No Vacancy...

(I'm seriously impressed with the song, Tim. Thought I'd let you know before you strangle me again.)

Anyway, today's Sunday again! So I'm putting aside the shut-down for God, since He's absolutely more important than my studies! (Changes into priestly garments.) Now, let's see what we should share today...

*flips through Bible*

Ah-ha! This should be good for the exam-stressed soul. Flip with me, brothers and sisters, to John 11:1-44. For non-Christians out there, this is the story of Lazarus - a dude that Jesus rose from the dead. But I'm not that concentrated by the act, though. Let's see the story first, shall we? An outline of the story is as follows:

Lazarus (God has helped) lived in the town of Bethany (House of Unripe Dates or Figs), and one day he was ill. Apparently, Mary (The one who poured perfume on Jesus' feet and wiped it clean with her hair.) and her sister Martha (Mistress) were siblings of Lazarus, so they sent a message to Jesus, saying that 'your dear friend is ill'.

When Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness won't end in death. Nope, it's for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it."

For your information, Jesus did love Martha, Mary and Lazarus as friends. Yet, when he recieved the news of Lazarus' being, he stayed where He was for a couple more days. It was then that He told His disciples, "Hey, let's go back to Judea."

"But 'Cher," responded the diciples, "just a short time ago the people there wanted to stone you; and yet you want to go back?"

Jesus said, "Daytime has 12 hours, right? So whoever walks in the middle of the day doesn't stumble, since they see the light of this world. But if they walk during the night they stumble, because they've got no light." He then added, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I will go and wake him up."

The disciples answered, "But if he's asleep, then he'd get better." (If you couldn't tell, Jesus meant that Lazarus died, but the disciples still thought He was reffering to natural sleep.)

So Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. But for your sake I am glad that I wasn't there with him, so that you'll all believe. Let us go to him."

Thomas (a.k.a. 'Didymus' ['The Twin']) said to his fellow-disciples, " Let us all go with the 'Cher, so that we may die with him!"

When Jesus arrived, He discovered that Lazzy (Let's just call him that for short) had already been in his tomb for 4 days. Bethany was was less than 3km away from Jerusalem, and many Judeans had come to see Martha and Mary to comfort them over their brother's death.

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, while her sister stayed in the house. She then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my bro wouldn't have died! But I know that even now God would give You whatever You ask Him for."

"Your bro would rise to life," said Jesus.

"I know he will rise," replied Martha, "in the ressurection at the last day."

Jesus then said to her, "I am the ressurection and the life. Those who believe in me will live, even though they die; and all those who live and believe in me will never die. Do you believe in this?"

"Absolutely, Lord!" she answered. "I do believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

After saying so, Martha made her way back to the house and called for Mary in private.

"'The Teacher is here," she told her, "and is asking for you." When she heard this, she got up and hurried out to meet Him. (Jesus still wasn't in the village yet, mind you, but was still at the same spot where Martha met Him.) The people inside the house who were there to comfort Mary saw her rush out of the house and quickly followed her, assuming that she was going back to the grave to cry her hearts out again.

Mary arrived where Jesus was, and as soon as she saw Him, she fell at His feet. "Lord," she said, "if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died!"

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the other people who were with her also weeping, He was greatly touched. "Where have you buried him?" He asked them.

"Come and see, Lord," they replied.

Jesus wept.

"See how much He loved him," said the people. "But if He was able to give sight to the blind, then couldn't He have prevented this death?"

Still deeply moved, Jesus went to the tomb, which was a cave with a stone sealing the entrance. "Take the stone away!" Jesus ordered.

Martha answered, "But there'll be a bad odur, since Lazzy was left there for 4 days already."

Jesus then said to her, "Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would see the Glory of God?"

They then took away the stone. Jesus looked up and said, "I thank you, Father, that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I'm just saying this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" Lazzy came out, still mummified in his grave clothes, and with a cloth round his face.

Jesus then said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."

"Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would see the Glory of God?" Promising words, really. Let's look at the two ends of the story, shall we? At the front part, who did the sisters seek help from when their brother was ill? Jesus! They seeked Jesus when things were getting uneasy for them all.

Now, let's fast-forward to the center-part of the story. If you were in Martha's shoes (or sandals for that case), would you have trusted Jesus that He would be able to raise your four-days dead brother? It's so supernatural, no one can hardly believe it. I mean, how could a dead corpse four-days dead come back to life? (No zombie thoughts, please.)

It took so much faith for Martha to believe that Jesus was able to do it (besides the end-part where she doubted the smell), I tell you she'd be the least surprised person there watching her brother walking back to her arms. If I saw my dead mummified neighbour walking out of his tomb, I'd have run NAPHA without much sweat. I could thus say the same for the people who followed Mary and Martha, but not for Mary and Martha themselves. They believed with such great faith that their brother would come back to life again, they were able to see it happen!

They were able to 'see the Glory of God'!

And all they did? Just trust in the Lord, no matter how impossible the events are going, or how off-course life is going from your perception of 'the perfect scenario'.

So in the same way, brothers and sisters, I encourage you all to 'seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well'! The definition of this verse? Make God the highest priority in your life, and all the other items in life would come your way, satisfaction garunteed! But my main point in this 'sermon' is this; Believe in God first, and the miracles would follow.

How to practice this in the exams? Simple! Just declare 1 Samuel 17:45b-46a to your paper, and believe with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul that those marks/grades you want WILL come! It's that simple! (The prayer I quoted, by the way, is '...I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty...This very day, the Lord would put you in my power; I will defeat you...'. I know it sounds weird wispering to a set of papers, but hey - I'll become even more undignified than this.)

And if you get the marks, praise the Lord with abudant rejoicing, and use it as a testimony to God! And if you don't get the marks, don't curse at God, but just say thanks for the marks. Who knows, He might have a greater testimony for you in times to come! The climax may be unbareable, but never stop trusting in God's plans!

Matthew 6:7!!! Now if you excuse me, I've got more revision to do. Carbonate is Co3, -2...

P.S. And about the part where Jesus said that the scenario was 'for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it'? Well, He was glorified. Just from that miracle, many of the people who came believed in Christ, and it even became a Biblical story included in the Bible! In fact, there are people all over the world sharing this dstory in hopes to convey their message of God...