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This Week’s Devotional Topic
LAZARUS – FOR GOD’S GLORY
The account of Lazarus death is an example of how that when times are dark and circumstances look like there is no way it is going to work out, God can still use it for His Glory!
Please listen closely and imagine that you are going through this as Lazarus’ sisters did.
John 11:1-6 A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.” 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.” So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days.
And later…
John 11:11-15 Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.” The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!” They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died. So he told them 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.”
John 11:17-23 When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”
John 11:30-44 Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet.” When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Then Jesus wept. Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.” Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” 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!”
Did you notice how that Christ had said that “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.” AND later “Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe.
God help us to remember these events, this example so that when we don’t see how things can possibly work out, we can have faith. And something you have been praying about, that looks impossible, remember that our God specializes in things thought impossible.
Just as Christ said when He was told that Jairus’ daughter was dead…
Mark 5:35,36 They told Jairus, the leader of the synagogue., “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.” But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”
Proverbs 3:5,6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Here’s another phrase you should keep in mind. “Be still and watch God do His thing.”
When the Israelites had just crossed over the Red Sea and were freaked out that the Egyptian army would come after them using the same path.
Exodus 14:13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever.
Then when Jehoshaphat and the people were afraid, the Spirit of the LORD spoke.
II Chronicles 20:15,17 He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
Matthew 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Many times, you will pray for a certain outcome but God steps in and uses it for His glory and in the fulness of His time.
This week’s Scripture:
John 11:1-44; Proverbs 3:5,6; Mark 5:35,36; Exodus 14:13; II Chronicles 20:15,17 and Matthew 19:26
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