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- Day One
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- Day Four
- Day Five
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Friday, October 19th (Day Five)
Read:
John 11:1-44
"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet
shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do
you believe this?"
Reflect:
Unless Jesus returns first, all of us are sure to die. This is a striking
statistic given the lengths we often go to in order to pretend we can enjoy
life on this earth forever.
Jesus himself recognized this fact and the pain of it when he wept at the grave
of his friend Lazarus. He was not weeping because he was powerless; Jesus knew
he had the power to make Lazarus alive again. He wept because death is the
ultimate reminder of everything that is wrong in the world. Death is the result
of our rebellion against God and, as such, it is the enemy Jesus came to
conquer. As the Apostle Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 15:26, "The last enemy to
be destroyed is death."
Only Jesus is able to defeat the enemy of death, and he does it, ironically,
with his own death. When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the price for the
sins of his people, and when he rose again on the third day, he validated his
victory over death and promised eternal life to all who believe in him.
The question for all of us is the same question he posed to Martha at Lazarus'
grave: "Do you believe this?" If you do, is it your life's mission to make it
known throughout your spheres of influence?
Apply:
- Do you avoid thinking about the reality of death? If so, why? How do Jesus' words to Martha in John 11:25 comfort you and give you a mission?
- If it is true that only Jesus can overcome the problem of death, why do you fear sharing this message with others? How can you most effectively utilize the financial resources the Lord has given you to help ensure that as many people as possible hear that Jesus is the resurrection and the life?
Pray:
- For anyone the Lord brings to your mind that is apart from Christ who either fears or ignores death.
- That the Lord will powerfully use Christ the King to spread the life changing message that Jesus is the resurrection and the life.
