Stinkin'!
Ephesians 3:20 (New King James Version)
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
I love this passage. I was reading the In Touch magazine by Charles Stanley and he wrote a devotion about this verse. He basically said that we wait for God to act on our behalf, to right the wrongs, to rescue us from disaster, to do what we ask Him! But many times God will not change the circumstances or he will wait- instead He does a work within us and he changes our heart according to his glory and purpose. For so long I have worked in my own efforts to accomplish something only to fail or be disappointed. I am learning to seek him for direction, pray, and see what he does or doesn't do. Many times he's more interested in our character than our circumstances. Don't we always just want him to fix things, us, others, our problems, and asap?!
Today I was reading the Bible Bus and today's reading was on the passage John 11 and this was about the death of Lazarus. It appeared that Jesus was too late. Lazarus was dead and in the tomb now for four days. Everyone was weeping, even Jesus wept! Why did he come late, when it was too late? Mary says if only you were here, he wouldn't have died! Oh the pain and agony they must have felt. I would also think they might feel kinda mad- like they knew Jesus could have saved him, but it seemed that he took his time in coming. Only Jesus wasn't late- his timing was perfect. He said to Mary, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40, NKJV) The amazing thing- is that they didn't completely believe! In fact when they decide to go back to Judea to see Lazarus, where they are seeking to stone Jesus, Thomas says, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." (John 11:16, NKJV) Don't we do the same thing? We think that when we follow Jesus that the worst thing will happen? Yet we are willing to Go because we will be with our Lord. He waits until we are at the end of our resources, our rope, our own self efforts, and then he comes and "enlivens" us. Witness Lee puts it this way;
The Lord will never come to heal, but He waits... waits... waits... until you are dead. He will not answer your prayer for healing, but He will wait until your sickness turns into death...When you awake to the fact that you are dead, buried, and even stinking with bad odors, the Lord will then come to enliven you.
Jesus performed the miracle so that more people would believe in Him even those who followed him for years. Jesus our perfect Savior rescues us when we are stinking- he is so long suffering toward us and he blesses us with his glory because he wants us to continue believing in him. So when we follow him, abide in him, and trust in him he gives us our daily bread. He is our true Shepherd!
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
I love this passage. I was reading the In Touch magazine by Charles Stanley and he wrote a devotion about this verse. He basically said that we wait for God to act on our behalf, to right the wrongs, to rescue us from disaster, to do what we ask Him! But many times God will not change the circumstances or he will wait- instead He does a work within us and he changes our heart according to his glory and purpose. For so long I have worked in my own efforts to accomplish something only to fail or be disappointed. I am learning to seek him for direction, pray, and see what he does or doesn't do. Many times he's more interested in our character than our circumstances. Don't we always just want him to fix things, us, others, our problems, and asap?!
Today I was reading the Bible Bus and today's reading was on the passage John 11 and this was about the death of Lazarus. It appeared that Jesus was too late. Lazarus was dead and in the tomb now for four days. Everyone was weeping, even Jesus wept! Why did he come late, when it was too late? Mary says if only you were here, he wouldn't have died! Oh the pain and agony they must have felt. I would also think they might feel kinda mad- like they knew Jesus could have saved him, but it seemed that he took his time in coming. Only Jesus wasn't late- his timing was perfect. He said to Mary, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40, NKJV) The amazing thing- is that they didn't completely believe! In fact when they decide to go back to Judea to see Lazarus, where they are seeking to stone Jesus, Thomas says, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." (John 11:16, NKJV) Don't we do the same thing? We think that when we follow Jesus that the worst thing will happen? Yet we are willing to Go because we will be with our Lord. He waits until we are at the end of our resources, our rope, our own self efforts, and then he comes and "enlivens" us. Witness Lee puts it this way;
The Lord will never come to heal, but He waits... waits... waits... until you are dead. He will not answer your prayer for healing, but He will wait until your sickness turns into death...When you awake to the fact that you are dead, buried, and even stinking with bad odors, the Lord will then come to enliven you.
Jesus performed the miracle so that more people would believe in Him even those who followed him for years. Jesus our perfect Savior rescues us when we are stinking- he is so long suffering toward us and he blesses us with his glory because he wants us to continue believing in him. So when we follow him, abide in him, and trust in him he gives us our daily bread. He is our true Shepherd!
Comments
Post a Comment