of their heart.

"I placed by your side your handmaiden Rebekah, a woman who has a "Mary" heart. She has served you as a Martha but has loved you and Me as only a Mary is able. She has healed your wounded heart and by doing so is also healing mine. Your heart and my heart would be desolate without her. I am now asking you to search out the hidden Marys in the world and bring them to my wounded, aching side. My heart cannot be mended any other way. This is part of the eternal plan that will heal my Body and unify my Church."

PETER: "Lord, can you show me how I am to proceed?"

JESUS: "I want you to offer the picture your handmaiden Rebekah painted for you and Me to all who will receive it. Only those with a "Mary" heart will respond. They will spare no expense framing the painting and placing it on the walls of their homes. In fact, for some it will be the equivalent of an altar. Like I came to visit Mary of Bethany and her sister Martha, I will also tabernacle with those who receive the painting. Many Marthas who read these words will hang up their aprons to sit at my feet. The fragrance of spikenard will linger in their homes.”

To view the painting and read the accompanying poem go to:

The deed of Mary, so strange, so inappropriate (in the middle of dinner) condemned by those who had no place in their hearts for Jesus' needs.

Jesus, moved profoundly by her poignant grasp of His coming death, lifted this deed to the place of an eternal memorial.

Linked forever to the gospel, exalted by Him, as no other event in the Bible.

This deed we must understand. It is His Emphatic Command to always present the story where the Good News is preached.

The question is: Does this act speak to me in the core of my salvation as part of the simple redemptive plan of Christ? Is it memorialized in me? What is the meaning of Mary's act?

The disciples raised a smug defense of humanity's need. "It should have been given to the poor." Their certainty was that Christ existed for mankind. That human crisis was God's obligation and the first priority for Christ's followers.

Such is the mistake to which all believers fall prey. To serve people is the error which ends their worth to God and the hope of fruit. Turns them into bitter slaves of human devastation while certain it is God's will, sacrificial but heavy, heavy.

Excerpted from the book: "ADORATION" by Martha Kilpatrick.

PS: The world's aim is to place a Starbuck Coffee Shoppe at every street corner. Peter's aim is to place the story of Mary of Bethany on every coffee table and on every kitchen counter. What a grand challenge! Please give me a hand with this assignment. The painting is available. Please include a book of stamps with your request.

NORMAL is a word invented by the devil to frustrate and confuse us.

Preoccupation with sickness is a disease.

Jesus has come to set us free, not just to redecorate our prison cells. Bishop M. Marshall

Jesus is our interior decorator.

When we hit rock bottom, we find out what kind of stuff we are made of.

Jesus can turn our scars into stars.

Where there is room in the heart, there is also room in the house.

Love does not always say "yes."

I love you, but that does not mean I can fulfill all your needs.

Love is a greater power than willpower.

Love heals: love conquers; love forgives.

Love without truth is sentimentality, truth without love is brutality.

To the extent that love is not perfected, power can be misdirected.

If you don't treat your wife like fine china, you are mistreating her.

If it happened to Paul, it can happen to all.

We are more concerned about getting our feelings hurt, than getting our faith hurt.

Let Jesus take the wrinkles out of your soul with a "faith lift." Melvin Airhart

Pedestals are to be reserved for statues or dumb idols, because they do nothing wrong.

Practice makes better, not perfect.