Unbind Him, and Let Him Go! (John 11:44)

Jesus performed many miracles, but there was one that involved a very dear friend, Lazarus. It was a difficult roller-coaster of emotions for the family during the time Lazarus found himself deathly ill.

You see Mary and Martha of Bethany were Lazarus' sisters and when they had no other alternative but to call on Jesus because Lazarus was dying, they did. They sent for Him because they believed that Jesus could heal him, but even though He loved Lazarus, Jesus delayed His coming to His friend's bedside by two days.

I'm sure this was a disappointment to Mary and Martha as Jesus was their only hope, but Jesus delayed for a reason. Jesus said that it was for His glory, for the sake of the disciples' faith, and also for the faith of those who would be witnesses to Lazarus' resurrection after four days of being in the grave.

Yes, Jesus came, He wept with family and friends; yes, He went to the grave, called out for Lazarus to "come out"! And we know that Lazarus indeed rose from the grave.

But what we often miss is what Jesus didn't do but ordered those gathered around Lazarus to do instead. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but He commanded everyone else to "unbind him, and let him go".

As Christians gathered around those brought to new life in Christ, we too, may miss the command to "make disciples of all nations" as the Great Commission commands us to do. It's God's work to save them, but He left the leading and teaching up to us to do for these souls that have been raised from the grave unto new life in Jesus Christ.

Discipleship can be a difficult, time-consuming work, but it is also a blessing to see layer after layer come off until you see the new person that was wrapped up under the grave clothes of sin and ignorance.

Jesus gives new life as He saves people from the grave, but you and I are to then "unbind" under the work of discipleship and "let [them] go" in service to God.

I pray you don't miss this very important work and take the time to help those who can't themselves unwrap the grave clothes they may still be wearing because no one else has taken the time.

Jesus said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." - Matthew 28:19-20

Unbind Him, and Let Him Go to God's glory!

Pastor Raul

Marriage: Real Life Can Never Compete with Fantasy by Gregory L. Winfield

Marriage: Real Life Can Never Compete With Fantasy

Marriage: Real Life Can Never Compete With Fantasy

Marriage is something that most girls dream about from childhood. Everyone loves the story of Cinderella to the point where we have coined the terms “A Cinderella Wedding” or “A Fairy Tale Wedding”

Likewise, young men dream of having the ideal wife with an ideal body all the days her life. The dream is of marrying this perfect person and living happily ever after.

It’s very hard to accept anything in real life other than the fairy tale union when such visions of perfection have been ingrained within us for so many years prior to marriage.

When real life slaps us in the face and we wake up next to Mr. or Mrs. imperfect, some people are left feeling a little disappointed.

A fantasy marriage is perfect, a real life marriage isn’t

None of us fantasize about going to the alter with the ugliest guy or girl in town.

We don’t have dreams of growing up and living in government assisted housing for the rest of our lives.

No one has ever imagined having the worst job and the worse car in the neighborhood and set out on a trek to make these dreams come true.

No, quite the contrary. When we dream, we dream about having the best. We imagine ourselves in nice cars, living in nice homes, and having the perfect spouse.

So when reality gives us a less than perfect car, a less than desirable house and a spouse that isn’t necessarily what we envisioned, we can be tempted to look at our lives and feel a little let down.

Marriage is definitely not Fairy Tale

Marriage is never about finding the perfect partner. There is no perfect partner. Marriage isn’t even about finding someone that you’re most compatible with.

Marriage is about finding the partner that is willing to allow God to mold and shape them individually and as a partner in the union that He is sanctioning.

If I could sum up marriage in one word it would be “yielding”. Yielding to one another and yielding to God. Submitting to one another as you both submit to the Lord is key to making a Christian marriage work.

As you yield to God and allow Him to create something beautiful between the two of you, you will look up one day and find that the imperfect person you married is still imperfect, but he or she is perfect for you and vise versa.

Have you ever had a key that would fit into a lock, but yet the key wouldn’t turn the lock to unlock the door? Couples who refuse to yield to one another and/or to God are like a key that fits into a lock, but are incapable of unlocking the door.

It takes God, our great locksmith to reshape and cut the keys of our lives and personalities so that they not only fit into the lock, but are able to turn and unlock the barriers within our marriages.

Unrealistic marriage fantasies kill marriages from the start

Folks, marriage is work. It’s work that doesn’t offer any vacation time. It doesn’t offer sick days, and the shifts run 24 hours per day with no days off.

Marriage is about finding a lump of coal and working together to create a diamond. When you both realize that you will have something precious at the end of the refining process, working together becomes enjoyable.

Get rid of the romance novel version of marriage

Your marriage will go through countless changes over the years. Likewise, your spouse will go through changes spiritually, emotionally and physically during the course of the marriage.

What do you do when changes occur in your marriage that are outside the scope of the fantasy union you had prior to your marriage?

How you respond will determine if you’re still chasing a fantasy or are ready and willing to put forth the effort to make your marriage work in the real world.

Trust God to make something beautiful of your marriage

The institution of marriage was created by God. Ask the Lord to bless your union. Trust Him to work miraculously in your marriage.

Pray for your spouse and come together in agreement that your union will be one that is an example of what God intended when He created the institution of marriage.

My prayer is that God will grant you a marriage that surpasses even your wildest dreams and that a union that began as just another Christian marriage heading for divorce court will be completely renewed and held up as an example of what the power of God can do, in Jesus Name!