Thursday, January 17, 2013

NOTE: I have been hospitalized since January 14 after suffering a heart attack. Because I work ahead a few days, I have meditations in the cue to go out through Friday, January18, 2013. I am scheduled for heart bypass surgery on Friday, and these meditations should resume by January 25.

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

Thursday, January 17, 2013        I Raised My Friend Lazarus from Death 

Page 175-177         John 11:1-54

The request for Jesus to go to Bethany created a conflict for Jesus. Bethany is on the Mount of Olives, just a few miles from Jerusalem. When Jesus left Jerusalem, the religious leaders were seeking to arrest him and to stone him to death. For Jesus to return to the area of Jerusalem would have put him in harm’s way. While Jesus’ disciples feared for his safety, Jesus was calculating the time. Was it God’s time for him to return? Jesus resolved the conflict through prayer.

Jesus knew that no matter what happened to Lazarus, God would be glorified. Therefore, he did not let the circumstance determine his response. Jesus waited until the Spirit prompted him to return to Bethany. Jesus did not react; he responded. Jesus responded to every circumstance in his life out of his understanding of God’s will for his life.

Martha and Mary’s ‘if only’ statements to Jesus reveal an underlying trust in his supernatural powers, but do not reveal an intimate knowledge of the person of Jesus. When he raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus was able to help them understand that the resurrection was not some future event that will happen some day; the resurrection is a person. Jesus, as God’s Messiah, was making the future hope of God’s restored Kingdom a present reality.

In the midst of this hugely difficult theological and doctrinal point to grasp, Jesus reveals the very heart of God. Jesus wept. Jesus fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down” (Isaiah 53:4).

The Palmist tells us that God cares deeply for us: “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” (Psalm 56:8)

God keeps our tears in a bottle and Jesus weeps with us.

What wondrous love is this,

O my soul, O my soul,

what wondrous love is this,

O my soul!

What Wondrous Love Is This?

Dr. Alexander Means, 1835

(My ancestor and name sake)

Sē’lah

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What word or phrase in today’s reading attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

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The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

Friday, January 18, 2013   I Was Once More Rejected in My Home Town 

Page 177      Matthew 13:53b-58; Mark 6:1-6a