Canny Granny's Advice to the Young

We see Mary at the cross. Jesus although suffering greatly on the cross tenderly asks His disciple John to take care of Mary as if she was his own mother and tells Mary to treat John as her son. Mary is with the disciples at the time of the resurrection and also at the Ascension and Pentecost. From then till end of the Bible through all the epistles of Paul, Peter and John, James and Jude there is no mention of Mary. There is mention of a Mary in the book of a Romans but there is no reason to believe that this is Mary the mother of Jesus. There is reason to believe that the James and Jude who wrote epistles were children of Mary and Joseph, but they do not mention her. Mary was a lovely woman who was obedient to God but she should not be elevated to the position many put her in. She should not be prayed to, because only God should be given our prayers. By God I mean, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The Bible gives only examples of prayer to God except where non-bel...

Now we are looking at John 2: 1- 11. Jesus, the disciples and Mary are at a wedding. Mary tells Jesus that the wine has run out, an embarrassment for the hosts. Jesus says, “Dear woman why involve me, my time has not yet come” He is the one in charge. Mary then says to the servants at the feast, “Whatever He tells you to do. Do it.” I believe this is what she would want us to do, to do whatever her Son tells us to do. She does not say whatever she says He will do as some say, but we are to do whatever He says.

Luke 2: 40- 52. This is the account we are looking at today. Here the family go to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. It seems that it was the usual thing for many families to travel together and naturally the children would have spent much of the time together. You would have thought that Mary and Joseph would have checked that Jesus was with them before leaving for home, but no they travelled for a whole day before looking for him. They then went back to Jerusalem and it took three days before they found him. They found Jesus in the temple courts talking to the teachers and asking them questions. Mary worried but no doubt relieved, but also astonished says,”Son why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” He answers ,”Why were you searching for me ? Didn’t you knowI had to be in my Father’s house?” These are not the petulant words of a near teenager but a gentle rebuke to rather negligent parents who should have known that He would be...

Jesus was talking to his disciples, the twelve and others when He was told that His mother and brothers were outside wanting to see Him.  His response was to say, "Who is my mother and who are my brothers?" And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said,"Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother." Matthew 12: 46-50 I'm sure Jesus had the normal respect of a son for a mother but here he makes clear that she was on a level with anyone who is His follower. We can admire her faith in God but we may not exalt her above other christians. Next time we will look at an account we have of when Jesus was 12 years old. Luke 2: 40- 52. If you read it now remember this that Jesus is the Son of God and never did anything wrong.  If Jesus ever did anything wrong we are all doomed, but He did no wrong and if you put your trust in Him alone you will be saved.  Whoever honours the Son honou...

Again let me remind you that all my information about Mary comes from the Bible. In (Ot матфея) Matthew 12:46-49 we read on one occasion that Jesus was teaching His followers when someone said that His mother Mary and His brothers were outside the building asking to see Him. (I will have something to add about this later.) In chapter 13:55 and 56 the brothers are named as ,James,Joses, Simon and Judas and there are sisters mentioned too. Again these brothers and sisters are spoken of in Mark 6 verse 3 (от марка). From this we can see that the Bible records that Mary had other children after she had Jesus, undoubtedly the children of Joseph. She did not remain a virgin. These are important facts to take in. None of this is dishonouring to Mary. She was given a specific task, to carry and give birth to God’s Son, once that task was done what more natural than to lead a fulfilling life with Joseph who had stood by her when everyone else thought the worst of her. Mary deserves our respect ...

I realize that what I am saying about Mary is in conflict with all you have been taught.  I am doing this not to upset you but to give you what the Bible teaches about Mary. I believe it is vitally important to get our beliefs from the Bible and nowhere else.  I want you to know these truths and most of all to know that only Jesus can make you acceptable to God. So let's look at the next point, the one of Mary's virginity.  This I believe wholeheartedly and would turn you to Luke chapter one to read about this.  But Mary's virginity is limited in time until some time after the birth of her firstborn son.  Take a look at (от Матфея) Matthew chapter 1 verses 19 -25 Here we find out Joseph's part in the story.  He was betrothed to Mary but they had not come together, that is they had not had sex.  Joseph is very upset to find she is pregnant but it is then that an angel explains to him that Mary is with child by the Holy Spirit and he is told to marry her...

This is a very tricky subject because I know I will upset many people by tackling it.  First let me say that everything I say to you is based only on what the Bible says.  I do believe that Mary was the virgin mother of Jesus and that Jesus was fully man and fully God.  Many people say that Mary was sinless but I can show you that she herself denied this.  She said,"My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour" Read this in Luke (от Лука) 1:46,47. A sinless person does not need a Saviour, but Mary said that God was her Saviour. I have often said that if it was possible to be miserable in heaven then Mary would be the most sad person there, because people often honour her above Jesus.  She would be crying everyday at this . Jesus was her son but also her Saviour. I have many things to add to this but we will take it a step at a time.  Ask the Holy Spirit to help you as you consider these things.  Ask Him to lead you into t...

In Britain we describe two kinds of people. The pessimists who say their glass is half empty and the optimists who delight in the fact that their’s is still half full. They both have the same circumstances in life but see them from completely different perspectives.   I am definitely a glass half full person. I recently said to my daughter what a blessed life I have had and that I don’t seem to have the problems that other people have. She laughed, in a kindly way and reeled off a list of problems I had encountered in life. Yes I am definitely a half full glass sort of person. Are you? Jesus promises to bring us through our problems. Not around them or over them, or having none. It is the problems he brings us through that strengthen and shape us for His glory. When you know Him you soon find that your glass is not just half full, but running over.

I don’t think any of us want to go viral if that means Covid19! I was talking to Jesus about this little blog of mine. I said, “ Lord it’s not exactly going viral.” On a good week about 10 people might visit. But then I said to the Lord, “ So long as the right people are reading it Lord and they are helped to get closer to you that’s fine by me, because I know that You know what you are doing.” So if you’re reading this just remember who put it before your eyes, not a canny granny, but Jesus Himself. Jesus works in amazing ways to bring His sheep home. Maybe He’s calling you.