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John Chapter Eleven
1. Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2. It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3. So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick.” 4. But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”
5. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. 7. Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8. The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9. Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10“But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
11. This He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.” 12. The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. 14. So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15. And I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.” 16. Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”
17. So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 18. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; 19. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. 20. Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. 21. Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22. “Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.”
23. Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24. Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me will live even if he dies, 26. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27. She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”
28. When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29. And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him.
30. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. 31. Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
32. Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, 34. And said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35. Jesus wept. 36. So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!” 37. But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?”
38. So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” 40. Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41. So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard Me.
42. “I knew that you always hear me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that you sent me.”
43. When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” 44. The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
As I was meditating on these verses Father’s voice came to me and He asked me to share the following words with you.
He said,
My little children, why do you worry? There is nothing in your life that you are facing that I am not big enough and powerful enough to handle. In the scriptures you just heard do you see how the impossible is easy for me? Can’t you see that even death is no match for my life and my power? Even death cannot exist in my presence. Death flees from me and will not stand in my presence.
I say these things to you so that your faith will rest in my love for you. As you just heard in these scriptures no one in this story had faith but my son Jesus. The rest had given up. Not only did his disciples not believe that Lazarus could be brought back but they believed they were all going there to die.
Did their lack of faith stop my plan? Never! Yes I want you to be full of faith but as you can see in these verses I am faithful even when you are without faith. But here is what I want you to have faith in. I want you to have faith in my love and in my plan for your life being perfect.
I want you to believe in my plan and my love. Did you notice that even though Lazarus was dead he still came forth when he was called? How could this be? It is because if you believe in me you will never be separated from me not even for a moment. Yes Lazarus’ body was in the tomb but his spirit was still with me and conscious of me. There is no separation from me by death for anyone who believes. No matter if your spirit is in your body or out of your body you are still close enough to me to hear my voice. So there is nothing to be afraid of.
Never fear and never give up. Martha, Mary and all the mourners and all the disciples had given up but my Son had the last word. He always does and he always will. You may not see any way out of the situation you are in but you are never without hope.
Never think for a moment that you are trapped in your circumstances. If even the grave can’t hold you then how could you be bound with no way out? My son Jesus said “I am the way the truth and the life.” If you belong to us then there is always a way.
So my beloved ones. I want you to rest in me and not see your problems as obstacles but see them as a opportunities for me to be glorified in your life.
If Lazarus had never been sick you wouldn’t have heard of him and Jesus would not have shown my glory by raising him from the dead. Your circumstance aren’t problems they are just a chance for me to be glorified in your life. If you see them this way then they will no longer burden you. You will not be thinking you are being punished or having problems for the sake of having problems.
This is why my son told you that yes you would have tribulations in this world but to be of good cheer for he overcame the world. If you know your troubles come just so that I can be glorified then you will not be looking at your problems but will be looking into the eyes of your answer. You will always be expecting my answer to solve your problem.
Finally my beloved ones. Know that I love you and there is no problem in your life that I haven’t already planned on fixing. Let your faith be in my love for you and know that to live is Christ and to die is gain. Either way you win so why worry?
If I brought you through yesterday don’t you believe I have a plan for tomorrow? I will take care of you because of my love for you. The first step in having great faith is understanding my great love for you. If I loved you so much that I gave my only son for you don’t you think I love you enough to take care of all your needs?
Rest in my love my dear children and love each other. Encourage each other and be ready for your miracle. It’s never too late.
This is the end of the words he spoke to me at this moment. I hope you are encouraged by these words.
Until next time,
Grow Rich in His Grace,
I love you all,
Michael.
Rest in my love my dear children and love each other. Encourage each other and be ready for your miracle. It’s never too late.
This is the end of the words he spoke to me at this moment. I hope you are encouraged by these words.
Until next time,
Grow Rich in His Grace,
I love you all,
Michael.
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