Look inside this book.Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]

Tag: John 11
Doing What We Cannot Do

Doing What We Cannot Do

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Doing What We Cannot Do

Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days….And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

John 11: 39 & 43

Christ does what we cannot do. As we meditate upon this third occasion, when Christ raises someone from the dead, we observe that the events surrounding it vary significantly from the previous occasions.  One of the differences is that in the previous instances Christ required nothing of the surrounding crowd. On this occasion He tells them to, ‘Take away the stone.’ When they had accomplished that, He prayed, and then uttered the memorable words, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ What can we learn from this? We learn that Christ does what we cannot do. Could Christ have rolled away the stone Himself? Of course, He could have. Could He have undone the grave-wrappings which bound Lazarus? Yes…yes, He could have. He did not do those things; rather, He gave them to the others to do. So it is with us. Christ does some miraculous things in our lives. While He could do everything, He does not. He gives us the opportunity to do the things which He has empowered us to do. In this way He affords us the privilege of having a part in what He is doing. While He could do everything without us, He is gracious enough to include us. It is exciting to be a part of whatever Christ is doing. He will do what we cannot do. He will more than make up for all that we lack. Today, let us consider what Christ has put before us to do, and then watch Him do what we cannot do.

Our Wonder-Working Savior,
we rejoice that You give us the
opportunity to take part in what You are doing.
We praise You that You instruct us to do the things
that will advance Your Kingdom.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
The Christ Who Feels Our Pain

The Christ Who Feels Our Pain

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The Christ Who Feels Our Pain

When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept.…

John 11:33-35

If we are to understand Christ, we must understand what moves Him. Our text today concludes with the memorable words, ‘Jesus wept.’ If we want to understand this, we need to look at the context. We read, ‘When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled….’ What was Christ seeing? He was seeing His friends mourning and grieving. He then mourned and grieved with them. He felt their pain. Understand, this did not alter at all the overarching plan and purpose of God. It was in the plan and purpose of God for Lazarus to die. It fell within God’s Agenda and His Schedule. Christ was well aware that it was. Having said that, Christ is truly human and utterly sympathetic. Christ felt their pain. If we are going to understand Christ, we need to understand this. Christ feels our pain. Being God, He is fully aware that the Decree of God is such that certain things will come to pass. When those things do come to pass it will inevitably cause us pain. Christ is utterly sympathetic to our pain. He ‘weeps with those who weep.’ Hence, ‘Jesus wept.’ An utterly sympathetic Christ is an endearing Christ. As He shows us this element of His Character, He draws us unto Himself. Today, let us dwell upon this Christ Who feels our pain. He does not stand apart from us, but stands with us and by us. He weeps when we weep, and feels our pain.

Our Kind and Loving Savior,
We rejoice that You are utterly sympathetic to our pain.
We praise You that You draw near to us, lay Your Hand upon us
and weep with us as we weep.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
The Christ Who Knows What He is Doing

The Christ Who Knows What He is Doing

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The Christ Who Knows What He is Doing

These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

John 11:11

Christ knows what He is doing. He is never at a loss in any situation as to how to proceed. In the scene before us, news came from Bethany, a town not far from Jerusalem, that Lazarus, who was a dear friend of Christ was desperately ill. Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha who were also dear friends of Christ. What is interesting to observe is that Christ made no move whatsoever. In fact, ‘He stayed two more days in the place where He was.’ If we conclude that Christ was either callous or clueless, we have arrived at the wrong conclusion entirely. Christ was neither callous, nor clueless. He knew exactly what He was doing. Christ makes no mistakes in His dealings with any of us. Christ was fully aware of all which would occur within the next little while. Nothing escaped His knowledge or His ability. It is even so with us. We are, at times, distressed by what we perceive to be His slowness to come to our aid, or His apparent lack of awareness as to how dire our situation really is. Christ misses nothing. He is fully aware of our situation, and of what He is going to do about it. It is good for us to observe Him as He acts in situations such as the one before us, so that we may come to a better understanding of how He deals with us. In this way we gain more confidence and trust in Him, Who does all things well.

Our All-Knowing Savior,
We rejoice that You are fully aware of all of our circumstances.
We praise You, that you will do us good in every case
and thereby bring glory to Your Own Great Self.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Preparing for Worship

Preparing for Worship

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9:30 am Worship Service

10900 Huron Street

Northglenn, CO 

And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

John 11:43

Scripture:  John 11:1-15

Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that , he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.  His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.  Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.

Sermon:  ‘Lazarus, come forth’

  1. Christ arrives in His Own time.
  2. Christ knows what He is doing.
  3. Christ feels our pain.
  4. Christ does what we cannot do.

Catechism: Westminster Shorter Catechism Question #17

The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.

The Fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.

1 Genesis 3:16-19, 23. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return…. Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. Romans 3:16. Destruction and misery are in their ways: Romans 5:12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: Ephesians 2:1. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.

Worship:

Be Thou My Vision

Psalm 100

There is a Redeemer
In His Own Time

In His Own Time

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In His Own Time

When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judæa again.…

John 11: 6 & 7

God has His Own agenda and follows His Own schedule. In the scene before us, we see that very clearly. Christ was ministering, ‘beyond the Jordan.’ While He was there, He received word that, ‘he whom You love is sick.’ We would expect that Christ would respond immediately. He did not. In fact, ‘He stayed two more days in the place where He was.’ This supports the idea that God has His Own agenda and follows His Own schedule. The end result of Christ tarrying ‘beyond Jordan,’ would be that Lazarus would be dead and buried by the time He arrived. None of this would fall outside of the Plan and Purpose of God. It would fit entirely into the agenda and schedule of which we have been speaking. We, as mere humans, have difficulty coming to terms with these truths. We have opinions about how God should do things. Our agenda and His are rarely coincidental. It is often very hard for us to come peaceably to this conclusion. Because we think we see things so clearly, and have such a good grasp on what God should do, we tend to be uncomfortable, or anxious, or at variance with what He is doing. Today, let us look at the whole of this story, from the beginning to the end, and from it derive the lesson that Christ comes to us in His Own time, to complete His agenda, for His Glory, and for our ultimate good.

Our Holy and Wise God,
we rejoice that You do all things well.
We praise You that Your timing is perfect,
and that You accomplish all things in Your Own Time
and after the counsel of Your Own Will.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush Burning

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