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What is Your Alabaster Jar?

Night after night I would find myself up until 2 or 3 in the morning as I would pour over this site either designing it or learning the ropes in order to utilize it.  My eyes would burn from staring at this screen for so many hours.  I would become frustrated and I would wake up the next morning exhausted only to do it all over again.

Let me be completely honest with you as I share my thoughts on this recent process.

“Why am I bothering to do this?” 

“Why am I spending so much time and effort to work on this blog site?” 

“Does anyone read it?”

I knew all the answers to those questions but what I was really saying to myself was this:

Is this on-line, writing ministry worth my time, sacrifice and (recent headache as I have moved my blog over to WordPress?) 

After all, I can not see who I minister to.  Let that thought sink in.  There are no hugs to give.  No dinners to serve.  No one to laugh or cry with.  No facial expressions to gauge and no words to hear (unless of course you have left me a comment.)  It certainly feels like a one-sided relationship, yet, God calls it ministry.

However, it leaves me wondering…Is there anyone out there in cyberspace land taking in anything that is written here?  If there is,  is anyone encouraged by what I write when I spend hours doing so?  Is anyone closer to the Lord or have a stronger faith because of what I have shared?  I believe I know those answers as well. (smile) Thanks friends for your sweet comments!

But the wicked enemy was wanting to tear me down and through all those discouraging and self-centered thoughts, God spoke to my heart yet again. 

Daughter, are you willing to pour your life out for Me?  Yes, Lord, was my reply.

Then write for Me.  Pour out your life like the very costly fragrant oil in The Alabaster Jar that you have found in the Scriptures.

So here I sit, typing, and convicted yet again!

Below I have shared a passage of Scripture from several of the Gospels referring to an immoral woman and her Alabaster Jar.  Join me as we dig deeper and learn what Jesus has to say to us and our own Alabaster Jars.

When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume.  Luke 7:37

A woman came to Him having an alabaster jar of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? “For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me.  Matthew 26:7, 10

“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”  Luke 7:47

A few things to notice about this passage…

  • She was an immoral woman.

  • What she had was costly.

  • She poured it out on Christ.

  • She was criticized for doing it. (By the disciples I might add!)

  • She had many sins and yet Christ had forgiven her.

  • She showed the Lord much love as a result of her forgiveness.

(There is more to her story, and I encourage you to open the Scriptures and read more about this precious woman when you have the time because I am sure it will make an impact on your life like it has on mine.)

So I ask you today, what is your Alabaster Jar?  What is it that is very costly to you?  And are you willing to give it up for Christ knowing that you have done a good work for Him?

Is it…

  1. Your time?

  2. Your rights?

  3. Your resources?

  4. Your ideals?

  5. Your dreams?

  6. Yourself?

  7. All of the above?

Here are some examples.

  • What if you served your husband, submitted to him and respected him even when he didn’t deserve it nor appreciated it (and you did it with a loving heart)?  Would you still pour your life out for Christ?

  • What if you served your children day in and day out yet you never heard a thank you from them?  Would you still pour your life out for Christ?

  • What if you cleaned your house from top to bottom only to have it messed up again within minutes? Would you still pour your life out for Christ?

  • What if you ministered in Jesus’ name only to have people criticize and condemn you for it?  (Hmmm, kind of like the disciples in the above passage.) Would you still pour your life out for Christ?

  • What if God called you into an area of ministry that you felt outside your comfort zone?  Would you still pour your life out for Christ?

  • Or perhaps God has called you to minister to someone you will never see and you will never experience the fruits of your labor? (smile)  Would you still pour your life out for Christ?

Tough ideas.  Aren’t they?

Here is what I found to be so miraculous about this ‘poured out’ concept.

As I have poured out my life for Christ, He in turn, has poured Himself into me.

I can honestly tell you that all the hours that I have poured out into this computer, for the sake of lifting Christ up for all to see, has been worth it.  Jesus, my precious Savior, is worthy to receive every ounce of costly, fragrant oil that is in my Alabaster Jar.

Is He worth yours as well?

On a different note: As you can see, the new site of The Alabaster Jar is up and working.  Praise the Lord.  That is a miracle in itself because I am the one doing all of this stuff.  That’s not to say I didn’t have any problems with this, because of course I did!  I lost my entire blog over at Blogger (good thing I backed it up) and I lost this one as well, so I had to recreate it all over again.  I guess the Lord felt I needed an additional tutorial when it comes to this technical stuff!

This site is still missing some items and features, but I am able to write to you so that is what really matters.  So let me tell you what’s going on around here.

First, I know blogging brings a sense of community through all of the comments that a post receives, yet, the comments from my Blogger site for some reason did not transfer over.  (That’s okay, because I have hidden all that you have shared in my heart.)  However, not having comments does affect which posts are popular and so forth.  So in essence, at this time, I can’t list the ‘Popular Posts’ like I did before because according to the computer, there are no popular posts! I also can not keep track of how many people visit this site yet, nor can I keep track of which posts women are drawn to.  So I am basically ministering blindly!  Any feedback that you give me would be appreciated until I can figure out how to add the statistics to this site!  Thanks friend.

Second, I am unable to redirect you from my old site, (www.joleneengle.blogspot.com) to the new site, (www.joleneengle.org).   That’s how I lost my blog before so I am not going to try that again!  Also, if you are a blogger and have added The Alabaster Jar’s button to your site, can you please replace my old button with the new one?  Thanks a million!

Third, if you have subscribed to this site through the Google Friend Connect or you are a Facebook friend of The Alabaster Jar, the Lord has parted the Red Technical Sea and you made it over here!

And last, but not least, if you have subscribed via email or through an RSS feed/reader, I am currently at the mercy of Feedburner waiting for them to transfer you over to my new site.  I won’t be holding my breath on that one, nor should you, so you just might want to re-subscribe here!

Thanks for your patience and understanding.  I realize that those who come to this site are coming for the Word and not for the design of it. (smile.)

Live a poured out life for the Master,

I am linked up with:


Growing Home
http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/

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16 Comments

  1. I am here – I am here!!!!!

    LOL!! I feel like the little village in Horton! I am amazed and inspired by your writings and even more so by your faith!!!!

    ~Mrs. J~

  2. I love listening to your heart. And I agree that cyber ministry, can seem as though you are sharing with yourself. And in a way, we are because what we share is for us also from God. I have so many people that I share with on FaceBook. I know I have hundreds of Christian friends, but I have about fifty non believers who are watching my life in secret, and a few that have told me they read what I share. Sometimes I wrestle with God about why I should share something or not, whether anyone will comment or not, and if it will offend my Christian friends when I share scary, Christian, heavy metal, tattoo testimonies. But knowing certain people who have never herd about the gospel before, I am honored to share what God is doing in my life, and has done. There is a young 21 year old girl who has brain cancer whom reads my stuff, a young cousin who almost committed suicide, and a few lonely we on who have no one to talk to, single moms, backslider(or I like to say lost lambs), and people simply searching. So sometimes I feel like…why even have this distraction in my life. None of my friends care what I put, but the lord told me that they are already saved, it’s a work u are walking into for the sake of the lost, dying, people on the wide path. But Jesus was not distracted when he was approached or had a calling to witness to a woman at a well, going the long way. I just recently moved to wordpress also, and I have to say I have avoided sharing on my new blog because it’s so un user friendly. But in due time… I will get to it. As a whole. Jesus will say, enter in, and we will be surprised that we did anything for God. We will say when did we do that, and he will say if you did it to the least you did it to ME! When we reach out, it’s to JESUS.

  3. I have to tell you that I’ve only read the beginning of this post and I am hooked! I have to leave a comment and run back to my room to my quiet time area and continue working on my Bible Study lesson (reason why I can’t finish reading this wonderful post!) I will be back reason why I decided to follow you and make sure I didn’t forget you or your blog 🙂 I can feel your heart because it is the heart my Lord has given me for my blog. I write about practical things but it’s not just to save money but for women to be a blessing to their families as they work in their homes and be Keepers of them.
    I have to run now, but I will be back…promise!

  5. Hi Neta,
    Thanks for your comment. What a blessing to hear that you are reaching the unsaved! Keep it up sister!

  6. Hi Christina,
    I am so glad that you like my blog and that you wanted to be a part of this community! Another blogging sister for Christ! How neat.

  7. I’m with Christina above. This is my first time visiting your blog (although I think I may have seen your Blogger one too) thanks to the link you left on Growing Home, and I was hooked through this post alone. I love your honesty and heart and will be back to hear from you again!

  8. Thanks Jacinda….I was just linking your button to this post! he he I was hiding behind the scenes and then I came out and saw you friend! BTW, I just found your blog through Courtney’s blog bash and I thought your design was fabulous!!! I will pop back over again soon to take a peek at your material.

  10. I know the design isn’t the important part but when I came to read your latest post I LOVED it!! The Lord really worked through you to give a very cohesive design that is very pretty and inviting! I loved this post as it was very encouraging to my soul. I have many areas that need to be “poured out” for Christ. I will be praying for His strength and guidance as I live my life to please Him more. Keep ministering Sister as we ARE listening and are VERY encouraged in all that you write!

  12. Awe thanks friend! Glad you like the look AND the post! (smile) It certainly is a DAILY dying to self to live that poured out life, but worth it.
    love you,
    jolene

  13. Your writing speak to me and always I leave your blog with tears and running nose..! God is using you to help me grow more in Christ. Keep it coming as God urges you.

    And again if you need any help, don’t hesitate to contact me. I do know something about WordPress and how to move a blog from blogger to wordpress. I have done it for my brother’s blog.(http://www.strategicbriefings.blogspot.com).

    Bye.. take care..

    Sunu

  14. Sunu,
    What a sweetheart you are! My words are just the words that the Lord has me write. Please know that the ONLY thing that is special about me is MY GOD! I am just like every other woman- broken, tired, and insecure, yet it is Christ who makes me whole, rested, and okay with who I am. (smile)
    Thank you, thank you, thank you for offering to help me with all this technical bloggy stuff! It makes me want to pull my hair out (and I already don’t have much of it!) I just redirected my old site today. I used a different plugin (I guess the first one I used was broken or just didn’t work with my sites?)
    I will definitely contact you with my questions.
    Thanks friend!
    jolene

  15. I love reading your blog. It’s been a blessing to me and a friend I have forwarded you to. There is nothing better than an honest, loving Christian woman sharing everything. You help us to know we are not alone in this life; we have the gift of each other and the gift of God’s grace. Thank you!

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