Voice of Purpose

Ps.29:^4,7,&9 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord strikes with bolts of lightning. The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare. In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”

John 11:³⁷ “But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” Why didn’t Jesus keep Lazarus from dying? Jesus did not keep Lazarus from dying because Jesus wanted to raise Lazarus from the dead. Why didn’t God stop them from firing me from my job? God did not stop them from firing you from that job because He wants to build a business through you. Why did God allow my spouse to behave in this way? It is because He wants to show His resurrection power. John 11:^41-42 “So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” Miracles are answered prayers; Jesus lifted His eyes and prayed, and the miracle happened.

The number one miracle, even before Lazarus came out, happened when Jesus said, ‘roll away the stone’. Did you notice that no one had to cover their nose? The dead man was not stinking, because the presence of Jesus had already arrested the decay – Resurrection and the Life. When they rolled away the stone at Jesus’ command, if there was a stench people would have said it and it would have been recorded. But there was no stench and that is huge. The presence of Jesus makes all the difference. John 11:⁴³ “Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” He did not go there to lay His hands on the dead man. Meanwhile, with the son of the widow of Nain had been dead for maybe twenty-four hours. Jairus’ daughter had been dead for only a few hours. But Lazarus had been dead for four days, this is confirmed dead. Jesus wanted Lazarus to be dead – dead so that when He wakes him up, people would not say maybe he was not clinically dead. He did not want them to say, maybe he had what they call the Lazarus effect medically these days. He just entered some state and then he got jolted out of the state. Jesus allowed him to be confirmed dead.

It is interesting that Jesus called Lazarus. Jesus said in John 10:²⁷ “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” So, even in death, Lazarus was an obedient sheep. He heard the voice of Jesus even though he was dead, and he got up and came out. Jesus has absolute authority; Lazarus was His sheep and he had no choice. That is the beauty of being a sheep of Jesus, it means that when I am in my deepest trouble, as soon as my Master shows up and calls me. I hear His voice and I come out and death cannot hold me bound. When He calls you out of poverty as His sheep you will hear His voice and come out of poverty. Poverty cannot hold you bound. These are just the perks of being His sheep because your Master will look for you. Whenever the sheep has a problem, it is the Shepherd that looks for the sheep. And everything is bare before this Shepherd we have, there is nowhere you can be taken to that He will not locate you. It is beautiful.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I hear Your voice and I follow You, I declare that nothing can hold me bound because You control my destiny, in Jesus Name. Amen!