God's Time and Manner

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: A man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. This was the same Mary who massaged the Lord's feet with aromatic oils and then wiped them with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Master, the one you love so very much is sick." When Jesus got the message, he said, "This sickness is not fatal. It will become an occasion to show God's glory by glorifying God's Son." Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, but oddly, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days. After the two days, he said to his disciples, "Let's go back to Judea." They said, "Rabbi, you can't do that. The Jews are out to kill you, and you're going back?" Jesus replied, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in daylight doesn't stumble because there's plenty of light from the sun. Walking at night, he might very well stumble because he can't see where he's going." He said these things, and then announced, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. I'm going to wake him up." The disciples said, "Master, if he's gone to sleep, he'll get a good rest and wake up feeling fine." Jesus was talking about death, while his disciples thought he was talking about taking a nap. Then Jesus became explicit: " Now let's go to him." That's when Thomas, the one called the Twin, said to his companions, "Come along. We might as well die with him." When Jesus finally got there, he found Lazarus already four days dead. Bethany was near Jerusalem, only a couple of miles away, and many of the Jews were visiting Martha and Mary, sympathizing with them over their brother. Martha heard Jesus was coming and went out to meet him. Mary remained in the house. Martha said, "Master, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died. Even now, I know that whatever you ask God he will give you." Jesus said, "Your brother will be raised up." Martha replied, "I know that he will be raised up in the resurrection at the end of time." "You don't have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?" "Yes, Master. All along I have believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into the world." After saying this, she went to her sister Mary and whispered in her ear, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you." The moment she heard that, she jumped up and ran out to him. Jesus had not yet entered the town but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When her sympathizing Jewish friends saw Mary run off, they followed her, thinking she was on her way to the tomb to weep there. Mary came to where Jesus was waiting and fell at his feet, saying, "Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing, a deep anger welled up within him. He said, "Where did you put him?" "Master, come and see," they said. Now Jesus wept. The Jews said, "Look how deeply he loved him." Others among them said, "Well, if he loved him so much, why didn't he do something to keep him from dying? After all, he opened the eyes of a blind man." Then Jesus, the anger again welling up within him, arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus said, "Remove the stone." The sister of the dead man, Martha, said, "Master, by this time there's a stench. He's been dead four days!" Jesus looked her in the eye. "Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" Then, to the others, "Go ahead, take away the stone." They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed, "Father, I'm grateful that you have listened to me. I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I've spoken so that they might believe that you sent me." Then he 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." ... From that day on, [the Pharisees] plotted to kill him. John 11:1-44,53 [MSG] (emphasis added)
• O: "To everything, there is a season, and a time to every purpose under Heaven." God accomplishes all on His own timeline and for His own purpose.
• A: Far be it from me to understand God's plan completely. To know why He does what He does -- that's not my job. It isn't any of my business. Yet. But I know that God has His plans. He has His own schedule. We all will go (or won't go) at a time of His own choosing, in a manner of His own choosing. Just as the daughter of singer Steven Curtis Chapman was struck down at an unexpected time, in an unexpected way, God doesn't always share His plans and schedule with us. If you've heard the Chapmans speak about their ordeal, you know that they're going through quite a rough time right now. Especially young Will Franklin Chapman, who was driving the vehicle that sent his little sister home to the Lord. But they're going through their ordeal with God. By all appearances, they haven't abandoned God. You see Chapman on shows like Larry King, and he can't stop praising God, even through the tears. Just as Mary and Martha had to go to the extent of burying their brother Lazarus so that the glory of God could be revealed when Lazarus walked out of his tomb, so today we might find ourselves in times of toil and strife. We may never know why God takes our loved ones when He does and in the way that He does. We may never know why we lose this job, or that house, or go through divorce and break ups. We may never know, but God does. And He has a plan that, in the end, if we are faithful and obedient, will glorify Him and benefit us.
• P: Thank You, Lord, for I know that no matter what comes my way in this life, I have You to guide me through it.

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God Provides Our Needs

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote, God is there, ready to help; I'm fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me? Hebrews 13:5-6 [MSG]
• O: God will provide.
• A: It seems that there is always something I need. Scratch that -- something that I want. In fact, I can see it in my whole family. There are several books I want. My wife wants new furniture for our formal living room. My son wants just about everything he sees. And it sure would be nice to have a newer car (but without the car payment, of course). But we don't really need all of those things (my wife would argue that we do need new furniture for the living room). Everything we need, God has provided. Food, clothing, shelter, transportation, friends and loved ones, etc. Even after doubling our house payment and taking on the practice of tithing ten percent of our income, God still gives us more than we need. Sometimes, I think we just don't see the difference between want and need.
• P: Lord, Thank You for your constant provisions. Help us, Father, to see the difference between want and need, and to remain thankful and obedient.

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Religion Is Bad

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: Isaiah 1:11-17 [MSG]
• O: Religion for the sake of religion is bad. To put on a show of being religious, having special gatherings for the sake of appearing religious, and giving prayer "performances" are all bad.
• A: It's so easy today with the popularity of mega-churches and -- despite the so-called separation of church and state -- with political candidates touting their faith, to become phony. It can be too easy to do, do, do what we want our fellow man to see so that they will think we are religious. In so doing, we forget what God asks of us. God sees our heart. God knows our faith. Short of using that faith to bring others to a relationship with God through Christ, our faith should be between us and God. Our prayers are heard louder when they come from the heart than when they come from our lips.
• P: Father, teach me to be more Christ-like and less religious; to use my faith for Your will and not my own; to shut my mouth and open my heart.

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"What Could I Do?" -- What Can YOU Do?

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: Acts 26:15-19 (MSG)
• O: "I said, 'Who are you, Master?' "The voice answered, 'I am Jesus, the One you're hunting down like an animal. But now, up on your feet—I have a job for you. I've handpicked you to be a servant and witness to what's happened today, and to what I am going to show you. "'I'm sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I'm sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.' "What could I do, King Agrippa? I couldn't just walk away from a vision like that! I became an obedient believer on the spot.
• A: Why can't we be like this today? Paul, a tormentor of Christians, answered the calling of Christ and "became an obedient believer on the spot." He followed God's direction and spread the story of Salvation to non-Jews. He became persecuted for his beliefs, just as he once persecuted Christians for their beliefs. Today, we hear the church calling us to serve in one way or another, but many find it so hard to answer with a YES. Our lives have become so hectic, so busy, that we don't have time for the One Person we should be devoting all of our time to: God. Can't we be more like Paul?
• P: Father, I myself have found it easier at times to make excuses than to say YES. So many things cry for my attention that I fool myself into thinking that they are more urgent, that God will wait. But I know that You wait for no one. That You wait only until You decide the time is right. Lord, help me to get up and say YES. Move me, Lord.

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Communication

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

Today's SOAP inspired by the Men's Devotional Bible

• S: Song of Solomon 2:3-13; Psalm 85:10-13; Proverbs 3:1-6
• O: Love, faithfulness, and communication are interdependent characteristics of a lasting relationship.
• A: My wife and I sometimes run into a communication barrier. When she's busy, I want to talk. When she wants to talk, I'm busy. This morning as I sat down to read through this daily devotional, she started talking to me. I got frustrated. I was trying to spend some time with God, and my wife was interrupting us. When I complained, she was frustrated that I was sitting in the breakfast nook, where everyone could see me and be tempted to interrupt me. I explained that the kids weren't interrupting me, it was just her. I tried to remind her of my commitment to conduct my own personal devotional time every morning, and how easy it is to fall back on a commitment when you don't force yourself to build a habit of it (I have, after all, missed the past two days here and felt that getting through the process today was critical). In frustration, I closed up my laptop and stormed out of the room, pretty much resigned to giving up on it for the day. Then, without the barrier of the computer between us, we talked a little bit. When I told her the only other table convenient was in the dining room -- where I thought she wouldn't want me to set up at -- she suggested I do just that. So here I am, in the dining room, reading through a devotional that is all too fitting for the situation this morning. Relationships take work. Marriages, being the toughest and (hopefully) most enduring of all relationships, take an even greater effort. More work. They do not last without love. They do not last without faithfulness. They do not last without communication. Just as I mentioned on Average Joe American recently, communication is the cornerstone of any civilized society -- which includes any loving marriage. It can become too easy to spend all of our communication time talking about money, and bills, and the kids, and what needs done around the house, and all too easy to not spend it telling each other how we feel and what we need from each other. We must communicate. Both ways. All the time. About more than the mundane.
• P: Lord, help me to keep this realization of how important communication is to the success of my marriage. Help me to open my ears when my wife speaks and to remember that she is more important than whatever else is vying for my attention at the time. Help us both to open up the lines of communication and to share with each other what we think, how we feel, and what we need from each other. And help us to just put the mundane issues out of the way for a while.

READ TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL:

FIDELITY means a stubborn dedication to growth in personal relationship. A marriage partnership must have room for individual growth; but at the beating heart of any marriage is the delicate, fragile -- often painful -- but potentially joyful relationship of two persons face to face in personal encounter. The vital core of marriage is the special kind of sexual communion that vibrates on every level -- physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. All the institutional dimensions are only the framework for the dynamic center. And if partners are faithful in the complex ways mentioned above, their fidelity will mean a steady dedication to the growth of an honest and open relationship in every dimension. Fidelity is best practiced with an implicit understanding that the relationship happens within a permanent, lifelong structure. But within the structure of permanence, relationships are constantly shifting: they are never stagnagt, but grow deeper or become shallower. To be faithful means that we can never lazily accept the present as our fated destiny. For relationships never have to be what they are; they can change. The future has possibilities wherever two willing human beings affirm its possibilities for them. No one can make a claim to faithfulness in marriage if he does not keep the door open to the possibilities that his relationship can be better tomorrow than it is today. Personal relationships are nourished only through communication, and communication between two people enmeshed in daily preoccupations with jobs, budgets, diapers and new math can be very difficult to maintain. For one thing, it takes time . . . And, above all, it takes desire. Personal communication is difficult because it is painful for us to talk about what we are feeling; it is much easier to discuss the unbalanced checking account than to discuss how we feel toward wach other. But more, it is difficult because when we talk we are not sure what becomes of our message after it is filtered through the receptive apparatus of the person who receives it . . . Fidelity will give us the job of finding out what the other person is actually hearing from us and of patiently probing what the other person is acutally trying to say. --From the Men's Devotional Bible by Zondervan (link above)

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