sunday's scuds (july 29, 2007)

Yesterday we wrapped up the Miracles series. It was an awesome blessing to be a part of it. Thanks to all of you who have called me, emailed me, or stopped me in the hallways to share your miracle stories and offer words of encouragement.

For the final installment in the series, we looked at Jesus' miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. I'm so glad that our God specialized in making dead things come alive. Here are the scuds:

• "There may be those of you, right now, who are facing some incredibly difficult things and you are saying, 'Things are going the wrong way. I don’t understand it. I don’t know what’s going on,' and God wants you to know, 'This sickness in your life, or whatever it is, will not end in death. I’ve got divine strategy.'"
• " Did you know that you can be dead while you live? Alive on the outside, but very, very dead on the inside."
• "Some of you, just like Thomas, you are dying right now in your doubts. In other words, things aren’t good, and they are probably going to get worse. A lot of you are, right now, dying on the inside with very real spiritual doubts."
• "There’s a question I would like for you to answer yourself, and be very, very, very honest. Ask yourself, “What in your life is dead or is dying?” What in your life is dead or is dying? Be really honest."
• "Think about the irony of Jesus weeping. Here is the Son of God, who was about to do about to raise Lazarus from the dead. He knew at any moment He could do it and yet, He wept. Why? Because that’s how much He feels and cares for His people."
• "Never forget this, that God’s delays are not God’s denials."
• "Why did Jesus come? He came so that you could live. He came so that you could live the God kind of life, not this fake, pathetic pursuit of materialism and selfish gratification and self preoccupation that we bought into in our mindset."
• "Do you realize that if you are a Christ Follower, the very same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, that resurrection power is inside of you?"
• "Because He came so that you could live, stop dressing like a dead man. Stop dressing like you belong in the tomb. Stop speaking like a dead man. Stop thinking like a dead man. Stop acting like a dead man. Stop hanging around dead people. Jesus came so that you could live. "
• "Take off anything that resembles death. Take it off. Take it off. Strip them off. Get rid of it. Get rid of those dead things. Scripture says that you were dead in your transgressions and sin, but now you are alive in Christ."
• "Four-days-dead is not dead at all in God's world. He can speak to dead things and in a moment...they can live."