John 11:1-3 -- Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
Thank You Father for my life and every breath You provide. Thank You Lord that Your love NEVER fails. In Jesus name I pray. Amen!
Yesterday we journeyed into John chapter eleven where we explored what Lazarus' actual Hebrew name was (Eleazar) and what it meant (Whom God Helps). Oh, how that just makes me smile every time I think of the name Lazarus now. I'm reminded that I was a sick and dying man once too whom God helped and now as His child, He helps every moment of every day!
Okay I got to focus as I just want to jump off into some praise and worship, but we're walking in the Word right now!
I don't know about you but sometimes it's quite easy to skim over text, instead of really reading it. A lot of times in the Bible, books or chapters open with a bunch of details, genealogies, or other things that are easy to fly by. However, every single bit of it is God's Word and He quite often has much to say in those details. Well, anyone who reads my stuff can see He often has much to say in a single word too!
In chapter eleven's opening three verses the Lord has pointed out something quite important to me. It's the context of who I am. Who we are. Who these people were. It matters. There is so much struggle in today's world for identity or for non-identity or for fluidity in identity, that often everyone becomes just sort of becomes no one because there's nowhere to firmly stand any longer or base anything on. That breaks my heart.
It mattered to God that Lazarus was Eleazar and that it meant "Whom God Helps". It mattered to God he was from the village of Bethany. It mattered to God he was Mary and Martha's brother. It mattered to God Mary was the one who anointed Jesus' feet and wiped it with her hair. It mattered to God who these sisters described their brother as to Jesus.
Without identity, location, or stable anchor points in life we're simply at the whim and mercy of the winds and waves of emotions and popular opinion of the day. There is nothing solid to stand upon, let alone cling to. All that is left is the formless turmoil and angst of the shifting waves of feelings.
What really jumped out at me today was in verse three. Mary and Marth, in their desperation over their brother dying, it was urgent they reach Jesus. They knew who He was and knew Lazarus needed Him.
Also, don't miss this very tiny yet vital thing… The word they send to Jesus doesn't even include Lazarus' name, they say, "he whom You love is sick.".
Listen to me Christian, if you do not walk intimately with the Lord regularly, talking to Him in prayer, listening to Him in His Word, oh how will you ever truly grasp and accept you are "he whom He loves" or "she whom He loves"?
This family, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, they KNEW Jesus. They absolutely KNEW who He was, and He knew them. They loved Him and He loved them. They knew He loved them. They HEARD His voice, He KNEW them, they FOLLOWED Him (John 10:27). Where else would they go but to the Good Shepherd in this moment?
Oh, right this moment, Father I come before you in prayer. I lift up she whom You love to You right now. Her eyes need your healing touch. She needs the comfort and peace found only in Your arms. I ask You would fill me with Your strength and love so that You may love her through me. She whom You love needs your healing touch in her back and sciatic nerve too oh Lord. I thank You for the many miles You walked her through already. I thank You for the many more You will walk her through in this life, but I'll never cease asking for Your miraculous healing in she whom You love. I love You oh Lord and I thank You for allowing me to walk in this life with You, and with her as my precious wife. You are good, You are love, You are merciful, You are just, and You are Holy oh Lord. I thank You and praise You in and for all things, good or bad matters not, we stand on and in You. In Jesus beautiful name I pray. Amen.
Beloved, it matters if you pray and read the Word daily. It matters who you are. It matters knowing who God is, Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit. It matters that you know who you are in Jesus Christ. It matters that you know He loves you deep down, intimately. It matters how you see others.
You matter to Jesus. You matter to me.
You are loved. You are prayed over. You are not alone.
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