"Hiding-Place" - 2

 "Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it." (John 11:38 KJV) 

  "What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God's standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God be keeping the law, never succeeded. Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said, "I am placing a stone in Jerusalem thar makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced."" (Romans 9:30-33 NLT)

 Okay, so I opened this box, now I need to display what might be inside of it! Just so you know, Jesus groaned because His heart hurt for His people! Yes, it was pretty obvious that they scoffed and accused Him of failure; but He knew full well He was not going to fail, so at that, He would have laughed. No, His heart hurt for them that would never trust Him, because the simple fact that they could not see the Way! 

 I can recall, several times when I was a child, getting away into a place where I could be all alone, just so I could groan inside and cry out to God. Some of those places were where I was forced to be alone, like when I was incarcerated and really couldn't go anywhere, even if I wanted to. 

 But none of them were as meaningful as the place on a mountaintop, a place where I was free, at night as I gazed up into the heavens. I had run away from home, and I just was feeling remorse for my mother, as I knew she was worried about me, as it had already been several weeks that I was gone. So, I just started talking to God. 

 What made that so special was my concern for my mother and not for myself. Those times when I was behind bars, I was always concerned for myself, my freedom to do the things I wanted to do; but that night, it wasn't about me, it was for my mother that I groaned. 

 So, you can see just a little of what Jesus was feeling, it was for these that could not trust in Him, because they thought they could do it on their own! This cave is like the place where we think we are secure; even though we are dead and stinky, we feel as though we can please God behind the Rock that covers the opening, and that opening is Life! 

 The law, good deeds, tithes and offerings; whatever it is that we do that makes us feel right, we hide behind them, the Rock covers the opening, yet we are still dead! Yes, we can still see Jesus, but we must go through Him to be brought to life! Nothing else really matters, because anything else is just us trying to get out of that tomb on our own. Can you see how that looks? It wasn't working out thus far for Lazarus! 

 Don't judge me, but a little clip from the movie, "How to Be a Latin Lover," just popped into my head, as Kristen Bell was singing the song for the Ice Cream Store, and she was asked, "Do they make you sing that song?" and she says, "No, I get to sing that song!" 

 We get to follow Jesus...

""But now, as to whether the dead will be raised - haven't you ever read about this in the writings of Moses, in the story of the burning bush? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said to Moses, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' So he is the God of the living, not the dead. You have made a serious error."" (Mark 12:26-27 NLT)