17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles[a] from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
John 11:38-44 NIV
Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
International evangelist Greg Laurie warned that many believers are approaching a John 15:20 tipping point, if they aren’t there already.
“If you are a true believer, you will face persecution in some fashion,” Laurie writes in a recent Facebook post. “The word ‘persecute’ means ‘to be chased down, driven away and pursued.’ The good thing about it is that persecution can help you grow strong spiritually.”
Laurie details how Christianity has flourished, despite Satan’s attempts to destroy it.
Laurie writes:
Secular historians agree that there were 10 great persecutions against the church, 10 major attempts to wipe out Christianity, starting with the wicked Caesar Nero and ending with Diocletian. Believers were fed alive to wild animals. They were taken to Roman arenas for sport. They were torn apart. They were tortured. They were burned at the stake.
Diocletian thought he was so successful in obliterating Christianity from the face of the earth that he actually had a special medal struck, which was inscribed with these words: “The Christian religion is destroyed and the worship of the [Roman] gods restored.”
Needless to say, Diocletian was wrong. Instead of becoming weaker during this time of persecution, the church actually grew stronger. Instead of being destroyed, it became a lean, mean preaching machine. Persecution can have that effect.
The pastor, author and speaker is behind one of the largest modern evangelism outreaches: The Harvest Crusades.
Part of what draws so many people to Laurie’s events and sermons is his authenticity.
When it comes to the trials of the Christian faith, the evangelist refuses to mince words.
“In a way, persecution will separate the genuine from the fake. If you are a true follower of Jesus, you won’t back down if a little persecution comes your way,” Laurie says. “And if God allows it in your life, He will give you the strength to face it.”
Bill Johnson, of Bethel Church in Redding, CA., preached 3 days after losing his beloved wife, Beni, to cancer.
This was a quote from his sermon: “God is not a vending machine that I get to put a quarter into & withdraw from Him what I want. He chooses what He gives. But it is the wicked at heart that say ’God didn’t do what I wanted, He is a liar’.
May I never be found critiquing God when things don’t go my way. May I always be found having a heart ready to be critiqued by Him. Is God my friend?
He is. But He is my Lord first, and I’ll never have the pain I’m feeling right now in eternity, so in this moment it is a privilege to respond rightly to the Lord of my life with deeper trust and devotion.
I will bow before the Lamb on the Throne in awe, and worship Him forever, but never will I have the face to face chance to do that while I’m in pain, so in this moment I choose to do that. When I said yes to Jesus, I gave up my right to fully understand or be in charge of my life.”
44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.
46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.
49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
Isaiah 53:1-12 NIV
53 Who has
believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He
grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He
had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that
we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar
with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we
held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he
took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he
was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and
the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and
afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,so he did not open his
mouth.
8 By
oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation
protested For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression
of my people he was punished.[b] 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and
with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit
in his mouth.
10 Yet it
was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord
makes[c] his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong
his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. 11 After he has
suffered, he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e]; by his
knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their
iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g] and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h] because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
John 12:27-36 NIV
27 “Now my
soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No,
it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it
again.”
29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an
angel had spoken to him.30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not
mine.
31 Now is
the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be
driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up[a] from the earth, will draw all
people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to
die.
34 The crowd
spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so
how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”
35 Then
Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer.
Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in
the dark does not know where they are going. 36 Believe in the light while you
have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished
speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
John
12:37-43 New International Version
Belief
and Unbelief Among the Jews
37 Even
after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not
believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
“Lord, who
has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been
revealed?”[a]
39 For this
reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40 “He has
blinded their eyes
and hardened their hearts,
so they can
neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn—and I would heal them.”[b]
41 Isaiah
said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
42 Yet at
the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the
Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be
put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from
God.
The Lord our God is bringing us His Patience but it’s up to us to bring Him our Repentance. You might ask Why would God bring us His Patience?
God does Not want Any man to be Destroyed. But He wants Everyone to be Saved (Rescued) from their Sins. O what a Loving, Kind and Patient God we serve. REPENT
The Bible says that “It’s the goodness of God that leads to Repentance!”
Dr. Mark, was a famous oncologist. One day he flew to an important conference in another city, where he was to be awarded a medical prize.
However, an hour after take-off, there was an emergency landing at the nearest airport. The doctor rented a car and went to the conference. Shortly after he drove out, the weather turned bad and a bad storm rolled in.
Due to heavy rain, the Internet disappeared in the navigator, it turned the wrong way and got lost. After two hours of driving, he realized he was lost. He was hungry and tired as hell so he decided to find somewhere to crash.
Finally he came across a tiny house. Desperate, he got out of the car and knocked on the door. A woman opened the door. He explained himself and asked her to use the phone.
The woman told him that she did not have a phone, but he could come in and wait until the weather improved. The hungry, wet and tired doctor accepted her offer and entered.
The woman served him hot tea and told him that she was going to pray. Dr. Mark smiled and said that he only believes in hard work. Sitting at a table sipping tea, the doctor watched the woman in the dim candlelight as she prayed beside the crib.
The doctor understood that the woman needed help, so when she finished praying, he asked her:- What exactly do you want from God? Do you think God will ever hear your prayers?
The woman smiled sadly and said:- The child in the crib is my son, who suffers from a rare type of cancer and there is only one doctor, his name is Mark, who can cure him, but I don’t have money to afford him, besides that Dr. Mark lives in another city.
God still hasn’t answered my prayer but i know he will.. and nothings gonna break my faith. Shocked and lost for speech Dr. Mark just burst into tears.
He whispered:- God is great…He remembered everything that happened to him today: a malfunction in the plane, the torrential rain that caused him to go astray; and all this happened because God not only answered her prayer, but also gave him a chance to exit the material world and made possible to help the poor unfortunate people who have nothing but prayer…
John 1:1-14 New International Version The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Colossians 1:16 New International Version
16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
Hebrews 1:2 New International Version
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.
Genesis 1:1 New International Version The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
John 21:25 New International Version
25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
John 20:31 New International Version
31 But these are written that you may believe[a] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Romans 1:18-21 New International Version God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Ephesians 4:18 New International Version
18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them
“When I was 16, a boy in high school evinced interest in me, so I had sex with him — just once. And after I came out of that room, I thought, Is that all there is to it? My goodness, I’ll never do that again!
Then, when I found out I was pregnant, I went to the boy and asked him for help, but he said it wasn’t his baby and he didn’t want any part of it. I was scared to pieces.
Back then, if you had money, there were some girls who got abortions, but I couldn’t deal with that idea. Oh, no. No. I knew there was somebody inside me. So I decided to keep the baby.
My older brother, Bailey, my confidant, told me not to tell my mother or she’d take me out of school. So I hid it the whole time with big blouses! Finally, three weeks before I was due, I left a note on my stepfather’s pillow telling him I was pregnant.
He told my mother, and when she came home, she calmly asked me to run her bath. I’ll never forget what she said: “Now tell me this — do you love the boy?” I said no. “Does he love you?” I said no. “Then there’s no point in ruining three lives. We are going to have our baby!”
What a knockout she was as a mother of teens. Very loving. Very accepting. Not one minute of recrimination. And I never felt any shame. I’m telling you that the best decision I ever made was keeping that baby! Yes, absolutely.
Guy was a delight from the start — so good, so bright, and I can’t imagine my life without him. At 17 I got a job as a cook and later as a nightclub waitress. I found a room with cooking privileges, because I was a woman with a baby and needed my own place.
My mother, who had a 14-room house, looked at me as if I was crazy! She said, “Remember this: You can always come home.” She kept that door open. And every time life kicked me in the belly, I would go home for a few weeks.
I struggled, sure. We lived hand-to-mouth, but it was really heart-to-hand. Guy had love and laughter and a lot of good reading and poetry as a child. Having my son brought out the best in me and enlarged my life. Whatever he missed, he himself is a great father today.
He was once asked what it was like growing up in Maya Angelou’s shadow, and he said, “I always thought I was in her light.” Years later, when I was married, I wanted to have more children, but I couldn’t conceive. Isn’t it wonderful that I had a child at 16? Praise God! – Maya Angelou
Have you ever noticed that in winter some oak trees retain crisp, dry leaves long after the maples, the elms, and the walnuts have become bare skeletons ?
Even the strong winter winds and the early spring rains do not strip the oak branches completely. But as springtime progresses, something wonderful happens.
Tiny little buds start appearing at the tips of the twigs, pushing off the dried remnants of the preceding season. “What the winds and rain could not do from without, the forces of new life do from within.”
At times, old habits cling to our lives with the same tenacity as those oak leaves. Even the winds of trial and suffering do not remove all the lifeless leftovers of our fallen human nature.
But God, who dwells in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, is at work. “His life within us continually seeks to push off the old habits, renewing us when we confess our weaknesses (sins), steadying us when we falter, and strengthening us to do His will.”
When every effort to cast off an old sinful habit ends in failure, remember the mighty oak. Thank God for His Spirit who lives in you. “Keep saying yes to His gentle urging to be kind, loving, honest, strong, and faithful. He’ll push off those “lifeless old leaves.”” — Dennis J. De Haan_
When stubborn sins tenaciously hold to their former place, We must rely on His strength and His unfailing grace. — Spurgeon “The best way to get rid of a bad habit is to start a good habit — rely on God.”
