This morning I took notice of Jesus' position...
"So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house... " - John 11:20
Martha meets Jesus somewhere outside the village. Then he speaks to Martha but does not move from that spot.
"Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.' Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' Martha said to him, 'I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.' Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?' She said to him, 'Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.' " - John 11:21-27 ESV
Then Martha leaves the place where she met Jesus and enters the village to speak to Mary.
"When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, 'The Teacher is here and is calling for you.' And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him." - John 11:28-30 ESV
Jesus has not moved. He has not come one inch closer to the village.
"Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.' " - John 11:32 ESV
"And he said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to him, 'Lord, come and see.' Jesus wept." - John 11:34-35 ESV
Jesus weeps right where He Is.
To me, this place outside the village is the incarnation. Jesus meets us in the book and in the place where the truth of His book is being revealed. Martha represents the writers of the new testament. They write and say to me, a person 2,000 years into the future, 'Jesus is here and He Is calling for you.'
You or I might be like Mary. We are stubborn or grieving or just distant because we are occupied in our own matters but it is true. Jesus is here and He Is calling for us. He is just outside the village.
We do what Martha did when we evangelize. We say 'Jesus is here.' and the people might say, 'Listen, It's just you and your ideas.' and we say, 'No, Come where I have been and you will find Him also.'
"Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it." - John 11:38 ESV
Jesus goes straight from that outside place to the tomb. Jesus asks His Father and Lazarus is alive again.
"Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples." - John 11:54 ESV
Jesus never goes into the village. If you missed all these events you would just see Lazarus alive again and grief turned into joy but you wouldn't be able to connect the dots. Jesus might just seem like a ghost or a myth. If asked they would say, 'Jesus never came here. I didn't see Him.' and they would be right to say that.
Is Jesus going with us to work or where ever it is we are going today? Yes and No. We say, 'Jesus is here and He Is calling for you.' but He is doing it from the incarnation. He Is calling from the throne in Heaven. He is just outside the village weeping over the same tragedies that affect the people in that place.
It is very possible that if something shuts our mouth people will miss His visitation. I don't want that to happen.
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Showing posts with label Visitation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Visitation. Show all posts
Monday, March 12, 2018
Monday, September 18, 2017
Expectation For The Day
"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." - Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV
What is 'the Day'?
This is a great principle. Are you looking for 'the Day'? Do you have an expectation in your heart? What days are you looking forward to? Christmas. An anniversary. The day of your retirement from work. Your birthday. Coming home after being away a long time.
The day referred to here is a 'God' day. We stir each other up in the visitation of God. It is the day when we will see Him move. Is it judgment day? Is it the day we get to Heaven? Is it the next time we all sing together and Heaven comes down on our assembly?
Take your pick. The book of Hebrews doesn't say specifically and I think that is on purpose.
What day are you looking forward to? Get together more and more between now and then and encourage one another. Let your expectation be known. Share it. People need a day to look forward to. 'The Day' is coming. Be ready. Be waiting. Count the hours. Invite as many as are willing to come.
" 'I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.' The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price." - Revelation 22:16-17 ESV
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What is 'the Day'?
This is a great principle. Are you looking for 'the Day'? Do you have an expectation in your heart? What days are you looking forward to? Christmas. An anniversary. The day of your retirement from work. Your birthday. Coming home after being away a long time.
The day referred to here is a 'God' day. We stir each other up in the visitation of God. It is the day when we will see Him move. Is it judgment day? Is it the day we get to Heaven? Is it the next time we all sing together and Heaven comes down on our assembly?
Take your pick. The book of Hebrews doesn't say specifically and I think that is on purpose.
What day are you looking forward to? Get together more and more between now and then and encourage one another. Let your expectation be known. Share it. People need a day to look forward to. 'The Day' is coming. Be ready. Be waiting. Count the hours. Invite as many as are willing to come.
" 'I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.' The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price." - Revelation 22:16-17 ESV
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Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Restoration When He Appears
This is what happens when God visits you...
"Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten." - Joel 1:2-4 ESV
""Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. "The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. "You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame. "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit." - Joel 2:23-29 ESV
Jesus will return as a king coming for His bride and He will bring personal restoration with Him. It could be this year.
"And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." - Matthew 24:31-37 ESV
Yes. He Is going to return but He visits us in this age. He makes His presence known in gatherings...
"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."" - Matthew 18:20 ESV
He also comes in the scriptures...
"Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me," - Psalm 40:7 KJV
When He comes He restores something. His full arrival will bring great restoration but His 'visitations' also have a restorative quality. He meets us in our spirit that has been made alive and our sanity is restored. Our emotions get renewed. Our thinking and perspective get aligned.
I want to be where God is visiting. I open my Bible or a booklet that was transcribed from an anointed message and God visits me. Scripture correlates with scripture and a piece of my time is restored. The space where I am sitting becomes holy and reclaimed for those moments. When God gives me an appointment with a person that is divinely scheduled and I have my 'feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace' that time is a time of restoration.
You and I may have experienced great loss in our lives but God can restore in ways beyond our imagining. His arrival mystically does that.
The Apostle Paul said this:
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing." - 2 Timothy 4:7-8 ESV
Yes. A crown just for those who want God to visit. It becomes their lifestyle. They invite Him. Amazing.
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"Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten." - Joel 1:2-4 ESV
""Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. "The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. "You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame. "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit." - Joel 2:23-29 ESV
Jesus will return as a king coming for His bride and He will bring personal restoration with Him. It could be this year.
"And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." - Matthew 24:31-37 ESV
Yes. He Is going to return but He visits us in this age. He makes His presence known in gatherings...
"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."" - Matthew 18:20 ESV
He also comes in the scriptures...
"Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me," - Psalm 40:7 KJV
When He comes He restores something. His full arrival will bring great restoration but His 'visitations' also have a restorative quality. He meets us in our spirit that has been made alive and our sanity is restored. Our emotions get renewed. Our thinking and perspective get aligned.
I want to be where God is visiting. I open my Bible or a booklet that was transcribed from an anointed message and God visits me. Scripture correlates with scripture and a piece of my time is restored. The space where I am sitting becomes holy and reclaimed for those moments. When God gives me an appointment with a person that is divinely scheduled and I have my 'feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace' that time is a time of restoration.
You and I may have experienced great loss in our lives but God can restore in ways beyond our imagining. His arrival mystically does that.
The Apostle Paul said this:
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing." - 2 Timothy 4:7-8 ESV
Yes. A crown just for those who want God to visit. It becomes their lifestyle. They invite Him. Amazing.
--
Friday, October 30, 2015
The Excitement Of Opening Day
We gather because we have an expectation that something is going to happen.
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." - Hebrews 10:23-25 ESV
Let me first say that one of the things that I love about being a believer is that it renders guilt and shame oriented obligation useless. Conviction is useful but guilt is foreign and abandoned. Jesus became my guilty one. My sins were put on Him. Guilt is never a means to gather because guilt is never a means period.
If you have been part of a play or complicated dramatic production what do you do as opening day gets closer? You gather together more and more to practice and prepare. Why? Is it guilt that draws you? No. It is desire. When that curtain goes up everything you have worked for will be presented to a group of people and that is exciting and scary and wonderful all at the same time.
'The Day' this passage in the book of Hebrews is talking about is the day of God's visitation.
When that curtain goes up the people see the actors and hear the music. Props are moved on cue and the things people are doing behind the scenes become visible to the spectators. At the same time the actors feel the audience and hear their applause. Both groups are seen and experienced by each other.
The same is true on God's day of visitation. God is there observing us and we are there observing Him. All of this is happening as something prepared beforehand is unfolding before us.
I don't want to be a person that has nothing to look forward to. I want to be a person that expects God to show up. God Is faithful. Since I know that to be true I always have something to look forward to. That manifests as a general air of expectation but it also manifests in specific expectations of divine appointments in scheduled gatherings.
If you have ever experienced a visitation of God then you know what it's like but if you haven't I'm not sure if I have the words to explain it. It is the most wonderful transcendent thing.
I don't want to miss it and grace removes all the barriers from us receiving all that God Is in those times. There is no guilt or shame there. God is there and we are in the best possible place to be for that moment in time.
--
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." - Hebrews 10:23-25 ESV
Let me first say that one of the things that I love about being a believer is that it renders guilt and shame oriented obligation useless. Conviction is useful but guilt is foreign and abandoned. Jesus became my guilty one. My sins were put on Him. Guilt is never a means to gather because guilt is never a means period.
If you have been part of a play or complicated dramatic production what do you do as opening day gets closer? You gather together more and more to practice and prepare. Why? Is it guilt that draws you? No. It is desire. When that curtain goes up everything you have worked for will be presented to a group of people and that is exciting and scary and wonderful all at the same time.
'The Day' this passage in the book of Hebrews is talking about is the day of God's visitation.
When that curtain goes up the people see the actors and hear the music. Props are moved on cue and the things people are doing behind the scenes become visible to the spectators. At the same time the actors feel the audience and hear their applause. Both groups are seen and experienced by each other.
The same is true on God's day of visitation. God is there observing us and we are there observing Him. All of this is happening as something prepared beforehand is unfolding before us.
I don't want to be a person that has nothing to look forward to. I want to be a person that expects God to show up. God Is faithful. Since I know that to be true I always have something to look forward to. That manifests as a general air of expectation but it also manifests in specific expectations of divine appointments in scheduled gatherings.
If you have ever experienced a visitation of God then you know what it's like but if you haven't I'm not sure if I have the words to explain it. It is the most wonderful transcendent thing.
I don't want to miss it and grace removes all the barriers from us receiving all that God Is in those times. There is no guilt or shame there. God is there and we are in the best possible place to be for that moment in time.
--
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