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But also know I've been pastoring long enough to know that those who steal most from God, y' all remember he was a thief, right? Always have the most to say about how God's money is used. If you can't say Amen, say ouch, and we'll just move on quickly to the next point.

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And she wiped his feet. We all know the story. And wiped his feet with her hair. This was improper for any woman to do in public, particularly in this very, very conservative culture where women walked around with their heads veiled. But this lady was willing to lay down her honor, even her self respect, at the feet of Jesus. And in my experience, whenever I care too much about what people think, I end up caring less about what God thinks. But yeah, don't mishear me, though. I do care about what the people I love think. I just have to guard about caring about their opinion as much as God's. And when I start caring about people as much as God, I put them in God's seat. And that's dangerous for all involved.

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So this woman who was this great worshiper, she was generous, she was celebrated, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Despite all her great characteristics, her worship, her great qualities, we see that this woman still faced serious problems. Loving God does not exempt us from pain. But if we continue to look to him, it will get us through it.

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Therefore, the sister said to Jesus, they did what every smart person should do who has a problem. They brought it to Jesus and they said Lord. Now, Lord doesn't mean a whole lot to us, but.

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In the original language, it's a big deal. Lord means supreme ruler, the one who we should obey above or we will obey above all. And by calling Christ Lord, they were basically saying, you see, when Christ is Lord, your problems become his problems. I mean, if he's really the master and the owner of your life, you no longer have problems because you belong to him. So when Christ is Lord, you can very, very, very, very. Without even thinking, you can bring it to the Lord because your issue's his issue, because he's your master. He is the one you honor above all. And the Gospels are very, very clear. Christ is either Lord of all or he's not Lord at all. There's no middle ground. If God is not first, it really doesn't matter. What's second or what's third? He said, lord, or she said, behold, he whom watch this, you love is sick. Just because Jesus loves us doesn't mean we won't go through.

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Sometimes.

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You see, the sisters, when they came to Jesus, they expected Jesus to rush to Bethany, lay his hand on Lazarus and heal, like Jesus had done to thousands of others.

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But watch what happens here.

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When Jesus heard that, he said, this sickness is not unto death. The NIV reads, this sickness will not end in death. Jesus was saying, the situation will not end in it.

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But he had to go through it.

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What do you do when God doesn't do for you what he has done for so many others?

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But watch what Jesus said next.

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But it's for the glory.

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Of God. You see, what you're facing may not only be about you.

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It may be about those who you tell your story to.

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But it's for the glory of God that the Son of God may be glorified. Watch this. Through it. Not around it, not under it, not over it. But what through it. In my life, as much as I pray, as often as I fast, as many times as I've read, I've confessed that I've stood on the Bible. God has not always stopped it, but he's always gotten me through it.

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This sickness, this issue.

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Will not end in death, but is for the glory of God that the Son of God may be glorified again through it. The word glorified, doxa, in the Greek literally means high opinion.

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Or reputation.

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And here's the question. Are you only concerned about what people say about you?

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Or are you equally concerned about what people have to say about your God?

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Will you let God use your life to prove that even when the odds are stacked against you? He is a waymaker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light through the darkness. He's the captain of my ship, lover of my soul. Will you let God bring you to the very edge in order to show you that he is a great God?

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Now, Jesus loved Lazarus, but it says here he also loved Martha and her sister.

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And of course, Lazarus. Now, this seems to be a contradiction. God, if you loved us so much, why is my family in crisis? God, if you love me so much, why am I broke? Why am I still hurting? Why am I fighting this illness? Why am I mentally and emotionally exhausted? Jesus, if you love me, how could this be happening?

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So when Jesus heard he was sick, he rushed. No, he stayed two more.

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Days in the place where he.

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And they were thinking, lord, listen, I laid my reputation down for you. I Worshiped you like none other. The most expensive thing I had I brought to church and I worshiped and poured oil on your feet and I used my hair and I let people talk about. They criticized me for the worship. And Lord, the way you respond, the way you reward me is you're absent when I hurt.

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Verse 11.

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These things he said to them.

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Our friend Lazarus sleeps.

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Sometimes, you know, it seems like God doesn't take our problems, our situation seriously.

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Lazarus is dead. And he's using metaphors.

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Talking about he sleeps.

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But you see God sees things differently than you and I. And it's because he sees the end from the beginning. He's always calm in between. And because I don't always see the end, I get nervous, I get upset. But God is calm, he's at peace. He's like, listen, we're going to the other side. That's why I'm going to get this nap in before I get to the other side of the shore. Because people, they going to be pulling on me, all the rest. I see the end of this thing, so I'm comfortable going to sleep. And because we don't really see the end of the thing on the inside, we're anxious and we're nervous.

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But I go that I may wake him up.

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To God. Reversing even our most impossible situation is no harder than waking a baby.

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Whether it's cancer, diabetes, skin disease, or whatever life might throw at you is nothing compared to the power of the Almighty God.

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You know, a comedian once said, little is permanent in this world, not even our troubles.

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Then his disciples said, well, Lord, if he sleeps, he's gonna get well. Have you ever misunderstood something God said to you? Yeah, I've done it once, a thousand times. That's why I've learned to kind of wait on it for a minute and let God confirm it and all the rest. However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought he was talking about taking a rest in sleep.

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These guys had walked with Jesus almost three years, a little bit over three years, but they still didn't get it. And if you're going to live for God or lead anything, whether it's family, whether it's ministry, whether it's a business, you must accept the fact that sometimes you're going to be misunderstood. It just comes with the territory. So then Jesus said to them plainly, listen, guys.

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Lazarus is dead. Faith is not denying the facts, but it's trusting God despite them. But watch Jesus.

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If you always understand everything God's doing in your life. I don't believe You.

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Because God is God. He thinks differently. I mean, he's on a whole high. Do you even call what he has intelligence? I don't know what you call that. Our intelligence is kind of figuring out patterns. God knows from the end, from the beginning. I mean, there's no question mark that's ever existed in his mind or heart. But with that said, Jesus looks at them and he says, I'm glad. Sometimes God just seems so insensitive.

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No. No, really. He can sometimes seem very uncaring.

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If you're not willing to wait on how things finish. And I'm glad. Watch this. For your sakes. Whose sakes? Your sakes. That's what it says.

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Sometimes things don't go as planned because God is working on you.

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Not only your situation. He's trying to build something in you, not just fix your situation. I mean, he could do it like this every time. But we would be the most impatient people, the least empathetic people. We wouldn't sympathize with nobody. It's like, well, I got it like that. You didn't get it like that. And, you know, we wouldn't. We would never grow this muscle.

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Called patience, perseverance.

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And character.

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I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there. Sometimes when God feels absent, he's working on something deeper than your pleasure and your comfort.

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I'm glad that for your sake I was not there. That you may believe his goal was to expand their limited belief. You see, they knew him as a healer, but Jesus wanted to introduce himself as the resurrection and the life. That's a whole different category of faith. Why? Because in order to be resurrection, death has to happen first. In other words, if you want to know the resurrection and the life, something has to die in your life. And there's some things you will not learn until you face some death. And some things don't go your way. And only then do you recognize I can trust him. No matter what happens, no matter how bad it goes and how permanent it seems, I can trust him. And when you trust him that way, there's a peace that passes understanding. You can't explain it. The government may be laying on people, but it's like God got it. You know what? I've been through this before. I've been through worse things. I remember when I was hungry and he fed me. And all that was preparation.

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For what you're facing.

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Now. Nevertheless.

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Let us go to him. How do you say? He may not come when you want him, but he's always.

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The coldest winters produce the sweetest oranges.

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And when you're going through cold times, bitter times, God's working on sweetness.

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Somebody that went right.

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Some of those bitter times were to make you sweet and make you tender.

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Verse 17.

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So when Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the tomb four days.

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As I've said to you in the past, Jewish traditions held that the human spirit waited around the tomb for three days before it went to its final rest. And actually, that was held around the world in many different societies and cultures. But hear what I'm about to say. Sometimes God waits because it's not impossible enough yet.

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You still think counseling can fix it?

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You still think Bishop can fix it?

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But, but, but Jesus knew if he would have come any earlier, his enemies might have said, well, Lazarus, all he did was revive. So he intensely waited until it was too late to show us. It's never too late for God.

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Y' all about to pull something out of me.

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Now. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. And many of the Jews, now these were the Jerusalem Jews. These were the who's who of Judaism or Jewishness or whatever, the religious elite.

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And the Jewish Jews joined the women and Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother.

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And here, with all the crying and all the wailing and dirt being thrown in the air, a stage was set for Christ's miracle. And it would be a miracle no one could deny. The Bible says, for when I'm weak, then I am strong. When it's the hardest, that's when God shows himself the strongest.

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Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. Most of us in this situation, we'd have a little bit of an attitude. I don't want to talk to him no more.

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I don't have time for him. He didn't have time for me.

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She was deeply hurt, deeply wounded by her brother's death. But she still knew who to go to in trouble.

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Now Martha has this conversation with Jesus.

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And basically she blames him. Lord, if you had been here, not so busy with everybody else.

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If you love me like you love other people you spend all your time with, even though you know I gave you my very best, Lord, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died. This wouldn't have happened in my life. God, if you love me like you love everybody else. But Martha and I are really the only ones who'd ever blame God for something.

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Or for a loss.

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But at least she didn't hide her complaint.

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She brought it to Jesus face. And I'm uncomfortable sometimes with these conversations, but I gotta. When I'm hurting and I'm upset, I gotta bring that to. I used to try to stuff it down. I try to gloss over it and use little religious cliches, but I've learned as a guy, oh no, I need to tell the Lord, just, this is what I feel, this how I think. And it's amazing. He's not intimidated by me. He's not put off by me. He answers and he responds. He's like, derek, you show me the real you, I'll show you the real God.

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No matter how bad it hurts, how mad you get, bring it to Jesus.

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38 Then Jesus Again, meaning he had done this a little bit earlier. We skipped those verses. Groaning in himself.

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Now this term groaning.

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Typically speaks of anger. Sometimes it speaks of grief.

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But Jesus is in front of this grave and death has taken another human. And at some point you got to get sick and tired of being sick and tired.

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And Jesus had a growl in his spirit, a roar in his heart.

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Again, groaning in himself Prayer is not always pretty. Sometimes you gotta cry, sometimes you get angry, sometimes you gotta groan. Groaning in himself he felt it. Mary and Martha were not the only ones in pain. Jesus was in pain for them and with him. Hebrews 4 and 15 tells us we do not have a high priest who does not sympathize with our weaknesses, but was tempted at all points as we are yet without sin. He knows what it is to be tempted to walk away from God. I mean, he said, father, you know, if there's any other way, take that. He knows what it feels like.

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For things not to go his way. Groaning groaning he had a groan in his heart, but he didn't retreat.

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And sometimes we have a little anger and frustration in our heart and we go hide, we retreat and we just stick our head in the sand. But groaning he came and faced death itself, the tomb. And he walked into the place of their loss.

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And by the way, he will walk with you there too.

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And the Bible said it was.

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A cave. How many have. How many of us have some dark holes in our.

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Lives.

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Places of deep loss.

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Places.

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Like etched in stone.

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You're finished. This is permanent, unredeemable.

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It's hopeless.

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It was a cave in a stone. A big old stone.

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Lay against it. And all that stone did was reinforce the irreversible nature of Lazarus condition.

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But despite the grief, the wailing, all the emotions everyone else was feeling, Jesus still had something to say. And he is the alpha and the Omega. And if you let him, he will have the last word. Pay attention to what I'm saying. Verse 39.

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Then Jesus stands in front of death itself, people watching, and he says something totally ridiculous. This is not what you do.

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He said, take away.

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The stone.

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Jesus often requires us to act before we see the results. And if you will do what Jesus tells you to do, he'll also do what he promises.

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Now, God could have done this very differently. He could have just healed Lazarus. But instead, he waits. Then he walks up to the stone, take away the stone. Took several men to move the stone. It was a big deal. Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, lord, by this time, there is a stench. How many y' all got some stinky stuff, some dead stuff in your life? I mean, the odor of it is for real.

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For he has been dead for four days, which means the sisters had resigned themselves to the problem. How many of y' all ever resigned yourself.

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To the problem? But watch Jesus 43.

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Now when he said these things again. This is why I can't pray in front of everybody, because I go through all this different stuff. I mean, at one point he's talking, but now he's gonna start yelling. He lifts loud voice.

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He's gonna yell.

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Toward the grave.

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The Bible said it's not just a loud. He cried.

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I mean.

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There was something going on in his voice for John to communicate it this way. It was a cry, and it was loud.

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And it was understandable. It was articulate.

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And in this cry.

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He said, lazarus.

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Come forth. It has been said that if Jesus did not call Lazarus by name, all the righteous dead would have started walking out of that tomb. And they might still be walking out today.

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But why did he call him by name?

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Because this was a miracle with Lazarus name on it. Only Lazarus fingerprint. It was for Lazarus's situation. Your miracle might not look like everybody else's miracle. God might not deal with your issue the way he deals with everyone else's issue.

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He said, lazarus, come on. Why did Jesus wait so late?

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Well, God promised Abraham and Sarah when Abram was 75 that they'd have a baby.

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Having a baby, you know, she would have been 65. That's pretty old anyway as it is.

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But God wouldn't settle for old. He wanted old. Old.

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And there's some things in your life, you think it's old enough. God's like, no, no, oh, oh.

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I'm a wait until mama's 90 and you 100 for the promised child to come. So that Everybody will know that it was a miracle of God. Isaac is your miracle.

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Ain't that right?

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Jacob had to wrestle all night. He wasn't blessed until the break of day. He was blessed at dawn. Daniel prayed. And it wasn't until 21 days.

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That the angel prevailed.

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He said, lazarus come forth. So just like Abraham was old, old.

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Lazarus was dead. Dead.

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How many of you have some dead dead situations in your life? There's already a tombstone. The eulogy's been said.

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Everything that needed to be written is written.

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But when Jesus called his name, like he's about to call your name, he who died came out. That's what I'm here to tell you this morning. Things did not go as planned. Happen when you thought it should, the way it should. But Jesus is willing to walk up to your cave and he will bring you out.

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He will bring you out. One more time. He will bring you out. Hallelujah.

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And he who had been dead.

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He who was wrapped and looked like a mummy. In fact, archaeologists say they found Lazarus tomb. And this might surprise you. He was a wealthy man, so it was a tomb, but you had to walk down steps to get to the bottom.

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So Lazarus. By the way, if you read the end of the story, Jesus said, loose him and let him go. Meaning he was still wrapped up.

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Which meant the power of God lifted Lazarus from wherever he was in the tomb. It took him up every step he needed to take to get to where he needed to be. And when God calls you out, you can be free. There is a miracle with just your name on it.

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That horrible thing that happened doesn't have to be the end of your story.

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If you would just be like those two sisters and walk with Jesus to that dark place. Walk with Jesus to that place of loss and that painful place, that shameful place that. That hopeless place. If you just bring Jesus to that place and let God do what only God can do. He has a miracle with your on. And give God a hallelujah and a praise. Because he's a good God, the only wise God. And we love him. We love him. We love him. We love him. Come on, give him a shout. He sees you. He knows what you need, when you need it, how you need it. He's wise.

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Trust him. Trust him. Trust him.

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Thank you for joining us. Until next time, remember you have what it takes in Christ to live big. We also invite you to partner with Derek Greer Ministries in bringing the life changing and impactful teachings of God's Word to the world. Get started by visiting Derekre.com by clicking the link in the description.

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Satan.