Amazing God, amaze and bless the life of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our conversation for this week will focus on Jesus' power over life and death. Our text for today comes from John 11: 1 A man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 This was the same Mary who massaged the Lord's feet with aromatic oils and then wiped them with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick. 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Master, the one you love so very much is sick." 4 When Jesus got the message, he said, "This sickness is not fatal. It will become an occasion to show God's glory by glorifying God's Son." 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6 but oddly, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days. (The Message).
John's Gospel is unique. It is known as the spiritual gospel for it focuses more on the work of the Holy Spirit directly than the other three gospels. It was the book chosen to be placed between Luke and Acts, which were at their inception a one-volume work, later separated and John placed in between because of its spiritual nature. John tells stories the other three do not. And this gospel features some powerful things that believers should know, including the personal touch of Jesus in the lives of those whom He called friends. Among those friends were two sisters and a brother. Mary and Martha were the sisters and we probably know them as those who quarreled about housework and wanted Jesus to referee this situation. We also know Mary to be the one who, as the above passage says, anointed Jesus' feet and dried them with her hair. Their brother, Lazarus, was sick. In those days, doctors were not readily available and most illnesses led to death. What helped their faith was that these three had seen Jesus and His power to heal, so they sent word to Jesus to come and heal their brother. The message is a touching one, "Master, the one you love so very much is sick." (v. 3). You can hear the anxiousness in their hearts for they knew that if Jesus didn't hurry Lazarus would die. Doesn't that sound like us when we pray? We're usually too busy to pray when we're not in need and we believe everything is fine, but when that sudden worry comes over us, "Lord, hear my prayer!" And suddenly we do have time to pray. Notice the response of Jesus. He does not hurry to be by their side.
Our prayers are worship times with God. We, as we studied last week, know how Jesus prayed and what's involved in prayer. It is not handing God a "to do list" and then pray to check on how God has done with what we asked God to do. It is a submission to God's will and to ask for strength and all necessary for us to face what we're facing. We can share our personal petitions and we should; but we do so knowing that God's will ultimately will be the one done, not ours. As we pray we should also know that our time and God's time are not always the same. God's time trumps our time, but we know that all prayers are answered.
PRAYER: Loving God, as I pray, I worship You and give You all honor and praise. I confess that I am a sinner and I stand in need of being forgiven I give You thanks for all that You have shared in my life, and I lift up these concerns that I have as my petitions to You ____________________________. Be glorified and may I be a blessing to You and Yours. I pray all these things in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
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