John 11:11-16
11These words He said, and after this He says to them, “Lazarus our friend has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I shall wake him up.” 12Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be cured.” 13But Jesus had spoken concerning his death, but those ones thought that He is speaking concerning the resting of sleep. 14So then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus has died. 15And I rejoice for your sake that I was not there, so that you shall believe. But we shall be going to him.” 16Therefore Thomas, the one being called Didymus [“Twin”], said to his fellow-disciples, “Let us also go so that we shall die with Him."
Good Day Child of God! "Father? Please teach me and help me to remember Your Wisdom."
Just in case you don't remember what came before this paragraph, the Disciples questioned Jesus about the wisdom of going to see Martha, Mary, and Lazarus when the Jews were seeking to find Jesus and stone Him to death. Jesus told them there is only so much time to get His work accomplished, even while He took His time to start the journey to Lazarus, days in fact, He intended to show the Apostles that the Power of God could bring the dead back to Life.
There is a small problem in this story. It is spread out among many more verses, too many in fact to make the reading and teaching of them all at once. The lesson is not difficult if you think as God and Jesus do, in Spirit, not flesh. Let's take a quick look what that means and how it affects your prayers.
Today's easy lesson: Many of are taught the Bible from the earthly perspective. Never mind that, as well, we are taught it out of context, which makes it even more difficult to understand. If you look at the situation above, you will find that someone has to be praying that Jesus would get there and heal Lazarus so that he wouldn't die. Jesus could easily have done that. Jesus in fact tarried two days before leaving to deal with this situation. My question would be, as I would think many have thought, "Why wait, you could save many broken hearts by healing Lazarus sooner rather than coming later as you are doing?" This is simple. The Father wants Jesus to prove that He, and by He, Jesus is included, can turn death into Life. If you are looking for a quick, easy solution, something that helps your needs alone, your prayer would be self centered and in your thinking unanswered in this case. However, standing outside looking in, you can see that Jesus heal Lazarus, just a bit more dramatically. Again as a younger Christian I often wondered why the big spectacle of raising Lazarus from the dead. I realize there is more to it now, but most Christians don't get it.
How does this help you in your daily walk with God? The Bible states that we don't know how to pray, but the Spirit interprets for us. It also says that time for God is different than it is for people. Lastly, as a Christian, we tend to go to God with a laundry list of needs, sometimes hoping the entire list is answered immediately, not one at a time. Here is the problem. God fits many situations together like a picture puzzle giving help in different ways to different people all at the same time, and/or He knows of something that you don't that has to occur, and you must wait. We don't like to wait, our humanity is weak, but the Father answers in Spirit. He, once again, knows things you do not, and in order to enjoy your requests to be answered as you would want them to be, you must follow the Father, not lead Him. You cannot tell Him what to do, even as our "twin" brother above was ready to go and die with Jesus at what he thought was going to be a fight to the death, not the dead brought back to Life.
God is more interested in His relationship with each of us than He is with some things we find important in our physical life. The only way you get all of your prayers answered that will result in you feeling peace, love, joy, calm, gentleness, kindness, patience, and self-control, is to follow the Father. Don't do and ask for His Blessing. That is backwards. Follow His lead and accept His gift of Life, which is what Jesus is emulating Salvation using Lazarus. You too would laugh at the site of a former dead man walking out of his grave like a mummy and coming into the loving arms of those he cared for so very much. Who won in this situation? The Apostles, the friends, Lazarus? They all did. You see? Follow, don't lead, and your Life will bear fruit, even if at times the fruit is just for you. Have a Grace Day!
Brother Glenn
Entire New Testament: http://gracehouseministry.blogspot.com/
11These words He said, and after this He says to them, “Lazarus our friend has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I shall wake him up.” 12Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be cured.” 13But Jesus had spoken concerning his death, but those ones thought that He is speaking concerning the resting of sleep. 14So then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus has died. 15And I rejoice for your sake that I was not there, so that you shall believe. But we shall be going to him.” 16Therefore Thomas, the one being called Didymus [“Twin”], said to his fellow-disciples, “Let us also go so that we shall die with Him."
Good Day Child of God! "Father? Please teach me and help me to remember Your Wisdom."
Just in case you don't remember what came before this paragraph, the Disciples questioned Jesus about the wisdom of going to see Martha, Mary, and Lazarus when the Jews were seeking to find Jesus and stone Him to death. Jesus told them there is only so much time to get His work accomplished, even while He took His time to start the journey to Lazarus, days in fact, He intended to show the Apostles that the Power of God could bring the dead back to Life.
There is a small problem in this story. It is spread out among many more verses, too many in fact to make the reading and teaching of them all at once. The lesson is not difficult if you think as God and Jesus do, in Spirit, not flesh. Let's take a quick look what that means and how it affects your prayers.
Today's easy lesson: Many of are taught the Bible from the earthly perspective. Never mind that, as well, we are taught it out of context, which makes it even more difficult to understand. If you look at the situation above, you will find that someone has to be praying that Jesus would get there and heal Lazarus so that he wouldn't die. Jesus could easily have done that. Jesus in fact tarried two days before leaving to deal with this situation. My question would be, as I would think many have thought, "Why wait, you could save many broken hearts by healing Lazarus sooner rather than coming later as you are doing?" This is simple. The Father wants Jesus to prove that He, and by He, Jesus is included, can turn death into Life. If you are looking for a quick, easy solution, something that helps your needs alone, your prayer would be self centered and in your thinking unanswered in this case. However, standing outside looking in, you can see that Jesus heal Lazarus, just a bit more dramatically. Again as a younger Christian I often wondered why the big spectacle of raising Lazarus from the dead. I realize there is more to it now, but most Christians don't get it.
How does this help you in your daily walk with God? The Bible states that we don't know how to pray, but the Spirit interprets for us. It also says that time for God is different than it is for people. Lastly, as a Christian, we tend to go to God with a laundry list of needs, sometimes hoping the entire list is answered immediately, not one at a time. Here is the problem. God fits many situations together like a picture puzzle giving help in different ways to different people all at the same time, and/or He knows of something that you don't that has to occur, and you must wait. We don't like to wait, our humanity is weak, but the Father answers in Spirit. He, once again, knows things you do not, and in order to enjoy your requests to be answered as you would want them to be, you must follow the Father, not lead Him. You cannot tell Him what to do, even as our "twin" brother above was ready to go and die with Jesus at what he thought was going to be a fight to the death, not the dead brought back to Life.
God is more interested in His relationship with each of us than He is with some things we find important in our physical life. The only way you get all of your prayers answered that will result in you feeling peace, love, joy, calm, gentleness, kindness, patience, and self-control, is to follow the Father. Don't do and ask for His Blessing. That is backwards. Follow His lead and accept His gift of Life, which is what Jesus is emulating Salvation using Lazarus. You too would laugh at the site of a former dead man walking out of his grave like a mummy and coming into the loving arms of those he cared for so very much. Who won in this situation? The Apostles, the friends, Lazarus? They all did. You see? Follow, don't lead, and your Life will bear fruit, even if at times the fruit is just for you. Have a Grace Day!
Brother Glenn
Entire New Testament: http://gracehouseministry.blogspot.com/
