Jesus Wept

John 11:33-36 – “When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, And said, ‘Where have ye laid him?’ They said unto Him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept.  Then said the Jews, ‘Behold how He loved him.'”

Our passage today comes from the story of the resurrection of Lazarus. Lazarus, one of the good friends of Jesus, was ill as Christ was in another town; therefore, Mary and Martha had sent messengers to Jesus to try to call Him back to Bethany to heal their brother. When Jesus received the message instead of running back, He stayed an extra two days where He was before heading towards Bethany. By the time, He arrived at Bethany, Lazarus was already dead and buried. So when Jesus came into town and met both Mary and Martha, both of them responded in the same way, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” It was as if both Mary and Martha thought that Jesus had no care for them or their brother, because this Son of God, this man who could heal a person without even being in their presence, had not done anything to prevent His close friend’s death.

How often, we think of our God in this same way. We feel as if God is a distant, uncaring God – One that just created the world and left it to handle itself. We feel like He can’t understand anything we are going through and is just too big to relate. But, “Boy, are we wrong!” In our passage today, we find that when Jesus saw Mary and the other Jews around her weeping, “He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled.” Christ saw their pain, felt it, and related, to the point where even He wept. Our God is not like the unfeeling idols that are worshipped by all these false religions. The idols that cannot understand or feel anything but are cold and distant although in our presence. Our God sees our hearts, feels our emotions, and is moved to comfort us. He longs to comfort us. He even bears our sorrows with us. In Hebrews 4:15, we are told that we have an high priest that can understand our infirmities and troubles. Take comfort that Christ also cries with you.

What is amazing about this story is that Christ does not just leave the problem alone by crying tears and leaving. Instead, He works an unbelievable miracle that could not be matched by anything else that He had done previously – He rose Lazarus from the dead, bringing more glory to God than just healing him when he was sick. Christ can feel our troubles and will deliver us from them (maybe not right when we want it) but certainly in His time in a manner that will bring glory to God.

God Is Never Gone. Reflect and Remember.

Psalm 77

¹  I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me. ² In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my soreran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted. ³ I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. ⁴ Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. ⁵ I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. ⁶ I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search. ⁷ Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? ⁸ Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? ⁹ Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. ¹⁰ And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.

¹¹ I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. ¹² I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings. ¹³ Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? ¹⁴ Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people. ¹⁵ Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. ¹⁶ The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. ¹⁷ The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad. ¹⁸ The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook. ¹⁹ Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known. ²⁰ Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.”

When troubles arise in life and are completely beating one down, a Christian usually turns to the book of Psalms for comfort, because many of the Psalms seem to relate perfectly with things that are going on in one’s life. It is almost as if that one Psalm was made for him for just that moment. It is like having a special love letter written by the LORD to you for that occassion. The psalm that will be spoken of just briefly tonight is one that is really relevant to me during this time in my life. Well, not so much me, but for the one friend that has been struggling with trusting Christ in the midst of all the trials.

In Psalm 77, we see two distinct parts, the trouble and doubt (vs. 1-9) and the remembrance and trust (vs. 10-20). At first, Asaph, the writer of this psalm speaks of how he calls out to the Lord (vs. 1-2). He calls out not in a simple “going to bed”/”praying before a meal” prayer, but he literally cries out to the Lord. He states in vs. 2 that He is calling out even until the night and without wearying, in that, he continued to call out night and day. But during all this time, he could not find comfort (vs. 2b). Asaph then tried to remember God, but only found trouble, and the more he tried to think about God, it seemed that all that came about was more overwhelming sorrow (vs. 3). From vs. 4 -9, Asaph then begins to question God’s presence and love, asking “Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath He in anger shut up His tender mercies?” He calls out with, “Will the Lord cast off for ever?” Asaph was down in the depths of utter depression. He tried to find comfort by meditating on the Lord but that had failed and only caused him to doubt God’s love and mercy even more. So many of us, like my friend, have gotten to this point in our lives with God. We feel like the troubles just keep coming and coming and when we cry out to Him, there is no answer, just more trouble. It almost feels as if God removed al His mercy and love and just allowed pain and suffering to take over.

But what we find is that the Psalmist does not just stop at the bellows of depression, but from vs. 10-20 finds encouragement in the Lord. In vs. 10, He makes the conscious effort of appealing the Lord. He begins his recovery by first deciding not to try to handle the trouble on his own but now to appeal it to the Lord. Second, it states that he began to consider all God has done and all God is. He thought about the work of God and how powerful he was. He thought of God’s holiness and His power. He thought about what God had done for the people of Israel in the past, which includes himself. He thought of how nature is under God’s control. And through all of this he finds comfort. Asaph finds comfort from all the sin and trouble by considering who his God is and what He had done for him. Take a few moments during your trouble and trial and don’t just muddle through a prayer of release from trouble or removing for that thorn in the flesh, but instead use the time to remember who your God is – the Creator and Lord of the Universe. Use the time to reflect on all God has done for you – how He came to earth giving up glory for a lowly manger, how He died for your sins a horrible, painful death on a cross meant for you, how He was scorned and ridiculed without remark for our transgressions, how He provides and loves and allows you to be a part of His kingdom. When you take some time and reflect on all of that you will soon find that your God is faithful. He is not out of mercy and love and grace, but you may have just been missing His work because you were too busy focused on the trouble. I recommend that every time you feel like giving up on God, turn back to Psalm 77 and reflect.

He Knows Our Sufferings

Exodus 3:7b-8a – “…For I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.”

When we think of God, the picture that usually comes to our head is this great and massive Being that sits upon a throne high and lofty, majestic and powerful. We think of a Person who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present. And then we think that He might not be able to understand anything that we are going through because He is just too big. We tell ourselves that God has no clue and cannot understand the troubles that we have, but in this passage today, we are corrected.

The people of Israel at this time were enslaved to the Egyptians. The Egyptians were treating them harshly, demanding that they even drown their children in the Nile if they were boys in order to prevent the Israelites from growing any more dominant. In this state of trouble, they called upon the LORD, and He heard them. But even more than just hearing them, He sends them deliverance through the hands of Moses. Interestingly enough, when He speaks to Moses, He first states that He knows their sorrows. God knew what the peple of Israel were going through. Then second, God speaks of how He does not stop at only a knowledge of the trouble and an understanding of it, but He was seeking a deliverance for His people to bring them not only out of the bad of Egypt but also to the good of the Promised Land of Canaan.

We as Christians and disciples of Jesus Christ must also remember that the Lord watches, cares, understands, and provides a way of deliverance for all our sorrows, sufferings, trials, and temptations. Hebrews 4:15 states, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus Christ, our God, know all our sorrows and is seeking to deliver us from any bondage or trouble we might have. Let us sit and rest and wait upon His deliverance, for when it comes, it will come with not only freedom but blessings as well.

ARISE, SHINE!

Isaiah 60:1-3 – “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”

When I went to Tennessee for a vacation about 4-5 years ago, my family and I visited Mammoth Cave, the world’s largest cave. To tell you the truth, paying to walk into a giant cave is not that exciting especially when there was little to no geological structures to look at; instead, all we got was a big giant room. But one amazing thing, the guides did that at least made the cave bearable was that they closed all the added lights and let all us tourists sit in darkness just for a few seconds. It was completely and fully dark. One could not see anything in front or behind. I would dare say that if I had placed my hand right in front of my face, I still would not have seen it. In that darkness, the guide then lighted his lighter, causing all eyes at once to be drawn to that one solitary flame. It was then they opened the lights and we could then see again.

Sadly, the world we are living in today is also encompassed with darkness similar to that in that cave. Just like that cave, so many people are on this earth not being able to see their hand right in front of them. They have no clue that the path they are walking on is leading to destruction and at the end of their life all that is left for them is death and hellfire. They are basically walking in darkness towards a precipice that would lead to never ending solitude. This same description of the world was given in Isaiah 60:2, “For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people…” Spiritual darkness resides over the eyes of the people of this earth, and they need to see the light. Fortunately, this sad, depressing description of our current state need not stay that way, for Isaiah says, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.” Isaiah was addressing this command to the people of Israel, which were chosen as God’s people for one purpose to be a light to the Gentiles who were living in darkness and draw them to the knowledge of the one true God. This job has now passed on to the church, which means that each and every one of us Christians, which make up the church, have this job. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus calls us the light of the world. We are to be a city set on a hill, which cannot be hidden. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we must be like that flame of light inside Mammoth cave, drawing all eyes to it. So dear Christians, will you heed the words of Isaiah, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee”? Christ is living in your life, His glory resides in you, will you let his light shine? Will you be that light that as Isaiah staes will draw kings and Gentiles to come? Will you be that light that illuminates the darkness?

Disciples of Jesus Christ, ARISE, SHINE.

Flip-Flopping? NO. Unbreakable? YES!

John 10:35 – “…and the Scripture cannot be broken.”

Going into the political season due to the US Presidential election of 2012, we will hear a lot about flip-flopping. Flip-flopping is not in reference to a person wearing flip-flops to the beach or anywhere on that matter but is a term used to describe a person who says one thing at the beginning and changes opinions later. It is in reference to a person flipping one way and then flopping another as a fish would flip-flop on the surface floor.

Unfortunately, when difficulties come into our lives, we begin to question our God. We begin to think that he like many of these political candidates is also a flip-flopper. He promises that He is a good God and will work all things together for good to them that love Him, yet He allow one of our friends or family members to have cancer. He promises that He will guide each and every one of our steps if we will trust in Him, yet it seems so often that He has not shown us any direction for the longest time. At times like these, all we can do is look up at the sky and yell out, “Why? How can you be this way God? You promised.”

Today’s passage from John 10:35 was spoken by Jesus to address the veracity of the Scriptures, in other words, the truthfulness. In stating, “The Scripture cannot be broken,” He was really saying, “The Word of God is true. It cannot change or be altered or modified. It will follow through with what it says.” Although Jesus Christ was using this verse at that time to counter arguments against Him being God, we can definitely glean some encouragement from this verse for our times of trouble. When we feel like God is not faithful to His promises, remember this verse, for it reminds us that God’s Word will never fail, come back void, or change. It is always faithful and will be faithful. It just may not be in our timing. Take encouragment that His Word will never fade away but will continue to stand even though the grass and flowers may fade. Take joy that He has promised that His plans for you are of good and not of evil. Take joy that He has promised that He will never leave you or forsake you. Take joy that He loves you so much that He sent His Son for you. As you encounter trials in your life, remember God’s Word and then rest in it, knowing that “the Scripture cannot be broken.”