Sick and Waiting – John Ch. 11

Posted on June 14, 2017 by dkoop

Sickness and death do not indicate that God has rejected someone or that they have done something wrong.  Neither we nor our loved ones are exempt from sickness or death. In John chapter 11 close friends of Jesus, that Jesus loved were experiencing sickness and death, yet he did not rush to spare them grief. The presence of pain and suffering in the lives of faithful disciples of Jesus can teach us that as Christians we do not have different experiences in life, rather, we experience life differently with Christ. Our hope in Jesus does not insulate us from life’s difficulties, but it does provide a way through and beyond them. God can use difficult experiences to make us more compassionate servants for him as we console others.

In today’s passage out of John 11, we will see two ladies, Mary and Martha who felt hopeless and angry.  Their brother Lazarus was sick and dying, but Jesus did not go to help.  Jesus loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus but did not help them when they expected it. This is an interesting picture of Jesus, someone who doesn’t immediately take us out of our situations. Maybe you’re a little uncomfortable with that image. But there was a reason, which we will see.  Jesus eventually came through for Mary, Martha and Lazarus and He will come through for you.  Like Mary, Martha and Lazarus we too need to know that life and faith will be difficult.  They needed Jesus to help them through difficult times and we will too.

I NEED JESUS BECAUSE…

Sickness And Death Will Be A Part Of My Life

1 A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha…3 So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”

There are many questions that immediately come to mind when we read through chapter 11 of John.  Why was Lazarus sick? Why did Jesus wait two days after hearing Lazarus was sick? Why did Lazarus have to die? The questions are endless.

And so are the questions we often have as we go through our own type of difficulty and dillema. The “whys” of life can drive us crazy.

Understand that Jesus loved Lazarus. The Bible is very clear on that. Jesus loved him, but Lazarus was sick! You can be a friend of Jesus and still be sick! You can love Jesus and still be sick! That’s pretty clear in the scriptures. The love of God does not exempt one from sickness or sorrow or physical death.

Our sickness could be a number of things: physical, emotional, mental, family problems, and so on. Sickness can be termed as “that which causes any area to be infected with imperfection.” Here on earth human nature is infected with imperfection. 

Even If He Delays Helping He Is In Control So I Should Keep My Faith

5 Although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 6 he stayed where he was for the next two days and did not go to them. 7 Finally after two days, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again.”

  17 When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days.

Jesus waited two days before he came to help.  John says “finally!” he goes.  When your waiting on God to answer a prayer, for Jesus to help you it seems like forever.  When he does help you may feel like saying “finally!”    It says in verse 17 that “when he arrived Lazarus has been in his tomb for 4 days”

Have you noticed the attitude of Jesus as he heard the news of Lazarus’ sickness? He knew that Lazarus was dying but it didn’t seem to affect Jesus at all. He just kept doing what he needed to do. Jesus wasn’t upset in the least for he already knew what was going to happen when he reached Bethany. He already knew that there were no impossible situations and that his power to bring about a resurrection was not limited by any circumstances.

I think it would help us greatly to realize that our seemingly hard or impossible circumstances are nothing to God. His power transcends our trouble. His power is not limited by our faithlessness or our hopelessness. Jesus has resurrection power and he cannot only bring victory when we haven’t given up hope, but he is just as able to bring us the victory after we have long given up hope.

When it seems that our finances have already died and the stink is beginning to arise; when it seems that our health is completely gone and the doctors have given up on us; when it seems that God has waited too long and the stink of our unbelief, distrust, and hopelessness rises; that’s when Jesus is ready to show His power and glory in us.

When Jesus finally arrived in Bethany, the family of Lazarus was long past having hope. Lazarus was already dead, buried and his grave was sealed.  One of worst lies we can believe is “it’s over and there is nothing that God can or will do about it now.” It could come from our own disbelief or from the enemy’s whisper.  If he can get you to give up on God, then the he has accomplished his goal.

That should be our first indication that God isn’t finished with us yet because the devil can’t speak the truth, therefore we should realize that God’s answer is still coming in his own time and in His own way. Just keep on trusting and having faith in God.

Perhaps your prayer seems that it will never be answered. We find ourselves in distress over finances, relationships within the family, and any number of things and it seems that God has turned a deaf ear to your cry. Things have gone from very bad to much worse and now there is no visible way to make things right.

You are wrapped up in doubt and fear. Your faith is blinded; your hands and feet are bound up from working for the Lord.  A stone of unbelief has been rolled across the door to your heart and has now convinced you that your attitude, your heart and your life stinks to God so it’s time to quit and walk away. You are shrouded in a tomb of darkness and your spiritual grave is sealed and your life is over and hopeless.

Why does Jesus let us go so far before he comes? Why must we sometimes get so deep into our trouble and our attitudes begin to stink before he comes to our rescue?  Jesus wants us to know that it’s not in our power to overcome our problems and our own sinful hearts. That power must come through “His Resurrection Power” It will come in his time and in his manner.  But we must remain hopeful, not bitter.  We should be pleasant not stinky.

Jesus arrived in Bethany four days after they’d buried Lazarus. Martha greeted him first, and told him, Lord, if only you had been here YOU could have saved him. And Jesus said: “Lazarus will rise again.” Martha knew enough about Jewish theology to know that one day, all the graves will open and the dead will rise from them. She said: “I know he will rise again in the resurrection of the dead.”
Martha wouldn’t be comforted, I know about the resurrection — but that’s so far off. Jesus then uttered the basis for all history’s hope and direction – “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE!”

What a claim! Jesus claimed to be in charge of everything:  life, death, the afterlife and everything between.

Death is the great equalizer in life. We may all have different lives, come from different backgrounds, experience different joys and sorrows, but the one thing that links all mankind together is death. We are all going to die.

Some of the questions that mankind has tried to answer about death are:
Is death the end? Is there life after death? Why is there death?  Will we live again?

We will see that Jesus answers these questions in our next post.  Plus we will see that Jesus enters our pain and sorrow and shares it with us.  He is no stranger to grief.

Darrell

www.RidgeFellowship.com

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Jesus Satisfies – John 10

Posted on June 10, 2017 by dkoop

Jesus Satisfies Me

10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. As our Good Shepherd, Jesus here promises that when we follow him, we will have a satisfying life or some translations say “Abundant life”
The Greek word “perissos” means:
• exceeding some number or measure or rank or need
over and above, more than is necessary, superadded
• exceeding abundantly, supremely
• something further, more, much more than all
superior, extraordinary, surpassing, uncommon

God is not interested in taking all the fun out of our lives. He is not interested in making us follow a bunch of rules that put everything good out of bounds! He wants us to experience life abundantly!
But it comes from following Him and His voice. When we follow our voice or the voices of imposters, or thieves we get hurt.

Examples: Christ says sex is for marriage. We think – I don’t want to follow that! So we follow our own. And we end up with sexual addiction, teen pregnancy, abortion, disease, emotional scars, and a cycle of poverty.
On the other hand if I follow God’s word I enjoy sexual relations without fear of disease, abandonment, and unwanted pregnancies. I enjoy to the full the benefits of what God has created without all the side effects.

Christ says we are to forgive those who hurt us. We think – I don’t want to follow that! I’d rather harbor bitterness and seek revenge. And we end up with  ulcers, hatred, divorce, pain, and emotional scars, physical violence.
On the other hand if I follow God’s word I discover that when I forgive others I really set myself free. I discover that I am more at peace. That others lose their power over my emotions. And I set into motion a cycle of grace into their lives.

Christ says we are to spend time with Him and with His body the church: through, serving, giving, worship, and fellowship in a small group. We think – I don’t want to do that. I want to watch TV and get on the Internet. And we end up with hectic lives full of more information than we know what to do with. We end up with images in our minds that are unholy, which set into motion a whole new cycle of sinfulness in our lives.

Jesus Saves Me

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock.13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

In the book Chicken Soup for the Soul, Eric Butterworth tells the story of a college professor who had his sociology class go into the Baltimore slums to get case histories of 200 young boys. The students were asked to write an evaluation of each boy’s future. In every case the students wrote, “He hasn’t got a chance.”
Twenty-five years later another sociology professor came across this earlier study. He had his students do follow up on the same 200 boys who were now men. With the exception of 20 boys who had moved away or died, the students learned that 176 of the remaining 180 had achieved more than ordinary success as lawyers, doctors, and businessmen. The professor was astounded and decided to pursue the matter further. Fortunately, all the men were in the area and he was able to ask each one, “How do you account for your success?” In each case the reply came with feeling, “There was a teacher.”
The teacher was still alive, so he sought her out and asked the old but still alert lady what magic formula she had used to pull these boys out of the slums into successful achievement.
The teacher’s eyes sparkled and her lips broke into a gentle smile. “It’s really very simple,” she said. “I loved those boys.”
Their success was based on the love of a teacher.
Our success as followers of Jesus is based on the love of a shepherd who was willing to not only teach us, give us an example, but also to lay down his life for us.  Without him, WE DON”T HAVE A CHANCE.
He loved us enough that our sinfulness became his burden.
He loved us enough that his perfect rightness became ours.
He loved us enough to suffer on the cross for us. To save us from eternal death, to prepare us to meet His Father. He will keep us safe in the sheepfold.

Jesus has a Relationship with Me

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.

 He “Knows” His Sheep  “ginosko” – to know experientially and was used as a Jewish expression for physical intimacy. This is not book knowledge, but personal knowledge.  Jesus knows you and wants you to know Him. He knows everything about you – good and bad – and He loves you anyway. You matter to Him.

Just as a shepherd knows the individual bleats and bahs of his sheep, the Good Shepherd knows every detail about us.  It is a mutual relationship – He knows the sheep and the sheep know the shepherd. They know His voice, His touch, His compassion, His love, and His discipline – and we experience His leading every day. Do you know this relationship?

Have you let the Good Shepherd give you his protection, his care and leadership?  Today could be your day.  Today could be the moment in time when you step across the line and connect with God’s flock.  Today could be the day when you invite the Good Shepherd to invade every fiber of your being.  But you are never going to experience rest or the Shepherd’s protection, guidance and peace until you make the wonderful choice to make Jesus your Savior.

Darrell

www.RidgeFellowship.com

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What Do You Need to Sleep? John 10

Posted on June 9, 2017 by dkoop

What do you need to sleep well? I like to have a good firm pillow.  Do you need a firm pillow to sleep or a soft pillow?  Do you need a soft mattress or a hard mattress?   I like a firm mattress and I have to have a fan on.  Do you need to have music or TV? Or some noise?  How about a dimly lit room or a dark room?  Sheep are the same way, they have certain needs met before they can get to sleep.  I think that God wants us to understand how we are like sheep.   The shepherd who shepherds his flock is going to make sure some things are taken care of if the sheep are ready to rest.

First of all, he will make sure that they are free from fear.  Sheep are very fearful animals.  They are always looking over their shoulders.  And they don’t rest until their fears are taken care of.  They are thinking about the lions, bears or the wild dogs.  One little field mouse or one lone jackrabbit can stampede an entire flock of sheep.  It will freak them out.  But when the shepherd is on the scene, and sheep make eye contact with him, their fears subside and then they are ready to lie down.

A lot of us deal with fear, don’t we?  Fear of the unexpected.  Maybe the fear of a disaster.  And we are ambushed by these fears.  The three biggest fears that we face are the fear of death, the fear of living alone and the fear of failure.  What fear is tyrannizing and paralyzing your life?  Maybe you have just gotten a grim report from the doctor.  Maybe you are experiencing gridlock in a family situation.  Maybe you find yourself looking over your shoulder.  And maybe like a sheep, you are thinking about running, about getting out of there.  Don’t do it.  Focus on the Good Shepherd.  You have got to realize and understand that Jesus, Himself, is near.  He is right beside you.  And the moment you understand that, the fear will subside and then and only then are you ready to rest.

The shepherd not only takes care of fear, he also takes care of friction.  You see, sheep are competitive.  They are jealous.  They are always butting each other, trying to be the top sheep.  Rivalries are involved.  But as shepherd Phil Keller writes, “When I walk on the scene and the sheep look at me, suddenly they begin to forget about the competition and the rivalries and the problems they are having in the flock.”  It doesn’t matter what firm or organization or team or company you are involved in, we are all trying to butt others out of the way, all trying to be the top chief, all trying to get that status.  We deal with the same sort of issues that the sheep deal with.  Yet, the Lord Jesus Christ challenges us to look at Him, to focus on Him because when we do that, we forget about the petty rivalries and problems and friction with others.

Maybe you are saying to yourself that you have friction with someone, but they have not forgiven you.  The person has messed you around.  The person has abused you.  The person has stabbed you in the back.  We serve a God of forgiveness.  Jesus Christ has forgiven all of our sins – past, present and future.  And most of the world has not accepted His forgiveness.  Yet, Christ did the work.  He forgave us.  We are challenged, in fact, we have a mandate from the Good Shepherd, Himself, to forgive others no matter if they have abused us, wronged us, stabbed us.   No matter if they will not forgive us, not admit that they are wrong, we are challenged to forgive them, to release them, to get rid of the friction because the Good Shepherd wants me and wants you to rest.  Too many times in my life I have held on to the friction that I felt for others and couldn’t get the rest that He desired me to have.

The shepherd makes sure the sheep are free of fear and free from friction.  Also he makes sure they are free from flies. Our church mission trips to Guatemala and India have put me in contact with mosquitoes that carry Malaria.  At night we have to close doors and put on repellent or it makes it hard to sleep. And the sheep cannot and will not lie down if he is being bugged.  You know how some people just bug us?  What do you do about it?  Think about the shepherd.  A shepherd will take his sheep and put repellent on their bodies.  He will dip the sheep to get rid of the ticks and the fleas.  We are simply to present ourselves to Jesus Christ and say that we are exposing everything to Him.  Then we ask Him to take care of all of the things that are bugging us.  We ask to be bathed in His repellent, dipped in His love and forgiveness and grace.  And after that, we will be able to lie down.  The Good Shepherd protects me so I can rest and live properly.

But He also leads and protects me in another way.  Sheep get water from two major sources.  The first source will probably surprise you.  Sheep get a lot of water from just grazing.  When they eat the dew-drenched grass, they are taking in liquid.  And if there is a lot of dew on the grass, they don’t have to drink a lot of water since they get it from their vegetation.  Sheep naturally get up very early.  They are early risers.  They will get up at dawn and graze.  And a smart shepherd is gong to lead the sheep to dew-drenched grass.  They will get the liquid that way and can be refreshed.  And the shepherd is thrilled because he has taken care of his sheep.

It is the same way in our spiritual pilgrimage.  The greatest Christ followers I know, the people who live life with confidence, endurance and a vision, are the ones who feed regularly on God’s word.  Some set aside time in the day to talk to God in prayer and to read His word.  As they do so, they experience Him and they are refreshed.  And the Good Shepherd, Jesus, stands right beside them and is pleased.  Sheep get water from the dew-drenched grass.

Sheep also get water by drinking, by just lapping it up.  Sheep are not real smart.  Sheep, when they are thirsty, will just wander.  Without a shepherd leading them to quiet waters, they will just wander off.  They will find any polluted puddle and drink from it.  And they don’t realize it but they are ingesting parasites and diseases that can ultimately kill them and mess up the entire flock.  Sheep just do this.

I run into so many people and you do too, who are trying to get their thirst quenched.  They are hungry and thirsty for God yet they turn their backs on the Good Shepherd and drink from polluted puddle after polluted puddle.  Little do they realize that they are ingesting parasites and diseases that it is tearing them apart.  It is staggering, the lengths we will go to, to try and quench this thirst.  We will get involved in community efforts or hobbies or sports and we think that will do it.  Now those things are fine and dandy, but there is only one thing that will truly quench that deep down thirst.  It is to drink from Christ.    Why?

Jesus Protects Me

9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.

Jesus said that He is the gate.  You see a shepherd back in Biblical times would lead his flock and since there were no barbed wire fences, at night the shepherd would make a sheepfold.  He would take some rocks and make a little structure.  He would leave an opening, and the shepherd would sleep in that opening and actually become the gate.  So the sheep could not go in and out and a predator could not go in and out unless they crossed over the shepherd.  And Jesus said, I am the gate.  He is our protection.

See the word “saved.”  If anyone enters through Me he shall be saved.  You hear that word used a lot.  He got saved.  She got saved.  What does it mean to be saved?  To be saved means to be saved from hell.  But Jesus saves us from more than that. We are also saved from an aimless, wandering life.  We shall go in and out and find pasture, we have our needs met, we can find rest and peace in Jesus.  We will be saved and be safe because we are under the watchful care of the Good Shepherd.  We will be satisfied because we are finding pasture.  We are feeding and are free to become what the Shepherd wants us to become.   Are you following the Good Shepherd?

Darrell

www.RidgeFellowship.com

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Are You Cast Down? John 10

Posted on June 8, 2017 by dkoop

This picture is of a sheep that has been “cast down.”  “Cast down” meant that a sheep would lie down and would not be able to get up.  He would be on his back, flailing, not being able to get up.  And if the sheep is like that for a while, guess what would happen?  The sheep would die.  So a good shepherd is going to watch for the cast sheep.  Sheep get cast all the time.   As humans, we too can become cast down in the same way that sheep can.   One of the reasons sheep, like humans need to be led, is that left to ourselves we get into a lot of trouble.  We wander off a cliff, fall into a hole, get attacked or become cast down.  Sheep need a shepherd and Christians need to follow the leading of Jesus.  David was a shepherd and wrote Psalm 42:11.  “Why are you cast down, oh my soul?”  See that phrase cast down?  It is a shepherding term.  How do we become cast?  I have found that we get cast when we become lazy or apathetic.  That is what happens to the sheep.  They get behind, they are not keeping up with the flock and decide to lay down and they get cast.  A lot of Christians are in danger of becoming cast when they get apathetic or lazy.  We think, “well I have served, I have given, I have done my time, I’ll just hang out and do nothing.  They say they want to get to that position, and once they reach it; there will be no problems.  They think they won’t need any endurance, any vision, and any commitment.  They think they can just relax.   If you do that, you will be in danger of getting cast.  Don’t get lazy!  The Christian life is about following Jesus: loving God and loving people.  We serve and we give.   It is not easy.  It will take everything you have.  But it is the life you were wired up to live.

Another way humans as sheep can become cast is if our wool coats become too thick and too heavy.  Sheep have thick wool coats that begin to collect everything – burrs, briers, mud and manure.  And if that happens, they can easily get cast.  Things just stick to the sheep like Velcro.  We can become cast if too many things of the world stick to us: “my stuff, my hobbies, my vacations, my recreational pursuits, my car, my motorcycle, and my wardrobe.”  Not that these things are wrong but when they take up too much place in my life they can stick to me like Velcro, weigh me down and if I can become cast.

What happens when a sheep has a coat that is too thick – all matted with mud and manure and briars and burrs?  What does the shepherd do?  He takes out the shears and goes to work.  The sheep begins to feel naked.  He has been sheared by the shepherd.  The shepherd has to do this.  And the Good Shepherd sometimes has to do this to you and to me.  We become too proud, too cool, too hip, too vogue, too attached to the things of the world.  And when He shears us we will cry and moan and ask God why He is doing that to us.  He is doing it to help us, to improve us, to make us more and more reliant on Him.

There is one more reason we become cast, when we are overweight.  When a sheep has gained too much weight, it can become cast.  A good shepherd will put the sheep on a diet.  He will probably lead it to pastures of oat bran.  Oftentimes we have a lot of people who go by the label of Christian who just want more and more information, more and more Bible knowledge.  They think they have to know theology and eschatology, etc. and they ingest calorie after calorie and get spiritually fat.  They are spiritually fat because they don’t really use their gifts; use their talents within the context of the local church.  The Bible was not written for our information.  It was written for our transformation.  Instead of being studied, it should be lived out.  So if we just sit there and eat and eat and not move forward to work off what we have eaten we will become cast.  Jesus tells us to exercise by serving, exercise by going to tell others.  He leads us to do these things not just sit around and eat.   As our Good Shepherd..

Jesus Leads Us

4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.

Since He’s the Good Shepherd, I can trust him to provide the leadership I need for my life.
He doesn’t prod me forward.  Cattle are driven sheep are lead.   A lot of us think we serve a rawhide type God.  We think that God is in heaven singing, “Rollin, rollin, rollin, keep them doggies rollin, rawhide…” God doesn’t drive, He guides.  He leads me and He leads you in paths of righteousness, in paths that are right for you and for you and for you.  What a great Shepherd we follow.  And as we shadow the Shepherd, He promises us that He will lead us to the right paths, the right avenues of life.

The other great thing about Jesus leading is that he will not make me go somewhere He’s not willing to go. He goes ahead of me. And you know what that means? It means when I can’t see what’s ahead – I can trust that if the Lord is leading me that way I can trust him – He can see what’s ahead because he’s already there! And he can see what’s coming up and he can help me avoid dangerous places on the path.

In the next post we will see that Jesus protects me.
Darrell

www.RidgeFellowship.com

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