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HOPE:
MAKING IT TO THE FINISH LINE
“… He
that was dead came forth…”
(John 11:42-43 KJV).
*
It is NOT always easy to continue to walk upright when BAD, DIFFICULT,
TRAGIC, or MIND-BLOWING events and experiences happen or are happening. The
bible says: “….LET US NOT GROW
WEARY while doing good,
for in DUE SEASON we shall reap if
we do not lose heart…”
(Galatians 6:9 KJV).
We may “lose heart”
when we go through DEATH, DISAPPOINTMENTS,
LOSS RELATIONSHIPS, OR BROKEN DREAMS
(Galatians 6:9 KJV). “…In DUE SEASON we shall reap if
we do not lose heart…”
(Galatians 6:9 KJV).
We may not be exactly
like the men-servants in Luke 12:45, but we may come to a resigning conclusion,
because God delayed his coming into our situations and circumstances of life. “…My Lord delayeth his
coming…”
(Luke 12:45 KJV).
Eventually, however, no matter how many days or years have passed,
God will manifest his glory and turn things around for the good. “…And in the PROCESS of time “IT” CAME TO PASS…” (Genesis
4:3 KJV). “...ALL THINGS work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE…” (ROMANS
8:28 KJV).
People grow TIRED and WEARY from waiting. The
bible says: “… They that WAIT UPON the LORD shall renew [their] strength…” (Isaiah
40:31 KJV). “…WAIT ON
the LORD: be of good
courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: WAIT, I say, on the LORD…”
(Psalms 27:14 KJV). “…The LORD [is] good
unto them that WAIT FOR HIM…” (Lamentations 3:25 KJV).
“…THOUGH IT TARRY, WAIT FOR IT….” (Habakkuk 2:3 KJV).
Making
it to the FINISH LINE of hope by waiting on God becomes challenging. “…the one who endures to the end,
he will be saved…”
(Matthew 24:13 NASB).
It
becomes challenging “IF” you are experiencing or have experienced a loved one
go through a difficult sickness, take their last breath and die, be
funeralized, and left in a tomb. . “…if thou
hadst been HERE my brother had NOT died…”
(John 11:21 KJV).
Such events and experiences can blind you
and cause you to lose SIGHT of the FINISH LINE or the promised END of a journey.
. “…if thou hadst been HERE my brother had NOT died…” (John 11:21 KJV).
God promised Lazarus’ sickness would not
end in death, but it “LOOKED” like it DID end in DEATH. “…Lazarus is
dead…”
(John 11:14 KJV).
What promises of God did you RELY on that
LOOK as if it is a DEAD or FAILED promise? “…Not one
of the good promises which the Lord
had made … failed;
ALL CAME TO PASS…” (Joshua 21:45 NASB).
Was Lazarus’ physical DEATH the FINISH
LINE or end of the journey for Martha and Mary’s HOPE? NO. Why not? Because
Jesus told them: “…this sickness is NOT unto death,
but for the glory of God…” (John
11:4 KJV). “…"Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
(John 11:40 KJV).
What was the FINISH LINE or END PROMISE for
Martha and Mary’s HOPE? “…you will “see” the
glory of God?" (John 11:40 KJV). AND “…this sickness is
NOT unto death…” (John
11:4 KJV).
Did God’s WORD inspire your HOPE for a
restored relationship, to see a sick relative or friend well again, to save a wayward
child, to change a situation or circumstance, to break an addiction, but after
days, weeks, months, or years “IT” NEVER came to pass? “…Lazarus is
dead…”
(John 11:14 KJV).
Did YOU, like Martha and Mary, HEAR,
through the WORD of God, a similar promise: “…this sickness is NOT unto death…” (John 11:4 KJV). Did Lazarus
die? Even Jesus said, “…Lazarus
is dead…” (John 11:14 KJV).
Did Jesus lie? “…God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he
does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed
to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?”
(Numbers 23:19 NASB).
Did God lie to you? After
so many days and years of waiting or delays, what do you think about God’s
promises NOW? What did Martha and Mary think? “…said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been
here, my
brother had NOT died…Mary was come where Jesus was….saying unto him, Lord, if thou
hadst been here, my
brother had NOT died…”
(John 21, 32 KJV).
Jesus responded, to the sisters, with a REMINDER
of the PROMISE he’d made. “…Jesus said to her, “Your
brother will rise again.” …”
(John 11:22-27 NASB).
Do you have DOUBTS
about God’s WORD to you? Did Martha and Mary doubt Jesus? “…Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in
the resurrection on the last day.”
…” (John 11:22-27 NASB).
Has your HOPE in God
disappointed you? Will Martha and Mary be disappointed too? “…HOPE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT… (ROMANS 5:5 NASB). “…For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER
BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED…" (ROMANS 10:11 NASB). “…
HE
WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED…
(ROMANS 9:33 NASB). “…In You they trusted and WERE NOT DISAPPOINTED….
(PSALMS 22:5 NASB).
Why BELIEVE “IN” him, or Jesus, or the WORD? “….”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life;
he who believes in Me
will live even if he dies,
and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 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…”
(John 11:22-27 NASB).
If you believe and
Martha and Mary believe, what is the problem? After all, Martha and Mary
believed in Jesus, believed in the resurrection, believed he was Christ, the Son
of God, and believed Lazarus would rise again. “…IT SHALL BE DONE
TO YOU ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH…”
(MATTHEW 9:29 NASB).
With ALL their professed
faith in Jesus, Martha and Mary experienced Lazarus death so that they would
BELIEVE. “…I
am glad for your sakes (his
disciples) that
I was not there (when Lazarus died), to the intent, you may BELIEVE….” (John 11:15 KJV). “…I knew that thou (God) hearest me always:
but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me…”
(John 11:41-42 KJV).
BELIEVE WHAT? You will ultimately OBTAIN eternal LIFE. “…The GIFT of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ ….” (Romans 6:23 KJV). “…HE “WILL”
KEEP YOU STRONG to the end…” (1 Corinthians 1:8 NLT). Everything
else is PRACTICE.
Therefore, events and
experiences are to encourage endurance and “… that… [you]… may believe that
thou (God) hast sent [jesus]…”
(John 11:41-42 KJV).
WHO sent WHO? GOD sent JESUS,
the WORD. “…This is the work of God, that ye believe
on Him whom he hath sent…” (John 6:28-29 KJV).
WHO was SENT? “… HE …sent His Son (Jesus)...” (1
John 4:10 KJV).
Who EXACTLY is his Son,
Jesus? “…the WORD… [was]
… made flesh,
and dwelt among us, we beheld his glory, glory of the ONLY begotten… [SON]… of
the Father, full of grace and truth… [which]… came through Jesus Christ…”
(John 1:14, 17 KJV).
“…THERE ARE THREE that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word (Jesus), and the Holy Ghost (Spirit):
and THESE THREE
ARE ONE.…” (1 JOHN 5:6-8 KJV). God commands. Jesus speaks. The
Holy Spirit does.
In
other words, God commands; Jesus “SPEAKS” what God commands; the Holy Spirit “DOES”
what Jesus SPEAKS and God commands. “…The Father, the Word
(Jesus), and the Holy Ghost (Spirit)…” (1 JOHN 5:6-8 KJV).
God
is the Father. Jesus is the Word of the Father. The Holy Spirit is the Power of
the Father. “…THESE THREE ARE ONE.…” (1 JOHN 5:6-8 KJV).
The FATHER’s (God) WORD (Jesus) is POWER
(Holy Spirit) and they are ONE. “…THERE ARE THREE that bear record in heaven, the Father (GOD), the Word (JESUS), and the Holy Ghost (POWER):
and THESE THREE
ARE ONE.…” (1 JOHN 5:6-8 KJV).
HERE IS AN EXAMPLE: “…Then God
SAID, “Let there be light”; AND THERE WAS LIGHT…” (Genesis 1:3 NASB). “…Then God SAID (God
commanded), “Let there be light”
(Jesus, the Word spoke his command); AND
THERE WAS LIGHT (The
Holy Spirit did what was spoken and commanded) …”
(Genesis 1:3 NASB).
“…In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God,
and the Word was God. He was in the beginning
with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart
from Him nothing came into being that has come into being
… (John 1:1-4 NASB).
The FATHER’s (God) WORD (Jesus) is POWER
(Holy Spirit) and they are ONE. “…THERE ARE THREE that bear record in heaven, the Father (GOD), the Word (JESUS), and the Holy Ghost (POWER):
and THESE THREE
ARE ONE.…” (1 JOHN 5:6-8 KJV).
Jesus,
the WORD, speaks about the DEATH of Lazarus: “…I am glad for your sakes (his
disciples) that
I was not there (when Lazarus died), to the intent, you may BELIEVE….” (John 11:15 KJV).
THat “…you may BELIEVE….” (John 11:15 KJV). THAT “…
HE …sent His Son...”
(1 John 4:10 KJV). “…the WORD…
made flesh…” (John 1:14, 17 KJV).
Therefore, “…He
sent out his word and … rescued them from the grave…” (Psalms 107:20 NIV).
“…That ye believe on Him whom he hath sent…”
(John 6:28-29 KJV). “…as my Father hath sent me…”
(JOHN 20:19-21 KJV). “…[the]…Father which hath sent me...” (John 6:38 KJV). “ … he hath sent
me to heal the brokenhearted, to PREACH
deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at
liberty them that are bruised…”
(John 4:16-21 KJV). “… HE …sent His Son...”
(1 John 4:10 KJV). “…He sent
out his word and healed them…”
(Psalms 107:20 NIV). “… my
word …
that goeth forth out of my mouth: …it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent
it…” (Isaiah 55:11 KJV).
God’s MOTIVE for sending Jesus, the WORD
was love and the WORD emanates from the depth of his HEART. “… Herein
is love,
not that we loved God, but that he loved us and SENT His Son….”
(1 John 4:10 KJV). “…The … SON (the WORD), which
is in the BOSOM (deepest part of his heart) of the
Father, he hath declared him…”
(John 1:18 KJV).
God commands and Jesus
SPEAKS, from God’s heart, to Martha and Mary by telling them to Go to“… the PLACE “WHERE” the DEAD was
laid…” (John 11:39-41 KJV). AND “…TAKE ye away the STONE …” (John 11:39-41 KJV). “…press on to
reach the end of the race … which God, through
Christ
Jesus, is calling [you]…” (Philippians 3:14 NLT). THat “…you may BELIEVE….” (John 11:15 KJV). “…He will keep you strong to the end…” (1
Corinthians 1:8 NLT). “…[Y]our… sufficiency is of God…” (2 Corinthians 3:5 KJV).
God commands and Jesus
SPEAKS: “… "Did I not say to
you that if you believe, you will see the
glory of God?"
(John 11:40 KJV).
Martha and Mary were eye witnesses that Lazarus
was DEAD and would be until the resurrection. Lazarus did die. They SAW it.
They BURIED him. He was IN the tomb. “…Lazarus
is dead…” (John 11:14 KJV).
Yet the WORD of God (Jesus) SPEAKS a command: “…TAKE ye away the STONE …” (John 11:39-41 KJV).
“…the
things
which are impossible
with men are possible with
God…” (Luke 18:27 KJV). “…. Is there any thing too hard for [God]…?” (Jeremiah 32:27 KJV). “…LIVE BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT…” (2
Corinthians 5:7 NIV).
When they TOOK away the
stone, the Holy Spirit, the POWER of God, raised the DEAD. “…if you
believe, you will see the
glory of God…"
(John 11:40 KJV).
“… [His]… word
… that goeth forth out of [his]… mouth … it
shall accomplish that
which [God]… please[s], and it
shall prosper in the thing whereto [God]… sent it…”
(Isaiah 55:11 KJV). “…Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made
… failed; all came to pass…” (Joshua 21:45 NASB). God is “…watching over [his[… word to perform it…”
(Jeremiah 1:12 NASB).
“….[You]…
CAN DO (reach the finish line) all things THROUGH Christ which strengtheneth [you]…”
(Philippians 4:13 KJV). Therefore, “…He will keep you strong to the end…” (1
Corinthians 1:8 NLT). SO “…press on to …the end of the race …” (Philippians 3:14 NLT). “…TAKE ye away
the STONE …” (John 11:39-41 KJV). “…that… [you] … may believe that
thou (God) hast sent (jesus, the word)…”
(John 11:41-42 KJV).
“… He
that was dead came forth…”
(John 11:42-43 KJV).
YOU “WILL” MAKE IT TO THE FINISH LINE!!
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