Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
(Point: Sometimes God let’s us go through hardships to show us His power. Lazarus would have been qaiting for his friend, Jesus to come and heal him. The sisters were waiting for Jesus to renew the body of their brother. Each was suffering in his or her own way. One physical, one emotional, both serious and in meed of Jesus to come, Right NOW! But that wasn’t God’s plan. That is so hard to deal with and happens often in our lives. God let Saul hunt David for so long because it was part of God’s purpose and plan. God permitted the three Hebrew slaves to be thrown into the fire to prove His power. Even Jesus being born the way He was was a struggle that happened due to God saying years before that He would prove Himself by sending His son in this way. Just because you are struggling does not mean you are outside of God’s plan, sometimes the struggle is God’s plan. Before anyone says something about a good father not permitting struggle and pain to His kids, let us take a moment and recall Gethsemane and Golgatha. He is good, but hard times will still come. But the blessing is that He will be with us during those times and won’t let us fall farther than we can bear.)
Continuing the Scripture:
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
(They still didnt get it. They were physically with Jesus everyday and still couldn’t understand that He knew all and had everything in His hands. This is why He was glad He had not been there to save His friend from death, because now the deciples were going to see an even bigger miracle, one that would guide them to have even more faith, faith that was about to be kicked down and stepped on in the death of Jesus. They needed Faith that Jesus really COULD bring people back from the dead. Sometimes when we dont get it Jesus will permit us to go through a trial that proves He is still God and He knows what He’s doing. It hurts and shakes us, but in the end we will see and understand exactly who we serve.)
Next passage of the verse:
Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Let us go that we may die with Him.
I’m a Thomas fan. Mostly because I relate to him. He was a realist. He wanted things he could see and touch and make sense of. Which can be hard when following Jesus. Thomas gets a lot of criticism for his upper room moment, no one criticizes the other deciples for doubting the women when they came and told them that Jesus had risen, yet Thomas gets everyone’s scorn. No one recalls that earlier in history Thomas had been the only one to encourage the others to go back with Jesus to Judea where they had literally! Just escaped from. Some have suggested that the upper room shows that Thomas was being sarcastic here. Or a nay sayer by suggesting they would die. I don’t see that. What I see is a man saying to Jesus. ‘I know I will die, but I’m coming with you anyway.’
Whatever his statements tone really was back then doesn’t matter. He knew the risk and still wanted to go back with Jesus.
Category: free
Do not forsake
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Hebrews 10:25 KJV
7am on a Sunday. Other people are still in bed and look to a day of doing nothing. But you are up and getting the coffee on. Walk the dog. Get dressed for the day and grab your stuff for the Sunday service. Are you a greeter? Part of the worship team? The person who sweeps snow off the sidewalk before Church? Maybe you are the pastor. Give it another couple of hours and the congregation will be there. They too got up on a day when PJs and hot chocolate would have been so much more pleasant. In come the body of Christ and you all sit down and chat. Then the worship starts and you praise God. Then the pastor comes and you hear God’s word. Then you go home.
It sounds so simple. This ‘Church’ thing. But it is one of the most important things you will do in your week. Too many have come into the habit of streaming Church from their living room and making the effort to become part of a Church family. Don’t get me wrong, the fact that we can stream Church is great! And there are days when you can’t get to Church physically and need to live stream. The fact that that is possible is a blessing. But it shouldn’t be all you do. Church is so much more than a sermon from the pulpit. It’s a place where you can serve God. You get to physically be part of a Church family and to have that happen it takes commitment and effort on your part. You have to keep attending and start volunteering, doing little things that connect you to the people and the pastor. God does not want us to stop gathering with other believers. That might not look like Church as we know it in up coming days. It may look like a home Church or a small group. It may be simply someone reading the Bible as you gather together and then discuss God’s words. For many people Church is a secret and dangerous affair. These people could spend time with God on their own each week and not risk getting caught by gathering with other Christians. Yet they gather anyway. Why? Because they understand the power and importance of being with other Christians. They get that we need to encourage and be encouraged. We need prayer circles and a safe place to go where Jesus is the center. Though the body is in peril or discomfort their souls know they are safe there with others like them.
If they can gather together, why can’t we? Why would we even consider stopping? Our greatest worry is whether or not we feel like crawling out our warm beds. And yet we consider staying home and simply streaming. We must gather in the upper rooms we have been gifted. Whether that’s a Church building or someone’s home, or perhaps a hidden chamber in the basement of some forgotten building where our enemies cannot find us. No matter what it looks like we must continue to gather.
Who have you been whispering to?
Who have you been whispering to?
When you see someone sinning do not talk about them to others- talk about them to God. We tend to see sin in those we care about, or in simply the people around us, and we do the exact opposite of what we are supposed to do. We talk about them. But what we should be doing is praying for them. Only the Holy Spirit can fix sin. If he or she is someone you know well are comfortable with, perhaps you could find a gentle way of pointing the sin out. But in the end that person has to choose to not sin anymore. If your close friend is talking about suddenly enjoying alcohol and you know that the temptation to become a drunk is there (this is a sin by the way. There are those who claim drunkenness is not, but it is.) It would be wrong to not try and dissuade him or her from the temptation. If your friends are watching bad movies and you act like that’s okay, then you are encouraging their sin. I am thinking of myself here. I was watching a show last year that had a nude scene. You didn’t really see anything but it was obvious what was happening. I kept watching because I figured it was fine as long as you didn’t see anything. My dad happened to be over at the time and he pointed out that the show was bad. Suddenly I realized my error and sin and was able to shut it off. No song on the radio or movie on Netflix is worth losing your relationship with God over. But the other day I had a person I know well mention something they were doing that I knew right away was a sin. This person is a professing Christian. Yet there it was. I mentioned that it wasn’t really something a Christian should do and got shot down. So I went and discussed the whole thing with my close friend. I was greatly troubled. But in the end all we could do was talk about the person and speak badly about this person, because once you mention one thing a person is doing wrong to someone else a thousand other things you’ve seen him or her do come to mind. That was no solution. I then felt God say. ‘You shouldn’t talk to others about people. You should talk to me and let me help them.’
It’s true. Only God can help these people. He knows their hearts and what is going on, and He is never there just to criticize. God is there to guide and help. In the end He will judge us. But for now He is doing His best to help us, if only we would stop trying to be Him and start letting Him be in control.
So. Next time. I personally will pray when worried about someone and will work hard to not simply talk behind their backs, which is a sin I need to work on. And I am sure many of the rest of you who are shaking your heads at me in disgust are guilty of this too. We all are. And we all need to try and do better.
Why do we worship?
Why do we worship before the sermon?
Have you ever wondered why we worship before the pastor starts speaking? Of course most would say ‘it’s to praise God.’ Some might say, ‘it’s to give time for late comers to find their seats.’ Both are accurate. Yet it’s more than just praise to God. Worship is about getting into the right head space and heart space. We enter church with the world’s problems following behind us.
“My TV broke and I don’t have money for a new one. Do I really need a new one? Is it important? But I like watching the Christian stations. But the other stations can have such terrible things on them.” “My cat keeps scratching the couch. What can I do? Do I need a cover?”
So on and so on, our minds go.
These things distract from the word of God and the time spent with Him. The worship is a physical act and takes a physical action. We sing and our mind moves to the music. Soon our hearts are taken by the words and eventually we feel the Holy Spirit raise our hands and we praise. Then the sermon comes and we are ready. Even before prayer we can get into a better headspace by spending some time in worship and focusing on God. Sometimes I personally find lighting a candle helps. Little Things that Aid your mind in their thoughts and focus. Sometimes pacing and walking helps you focus on God. But these are things you can’t do at church when the pastor is about to speak. What we can do is worship and get our minds and our hearts out of our day-to-day problems and on to God, and soon we will see that God has answers for all of these problems. Perhaps God won’t tell you if you should or should not buy a couch cover to keep your cat from scratching it. But He will guide you in your need for financing or your health problems or even the fight you had with your neighbors. If you are open to Him God will show you what to do in all your life. But first you need to focus and that’s where worship helps.
Are you waiting for answers?
Are you waiting for answers?
The promise of God does not always come fast. So don’t start doubting even if you have waited 10 or 20 years. He has His time.
Why do we become downcast and fearful when we have a God who loves us? When we have Faith in God and know He is God and He can and will deliver, why do we doubt?
James says that the doubters should expect to receive nothing from God.
But Jesus said ‘if you have faith the size of a mustard seed.’ So where is the cut off?
At what point does faith only the size of a mustard seed turn to doubt?
In the moment where you used to say ‘I know God can do this.’
And now you say, ‘God probably won’t do this.’
You aren’t doubting that God is real or that He is there, but you are doubting that He will answer you. I say this more to myself than anyone else because I have had too many of those moments.
(I have also had moments of complete doubt that God would answer and He did, probably because He knew that I needed to see Him do something because I was slipping. He is still good to us.)
His Word warns us that if we doubt who He is and what He will do that He won’t answer us. That’s not having only a little Faith when we pray. That’s having no Faith at all. We must believe or how else can we expect to see answers.
Now. There are times when we have Faith and still don’t see an answer. There were times like that all through the Bible. But our Faith cannot depend on what we see God doing, it has to depend on who God is. Our Faith is in God not in the works of God. We have to trust Him.
Everyone welcome?
Everyone welcome?
I have noticed that certain groups who claim the title ‘church’ have decided to plant an ‘Everyone welcome’ slogan under their banners. We all know what they are gesturing at. But it made me feel like something should be said.
All Churches. All! Welcome Everyone to come and join. But the true Church refuses to dumb down or corrupt the Bible’s teaching just to make certain people happy. Guess what? There are parts of the Bible that are offensive to everyone. The lady who has just started attending after being involved in a messy legal custody battle may be offended by the verse that says to love your enemies, or the verses that tell about divorce being a sin. The man who has attended Church his whole life may suddenly notice 1 Thes. 5:12 and 13 says to respect and listen to those in the Church who give you spiritual guidance, but all that does is bring to his mind a mentor he once had who he didn’t like so he feels angry and offended. Do we change the words of God to suit these two people? No. God’s word is meant to be hard to handle at times and sometimes it even hurts or makes us angry. It’s supposed to help us change and guide us into being more like Christ. If the Bible says your lifestyle is a sin, it’s a call to look at yourself and to decide, do I want to live this way? Or do I want to change and become a new person through Christ? If you’re a mess and the Bible points it out that doesn’t mean it’s closing the doors on you, and neither is the Church that continues to preach the Truth, it means that the Bible and the Church are trying to help you and to guide you out of your mess and sin and into the fullness of living for Jesus. News flash. We all came through the front door of the Church with a set of sins. But that’s why we’re at Church. To sit down and listen to God and hear what He has to say. And when it’s uncomfortable and feels offensive, we choose to look at ourselves and see what God is calling us to change. If you want the Church to change what it says so you feel comfortable there, than you have missed the point of Church. It’s not here to make us feel good and then we go home, it’s here to prepare is to go forward as true followers of Christ. Everyone is welcome. But come expecting to be changed. That’s why we go. Because we want to be more like Him and less like the mess we were when we walked in.
God has a reason for your defeat.
When God permits bad things to happen.
We use much of King David’s life as an example of good coming out of bad. Least in his family and promoted to King and all of that. But we don’t usually look at the Times when we saw bad things happen to David and didn’t really see something good come out of it. We don’t often mention the times when he was not redeemed by God involving something that God let happen to him. David was a warrior. As a warrior he fought countless battles, obviously. We like to talk about the battles that David won, but what about the battles David lost? Many people who wanted dispose of the Bible like to come up with ridiculous reasons for doing so. One such reason was that it was said to be Historically incorrect and used people that didn’t exist. I won’t spend the hours going through each group and person that has been proved just as real as God said in His word, but David (yes, David and Goliath, David) was one of them. Then, as so many times before, an artifact surfaced. It was a record account written by a prominent King at that time. It recorded a battle the King won against the king of Israel who was named David. In the moment when David was defeated by this King we have the record from, it was probably a crushing blow to him, something that felt horrible. David didn’t see God’s plan and goodness in his defeat during this battle. But like so many other times, God had a will that was beyond our understanding. God used David’s defeat to prove his existence and the truth of the Bible thousands of years later. Sometimes when we are defeated, many times when we are defeated, we don’t see God’s purpose or plan we just see the defeat. And sometimes we will never ever see what God was doing in that moment of pain, but like David losing this battle God will work it out for good sometime in the future. It might not even be something he’s going to work out for our good. But it will work out for the good of the Kingdom. Next time you are defeated and crushed, remember that God has a plan and a purpose whether you understand it or see it, or even if you never understand or see it, God is working and he has a plan.
Good good Father
Fathers
Recently I was reminded of the times when my dad really stepped up for me. Times when I just couldn’t do it on my own. Today my dad, with an injured foot, carried my Kayak down to the water for me, walked my dog and loaded and unloaded our truck twice. And it’s Father’s Day. It should have been about him, but instead he took care of me. Why? Because that’s what dads do. Not all, but the good ones do. He’s always putting me first becuse he’s my daddy and he loves me. A good father reflects our Heavenly Father. God is always putting us first. He takes care of us. He forgives our sins and fixes our screw ups. We hurt Him and then run back to Him and He pulls us into His arms and tells us that we are His. He punishes us so we will do better and won’t end up in hell. He helps us because He wants us and loves us. He even sacrificed His only true son so that we, unworthy kids he took in out of love, would be able to see Him some day. God, who is the best Father, gives everything for us. Just like a great dad always does. A true Father mimics God in how He cares for His kids. Just as my dad cares for me.
Happy Father’s Day!
Are you as alone as you think? No. Never. Jesus is right there feeling your pain and holding onto you through it.
Up till now he had been looking at the lion’s great front feet and the huge claws on them. Now in despair, he looked up at his face. What he saw surprised him as much as anytjing in hiw whole life, for the great tawny face was bent near his own, and wonder of wonders, there were great tears shining in the lion’s eyes. They were such big bright tears compared with Digorie’s own that for a moment he felt as if the lion must really be sorrier about his mother than he was himself.
How like Digory are we? We have brokenness and heart ache and worries that we think God doesn’t see or understand. Then in a moment of wonder and fear we look up and see God looking back, smiling, big tears in His eyes. There’s an old Petra song that says, “you care so much more than I do.” We forget that. God cares more about our broken hearts, our loved ones who are slipping away, our forgotten dreams, our lost jobs, then we ever could. We feel we are the ones suffering, yet everytime we break, so does He. Jesus took all our pain on Him, past- present- future. He feels it too, and like the ragman, He comes to us saying, “let me take your old rags and I’ll give you my new. Let me take your pain and loss and I will give you my healing.” He loves us and feels what we feel. We must stop forgetting that. We are never alone in our grief, we have Him and He loves us.
Jeremiah
Jeremiah
“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”
“O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!” The Lord replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Jeremiah 1:5-8 NLT
Jeremiah is such a perfect example of someone threshing weat in the wine press, except he was in the wine press emotionally. He wasn’t depressed or anything, but he looked around and saw all these great men of God who happened to be older, probably much older, than himself and he did what we all do when we look around instead of looking up- he saw his inadequate state. God says to do something and we look at the other people doing the same thing or similar things, and we realize that compared to them we don’t have the same level of: schooling, training, strength, courage, popularity, Talent, and so on. But then God reminds us: ” you must go where I send you and do as I tell you, and do not be afraid of them for I will protect you.”
It isn’t about what we think we can do or what we feel we are qualified for. It’s about what God knows we can do and what He qualifies us for through His power. No matter our schooling or our skill we are all inadequate for the task before us unless we have God helping us. Oh sure we might succeed on our own, but it will always be more difficult or lead to less of a great conclusion then it would have been if we had just let God use us the way that He planned to. We may all be in the wine press emotionally on some level for something, but God has a plan for all of us, one that is unique and individual to each person. When God calls you out of the wine press follow His voice. And don’t be afraid of them, for God will protect you.
Carried in the cross 