Can You Hear Me Now? Good!

Can You Hear Me Now? Good! 

            We have all seen the TV commercials and many of them even make me smile, but have you ever considered the fact, that God just might be saying the same thing to you? This past week one of our brothers Dave Sharon passed away and went home to be with the Lord. Last night at the wake I had an opportunity to talk at length with his wife and daughter and even though they will miss him terribly, they both know that Dave has gone to a better place. They know that Dave’s suffering is over and that they will all see each other again, Praise God! God promises this to believers in His Word, but we might ask ourselves why are they still crying and in mourning? It is only natural and even Jesus mourned and cried for His friend 

The death of Lazarus 

11  Then he said, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up. "12   The disciples said, "Lord, if he is sleeping, that means he is getting better!" 13  They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was having a good night's rest, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died. 14  Then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. 15  And for your sake, I am glad I wasn't there, because this will give you another opportunity to believe in me. Come, let's go see him. " 16  Thomas, nicknamed the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let's go, too--and die with Jesus." 

Christ arrives at Bethany 

17  When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. 18  Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem, 19  and many of the people had come to pay their respects and console Martha and Mary on their loss. 20  When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed at home. 21  Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22  But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask." 23  Jesus told her, "Your brother will rise again." 24  "Yes," Martha said, "when everyone else rises, on resurrection day." 25  Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again. 26  They are given eternal life for believing in me and will never perish. Do you believe this, Martha?" 27  "Yes, Lord," she told him. "I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God." 28  Then she left him and returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, "The Teacher is here and wants to see you." 29  So Mary immediately went to him. 30  Now Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. 31  When the people who were at the house trying to console Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus's grave to weep. So they followed her there. 32  When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell down at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 

He raises Lazarus 

33  When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, he was moved with indignation and was deeply troubled. 34  "Where have you put him?" he asked them. They told him, "Lord, come and see." 35  Then Jesus wept. 36  The people who were standing nearby said, "See how much he loved him." 37  But some said, "This man healed a blind man. Why couldn't he keep Lazarus from dying?" 38  And again Jesus was deeply troubled. Then they came to the grave. It was a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 39  "Roll the stone aside," Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man's sister, said, "Lord, by now the smell will be terrible because he has been dead for four days." 40  Jesus responded, "Didn't I tell you that you will see God's glory if you believe?" 41  So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, thank you for hearing me. 42  You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so they will believe you sent me." 43  Then Jesus shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" 44  And Lazarus came out, bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, "Unwrap him and let him go!" 45  Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen.

            Have you ever heard of an Indian Weather Rock? It is made up of three pieces of wood fastened together to form a tripod, with a piece of rope hanging down in the middle with a rock attached to it. If the rock is swinging back and forth, it is windy, if the rock isn’t moving it is calm. If there is a shadow of the rock on the ground the sun is out, no shadow it is cloudy. If the rock is warm, it is warm out, cold it is cold out. If the rock is wet it is raining out. Stupid right? I don’t think so, have you ever thought about Easter and at what time of the year it happens? It is in the spring and it is all about the death and resurrection of Christ. Now think back to the winter, all the leaves are gone from the trees and they appear to be dead. All the flowers that bloomed the summer before are gone and only their dead leaves remain. Just like when we die, all seems to be lost, and we are gone forever. Then spring comes, and all these dead things that we have been looking at, and thinking about for so long, come back to life again.  

            God gave us all senses but we don’t use them right and ignore much of the things that we get from our senses. So can you honestly answer the question, do you hear me now, really hear me? God speaks to us all the time, but I am afraid most of us miss what He is saying. We complicate everything and that is wrong, we have to look at things simply, like the weather rock and then the message from God will become clear. Acts 16: 31  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Bottom Line 

It is written in John 11: 25  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

26  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

God wants to know

Can You Hear Me Now?