Come Forth! part 1

Our title for this week may make it sound like a study we should have done the week before Easter, and at some level that is true. However it is my prayer that this week’s study will help us remember that God has a purpose in all He does, allows, in our lives and that He uses everything for our good and to reach others with the message of the Gospel.
 

We are going to look at several different verses this week so I would encourage you to keep your Bible handy, when you open the devotional this week; in the event you would like to highlight, and or underline, one of the verses or make a note for study purposes. This week’s study, as you can see above, is called, “Come Forth” – can you guess why? Those were the very words Jesus spoke as He raised Lazarus from the dead.
 

John 11:1-3 "Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 
 

I just think this is so revealing of human nature. Here are the sisters of Lazarus saying, “Lord, the one you love is ill.” Isn’t it typical to think that God likes us best – or at least our children or family? “Lord, please touch my grandchild – you know who I’m talking about – she’s the smartest, cutest, godly grandchild ever – and I’m not just saying it because she’s my grandchild. You know her; she’s the one you love more than the other little children in church.” I find that Jesus’ response to this request almost funny.  John 11:6 “So, when He heard that Lazarus was ill, He stayed two days longer in the place where He was.” 

If you didn’t realize that God has purpose in all that He does and nothing is done just to be funny, you would almost think that’s what He did here. However, He explains Himself in verses 14-15. John 11:14-15 “Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 
 

Now we start to get to the crux of the matter. Jesus wanted to make sure Lazarus was good and dead before He got there so that there would be no way to mistake what was about to take place. When He asked them to roll away the gravestone they said to Him, “by now he was been dead so long that he stinks…” John 11:39. Jesus was doing all He could to get people to believe He was the Messiah. 
 

The whole idea of faith is based on believing. It is the “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Our salvation is faith based. Our sustenance is faith based. When we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread,” that is an expression of faith acknowledging that God is ultimately our source, even of the food we eat.  It’s seems, everything Jesus focused on, in these first few chapters, dealt with believing. 

One Wednesday night, a couple years ago, I spent a little time dealing with John 6:29 during our prayer time, “Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’” What is there within, what we call the work of God that does not relate to believing? Everything we do is to help people believe. If all men and women everywhere would believe on the Name of Jesus Christ to be saved, there would be no work to do (outside of some discipleship). 
 

Not only does it take a simple belief in the Son of God to be saved, there is a continuing need for us to believe for every other aspect of His Kingdom. Healing requires believing, peace of mind requires believing, we believe God for our finances, we believe God for our marriages, we believe God to take care of our children. Everything comes down to believing. Jesus spent His entire ministry on earth trying to get people to believe that He was the Son of God. What is more critical than a person believing Jesus for their salvation?

Continued tomorrow