Lynn Mosher

Encouraging the Heart~Uplifting the Soul

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How to Wash Another’s Feet

February 8, 2018 By Lynn H Mosher

washing feet

washing feet

In this day and age, we have little need of washing another’s feet.

However, back in biblical days, it was a necessity.

What was the biblical custom?

Yet, it was more than a necessity.

To the ancient Greeks and Romans, hospitality was actually one’s sacred duty. They were obliged to obey the Sacred Law of Hospitality, which meant offering bread, water, lodging, and protection to any traveler who came to their door, treating him or her as a guest.

They believed guests were sent by God and were to be treated as such.

Because the wearing of sandals caused the feet to become dusty and dirty, washing became necessary. Guests removed their shoes upon entering a home as they would sit on a mat, rug, or couch with their feet folded beneath them or extended on pillows.

If wearing shoes, they would have then soiled the couch or pillows or their clothes. Wouldn’t have been very comfortable to sit on either.

Usually, a copper basin would be offered for cleansing and a servant would assist the guests.

What was Jesus’ attitude?

One of the last things Jesus did for the disciples was to wash their feet.

At the Passover meal with His disciples, He laid aside His mantle or robe, which was probably the seamless one His mother made for Him, a tradition Hebrew mothers followed. And girded Himself as a servant. Taking a knee in humility of service.

Jesus then told them, “Since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you…Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.” (John 13:14-15, 17 NLT)

And He once said, “Learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart.” (Matt. 11:29b HCSB)

What should our attitude be?

Jesus said, “Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve.” (Matt. 20:28a TLB)

Our attitude should be as Christ’s: gentleness and humbleness in service. But do we have that attitude? Or does condescension rear its ugly head to push out humility?

We are to lay aside our mantle, our garb of fleshly pride, which hinders our service to other, and to assume the role of servant.

So, how do we wash feet today?

Because of the chaos and evil in the world, we can no longer just open our front door to anyone who knocks and welcome them in. However, as Hebrews tells us, “Do not fail to show love to strangers, for by doing this some have welcomed angels without realizing it.” (Heb. 13:2 EHV)

If we are to follow Jesus’ example of humble service, how do we do that?

Foot-washing can be of a different type. We can be hospitable to those we encounter throughout the day.

With a humble servant’s heart, we can…

*smile at others
*sit and listen to one in agony
*comfort the pain of a broken heart
*encourage one with positive words
*alleviate the distress of a worn-out soul
*offer a shoulder for the tears of one grieving

To serve, may we be “free of self-indulgence that we become servants of one another, expressing love in all we do.” (Gal. 5:13b TPT)

“Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.” (John 13:17b NLT)

And that’s how we humbly wash the feet of others today.

May your service be blessed…Lynn

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Grace on Its Knees

March 14, 2016 By Lynn H Mosher

Grace on Its Knees

She sat down in the back row. Aching. Her heart aching from too many negative events in her life. Her body still aching from a recent illness. Her feet aching from standing all day, serving too many hamburgers.

Still dressed in her work uniform and smelling like hamburgers, Grace came to her church’s midweek service, not having time to go home and change.

The preacher went to the pulpit and said, “You probably noticed that I didn’t give out the topic of my sermon for tonight. I did that on purpose. I didn’t want you to stay away.”

What? All the members looked puzzled.

“I want us to prepare our hearts for something special tonight.” The preacher then called for the deacons to bring out bowls of water and towels.

A soft moan swept across the sanctuary.

“I want us to think of the days of Jesus and how guests were welcomed into a home. Dust from walking the dirt roads stuck to one’s sandaled feet. Mud or animal deposits might be stepped in as well. So, to welcome guests into their master’s home, servants took water and a towel to cleanse the dirt from the feet of guests.

“When Jesus and the disciples finished the last supper they would share together, Jesus took a towel and a basin of water and began to wash the feet of the disciples.

“What was His attitude as He kneeled before them? Self-renunciation, humility, love, submission. This was a doulos attitude. Doulos is the Greek word for a bondservant, a slave whether voluntary or involuntary, the highest form of self-renunciation.

“Jesus told the disciples that their attitude was to be like His, for He did not come to be served but to serve.

“It does not matter the condition of your feet today, whether you have on holey socks or your feet smell from the day’s work. It takes a servant’s heart to kneel before another, to humble himself or herself.”

After praying, the preacher softly asked, “Do the sins of others smell to you? Are there holes in their hearts? Are their souls, s-o-u-l-s, worn out just as their soles, s-o-l-e-s, may be? There is no judgment here tonight; only humble service of one to another.

“I want you to consider this: Will you have this humble spirit and attitude as you submit to the service of the one next to you and offer your service to another?”

Grace’s first reaction was to recoil: I can’t take my shoes off in front of these people! And I don’t want to wash someone else’s stinky feet! Jolting her out of her thoughts was the sound of shoes dropping throughout the sanctuary.

Members lowered to their knees, taking turns to wash the feet of the one next to them, treating them as a guest in the house of their Master.

Though some pulled away just as Peter pulled away from Jesus, others complied to the washing, as they wiped away the tears streaming down their faces.

Finally submitting, Grace bent down on her knees to wash her neighbor’s feet.

As she left that night, she, too, had tears stinging her cheeks, for her heart had changed, just as others had. All left the service with a servant’s heart, a doulos spirit…with humility. As grace on its knees.

~Do we have a willing, humble doulos attitude, one that will…

*kneel before others with a servant’s heart to serve them?
*not judge the smell of their sins?
*uplift the distress of their worn out souls?
*comfort the pain of the holes in their hearts?
*help them cleanse the dirt accumulated from their path of life?

Jesus said, “I am among you as one who serves…I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you…If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” (Luke 22:27b NLT, John 13:15, 17 NKJV)

What humble “foot washing” service can we provide for the guests in the Master’s house? May we take up the towel of service to others with a humble doulos spirit…

…and grace on our knees.

Hooking up with…
Soli deo Gloria Sisterhood
Laura Boggess
Purposeful Faith
Words of Life

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My Encounter with Billy Graham

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Entering the God of Wholeness; Ya Know What I’m Say’n; and Overwhelmed: 31 Stories from M.O.M.

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