DO NOT BE ANOTHER LAZARUS
By Mazi Odera
Brethren ,welcome to another Sunday and by his grace ,we are able and
willing to hear his word,for that is our pillar in life. We thank him because none is like him ,among the gods who is like him?
glorious in holliness ,fearful in praises ,doing wonder and miracle
which only him can do. He is God and needs no confirmation to remain God,he is the first and
the last and need no Multivitamin to stay healthy.He is ageless God and
for that, we bow in adoration and shake at his praises.
Today we Read the Book of LUKE, CHAPTER 16 VS 19 -25
19There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine
linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his
gate, full of sores, 21And desiring to be fed with the crumbs
which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and
licked his sores. 22And it came to pass, that the beggar died,
and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also
died, and was buried; 23And in hell he lift up his eyes, being
in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send
Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my
tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25But Abraham said,
Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things,
and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou
art tormented.
Lazarus was just a poor man who enjoys being poor and took pride of his
pathetic state of poverty. Before you misunderstand me, let me tell us
how.
The bible said he is a begger with sores on his body ,and he loves to
beg at the rich mans gate .Have you wondered why Lazarus refused to beg
the rich man to threat his wound?, he did not ask and therefore he did
not receive.It did not end there ,he is a begger but his state of mind
is so pathetic that he cannot even fulfilled his begging ministry ,he
should,ve begged the rich man to give him money to heal self ,but he did
not do that,he would,ve begged the rich man for food but he did not do
such.He only desire to eat the CRUMB from the richmans table. The Bible did not say he eat the crumb ,it said "21And desiring to be
fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: ".
Note again, the Bible did not say that he is cripple but yet this
Lazarus allowed dog to lick his wound ?,he did not beat that dog with
stick or stone , or make a run for it ,because he has leg and can run
,he refused all but allowed the dog to do the licking !! what do you
think of him ?.
The Bible said on the book of MATHEW 5 VS 7 - 8
7Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it
shall be opened unto you:
8For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth;
and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Lazarus did not ask for good food ,he did not ask to be treated of his
sore,he did not even ask for the crumb from the Rich mans table.Had it
been he begged the richman for any of the above and the man refused ,it
will be on record that he tried, but he is like many of us ,who accept
thier fate without trying to move out of it. Some people are like Lazarus ,they always hope that UNCLE this and
Brother that is Rich and he is Suppose to help me ,does he not know that
i am doing nothing ? is he waiting for me to come beg him before he will
help me .After all we are brothers,after all we are related ,after all
he is from my kindred... AND SO WHAT ?
Atimes when you stay close to people with spirit of poverty and hear
what they say and think ,you will be suprise that this people have brain
that work just like every other person.If they start anything and fail
,they will quickly transfer aggression to one Uncle or relative that did
not come to help.They are the ones that will quickly begat 12 children
and will like to transfer all the responsibility of the upbringing and
training of those Children to somebody else and the worst is that they
think that you must do it.They will not ask you ,they will expect you to
sniff the air and know it and run to them to take over liability.
The Bible said Knock and it shall be opened unto you,but some brothers
cannot knock ,they cannot ask ,they cannot lift a finger to drag self
out of situation ,they always believe that THE RICH RELATION must come
to the rescue.There are men that believe that thier situation is
insolvent "onye gwara gi" [who told you ?].No condition is insolvent ,No
condition cannnot be improved ,nothing is unchangeable in life .
Listen and listen good ,there is nobody that has exclussive right to be
rich and another poor,yes there must be poor among us but who said it
must be you ?.
If the likes of JABEZ whose named and calling was to be poor but he
cried to God and ask God to change his name and situation and, God
answered him and he became somebody of substance .
If the likes of King David whose own father did not add to the count of
his children ,when prophet Samuel came to his fathers house and ask him
to bring out his male children for one to be ordained a KING ,he
brought out 7 of his sons whom he prefer to become King ,but as the Lord
rejected them all ,Samuel then ask him,1 Samuel 16 vs 11 "11And Samuel
said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth
yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said
unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come
hither. "..
It took the Prophet some prompting for Jesse, David father to remember
that David is in the dessert herding cattle,but did you notice that they
were punished because of that neglect,Samuel said "for we will not sit
down till he come hither".Did you imagine how far the place he is
herding cattle is to the house ? yet none of them shall sit down,drink
nor pee ,until David the forgotten son arrive. David later became the King of Isreal and a LEGEND in world of
leadership upto this day.
If the like of Jephthat shall become King ,read JUDGES 11 VS 1- 7 "
1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was
the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah. 2And Gilead's
wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out
Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's
house; for thou art the son of a strange woman. 3Then Jephthah
fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were
gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him. 4And it
came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war
against Israel. 5And it was so, that when the children of Ammon
made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah
out of the land of Tob: 6And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and
be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.
7And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and
expel me out of my father's house? and why are ye come unto me now
when ye are in distress? "
Jephthah was chased away from his mother house and into wilderness ,and
later in life he became agboro and a mercinary.He is irrelevant in his
family history and then one day his people came to hire him as a fighter
and tout ,that was when he knocked and asked and it was giving to him.he
made his demand thus "9And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If
ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the
LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head? "
Despite the fact that he was thrown away ,forgotten but when it comes
for his asking ,he did not ask them to accept him back into thier fold. He did not ask them to punish his errant brothers who drove him away,he
did not ask to be giving land within the family ,he ask them if HE IS
GOING TO BE THIER KING and they say YES !!!.
Back to Lazarus and his spirit of poverty ,he died and went to Heaven
,but the irony is that despite that, we all "those that will make heaven
with me" know that we all have our crown and throne to wear and sit upon
,but spirit of poverty did not allow LAZARUS to sit on one. I percieve that he might be wearing some discarded white garment also . Did you notice that LAZARUS despite the majestic aura in heaven ,he went
and sat on the floor at Abraham bossom.Can you imagine that ? He is
feeling inferior even in Heaven which is last bus stop !!. No wonder the Rich man sighted him in heaven and see that even in heaven
that Lazarus remaineth a poor soul, and the Rich man did not condesend
to talking to Lazarus ,he prefer to talk to somebody that sit
well,somebody that understand the powers of having a Rich mind ,he
talked to Abraham ,he want Abraham to send that poverty riddle Lazarus
to go and fetch the Rich guy some water.Do you think that if Lazarus
shedded his poverty clothing and dress with majestic apparel and sit on
a Golden chair like others,that the Rich man will have the temerity to
speak to him through surrogate ?.
The Rich man did not stop there,he is not done with the insult on
pathetic Lazarus ,he now ask that Lazarus be send back to the same earth
where boil and sores wanted to rip him aside ,just to run errand for the
rich man.
JACOB was the second Born but he schemed and stole the birth right of
Essau his elder brother,he refused to be poor and he even went to his
inlaw and exploit them.He refused to be LAZARUS but he went about it the
fraudlent way until he meet God.After wrestling with Angel till day
break ,he negotiated his blessing and that pave way for his new name
ISREAL.
This are men that refused to accept poverty like Lazarus ,therefore my
friend and brother ,let me ask you ,IS THERE ANYTHING TOO DIFFICULT FOR
GOD TO DO IN YOUR LIFE ?,The Book of Jeremiah 32 vs 27 27Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too
hard for me? .
If you have tried business and it failed ,you try marriage and it failed
,you try working in establishment and it failed ,then let me ask you
this is there any thing too hard for God ?.
Shed your Lazarus clothing ,start to pray ,start to ask and start to
expect the next alleviation to higher status.Your condition is not
permanent ,it is so because you,ve not taking the bold step to move to
your own cannan land.
If your life is not working as you want it to ,try and hand it over to
Jesus and he will take over your burden and it will cost you nothing but
to believe.
Have you prayed and it was not answered ? then pray again and again ,it
if free and it pays without labour.
Stay with the Lord for he is your strenght and succor and do not worry
when GOD is in Control ,just give him your life and be rest assured that
you are safe and secured.
Mazi Odera
mazi.odera@yahoo.com