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John 11:6 - So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he remained in the place where he was for two more days.
He is the giver of life. He is going to call Lazarus' spirit back from Hades. His spirit will once again reside in his physical body and be alive physically. He never died spiritually only physically. There is some comedian/preacher using this event to get people to laugh. I am fine with that, I like to get people to laugh as well, BUT his theology is a little distorted. He has Lazarus dying and going to heaven and living in his mansion that God had created for him. The only problem with this is Jesus has not died and atoned for ours sins at this point in time. Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you." Jesus hasn't gone anywhere yet. He is still on earth. A person who had sinned was not able to go directly into the presence of God or go to heaven. The Old Testament saints went to a waiting place called Abraham's bosom or Hades. Look at what Jesus says in Luke 16. "Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. "In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment,…" Jesus is not telling a parable. He uses proper names in this passage of scripture. He uses Abraham, Lazarus (a different one than the one whose spirit He called back to give physical life to Lazarus' body) and Moses. In all of Jesus' other parables proper names are never used. You can read about what the afterlife was like before Jesus' death, burial and resurrection beginning with Luke 16:19f. Back to my main point, Jesus doesn't always do what we expect Him to do. Everyone expected Jesus to high tail it back to Bethany, the home town of Lazarus and good friend of Jesus', but He doesn't do that. He purposefully stays away for two more days and by the time He gets there good ole "Laz" has been dead four days. What does Jesus say to His disciples: "So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him."
The only two who didn't mind waiting were Lazarus and Jesus. Lazarus was in Abraham's bosom. He wasn't in torment from whatever had killed him. He was alive spiritually and everything he had ever believed about that afterlife was now a reality for him. He got to hang out with Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Elijah, Elisha, and the list goes on and on. He now knows death isn't so bad as long as you have faith in God. I like how the apostle Paul mocks death in I Cor. 15: "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is asking "death" where is your victory and where is your sting?. The answer is they are gone. Why? The reason is because of Jesus Christ. He conquered them by resurrecting from the dead. Physical death is real but so is Spiritual Life. We can be the victors through Jesus Christ our Lord. Am I making myself clear? Jesus has a plan for us and we might not always understand it but hang in there. Is the Lord making us wait for something? It might just be to increase our faith. It is what the story of resurrecting Lazarus after four days was supposed to teach us. Jesus wants to help us increase our faith in Him. Think About These: Faith is trusting God even when it doesn't make sense. The true test of your faith is when you don't understand and still trust God. The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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John 18:11 - But Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword back into its sheath! Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?"
Peter understanding the situation that they were there to arrest Jesus drew his sword and cut off Malchus' ear. Jesus gives Peter a slight reprimand and informs him he must put away his sword. The reason for Jesus telling Peter to put away his sword is stated next when Jesus says, "…Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?" What was the cup the Father had given to Him? It was His crucifixion. It was His being arrested, put through a mock trial, whipped, and hung on a cross until He was dead. Yes, it was from this cup the Father had given Him to drink.
While I was serving the Lord at Christ's Church of the Valley (CCV) in Peoria, AZ I worked with a young minister who got married and then some years later moved back to CA. I followed him on FB (Facebook) and watched his family grow. Then one day we were asked to pray for his wife because of an illness. Cancer would take her away from this life but Jesus welcomed her into Eternal Life. The "cup" for her was cancer, to leave her four children and her husband. The "cup" for him is to raise their four children without their mom and his dear wife. As I read each one of his posts I was always impressed by his faithfulness to the Lord. The "cup" the Lord has given to him is definitely a difficult one to drink from. Do we know the plan the Lord has for us or do we know the cup He has assigned for us to drink from?
Maybe His plan for us is we going to be like Andrew and lead a family member (Peter) to Jesus who is going to accomplish great things for the Lord's Kingdom? We could also lead someone to Christ who is going to be like Judas and betray us. The key in life is to know that whatever the "cup" we have to drink from God will be there to help us through its bitter taste. When Jesus was about to be crucified He told us He would not be left alone. His disciples were going to be scattered and yet the Father was with Him. John 16:32 - "Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. The promise we have is found in Heb 13:5 - for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,…" It is evidently clear that some cups are going to have an awful taste and one we probably will not like drinking from but the key to our survival of drinking from this cup is knowing that God never makes a mistake no matter how much we disagree. Think About This: Ps 23:4 - Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me;… Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word John 20:29 - Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." NIV
Jesus appears eight days later to Thomas and the other disciples. Thomas sees Jesus and confesses that he believes that Jesus is his Lord and God. Jesus tells Thomas that he has seen Him and now believes in Him, but there is going to be a day coming when people will believe in Him because of what they have heard and not because they were able to see Jesus like Thomas.
supremely blest. Many times we see someone driving a very expensive car, wearing very expensive clothing or living in a mansion and we think they are fortunate or well off. Yet, Jesus said, the one who is blessed is the one who believes in Him and yet has never seen Him. We are the blessed ones my Pump Up subscribers. We may not have the expensive car, clothes or house but according to Jesus if we believe in Him we are the truly blessed ones. In the future, if you are going through a physical, medical or financial trial just tell yourself the trial you are going through is temporary. What is important is you believe in Jesus and therefore according to Jesus you are blessed. That will never change unless you stop believing in Him and why would you want to do that?
Paul mentions three reasons why we are considered blessed: our lawless deeds have been forgiven, our sins have been covered (by the blood of the Lamb aka Jesus) and our sin will not be taken into account. (The reason the above scripture is in all capitals this is a direct quote from the Old Testament.) I believe one of the greatest blessings we have received by believing in Jesus is found near the end of 1 John 5:20 - And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. We believe that Jesus has come. He has given us an understanding that we know He is true. He doesn't lie to us. When He said He goes to prepare a place for us He has done exactly that. We can believe that for He is true. Jesus is the true God and He is Eternal Life and by us being in Him we are possessors of Eternal Life. If you ever feel discouraged think about how by being in Jesus Christ you are going to be with Him in Heaven for all eternity. You may be enduring some type of suffering now but a day is coming when your suffering will be over and because of that you are BLESSED. A thought to ponder: For a Christian - life on this earth is the only hell we will ever know, but for the non-Christian life on this earth is the only heaven they will ever know. Think About These: When you realize your life is blessed your whole attitude will change. God has blessed us so that we can bless others. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word I Kings 19:3-4 - And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers." · What Not Trusting in God Looks Like. Elijah isn't having one of his better days in the above scripture text. Maybe you can relate to Elijah? He had experienced a spiritual high. He had defeated the 450 false prophets of Baal. God honored him by sending fire down from heaven and consuming the water drenched sacrifice after Baal didn't answer the prayers of his false prophets. Jezebel then threatens to take Elijah's life and he flees. What is with that? I really don't understand Elijah's actions here. You would have thought he would have told her “to bring it on”. He had defeated the 450 false prophets of Baal by trusting in God and now he is going to flee when he is threatened by one evil woman. I would like to ask Elijah a few questions: "Why not trust God one more time? Why did you flee?" God has been on your side this whole time. Elijah had shown his faith so many times by trusting in God. He was used by God to raise the dead, multiplied the widow’s oil, and he had been fed by ravens during the drought. He knew he had a special relationship with God. So why did Elijah become such a wimp? He runs away and hides and now he wants to die. When have you not trusted God? How did you feel afterwards? You will want to remember that awful feeling. Why? So that you don't have to feel it again. So that it motivates you to stay faithful and not become a wimp. · When Do Opportunities Not To Trust God Usually Come? What does your not trusting God look like? Have you experienced any spiritual highs? If I were you I would be careful because I have observed that right after a spiritual high comes a time of testing of your faith. This usually will result in a spiritual low if you aren't prepared to battle against this test. Not trusting God can come in many ways of testing or trials. The word "beware" is used 14 times in the New Testament. That is a pretty good indication that we should be on guard as we walk through this life. We have an enemy who seeks to devour us. · When Trusting God There Will Be Times When It Looks Like You're Losing. One must always remember no trial is able to defeat you and your God. You must keep the faith. When it is looking very dim for you that is the time to draw closer to God not run away from Him. You can never lose by keeping your faith in God. NEVER! Think About These: It is one thing to believe in God and another to believe God. As soon as you learn to trust God, you’ll learn how to really live. God has proven Himself as a faithful Father. Now it falls to us to become trusting children. Max Lucado Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word 2 Thes 2:10 - "…they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved." NASU
What "truth" in the Bible do you have a hard time believing? There are people who have a hard time believing that God created the world even though the very first verse in the Old Testament says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The word "atheist" is the word used to describe a person who does not believe in God. There is a video called - Top Ten Reasons People Don't Believe In God. Atheists are people then who would not have a "love of the truth" found in the Bible. After watching the video I could see how some people have decided there is no God but I totally didn't agree with them for doing so. One of the reasons was hypocrisy in the church. I can testify to this fact there is a lot of "hypocrisy" in the church, but there is none in Christ or God. They say the Bible says, God is love and yet some of His followers are the most non-loving, non-caring and judgmental people walking on the earth. Again, I agree with their assessment but that doesn't mean God is any of those things. I believe their last point was their best one and one that has caused me some consternation at times. They don't believe in God because of suffering and evil that is in the world. If God is all powerful, as we Christians say, then why doesn't God do away with evil and suffering? I have been a Christian for 51 years and I can tell you I have asked myself that question on more than one occasion. However, because I don't have a completely satisfactory answer to that question is not going to cause me to not believe in Him. (I know the Christian pat answer to that question because there is a devil.) If I am permitted to ask Him about why He allowed evil and suffering to exist I am sure that an omniscient God will be able to answer my question sufficiently.
In verse 41 we are told that those who received what Peter was preaching did what he said. In other words, they were baptized and we are told that 3,000 people were baptized. Have you ever wondered how many were NOT baptized? How many didn't have the love of the truth of God's word in their hearts and because they didn't love what Peter was preaching they walked away. I have had numerous people over the years tell me they didn't believe they had to be baptized. I would always say, "Then you believe God is telling us to do something that isn't necessary?" They would always say, "Well, No, I just don't believe it is necessary." I think what they were really telling me is "Well, No, I just don't have a love for the truth like others because I am not going to be baptized." When I found out that I needed to be baptized to have my sins forgiven I didn't argue with God. I did it. I was baptized and I believe God did what He said He was going to do. He forgave me of my sins and filled me with the Holy Spirit.
The choice is yours you can either love it by obeying it or not, but I hope you will love it. There is a fantastic promise that comes with "loving the truth" and that is you will be saved for all eternity. Think About This: The exact same truth can either set you free or make you mad. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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