"Come Forth!" - Too

 "And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth." (John 11:43 KJV)

  "When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Silence! Be still!" Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?" The disciples were absolutely terrified. "Who is this man?' they asked each other. "Even the wind and waves obey him!"" (Mark 4:39-41 NLT)

 So, I have heard it said, that Jesus needed to call Lazarus by name, otherwise all of the dead in that area of His voice would come forth out of their graves. Matthew Henry points out, Jesus did not need to ask him to rise, but simply asked him to come forth, as if he was already alive and waiting. 

 If you think yesterday was a little strange, I'm sorry if it might have been, but these are some seriously strange times that we are living in, so we should just enjoy the ride! Besides, no matter what might be happening all around us, we are held safely in God's hand, and all of that stuff is just that, stuff! A world that is filled with meaningless stuff that will soon all be nothing but ash! 

 As for me, I think it is about time that I put my complete trust in the Lord and let all the wind and waves around me do their thing, while I just focus upon loving God and those whom God puts around me! To be clear, those are the two things that really only matter! Everything else is just noise and distractions; things that cause up to take our minds off of what really counts and be too busy to focus upon real love, and what real love looks like!

 These last few days, as I have been feeling as though I am in some sort of catastrophic trial; but, as I change my wife and reposition her in her bed, I really get a chance to experience something more important than my trial. It almost feels like it is really not a trial at all, but just something that needs to cause me to pay attention to those things right before me, that really matter most. 

 In the words of Jesus, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?" Well, when everything seemed as though it was going well, I felt as though I had faith enough; but now that things are looking as if they are getting bad, I really don't feel so sure. 

 Something I had learned a long time ago, I seemed to have misplaced it, and I can't quite remember where I left it or how I lost sight of it! Oh, by the way, if you want to be headed in the right direction, then that really needs to be the direction that you are focused on, and not all this other stuff around you! 

 Just keep your eyes on Jesus...

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won't become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, "My child, don't make light of the LORD'S discipline, and don't give up when he corrects you. For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child."" (Hebrews 12:1-6 NLT)