I WONDER WHAT YOU'D DO!

It's time to turn our heart toward HOME; not our House, but our HOME! There is a very huge difference! A House is a structure, a building, a place in which to reside. To the Home belong the opportunity to build family relationships, to find comfort, security, and a true sense of belonging. In a Home, the family expresses all kinds of emotions and finds deep and personal connections, celebrates, enjoys special occasions and creates life-long memories. In the Home, you find genuine and unconditional love to be present and active. Most importantly in the Home of believers in Christ, is where Jesus is welcome; His Word (the Bible) is highly respected and obeyed, His truth is lived, the Scripture is read and discussed and prayer is practiced!

Unfortunately, our current culture rages against the home and family. Demonic forces are actively working to destroy God's plan for homes and families. The devil constantly assaults them. His favorite tool is to use the pressures and distractions of daily living. We, as families, find ourselves immensely distracted, many times majoring on minors and missing the more important and necessary characteristics of a healthy family and home life.

To often satan's work ultimately leads to homes and families that experience verbal and physical abuse, torn relationships, disunity, marital infidelity, separation, divorce, unforgiveness and brokenness. And many families and homes have fallen victim to these sins. And still, some families are forced to deal with homosexuality, the myriad of trans-gender dilemmas and confusion, abortion, assisted suicide, murder, rape, incest and the list is nearly endless.

And so, I say again, it is time we purposefully turned our heart toward HOME. Let's cultivate healthy relationships, focus on God's order for the family and home, and practice godly characteristics and behavior! If you call me "old fashioned" and "out of date" I plead guilty! It's time we seek sanity rather than insanity, godliness rather than ungodliness, righteousness rather than unrighteousness.

My bottom-line point in this blog is that our homes and families must be Christ-centered and Person-oriented to accomplish this! People matter; our family members must be loved, respected, honored, treated with blessings and not curses. They must be commended for their gifts, talents, and achievements. We need to daily affirm our love and deep appreciation for each other. We must teach our children the value and responsibility of honoring and blessing our extended family members. And remember, we teach more by example than we ever do by the words we speak!

The best way to accomplish all of this is to make sure our families and home environments are Christ-centered! HE must be our first priority! Jesus demanded to be first, not second, third or . . . in our lives! He must be in our family worship, our family discussions, our family decisions, our family activities, entertainments, music we listen to, programs we watch, money we earn and spend. The over-all atmosphere of our home needs to manifest His Presence there, as well as in our relationships, attitudes, and the interactions that take place among us.

Based on this, let us ask ourselves this question: Is my home and family truly Christ-centered and Person-oriented? In this culture, it is all vey possible for our home and family to be job-centered, activity centered, spouse or children centered, finance or money centered, etc. while we give our time and attention to lots of things rather than invest in the lives of the people in our family! "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you". (Matthew 6:33)

Let's return to that home, and the family living in Bethany of Judea we talked about in last week's blog. (If you haven't already, I encourage you to read John 11:1-45 and last week's blog for continuity.) What more can we learn from the home and family we know as Mary, Martha and Lazarus?

First - IT'S A PLACE WHERE JESUS IS AWAYS WELCOME! Jesus had often been at this home in Bethany. He found it a place of retreat, rest, fellowship and spiritual renewal! He enjoyed the family that lived there. "When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him. . . ." (John 11:20). Even though her brother Lazarus had died and Jesus was not there at that time, and she was deeply grieving and confused, Jesus was welcome to her home. When Martha went to get her sister who had remained in their house, the Scripture says, ". . .she went away and called Mary her sister, saying, 'The Teacher is here and is calling for you.' And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him" (John 11:28-29). A few days after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, we read, "Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover "Feast", came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. . . ." (John 12: 1-3). No Question, Jesus was always welcome in their home. So too, our homes and families must be genuinely welcoming to Jesus!

Second - IT'S A PLACE WHERE FAITH IN JESUS IS LIVED! I believe that faith in Jesus was not just talked about, but was actually lived out daily in the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus! When Lazarus first fell sick, the sisters immediately sent word to Jesus. WHY? BECAUSE THEY KNEW BY FAITH AND EXPERIENCE THAT JESUS WAS ABLE TO HELP THEM! Then, they said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died" (John 11:21 and 32). By faith, the sisters knew that All Power was in the arsenal of Jesus! The Bible is clear. "Great is our Lord and abundant in power. . ." (Psalm 147:5). "Ah, Lord God! Behold You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You" (Jeremiah 32:19). Living our faith in front of our family members should be natural, not awkward!

Third - IT'S A PLACE WHERE TRADEGY WILL HAPPEN! At the home in Bethany, Lazarus became ill and died. We have not received some kind of innoculation that prevents us from having a tradegy in our home or family! A tradegy of some kind is a given for all of us! Jesus Himself told us we would "have tribulation" in this world. What we need then, is to be prepared through the exercise of Faith, Trust and Spiritual Resources provided to us through the Holy Spirit! "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37). This truth means that through Christ's love, believers in Jesus receive a surpassing victory over adversities that extends beyond merely overcoming them to benefiting from them. It signifies not just survival, but a deep and prevailing triumph where God turns suffering into a source of strength.

Fourth - IT'S A PLACE WHERE WE CAN REVEAL OUR HEART-ACHE AND DEEP SORROW! The sisters did not hide their pain and sorrow or tears. "When Jesus saw them weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled" (John 11:33). Their pain became His; "Jesus wept" (John 11:35). We should not have to put on a mask or pretend that "everything is fine" when we are hurting. We can let our family see us turning to Jesus when sorrows come.

Fifth - IT'S A PLACE WHERE COMFORT IS NEEDED! "Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console (comfort) them concerning their brother" (John 11:19 and 31). The Apostle Paul said, ". . .who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God" (II Corinthians 1:4). When a family member is hurting, we need to be supportive, not critical or impatient with them.

Sixth - IT'S A PLACE WHERE THE PRESENCE OF JESUS AND HIS HELP ARE SOLICITED! "So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, 'Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick' " (John 11:3). They were saying, "We have a serious need, please come and help us." Question: Do you and I personally and genuinely ask Jesus for His presence and His help? Sometimes, it is as the Apostle James said, "you do not have because you do not ask" (James 4:2). Our children NEED to see and hear us seeking God when we encounter troubles, instead of just hearing us complain about these.

Seventh - IT'S A PLACE WHERE SPIRITUAL QUESTIONS ARE SPIRITUALLY ANSWERED! "Your brother will rise again" Jesus told Martha" (John 11:23). Search the Scriptures and Pray to get God's answers for your thoughts, questions and confusion. The home should be open to the doubts and questions of our children. What an awesome time to teach them Scriptural principles!

Eighth - IT'S A PLACE WHERE FAMILY MEMBERS ARE OPEN AND RECEPTIVE TO GOD'S GLORY! Jesus said to Martha, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" (John 11:40). Seeing the glory of God involves recognizing the sum of His character, majesty, and power as revealed through Jesus Christ, His Word, and the Holy Spirit! And YES, we must believe! When we are constantly and consistently talking about what an awesome God we serve, everyone around us is encouraged and faith is strengthened.

It is extremely important that we embrace PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIVING! This truly begins in our home and involves our family! Purpose-driven living captures the 8 principles described above. Does Jesus find these qualities where you live?

Tex Ritter, the famous Texas pioneer of American Country Music said these incredible words, which I memorized when I was very young, and I can still quote them verbatim today!

"If Jesus came to your house, if He came unexpected, I wonder what you'd do. Oh, I know you'd give Him your nicest room, and all the food you'd serve Him would be the very best. And you'd keep assuring Him you're glad to have Him there, that serving Him in your home was joy beyond compare!

But, when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door with arms outstretched in welcome to your heavenly visitor? Or would you have to change your clothes before you let Him in? And would you hide some magazines and put the Bible where they'd been?

Would you turn off the radio (TV or Apps) and hope He hadn't heard, and wish you hadn't uttered that last, loud, hasty word? Would you hide your worldly music and put some hymnbooks out? Could you let Jesus walk right in or would you rush about?

And I wonder, if the Savior came to spend a day or two with you, would you go right on doing the things you always do, would you say the things you always say, and would life for you go on the same as it does from day to day?

Would your family conversation keep up its usual pace, and would you find it hard each meal to say a table grace? Would you sing the songs you always sing, see the shows you always see, and read the books you always read, and let Him know the things on which your mind and spirit feed?

Would you take Jesus everywhere you'd planned to go, or would you change your plans for just a day or so? Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on, or would you sigh with great relief when He at last had gone?

It might be interesting (and revealing) to know the things that you would do if Jesus came in person to spend some time with you."