October 19 - Luke 14:25-17:10, John 11:1-37

Good morning everyone,

Again today we are blessed to be reading more of the parables Jesus spoke to his disciples. They are all so familiar to us, to me, that I find my mind wanting to race through them. I intentionally have to slow my process down to fully take in the words and see the picture, see the story infold in my mind’s eye. 

This morning we covered the cost of being a disciple, that we basically must love Jesus above all others and be prepared to leave the things of the world behind while we go in peace to spread the Gospel. 

We also read the of the lost sheep, of the lost coin and the lost son. All parables showing us how important we, as children of God, are to Him. God goes looking for us when we are lost. That blows me away. You or me, one sheep out of millions, turn our back on him, and he seeks us out then extends His hand to help us back into the fold. I know that to be true! And there is rejoicing in heaven amongst the angels when even one sinner takes hold of His hand and repents. I love that! You should love it too :-) Our Abba is so full of joy to see us come to our senses, shun the enemy and step back onto the straight and narrow path. He loves us and welcomes us with open arms, showers us with all his affection and blessings. Our God is an awesome God. 

In Luke 17 Jesus said “If your brother sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” Please notice nowhere does it say, “forgive them but hold a grudge.” We are to forgive and then let it go. I would agree some things are harder to “forget” than others but we are called to do just that, so try. It is not okay in families or otherwise for people to say, “we just don’t talk” it is not Biblical and if you are in that type of a situation I would encourage you to fervently pray for that person, humble yourself and talk to them. Break the ice and do your part, over and over again, if necessary, to make nice and be united in Christ. If they are not believers, this would be showing them God’s love in you and that speaks volumes. Make sense?

Finally, Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, though we don’t actually get to that part today, was one of his more “What?!?” moments, if you know what I mean. It was a catapult for the plot by the Pharisees to kill Jesus, but I am getting ahead of the story. Today we read Jesus got word from Mary and Martha that Lazarus was ill, but instead of  rushing to get there Jesus took his time, dawdling about two more days before heading to Judea where the girls were waiting for Him to show up. It’s worth pointing out that this was not a, “Oh, I hope he will be okay until I get there,” situation. Oh No! Jesus intentionally stayed and knew exactly when Lazarus died after which He said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

When He gets there the girls were, of course, sad, mourning the loss of their brother. We’re told that when Jesus saw Mary weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled and Jesus wept. Friends, this is a true story of a real event. He had real sorrow in his heart and cried real tears. In the book of Hebrews we are told that Jesus is a high priest who sympathizes with us, he feels for us and prays on our behalf. So, even in the times when we are suffering and hurting, those times when we need to be strong and muster up every bit of faith we have, you need to believe, that in those times you are hurting Jesus is hurting too. His heart is breaking for you. So while “Jesus wept” may be the shortest verse in the Bible it speaks monumentally of how deep the Father’s love is for us. Amen?

Have a great day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …..