TUESDAY 13TH AUG., 2019

WORD FOCUS: LORD! IT STINKS
TEXT: John 11:39-40 “Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?…”

Sometimes when we have a problem we do what Mary and Martha did with their deceased brother Lazarus. We bury it and roll a stone in front of it. Then Jesus comes along and tells us to roll the stone away so He can deal with it and make us whole again. It takes honesty, humility and courage to roll away the stone on a stubborn or shaming issue but you will never become healthy and whole until you are willing to do that. Can you imagine the state Lazarus was in after four days in the grave? Martha said, ‘He stinketh.’ Yet Jesus said, ‘…If you [will] believe you [will] see the glory of God’ (John 11:40). The great thing about this story is that no matter how far gone your situation may be or how unpleasant it is, Jesus can turn it around for you. But you must be willing to roll the stone away and allow Him to work. If you’ll let Him, He can give you back what life has taken from you. People may give up on you but Jesus won’t. Have you ever changed a baby’s nappy? If anything else smelled that bad you would throw it in the trash, right? But not your child; you love them and you know that with a little help they are capable of outgrowing it and becoming something good. Like Mary and Martha, you may think it’s too late for a miracle, but it’s not. Your finances may stink, your relationship may stink, your prospects for the future may stink, but if you will believe you will ‘see the glory of God.’

MEDITATION: Luke 1:37

BIBLE STUDY
JN 1:19-34; I CHRO 7 & 8; ZEPH 3

Godhead Interdenominational Ministry