Every Lazaras Has A God


This weeks devotion is a bit of a copy from Elevation church's sunday message. I went to Elevation last sunday with my family and there message was called the Lazaras factor. As I was taking notes, I realised that a lot of what the story of Lazarus and what the preacher were talking about deal with the idea of opening up and letting go. This can deal with mental illness issues that many of us may have kept inside and let fester. The story of Lazaras can be used to show the power of God if you let Him into your life's trials and triumphs. The story of Lazaras shows Mary and Martha calling on Jesus to come and help Lazarus because he is sick. The story stresses how much Jesus loved all of them and He said that He loved them SO He waited. If God loved them, why didnt He say but....instead of so.... It was so that the glory of God could be shown and that through the sickness, God's loving power can shine brighter than the darkness. In Jewish tradition it was said that the spirit was still in a body after death for 3 days. Jesus came on the forth day. I beleive that this was to show that Lazaras was no doubt dead and God was able to use Jesus, and send Jesus to raise him from the dead. "Verse of Jesus praying to God for their sake" This miracle was used to further God's kingdom and bring Him honor. Jesus showed the people around Him that power and explained ,through showing them, that God is all powerful. Many people say, "If God is so powerful why would He let this happen." Then we say something bad that has happened or tell about a sin in the world. What if we flipped that? "If God is so powerful why would he spend His time loving us....it works both ways." Most of the time, when you see a powerful person in movies or read about them in books, they only cared about themselves. The whole story of God's life is there to show that even though we don't deserve it, He still loves us. The story of Lazaras says that Lazaras' sickness will not end in death, that could also mean spiritual/emotional death. If you are emotionally dead or numb, God can pull a Lazarus and resurrect you and your emotions. Mary and Martha were mad towards God because He did not come but Martha still went to Him and said that she still believed in who Jesus was even though she did not like His timing. Jesus was "late," as we would say because He knew that His timing would bring the most glory to God. Jesus is functionally late. Martha met Jesus at the gate to her house even though she was disappointed. She had to be willing to go to God and let Him in to her life and into her emotions so that He could go to her tomb created by her mind so that He could resurrect her emotionally scarred and emotionally dead area. When we have an area of our mind that we have locked up like a tomb, we have to be willing to bring God to that tomb so that He can resurrect us. You also have to be willing to roll away the stone and open up your tomb so God can call in and say Lazarus come forth. For us, it would be anxiety come forth or fear come forth so that He can get it out and works to then bring our peace and joy into a resurrection power. If we have a place in our mind that our anxieties able to lurk and grow in, we will have a harder time letting go of it. When we let God bring it out of our tomb we can then talk to others and get help for it like a doctor helping Lazarus to get well. Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus even though He knew He would raise him from the dead. We know that God is compassionate and loving and wants to do the same for us. When Jesus arrived at the tomb He asked that they remove the stone covering the entrance so that He could call Lazarus forth. Martha mentioned that the tomb would smell by then and it was not wise to open it up. We do this with our minds and our disappointments and fears. If our mind is like a tomb and we are emotionally dead inside we could say to Jesus, you don't want to open that up it smells by now. The disappointment, anxiety, and fear they stink. You don't want to open that up. If we are ever going to get rid of that death inside of us we have to face the smell of all the disappointment so that we can get into a live and well mindset. Let God resurrect you're attitudes and emotions. Every doubt, fear, anxious thought, and sadness, they all have a God. Every Lazaras has a God!

Please read John 11 for all the verses that can apply to this.

John 11:21
"Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

John 11:5-6
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days.

John 11:27
"Yes, Lord," she replied, "I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."

John 11:35-36
Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!"

John 11:38-44
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. "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." Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 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." When He said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 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."

If you would like to listen to the sermon by Pastor Furtick her is the link:
The Lazaras Factor

Please listen to these songs and the story they tell:
Still rolling stones by lauren daigle

Lazaras Come Forth by Carman

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