LAZARUS

 What was the Purpose of Lazarus’ Sickness?

John 11:4 But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.”

John 11:14 So he (Jesus) told them (the Disciples) plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come let’s go see him.”
***The fact that Jesus tells his disciples that they will really believe, causes me to believe there are levels of faith. The disciples had faith in Jesus, but the upcoming event that they would soon witness would kick their faith to a much higher level.***

2.    John 11:21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you would have been here my brother would not have died. 22. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”
       John 11: 23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”
       John 11: 24 “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises at the last day.”
***Martha seemed perturbed with Jesus. Obviously, Jesus could have healed her brother. She pretty much blamed Jesus for Lazarus not being alive. In her mind, her brother’s life on this earth was over. Yet, astoundingly, she utters a glitter of hope in verse 22 with the words:
But even now.***

Jesus continues to use this time to predict the soon-to-be-miracle and to proclaim his own glory.
       John 11:25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never, ever die. Do you believe this Martha?”

Now Martha proclaims her supreme faith in Jesus.
      John 11:27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”

3.    John 11:38 Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 39 “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.
       John 11:39b But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible..”
       John 11:40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?”
***This entire event was orchestrated to help people have faith in Jesus and to see His glory and God’s glory.***

       John 11:41 So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. 42 You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of these people standing here, so they will believe you sent me.” 43 Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”
***WOW!! Surely everyone believed in Jesus now! OOPS…
     John 11:45 Many of the people who were still with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen. 46 But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
***Some of these people did not believe Jesus was the Messiah, so this awesome miracle went right by them.***

WHAT ABOUT LOVE?

  WHAT ABOUT LOVE?

***Part ONE
A Volunteer will read 1Corinthians 13:1-3. Plainly, without love, we gain NOTHING.
Core Scripture for this Lesson:
I Corinthians 13:4-7; 4. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5. or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
DISCUSSION
How do we obtain this love?
***Part TWO
As we live our American Christian lives, we can easily get caught up in wrong attitudes, selfish purposes, and non-Biblical mindsets. Thus, I will pose questions to myself…and I ask you to do likewise.
Do I use my wealth well? Do I misuse my wealth?
I am self-reliant? Am I so independent that I don’t recognize God as my provider?
Do I feel superior to others? Do I feel inferior to others?
Am I trapped by guilt? Does guilt keep me from efficiently serving God?
Is my identity…my career? my family? my education (and/or intellect)? my friends? my position in the church? my position in the community? my position in society? other?
Do I love well?
DISCUSSION
Do any of the questions stick out to you? Which one(s)? Elaborate.
What does scripture say?
Philippians 4:19      Matthew 6:19-20 and 24-34      I John 1:9
***WRAPUP
Dr Kelvin Elko is an inspirational speaker who focuses on team building. In the world of sports, he has 21 championships at the college and pro level. He has succinct, meaningful inspirational messages.
In one of his messages, Dr. Elko tell us to say out loud, “There are some things I can control and some things I can’t control.” I found myself saying this as I recently attempted to get a DVD player working at PAYH. It was out of my control. We finally got a needed cord from our Visual-Aids Expert and all was good. But, this little line helped. Dr. Elko continues to speak of an interview that took place decades ago. Marlo Thomas interviewed Paul McCartney. At that moment, the Beatles were falling apart and Paul’s life was in disarray. He mentioned that he would really like to talk to his mother. Paul’s mother was a nurse who had died ten years previous to that interview. As he went to sleep that night, he had the desire of talking to his mother on his mind. After he went to sleep, he had a dream. Paul McCartney clearly saw his mother at the foot of his bed. She told Paul, “Let it be.” He got up at 2:00 AM and wrote the song Let It Be. Also, he married one of the studio back-up singers that helped record the song. From that point forward, things turned around for Paul.
REFLECTION
Are there tasks, people, worries in our life that we need to LET IT BE.
Philippians 4:6-7; Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will receive God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

My Vision for 2019

God has worked with me on my vision for 2019 for this entire month, and maybe going back to the end of last year. It is simple: PLEASE GOD; BLESS PEOPLE.

It is perhaps a summary of Jesus' summary of the 10 Commandments:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And, love your neighbor as yourself.

It is also kin to Micah 6:8
No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

These verses certainly support my vision. I needed one that I could remember, and I needed one that my heart was into. God guided me tenderly and patiently. All praise be too Him!!!

GOD'S TIMING IS PERFECT

     God’s Timing is Perfect

                              (Reference: WILD GOOSE CHASE by Mark Batterson)
            Note: Much of this blog is derived from direct quotes from Batterson.

To get where God wants us to be, we must depend on Him totally. Sometimes God has to disorient us. Disorientation is natural and healthy. God is far more concerned about your future than you are. He has angels at His disposal. He can cause devine delays and devine detours.
Have you ever experienced that? Remember He loves us enough that He gave His only Son for us. We are one trip—one meeting—one conversation away from God changing our direction. As we run free like animals on the Galapagos and not like animals caged in a zoo, God can direct us. But how can God use us in a cage if we decide to stay there?

There are factors God can use to accomplish His plan. Sometimes, reasons for which we are not aware. For example, Paul’s shipwreck landed him on an island. He witnessed to many there and it changed the course of that island’s history. On another occasion, Paul and Silas were beaten because of their faith. They were then placed in a dark prison. where they began singing and praising God around midnight. Then, an earthquake happened. Because of this, the jailer and all his household were saved.

Sometimes we want to know the will of God more than we want to know God. Let’s always be seekers of God, like the Wise Men were.

Another way to look at this: a quote from Oswald Chambers. “What we call the process, God calls the end.”

Devine Detour Appreciations:
The longer you wait, the more you appreciate.
Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is just hang in there.
A sense of humor can get you through just about anything. And remember, God invented humor (ie Look at the giraffes.)

Roams 8:28
Psalm 37:3a
Psalm 103

Compare Not

There are times that some of us sit around and chew someone up and boil them down to one word that we can just spit out. That is so AWFUL. But I confess that I have done it. It accomplishes nothing good. As a matter of fact...we need to refrain from that exercise.

Why do we compare ourselves to others?
Maybe we are jealous
Maybe we are insecure
Maybe we don't feel good about ourselves
Maybe we find a flaw in their character so that we can feel better about ourselves.
Maybe we are spoiled
Maybe we are listening to the Devil's whispers

Why shouldn't we compare ourselves to others.
Psalm 139:14 (NIV) I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 
God made us to be the exact person we are. We have a unique finger print from anyone who has or will be born. Doesn't that blow your mind!
To compare ourselves to others can make us feel of less worth.
To compare ourselves to others can fool us to make us think we are more valuable than someone else.
We should focus on being the best me God made us to be!
We should use our mouths to bless and pray for people--not bless them out!

God, I need HELP!
This is a prayer. I desire to worship God and bless people. I want to be a better listener. I desire eyes to see those hurting around me. (But I need God to help me want this more--I am very selfish!) Let my feet follow the path you choose for me, O Lord.

Kruger

George's boss on Seinfeld was named Mr Kruger. His middle name could well be Apathy, because he was always saying, "I don't really care." Now, we certainly need to have concern in most areas of our lives. We need to pray. to seek God. to serve our fellow human-beings.

But, we do NOT need to worry! So many times it would be a good idea to be Mr. Kruger and say, "I reeeealy don't care." It is therapeutic.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT) Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

Signs Follow Faith

                                            What are YOU going to do about it?!
                      (heavy reference to WILD GOOSE CHASE by Mark Batterson)

I. Mark writes that the Book of Acts is self-explanatory. It’s Not the book of IDEAS or THEORIES or WORDS.
God will not say: “Well THOUGHT, good and faithful servant.”
God will not say, “Well SAID, good and faithful servant.”
God will not say, “Well THEORIZED, good and faithful servant.”
Scripture: Matthew 25:23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’”

II. Signs follow faith.
In Joshua, God tells the priests to take a few steps into the river, THEN it parted! We can’t always wait for a sign…they often follow our act of faith.
Scripture: Joshua 3:14-16; 14 So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priest who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. 15 It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, 16 the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.

III. Think about Joseph. (Genesis 37-50)
He was sold into slavery at age 17.
Because of God, he found favor with Potiphar.
He was falsely accused and thrown into prison.
Because of God, he found favor with the Head Jailer.
He had a dream that helped Pharaoh’s Cupbearer, and two years later the Cupbearer remembered Joseph.
Because of God’s favor, Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and was made Second-in-Command to Pharaoh.
He saved the world and won his family back.

IV. How about Agnes and her 3 pennies.
With God’s help, she built an orphanage. She would minister to countless people in her native land of India. Agnes was also known as Mother Teresa. When asked, “What can I do for God?” She said, “Find your own Calcutta.” (This referred to her own place of ministry in Calcutta, India.)

**So, WHAT IS YOUR CALCUTTA  AND WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?***