I Am Glad For Your Sake! [John 11:11-22]

This is what Jesus said when talking with the disciples about the death of Lazarus, his friend. He was glad he wasn’t there.         John 11:11-22

What an interesting statement that he was glad he wasn’t there for their sake. Of course Jesus knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead right. Ok but it would have been easier to heal him before he died. Yes it would have. But now it is going to bring more glory to the Father and also prove something else. The truth that Jesus has power over death which is the last enemy. Ok so that is awesome because our God doesn’t mess around. He is glorious and does impossible things.

He proves and shows us through all that Jesus did how great our God really is. He raises our faith as we see what He actually can do in lives. Now let’s consider this a little further. I heard this statement made by a speaker from Brazil, Ed Rocha, that really sparked my thinking about this story. What he said basically was this: Jesus wasn’t there when Lazarus died but God was since God is omnipresent! And Jesus said it was good that he, Jesus, was not there when he died!!

What an awesome earth shattering idea. Just follow me for a minute here on this thought. God is everywhere but the dead aren’t being raised and sick aren’t being healed everywhere. God was there but Jesus wasn’t! And Lazarus wasn’t going to be healed or raised from the dead unless Jesus showed up. Now that is a lot to think about. Isn’t it?

So could it be that Jesus was teaching (as he did with everything that he did) the disciples about the authority that Jesus had from heaven which is the same authority that is on all believers? This was an example or pattern for us to follow as well. Jesus was showing the disciples that God chooses to work through His children if we will just have faith and stand in the authority He has given us. This means the dead can be raised today if Jesus shows up!!?? And doesn’t He abide and live in us today?? Maybe we need to begin to understand just who we are walking around on the earth. Sons and daughters of God invested with authority from heaven to destroy the works of the enemy!!

Ok now that is quite a lot to think about. I will tell you that I have a brand new appreciation for this story in John 11. I am seeing more than every before why Jesus said it was good that he wasn’t there. Think about all the people around us and even around the world for that matter who are in need of someone that carries Jesus to come into their presence and bring good news of life to their broken condition. You are Jesus to people. Of course you are not God. Don’t get caught up in that game of semantics. Jesus lives in us and he uses us to lay hands on the sick, to preach the good news, to set prisoners free, etc. He has commissioned us to carry on the work(s) that He did on earth until He returns. Let’s get busy!!

Honor’s Reward

There is a phrase in Romans 13:7 that states simply  pay taxes, respect and honor to where it is due. Of course it is not a popular verse  heard very often. But there is a lot of truth in this verse that we would do well to incorporate in our lives. I want to focus only on the latter part: “honor to whom honor is due”. There is so much truth in understanding honor. To honor is to recognize and esteem. To lift above yourself.

Think about honor for a second. In the ten commandments it is the one commandment that includes a reward! Long life and good life are the reward of honoring our parents. Hmm. Could it be that there is a reward across the board when we practice honor? I believe scripture bears out this truth.

Jesus said if we receive a prophet because he is a prophet then he receives a prophets reward. Ever think about the reward? What kind of reward would come from recognizing and honoring a prophet? How about a word from God through the mouth of the prophet? A word in season for your life? I believe that and more will be the reward. And it is not only limited to recognizing a prophet. Jesus mentions a righteous man as well and receiving the reward of a righteous man. Think about how a righteous man is treated by the Lord! We could receive the benefits and rewards that a righteous man can bring. Here is one: a righteous man prays and is heard by God and accomplishes a lot! James 5:16, “the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective”! What a reward for simply honoring people for who they are.

You see we need to recognize that there are gifts and grace deposited in people around us. Once we understand that and begin to honor that gifting in them then we begin to be rewarded by the grace that flows through their life. Even Jesus said in one place that he could only heal a few people because they did not honor him in his hometown. They saw the carpenters son rather than the son of God! So it is possible to miss out on so much because we fail to esteem others around us.

Here is another statement made by our Lord when in John 4 he meets a woman that comes to draw water out of a well. He says to her “if you knew the gift of God you would ask of him and he would give you”. Recognize the gift and receive what the gift can deliver. Honor people and recognize them the way God sees them and according to what God has deposited in them (gift) in order to begin receiving great benefits!!

More Evidence!

I noted several healings in my last blog and put down what I could remember so I could publish.  I thought I would add some others as I remembered. Yes I know I should have taken better notes. LOL. I get so caught up in seeing God touch lives that I forget everything else.

One lady had come to the meeting with some kind of rash on her neck, arms, chest. Right there in the meetings the rash went away entirely! I love seeing God do something like this because it is so obvious to everyone there. You can’t make this kind of thing up. She was so thrilled to be free from something that had been bothering her for some time.

It was also amazing to see the team talk about their times ministering to the people as they would go out to different works. There are 7 churches that have been started in smaller towns within a 2 hour driving distance from the city of Merida. We sent the team of 6 out two by two on separate evenings to three churches each night where they were to do the ministry. The same thing Jesus did with his disciples! And how God used them all mightily in each place. In one place they gave an invitation to know Jesus as savior and 50 people(half the people present!) raised their hands!! Most probably came by invitation for a special evening.

Each night the group would return with stories of how the grace of God touched people’s lives and you could tell they were changed never to be the same again. There is something about seeing the power of God work through you towards others and seeing the transforming power of Christ at work. You are changed! Your salvation deepens and your love for God becomes more genuine and real. Our God IS alive and there are many proofs of His presence.

God’s Grace At Work

Recently I made a trip to the Yucatan, Mexico. To be more precise I went to the city of Merida. A group of 6 joined me from our home church, Lifepoint Church in Tallahassee. It was a powerful trip from beginning to end. The people that went with me were such an awesome help and servants that were willing to do whatever was at hand. They left a lasting testimony of how the body of Christ is called to serve others.

Several notable healings took place and I am sure many more testimonies will be heard over time. One woman stood and said that she had been healed a year ago on another trip I had made but was too timid to share it!! She had a fractured spine and used a back brace and medication for the pain. But God touched her and brought instant healing to where she stopped using both the brace and the medication. Awesome!!

But I am getting ahead of myself. I know how Jesus felt every time He touched a person and brought help through healing or deliverance into their life. Eleven year old Genesis(that is her name) came up front after the service the first night with her dad and was crying. I asked her what was going on. I thought they came up for prayer. But the father said that she was healed during the meeting. “What happened?”, I asked. And they began to tell me that because of the use of forceps at birth her right arm had a permanent injury which limited her use of it. She could not lift it higher than chest high and could not grip things even like shaking a hand. God miraculously healed her! She began lifting her arm over her head and swinging it around as tears(now mine included) were running down her face!!

Another woman had come to the meeting with a great deal of swelling in her ankles and one foot. She actually couldn’t stand on one leg because of the pain. Well that changed as she stood in front of everyone pushing down on both feet and showing us that all the swelling had disappeared!!

During another meeting I remember mentioning to the people that God was healing them even as we were doing other things. One lady stood after and said that when she heard that it wasn’t but a few seconds that her digestive system began to move around. She said it felt like she was being given a replacement for the one she had!! She noted a remarkable change. You see she had digestive issues since she was a young girl and just lived with it for about the last 30 years!!

I was so excited to see many backs healed in the services. People visibly doing things they were not able to do before that moment because of pain or other ailments. Many healings of all kinds were taking place. We are waiting for the evidence to come back after check ups and/or time. What an awesome God of compassion we serve. You know I can’t explain why everyone is not healed but I do know one thing. I am going to celebrate the ones that are and keep praying for all the rest. There was definitely a greater number of remarkable and visible healings on this trip. Let’s press in towards the grace of God and continue to believe that He will do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think. I trust these few testimonies bless you and give you increased faith in God working for you. I believe HE will bless you!!

Looking Ahead

2 Corinthians 4:18 “so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.”

Set or focus on something. Look at intently. That is the idea behind the words to fix our eyes. You take distractions out of the way and see with a singleness. Have you ever focused in on something you were seeing in the distance and everything around you went out of focus? You still know other things are all around you but your gaze is fixed on one item.

This is a great faith builder. There is clear instruction on how to obtain faith or strengthen your faith mentioned in Romans 10:17. Basically it states that faith comes by hearing the word. The word is the message of Christ or the good news. So by listening to God’s word faith enters into us.

Notice that faith doesn’t come by listening to just anything. There are a lot of things vying for your time. There are many voices speaking throughout the day and we end up listening to quite a large number of things that don’t benefit our faith at all. As a matter of fact they have the opposite effect of killing our faith and raising doubt to choke out our faith.

So if you are going to  have a faith that can move mountains then you need the right source for that to have a fighting chance. Listen to the right thing! Listen to the source of faith. You can’t help finding promises and truths that we need to work in our lives if you read the bible. It is full of good things that honestly we all need. It gives us hope to see and read about all the tremendous things that are laid out in the word of God. But it also begins giving us something to focus on and pursue by faith.

Let’s be real. Most of our time is commonly spent on things that can be seen. So it makes sense to say with all honesty that the greatest influence in our lives are the everyday visible things that are happening in life. We have to determine to fix or focus on things that are unseen. There must be discipline in our lives to set our ears on the invisible Kingdom of God. But the benefits are outstanding. By giving our energy, time, effort, hearing, etc. to the Kingdom of God and His word we are preparing our lives for a windfall blessing that will happen when we least expect it.

So don’t become weary hoping in the unseen. Don’t lose heart because of what you are hearing and seeing daily in the visible world around us. Be bold and believe in what is not tangible and seen. Have faith for what God promises and give yourself to the hearing of those things. Focus your life toward what God has planned for you. His word will remain faithful and God will do and act according to His word.

RELEASE

Release. we hear that word and it can bring a lot of thoughts to our mind. New release in theaters, release from something, release valve, etc. The list is endless and much longer than the one I just made!

i like that word a lot more than the opposite which would be bound or held. Actually both words are used in one scripture found in Matthew 16. Jesus said to His disciples that whatever they bound on earth would be bound in heaven and whatever was loosed or released on earth would be released in heaven.

Another version gives us clearer understanding of this concept. It is actually saying that what is already released or bound in heaven is our legal right to bind or release on the earth! Now that is mind shattering isn't it! It really makes it a lot easier to understand. First of all we are to carry out on earth what is done in heaven! Secondly we need to know what is finished in heaven before we can finish it here on the earth!! Actually that should be first and the other one second..... OK you get my point. Heaven and earth are interlinked.

Here is the point I am getting to although adding a bit as we go. It is the principle of release. When Jesus healed people he released them from sickness. When he forgave he released from sin and its bondage. When he resurrected he released from death and its power. When he spoke he released power. Actually Jesus released people and still does in all kinds of ways. It should be of no surprise that he is still releasing in us.

Now let me add a thought to this. Most of the time we are looking at being released from something. How about looking at it from another angle. God doesn't just release us from stuff, he releases us into something new! The greatest benefit of being released is not being free. It is being released or free in order to move into something better!! I like that thought. Too many times we only concentrate on what we are coming out of. Well what we are going into is cause for great joy. We should rejoice in our freedom and release that God has purchased and finished in heaven and use it to move into what is awaiting us! Let's declare release in our lives. Add to your declaration what you have been released to accomplish!! 

Be Like Jesus

It is very widely believed that all of us are called to imitate and become like the one we follow who is Jesus. Of course all that desire to be His disciples that is. It is a very safe assumption. so as I think about this concept the first thing that comes to mind is the question, "what is Jesus like?". If I am supposed to be like Him then I need to know what I am supposed to incorporate in my life before I can begin.
We need a pattern to follow. Obviously we do have such a pattern in the life of Jesus we find in our bibles. It's actually laid out for us in living color you might say. Sadly though we still get hung up trying to figure out the what rather the who we are to be like. You see it is not about imitating His deeds, although we will mention more on that in a moment, but about becoming like Him in regards to the person and character of Jesus.
Sounds simple and actually is made much more difficult than it really is supposed to be. You see Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice by giving His life in our place and providing as a result a full pardon, forgiveness, and power to live. It is by grace that we are saved and redeemed. There is nothing you and I can pay to obtain more from God. He has provided it all. Now that is a big idea!! Let that sink in for every area of life that we strive to accomplish in the Lord. We can't add to the work of Jesus. We CAN enjoy and receive all that He has provided. Ok, I know it is still hard.
That is why Paul talked to the Galatian believers about not changing course after having started in total freedom. He spoke and taught them about the importance of living in freedom and not becoming enslaved over again. We need to do the same. It seems to be the hardest lesson to learn in life. Live by grace and yet not be lazy by doing nothing. You see it is so easy to fall on the grace side that we put no effort in our spiritual life and wonder why we always end up back where we started.
Anyway I could keep going on about that because it is a great subject. But let me get back to where we began. Jesus is our example of how to live. We are called to imitate Him. The plan is laid is out clearly in His life that He lived out for all of us to see.
I have been a student of the life of Jesus ever since I first met Him and came into relationship with Him. For me that was the easiest part of the bible. I figured if Jesus is the image of the Father and we are to know the Father in heaven then a good place to start is to know Jesus. So over the years I have spent a lot of time getting to know Jesus so that I could also as a result know the Father. Here is a thought that has helped me through the years: Everything Jesus was and did shows us the nature of the Father.
Here is another thought: There is nothing that Jesus shows us that He doesn't want us to copy! Ever heard them say on a TV show, "warning, don't try this at home" when they are doing something dangerous? Well Jesus has no disclaimers in His saying, "now don't try this for your life, this is only for me, you can't do this". Does that sound like something Jesus would even say??
Rest assured that it is not. In fact everything He did was in order to teach us a lesson and equip us for life. Let's go a step further and say that Jesus showed us how in order for us to do the same! Wow did you get that? Let your spirit catch the possibilities that this implies. Read the stories with new insight and prayerful meditation to see what we are empowered to do in this life.
Here is challenge to think about as you pursue the Lord. What part of Jesus are we supposed to be like? Now that will take time to answer. It is not meant to be answered quickly but to make us think and open the realm of possibilities that God has planned for you and I. All of us choose the parts or aspects of Jesus we doctrinally think we are to imitate. But do you think we can pick and choose which part?
Adding to this idea I must admit that my concept of Jesus and all He wants us to be expands over time. The closer I get to Him the more I understand and the more I want to be like Him. It is important to take the limits off our belief system. Expand the possibilities and the awesomeness of our God towards us. Remember this as you meditate on theses thoughts: He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we ask or think according to His power which works in US!! (Ephesians 3:20)