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Relatively few people who receive the goodness of the Lord return to give Him thanks for what He has done. That does not keep the Lord from doing what is right for us. He healed all ten of these lepers according to their request - not just the one who was thankful. However, there was only one out of the ten that was made "whole."
The Lord desires that we prosper in spirit, soul, and body. He wants us to be whole - not just healed. Part of the reason God meets our physical needs is to prove to us His willingness and ability to meet our emotional and spiritual needs. The Lord is concerned about our temporal needs (Mt. 6:30), but He is even more concerned about our eternal needs. All of these lepers needed physical healing and the Lord was moved with compassion and met their...
DO YOU THINK IT IS STRANGE WHEN I SAY THAT JESUS TOLD ME THIS MORNING THAT HE REALLY LOVES YOU AND WANTS YOU HEALED AND TO BE PROSPEROUS? DO YOU THINK I SAY THIS BECAUSE I WANT YOU TO THINK THAT I AM REALLY RELIGIOUS? IF YOU HAVE HAD THOUGHTS LIKE THAT, IT'S OK. WHEN I HAVE HEARD PREACHERS IN THE PAST SAY THINGS LIKE THAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THE SAME THING. IT WAS NOT UNTIL I FULLY UNDERSTOOD WHAT THEY WERE SAYING THAT I CHANGED MY MIND. I DON'T HEAR AN AUDIBLE VOICE WHEN I SAY THINGS LIKE THAT. HE SPEAKS TO ME IN HIS WORD. THE GOOD THING ABOUT THAT IS THAT HE WILL DO THE SAME FOR YOU IF YOU WILL JUST LET HIM. I AM NOT SAYING THAT HE DOES NOT SPEAK TO PEOPLE IN AN AUDIBLE VOICE BECAUSE HE CAN DO WHATEVER HE WANTS TO. JUST START READING YOUR BIBLE AND YOU WILL HEAR WHAT HE IS TELLING YOU.
Symbolically, Lazarus is like many Christians. The Bible speaks of us passing from death unto new life when we get born again. But it is also true that in the physical and emotional realm, we bring our "graveclothes" from our old life with us (i.e. habits, attitudes, etc.), and we need to be "loosed" to fully enjoy our new life.
Our emotions and attitudes follow what we think. When we focus our attention on our problems, they are magnified out of proportion. When we neglect our problems and think on God's provision, the answer is magnified and the problem shrinks. Whatever we think upon is going to dominate us. If we think on depressing things, we'll be depressed. If we think on uplifting things, we'll...
TO BE PLEASED WITH OR TO REGARD WITH AFFECTION ON ACCOUNT OF SOME QUALITIES WHICH EXCITE PLEASING SENSATIONS OR DESIRES OF GRATIFICATION. IS WHAT THE DICTIONARY SAYS ABOUT LOVE.
The Greek word that is translated "groaned" expresses that Jesus was deeply moved, but not necessarily with sorrow. It was more a groan of anger at Satan who had caused all the grief Jesus was seeing around Him. Jesus came to "destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Heb. 2:14), and He was grieved to see the pain that His enemy had inflicted on those He loved.
This is the type of groaning that the Holy Spirit does for us. It is not just the Holy Spirit sympathizing with us, but it is the Holy Spirit doing battle for us when we don't know how to pray. In this case, it was the Holy Spirit doing battle through Jesus against death and the doubt of those present, that would have kept Lazarus in the grave.
Everyone...
DO YOU FIND IT HARD TO PRAY OUT LOUD IN CHURCH OR AT YOUR BIBLE STUDY CLASS? I DO. I WILL PRAY FOR YOU AND WITH YOU FOR YOUR HEALING OR ANY OTHER THING YOU NEED PRAYER FOR BUT I DON'T LIKE TO PRAY OUT LOUD IN A LARGE GROUP. PRAYER, TO ME, IS PERSONAL BETWEEN ME AND GOD. I WENT SO FAR AS WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO BE CALLED ON TO PRAY, I WOULD MEMORIZE A PRAYER TO SAY. THAT WAS NOT PRAYING, THAT WAS SHOWING OFF TO THE PEOPLE TRYING TO MAKE THEM THINK I WAS RELIGIOUS. BOY, DID I HAVE TO ASK FORGIVENESS FOR THAT.
Some people have interpreted this as saying that it is possible to never die. Therefore, there are people today who are believing that they will live physically until the second coming of Jesus, even if that is thousands of years away. Although it is understandable how someone could interpret this verse in that manner, it is very doubtful that this is what Jesus truly meant.
First, a doctrine as profound as this would certainly be well documented in other scriptures. Other scriptures may sometimes be quoted as supporting this claim but they would not lead a person to this conclusion by themselves.
There would already have to be a prejudice in favor of this stand within a person to lead him to interpret these scriptures in this light. That is not a sound method of Bible...
FOR YOU NON BELIEVERS OUT THERE, I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE MISSING OUT ON THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT COULD EVER HAPPEN TO YOU. THIS NOT ONLY DEALS WITH YOUR FUTURE AND WHERE YOU WILL END UP IN ETERNITY BUT IT IS DEALING WITH YOUR EVERY DAY LIFE. EVERLASTING LIFE DOESN'T START WHEN WE LEAVE THIS EARTH. I WAS GOING TO SAY WHEN WE DIE BUT WE NEVER DIE. THESE OLD BODIES WILL PASS AWAY AND TURN BACK TO DUST BUT OUR SPIRITS WILL LIVE FOREVER EITHER IN HEAVEN OR HELL. HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT HOW LONG ETERNITY IS. I ALWAYS LIKE THAT VERSE IN THE SONG "AMAZING GRACE" WHERE IT SAYS "WHEN WE'VE BEEN THERE TEN THOUSAND YEARS, BRIGHT SHINING AS THE SUN, WE'VE NO LESS DAYS TO SING GOD'S PRAISE THEN WHEN WE FIRST BEGUN." NO LESS DAYS AFTER SPENDING TEN THOUSAND YEARS....
Jesus spoke of Lazarus being asleep instead of dead because that is really a much better description. Death, to their carnal minds, would be final; whereas the word "sleep" would not. When the disciples misunderstood what He was saying, He clarified the situation by saying plainly, "Lazarus is dead."
This looks like a contrary statement to what Jesus was going to do (raise Lazarus from the dead) and indeed it would have been if He had left it at that. But He went on to say in verse 15, "I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe." This was referring to Lazarus being raised from the dead and it turned Jesus' statement of a negative fact into a positive confession of faith.
Many people have been confused over this very issue. Many times people will refuse to speak of or...