When God Is Silent

Written by John Grant

Take Today’s Next Step: Learn to recognize God’s voice.

“So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is sick.’ When he heard this, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.’” (John 11:3-4)

When Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus that their brother (Jesus’ friend) was gravely ill and requested that He come, Jesus delayed going. The family went through the entire funeral process and by the time Jesus got there Lazarus had been dead four days.

Mary, knowing the healing power of the Master, said, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:21, KJV) That would be correct. But if He had come and healed Lazarus, they would have learned nothing new about Jesus. By waiting four days, it allowed Him to show even more power. His delay and silence was not rejection. Rather, it was an opportunity to know more of Him than they had ever known.

When God Delays

Written by R. Toddy Jadoo

Take today’s next step: Are you waiting for God to answer? 

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.” (John 11:5-6)

Lazarus was a friend of Jesus who fell ill and was near death. His sisters, Mary and Martha, sent word to Jesus who was healing and preaching in a town a distance away. Lazarus died while they were waiting for Jesus to get to him. Interestingly when Jesus got the message that Lazarus was sick He did not panic, worry or stop what He was doing! He continued to do what He was doing for TWO MORE DAYS! (Read the entire story in the book of John chapter 11).

Wow! What a reaction! At first it seems as if Jesus didn’t care about Lazarus’ plight and his sisters’ anxiety about his illness. Yet, the end of the story is one of the greatest miracles recorded. Lazarus died and Jesus brought him back to life!

When God Delays

Written by R. Toddy Jadoo

Take today’s next step: Are you waiting for God to answer? 

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.” (John 11:5-6)

Lazarus was a friend of Jesus who fell ill and was near death. His sisters, Mary and Martha, sent word to Jesus who was healing and preaching in a town a distance away. Lazarus died while they were waiting for Jesus to get to him. Interestingly when Jesus got the message that Lazarus was sick He did not panic, worry or stop what He was doing! He continued to do what He was doing for TWO MORE DAYS! (Read the entire story in the book of John chapter 11).

Wow! What a reaction! At first it seems as if Jesus didn’t care about Lazarus’ plight and his sisters’ anxiety about his illness. Yet, the end of the story is one of the greatest miracles recorded. Lazarus died and Jesus brought him back to life!

Jesus and Women

In the first-century world, the way Jesus treated

women was considered revolutionary.

When she became a teenager, her father made the arrangements. This was the custom of the times. Mary would be married to a carpenter, Joseph, the son of Heli. From birth, Mary’s role in life was set, for she was born female to a Jewish family. Yet her role in history was to be extraordinary. God chose her to be the mother of Jesus.

Woman of courage

When the angel Gabriel came to Mary, she was initially troubled by what the angel’s appearance might mean. The angel reassured her, explaining that she was the one chosen to be the mother of Jesus.

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”

 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:34-38)

Looking Beyond Disappointment

By Charles Stanley , Christian Post Contributor

John 11:3-6

When disappointments come your way in life, it is easy to blame yourself or others-or even both. Frequently it is difficult to know what to say or do because you cannot quite identify the real cause or purpose of the letdown.

Disappointment is often an emotional response to our own failure-or someone else's-to achieve a desire, hope, dream, or goal. This can lead to losing faith in someone on whom we were depending-perhaps even a person we love.

The gospel of John tells us that Jesus loved Martha, her sister Mary, and their brother Lazarus. Because of this, they didn't sense the need to tell the Lord anything more than "He whom You love is sick" (John 11:3). Their expectation was that as soon as Jesus heard this, He would come and heal their brother. But He didn't set out for two more days.

God Delays

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days (John 11:17).

Mary and Martha were very close to Jesus. The Bible says Jesus loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Mary was the woman who came and poured expensive perfume on Jesus and the disciples rebuked her. 

Lazarus, Mary and Martha's brother, had become terminally ill. Jesus was away in Jerusalem during the time of Lazarus' illness. After Jesus heard the news that Lazarus was ill, instead of running to the aid of Mary and Martha, Jesus waited two days. Lazarus died and was placed in a tomb. His response to the news was: "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it" (John 11:4). Jesus had to look beyond Mary and Martha's current grief in order to fulfill God's purpose for this sickness.

"When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home" (John 11:20-22). Mary was in deep mourning over the death of her brother. When she finally went to see Jesus, she immediately cried out to Him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

Martha : The Woman Who Was More Practical Than Spiritual

Scripture References—Luke 10:38-41; John 11; 12:1-3

Name Meaning—As a Chaldee or Syriac word, Martha is the feminine of moro or more, meaning “lord,” “master.” We find this in the form maran in the well-known phrase Maran-atha, “The Lord cometh” (1 Corinthians 16:22). There are those who think that Kyria, translated “lady” in 2 John 1, is a proper name, the Greek equivalent of this word. Carpzov supposes that this Kyria was the same person as Martha of Bethany.

Family Connections—Of the history of Martha, the Bible tells us nothing save that she was the sister of Mary and Lazarus, and lived with them at Bethany. Some early writers have made Martha, the daughter, wife, or widow of Simon the Leper, and that on his death the house became hers, hence the reference to the house when the resurrection of Lazarus was celebrated (Matthew 26:6; Mark 14:3). 

Others think that Martha may have been a near relative of Simon for whom she acted as hostess. But the narrative seems to suggest the home belonged to Martha and being older than Mary and Lazarus, she carried the responsibility of all connected with household affairs in a home where “Jesus found the curse of the sojourner lifted from Him, and, in reversal of His own description of His loneliness and penury, found where to lay His head.” 

For The Love Of Life

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me,  

though he may die, he shall live." - John 11:25 

Dear Loved One,

We tend to think of Easter as the commemoration of a great point in history, and that's a worthy reason for celebration. We also rejoice in anticipation of the resurrection unto eternal life ahead of us; a promise to all who open to the love of God in Jesus Christ. But there's also a present reality to be celebrated: Jesus rose from the dead, and He is alive forevermore. He's available right now to bring life to anything in your situation that may be dead or dying.

Mustard Seeds

The kingdom of God] is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade. Mark 4:31-32

When we were in Israel, one day we took a drive beyond the city of Jerusalem. Three miles later, down the back side of the Mount of Olives, we entered Bethany -- a little white-washed village that hadn't changed since the days of Lazarus, Mary and Martha. While I waited in the van, my friend Bunny spied an old, bearded Arab sitting at a table. "I'm going to go see what he's selling," she exclaimed. Moments later she returned holding out her hand to show me pea-sized brown dried seeds. "Would you look at these?! They're mustard seeds! If we have faith the size of one of these..." she said, picking one up, "we can move mountains."

"But they look kind of big," I frowned. "I thought the mustard seed was the smallest of all seeds." Bunny told me she said the same thing to the Arab vendor. "Let me show you what he did," she said. She then cracked one of the seeds open and gently spread its contents across her palm. Bunny cupped her hands so the breeze would not disturb the infinitesimally tiny black specks... mustard seeds. The pea-sized pod contained thousands of breathlessly small seeds. Bunny dusted off her hand and sealed the package of pods. "And we're going to scatter these wherever we pray on this trip!"