"These were Written that You Would Believe!"
JESUS CALLS US OUT AS DISCIPLES!!
Mary & Martha
Key Elements of becoming a Devoted Disciple (Week Two)!
2.) KNOW that what you BELIEVE about Jesus is TRUE!
Live OUT your FAITH! (John 20:29-31, Mt. 16:15, James 2:18)
“These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” – John 20:31
John 11:20-27: Believing Jesus
20 When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”
25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[a]Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”
· Are we turning the WORDS we say into the WITNESS we Live?
You see Martha was very quick to declare that she believed Jesus with her mouth, but she did not know that soon after that declaration she would have the opportunity to put action behind her faith. We learned last week that as Disciples we are called to sit and listen, but do we BELIEVE what we’ve heard from Him? Do we KNOW it to be true? Jesus had just declared to Martha the incredible truth that He is the Resurrection and the Life, but right after making one of the most profound and revealing truths about Himself known to this woman, Jesus still had to ask her, “Do you Believe this, Martha?” This is the question Jesus asks to all of us! Do YOU BELIEVE? You see, right after Martha said, “Yes, Lord. I believe…” Jesus went to the tomb and asked that the stone be rolled away. Martha quickly said, “Lord, he’s already decaying. It’s been four days.” In other words, just leave him. Forget about it, it’s over. Jesus turned to her right away and said, “Didn’t I tell you that IF you believed, you Would SEE the Glory of God?” After praying, Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, COME OUT!” What was dead, had been made alive! We’ve all been here before, when our words don’t quite match our belief. It is here that the heartfelt cry of a desperate father rings in my ear. “Lord, I believe, HELP my UNBELIEF!” This is the plea of every committed follower of Christ. We hear our Lord’s question to us, “Do YOU Believe?” This is a question that needs fleshed out daily, and in fact it is the commitment to fleshing out how we live our faith that sets us apart as Christ’s disciples. Do we Live a Life of TURNING the WORDS we SAY into the WITNESS we LIVE? We all have areas in our lives that may seem lifeless. We have situations that seem like there is no hope. We know people that seem lost forever. Do we Believe what we have confessed? Do we believe He IS the Resurrection and the Life. Do we Believe that when HE Speaks Life into something, it CANNOT STAY DEAD!! If we want to run this race to completion we’ve got to Believe that what we Know is TRUE! We’ve got to turn the Words we say into the Witness we Live!!
