(January 25, 2012)
Prayer House News!
Tonight is RPM! If you want to be blessed – come and seek God with us. Each meeting has been a powerful time of worship, prayer, teaching, more prayer, and then we end with praise!
-----------------------------------------------------
Awana’s start at 6:15pm
------------------------------------------------------
My message from Sunday is the devotional for this week.
============================
Devotional!
Come Forth!
Mark 6:5 And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands upon a few sick people and healed them.
There is both the word “miracle” and the word “heal” in this verse. Jesus did not do a miracle in their midst but he did heal some. You have heard me say many times that there is a difference between these two items. The word “healed” in this verse is the Greek word, therapeuo (ther-ap-yoo'-o). It’s where we get the word therapy from. But there are deeper meanings to the word. It means to wait upon someone to relieve them of disease.
The picture it paints would be like a nurse or a mom – one who waits on someone to relieve them of disease. However, that is quite different than what the word miracles means.
MIRACLE is the word dunamis (doo'-nam-is) which means force. It’s where we get the word dynamite or power from. A miracle rarely relates to what the word healing means. Many of the times when we read of Jesus praying for someone and healing them – it doesn’t really relate to something that happens in an instant. It relates to a healing that comes through the natural process of time – therapy. Jesus calls those things that are not as though they were – so when Jesus prayed for them he called them healed even if it took some time for it to take place.
A miracle is something much different than a healing. A miracle is instant – it violates the natural order of things whereas therapy follows the natural order of things. Miracles are powerful. Many times we are asking God for a healing when we really need a miracle. If I break my finger and ask God to heal it – then it will gradually get better – because all healing comes from God. But it I take my broken finger and present it to the Lord and it is instantly healed – that’s a miracle.
Jesus didn’t do any miracles because of their unbelief but out of his mercy he did a few healings. Healings are not so controversial because people don’t have to believe they come from God. You can go to your doctor and proclaim that Jesus healed you and he’ll condescendingly agree with you until you leave the room. However, miracles force them to consider the fact that Jesus is Lord.
So it’s one thing to not believe as a non-believer. But when believers struggle with believing – that complicates the matter. In the case of the non-believer they are dealing with believing for their salvation. With the believer our struggles come with believing for miracles not our salvation, we have already believed for that.
I’m going to sight two instances in the chapters we have read so far. The first one has to do with our text for today.
John 11:21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
John 11:32 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.”
Now we are going to go back to some verses from last week. In John 5 there is the account of the lame man who had waiting by the pool for 38 years in order to get healed.
John 5:5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. (6) When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”
What an interesting question. Do you want to be healed?
John 5:7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.
He just gives excuses as to why he can’t be healed. There is no one to put me into the pool – others always get there before me, etc. etc. When he comes to Mary and Martha they both said, “If only you had been here.” They too had their reasons of why their brother died. They had faith for the past. If only you had been here, if only that accident hadn’t happened, if only my dad had raised me differently, if only me schoolmates had treated me differently – things would be different today. Faith for the past is easy.
They also had faith for the future. We know that one day in the resurrection everything will be good again. One day I’ll be over this problem, one day I’ll be able to get my mate to do this or that and life will be better. One day my neighbor will stop kicking my dog and life will be good again. Faith for the future is easy.
Faith for today is what Jesus is dealing with in both of these cases. But instead of faith we give excuses as to why it won’t work. Another word for unbelief could be the word excuse. We continually make excuses as to why we can’t be healed or receive the miracle we need. We believe in Jesus as our savior but we are struggling with believing for the miracle we now need.
We are double minded.
James 1:6-8 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. (7) For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; (8) he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
James says the double minded man will not receive anything from the Lord. Double-mindedness relates to having two minds at the same time. When Jesus said to the lame man, “Do you want to be healed” don’t you think in his mind he was saying, “Yes, that is why I’ve been lying here for 38 years hoping to get into the pool when it is stirred.” He is of two minds, he wants to be healed but at the same time he is telling Jesus why he can’t be.
Mary and Martha do you want to see your brother again? “Yes, Lord we do, that is why we are saying if only you had been there.” In both cases Jesus was trying to get them to believe. If you believe you will see him rise from the dead. To the lame man, “If you believe you can just take up your bed and walk.” But you must believe without excuse.”
Jesus comes to us and says, “Do you believe I can take care of you financially?” We say, “Yes, Lord,” while in the back of our minds we are thinking of our rich uncle we can go to for help, or that small loan we can take out. That is being double-minded. It’s faith for the future but not necessarily for the moment.
===========================
Medication: A Merry Heart
Cute Baby
When we brought our new-born son to the pediatrician for his
first checkup, the doctor said, "You have a cute baby."
Smiling, I said, "I'll bet you say that to all the new
parents."
"No," he replied, "just to those whose babies are really
good-looking."
"So what do you say to the others?" I asked.
"He looks just like you."
Prayer House News!
Tonight is RPM! If you want to be blessed – come and seek God with us. Each meeting has been a powerful time of worship, prayer, teaching, more prayer, and then we end with praise!
-----------------------------------------------------
Awana’s start at 6:15pm
------------------------------------------------------
My message from Sunday is the devotional for this week.
============================
Devotional!
Come Forth!
Mark 6:5 And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands upon a few sick people and healed them.
There is both the word “miracle” and the word “heal” in this verse. Jesus did not do a miracle in their midst but he did heal some. You have heard me say many times that there is a difference between these two items. The word “healed” in this verse is the Greek word, therapeuo (ther-ap-yoo'-o). It’s where we get the word therapy from. But there are deeper meanings to the word. It means to wait upon someone to relieve them of disease.
The picture it paints would be like a nurse or a mom – one who waits on someone to relieve them of disease. However, that is quite different than what the word miracles means.
MIRACLE is the word dunamis (doo'-nam-is) which means force. It’s where we get the word dynamite or power from. A miracle rarely relates to what the word healing means. Many of the times when we read of Jesus praying for someone and healing them – it doesn’t really relate to something that happens in an instant. It relates to a healing that comes through the natural process of time – therapy. Jesus calls those things that are not as though they were – so when Jesus prayed for them he called them healed even if it took some time for it to take place.
A miracle is something much different than a healing. A miracle is instant – it violates the natural order of things whereas therapy follows the natural order of things. Miracles are powerful. Many times we are asking God for a healing when we really need a miracle. If I break my finger and ask God to heal it – then it will gradually get better – because all healing comes from God. But it I take my broken finger and present it to the Lord and it is instantly healed – that’s a miracle.
Jesus didn’t do any miracles because of their unbelief but out of his mercy he did a few healings. Healings are not so controversial because people don’t have to believe they come from God. You can go to your doctor and proclaim that Jesus healed you and he’ll condescendingly agree with you until you leave the room. However, miracles force them to consider the fact that Jesus is Lord.
So it’s one thing to not believe as a non-believer. But when believers struggle with believing – that complicates the matter. In the case of the non-believer they are dealing with believing for their salvation. With the believer our struggles come with believing for miracles not our salvation, we have already believed for that.
I’m going to sight two instances in the chapters we have read so far. The first one has to do with our text for today.
John 11:21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
John 11:32 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.”
Now we are going to go back to some verses from last week. In John 5 there is the account of the lame man who had waiting by the pool for 38 years in order to get healed.
John 5:5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. (6) When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”
What an interesting question. Do you want to be healed?
John 5:7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.
He just gives excuses as to why he can’t be healed. There is no one to put me into the pool – others always get there before me, etc. etc. When he comes to Mary and Martha they both said, “If only you had been here.” They too had their reasons of why their brother died. They had faith for the past. If only you had been here, if only that accident hadn’t happened, if only my dad had raised me differently, if only me schoolmates had treated me differently – things would be different today. Faith for the past is easy.
They also had faith for the future. We know that one day in the resurrection everything will be good again. One day I’ll be over this problem, one day I’ll be able to get my mate to do this or that and life will be better. One day my neighbor will stop kicking my dog and life will be good again. Faith for the future is easy.
Faith for today is what Jesus is dealing with in both of these cases. But instead of faith we give excuses as to why it won’t work. Another word for unbelief could be the word excuse. We continually make excuses as to why we can’t be healed or receive the miracle we need. We believe in Jesus as our savior but we are struggling with believing for the miracle we now need.
We are double minded.
James 1:6-8 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. (7) For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; (8) he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
James says the double minded man will not receive anything from the Lord. Double-mindedness relates to having two minds at the same time. When Jesus said to the lame man, “Do you want to be healed” don’t you think in his mind he was saying, “Yes, that is why I’ve been lying here for 38 years hoping to get into the pool when it is stirred.” He is of two minds, he wants to be healed but at the same time he is telling Jesus why he can’t be.
Mary and Martha do you want to see your brother again? “Yes, Lord we do, that is why we are saying if only you had been there.” In both cases Jesus was trying to get them to believe. If you believe you will see him rise from the dead. To the lame man, “If you believe you can just take up your bed and walk.” But you must believe without excuse.”
Jesus comes to us and says, “Do you believe I can take care of you financially?” We say, “Yes, Lord,” while in the back of our minds we are thinking of our rich uncle we can go to for help, or that small loan we can take out. That is being double-minded. It’s faith for the future but not necessarily for the moment.
===========================
Medication: A Merry Heart
Cute Baby
When we brought our new-born son to the pediatrician for his
first checkup, the doctor said, "You have a cute baby."
Smiling, I said, "I'll bet you say that to all the new
parents."
"No," he replied, "just to those whose babies are really
good-looking."
"So what do you say to the others?" I asked.
"He looks just like you."
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