GOD KEEPS NO ONE WAITING UNLESS IT'S GOOD
John 11:17 "When Jesus finally got there, he found Lazarus already four days dead." Jesus kept all those mourning for Lazarus waiting. C. S. Lewis once said: "I am sure God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait."
LAZARUS COULDN'T UNWRAP HIMSELF
Then Jesus shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" And he came out, a cadaver, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face. Jesus told them, "Unwrap him and let him loose." John 11:43-44. Jesus healed Lazarus from head to toe but left him bound up. Wonder why? Are we like Lazarus, still bound up in some ways, yet so alive, and so needing our friends to walk alongside of us and unwrap the layer that is falling off.
RAISED FROM THE DEAD BACK TO A DANGEROUS LIFE
John 12:18 "The high priests plotted to kill Lazarus because so many of the Jews were going over and believing in Jesus on account of him. Can you imagine being raised from the dead only to find out that your life was in danger cause you were alive? The Pharisees didn't like that the world was in a "stampede after Jesus (12:19)." Follow Me...and it might cost you your life. Let it go, reckless in your love, and you'll have it forever, real and eternal (12:25).
GOD'S OUTSTRETCHED ARMS READY TO ACT
Who recognized God's arm, outstretched and ready to act? John 12:39. First they wouldn't believe, then they couldn't—again, just as Isaiah said: Their eyes are blinded and their hearts are hardened. Is God's Arm too short for you this day? Is His Arm outstretched ready to act for you this day? Do we recognize God in our life this day?
John 12: 36-40 Their eyes are blinded,
ReplyDeletetheir hearts are hardened,
So that they wouldn't see with their eyes
and perceive with their hearts,
And turn to me, God,
so I could heal them. 41-Isaiah said these things after he got a glimpse of God's cascading brightness that would pour through the Messiah."
Once again, scripture jumped off the computer into my heart.
"GOD'S CASCADING BRIGHTNESS THAT WOULD POUR THROUGH THE MESSIAH."
God in all His glory, pouring through Christ, then into our hearts and lives making us lights in the darkness.
Amen.
John 12:3
ReplyDelete"The fragrance of the oils filled the house."
Holiness filled the house of Lazarus. Christ was there. He came to sup. To drink.
To commune.
One who loved him, honored him. She gave all she had.
An offering.
Communion...An Offering...An Anointing.
I can just smell the fragrance.
Spikenard...a pound of very costly ointment. Mary offered it to Christ to honor him. She kept the day of his burial and Jesus Christ told Judas Iscariot, "Let her alone."
Everyone else came to him to receive.
Mary came to worship him with a grateful heart.
Inhale deeply the fragrance of spikenard. Take a moment to imagine the scent filling the room.
It would not be what you expected.
It is pungent. Earthy. Musky. Not sweet at all. To me, it is a repelling scent because of how pungent it is. Almost a masking odor. Proper for a burial.
She filled the room with the fragrance of the woods, the dirt, the organic matter of this world. Spikenard reminds me that we are created from dust and to dust we return. It reminds me that our bodies decay. And the stench of death is overwhelming. Spikenard masks that scent. Christ had to die. God in a body came to die.
Mary worshiped Jesus through this offering. She applied a scent that relieves tension and brings peace. She applied a scent that was gathered from roots in the high himalayans. She anointed him with a scent reserved for royalty.
And here, unlike the other gospels, her name is recorded for this act of worship. Only John gives her name.
Mary of Bethany.
Beloved of Jesus...just as each one of us are who love him just the same.
I have some of these candles and the "Servanthood" candles are the ones that are based on the scent of spikenard.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link:
http://www.hisessence.com/category_s/98.htm
I have no partnership with this company. I just know that many several years ago, I ordered the essential oil from another site and later found these candles and ordered them. The essential oil is good for scenting lightly (warning...this is a strong, musky smell). I wrote a note thanking Jesus for His sacrifice for me and lightly scented it with the essential oil. Then I put it in my Bible to remind me of the great cost of my salvation.
The candles are not so pungent. They are nice to have in a quiet place where you pray or read your Bible. This company offers another scent based on Christ as the King Bridegroom in Psalm 45.
Deborah, not too long ago some commented in the Bible study that I am doing that the smell of the oil was probably still in our Lord's hair when he was on the cross and He would have been able to smell it at that time. She did this shortly before He was to die for us and the smell would have stayed in His hair. What a blessing that must have been for Him. Also, to me our prayers and praise are a sweet fragance going
ReplyDeleteup to Him just the aroma filled that room they were all in on that night. Blessings, you have such a way with words.
Mary Lou, we are the fragrance of Christ, too.
ReplyDelete2 Cor. 2:15-16, "For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death to death, and to the other the aroma of life to life. And who is sufficient for these things?" (NKJV)
I know it had to have been an oasis moment for Jesus when Mary brought out that burial oil. They just didn't have an ability to understand what was about to take place. If Mary did, it was because God revealed it to her by His Spirit. It was just too much to fathom, that he would die and come back to life.
The sense of smell is such an important aspect of our nature. Sometimes when I walk through my house, I get just a sudden scent of my spikenard candle and I think about Him. It's good to have a scent to associate with Him.
Thanks for the encouragement about my thoughts. He's really close to my heart since I've been focusing so much on my blog about His death on the cross. My heart is so tender towards Him.
Jan, I like the fact that what spoke to you so much was a visual description. I can see you at your easel bringing that passage to life on a canvas.
ReplyDeleteI chose the sense of smell.
You chose the sense of sight.
Thinking now about the sense of hearing...the murmuring, the noisy clatter of dishes and pans, and Mary weeping at His feet.
The sense of touch...don't you think most of the Pharisees would have avoided touching Him? That is so heartbreaking to me. There He was God in the flesh before their eyes and they wouldn't touch Him. But Mary's hair and tears must have been like a caress to Him. Not sensual at all. Just loving and holy.
That leaves the sense of taste. Wine. Bread. Wonder what would have been the meal that night in Lazarus' home. Jesus may have even gone away hungry. I don't know.
Our senses are such a big part of what we remember about things. The spikenard would have overwhelmed that room that night.