Live to Love Scripture Encouragement

John 11:27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world." What did Martha believe about Jesus? She believed He is the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world to save us from eternal death, which we deserve. This declaration ranks right up there with Peter’s, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God” (Matt. 16...

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, These are not the words of a crazy man, a lunatic, or a religious fanatic cult leader. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Lord, we worship You as the resurrection and the life. Everything and everyone around us who is not in You is in a state of perpetual death. There is no l...

John 11:24 Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Again, Martha’s faith and confidence shines. She believes that death does not have the final say in the lives of believers. It’s why we celebrate when a loved one who knows Jesus leaves the body at the last breath. This is pretty amazing since this event is a pre-resurrection occurrence. Anyone wit...

John 11:23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." This is stunning! Wonderful! Amazing! It seems reasonable that Jesus is telling her what He asked of God. He asked that Lazarus would be raised from the dead, and He is confident that His Father has heard and will give it. In Romans 8:26-28, Paul gives us the same confidence in Jesus’ intercession. We may not know how to pray, but that’...

John 11:22 Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." Are we like Martha in this regard? She expressed a trust in Jesus’ intercession “even now” with Lazarus being dead 4 days. What was He to ask of God? Her words “whatever you ask” remind me of the words of Jesus to His disciples found in John 14:13. “Whatever you ask in My name that will I do, so that the Father may be glo...

John 11:21 Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. We are all like Martha. If from our perspective, something bad happens, we conclude it happened because God doesn’t love us or wasn’t there. We naturally have the “If only…” syndrome. If we think God should orchestrate the affairs of our lives according to our desires, we forget that God’s ways are h...

John 11:20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. Someone went before Jesus and alerted Martha that Jesus was coming. As soon as she heard, off she went to meet Him. As we know from other accounts of Martha, she’s a woman of action, and she’s not afraid of speaking her mind to Jesus. In contrast, Mary is the focused one. She’s not ea...

John 11:18-19 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. As Jesus delayed, the crowd of Jews, perhaps many who had previously conspired to stone Jesus, was gathering in Bethany at Martha’s and Mary’s house. Did God know this? Not only did He know it, He was orchestrating it. He is preparing to glo...

John 11:17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Jesus waited two days before beginning the trip to Bethany (vs. 6), and apparently it took two days to travel to Bethany. For Lazarus to be in the tomb 4 days means that he died the day Jesus heard that he was sick. Mary and Martha must have sent word two days before he died because we assume it also took them...

John 11:16 Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, so that we may die with Him." Doesn’t Thomas give us hope? Sometimes we are like Thomas, the ever-doubting, pessimistic Thomas. But I wonder if there’s something more admirable revealed here. I don’t know if he was being facetious or not. “Yep, let’s all just go with Him. We’re all gonna die anyway.”...

John 11:14-15 So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him." Not only did love for Mary and Martha lead Jesus to delay His response, but love for His disciples also. God orchestrates the affairs of life in order that we may believe in Jesus—that our faith might be displayed as wrought by God....

John 11:12-13 The disciples then said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. We can’t see what Jesus sees in any situation any more than the disciples could understand what Jesus understood about Lazarus’ situation. Their limitations were understandable as are ours. This should teach us to...

John 11:11 This He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep." The love of God that is the Light of the world, knew Lazarus had not died the death that occurs because of sin, but had “fallen asleep.” Love was going to awaken him. This must have excited Jesus! Jesus wasn’t concerned about any danger to His life, as t...

John 11:9-10 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." How do we know how to make decisions if we want to live to love with Jesus? Jesus explained His decision to go to Judea where His life had been threatened. His...

John 11:8 The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?" Remember that twice the Jews had picked up stones to kill Jesus. If left up to the disciples, the decision to return to Judea would have been made based upon natural reasoning, outward circumstances, and history. They were concerned for His welfare and probably their own as wel...

John 11:7 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." This is all about timing. Jesus knew to wait upon His Father. It was the only way to glorify Him. He always abided in the Father. He said, “Let’s go,” because His Father said, “Let’s go.” The only way we can glorify Jesus is by abiding in Him and living to love with Him. We should go because He goes. We should love as...

John 11:5-6 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Now Jesus loved…so He delayed. Wait! How do we respond when the love of God delays to act and bring healing and relief? John clearly wants us to know and believe that it was love for the sisters and Lazarus that motivated His delay. We may conc...

John 11:4 But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." This verse deserves more meditation. Yesterday, I commented that God’s purpose for all things in the lives of those He loves is to glorify Jesus in them. This is a distinctively Christian foundational truth to be applied often, everyday of o...

John 11:4 But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." Lazarus’s sickness (which is a result of the Fall) has a greater end than the death he deserves—the glory of God. God’s purpose for the sickness was to glorify (bear testimony to) His Son. Is this a unique situation? I think not. It’s what J...

John 11:3 So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." Mary and Martha knew Jesus loved Lazarus and would want to know of his illness, so they sent word to Him. Makes me wonder if others can see Jesus’ love for someone through me. I don’t think Jesus’ concern was to be seen to love. His love was as steady, constant, and genuine as His Father’s. He lived to lov...

John 11:2 It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. This event isn’t covered by John until the next chapter, but it indicates how impressed John was with her extravagant love for Jesus. He wants us to be impressed as well with her reverence for Him. Maybe it’s to show us something about Jesus’ love for His Father as it re...

John 11:1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. As I think about Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, I’m reminded of dear friends that God has given to us as gifts of His love. The Father gave them to Jesus so He and Jesus could love them. Who has God put in your life as special, dear friends that He wants to love with you? The idea comes to write a note...

John 10:33 The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” If it had been anyone else, they would have been right in their assessment. Even today, there are blasphemers who make themselves out to be God. By the way, be on the alert for the lie that suggests that we are all one with God because we are part o...

John 10:32 Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” Jesus showed them the works of the Father. Works of healing on the Sabbath. The Jews couldn’t accept that the works of Jesus were the works of God, His Father, so they considered Him a sinner and an imposter. Does anyone see the disconnect? The disconnect was that they didn’t know...

John 10:31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Did you notice the word “again.” After Jesus had said that He was the Light of the world and the Light of life, He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” In John 8:59, it says they picked up stones to throw at Him, but He hid Himself. Twice Jesus spoke plainly that He was the Son of God and was God in the flesh, a...