Jesus say, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Luke 12:34-40; Luke 16:13-15; John 16:24) In Luke 16, Jesus told the story of a rich man called Lazarus and another poor man also called Lazarus. When I first read this story, I thought it was a real story and hence I used to wonder why did God want to bless the rich Lazarus and yet in the end leave him to suffer in hell. And why did God want to allow the poor Lazarus to be tortured and later received him into His eternal dwelling? Why couldn’t God strike a balance between the two? But if it was just another parable that Jesus is narrating here, what was the Lord’s purpose in telling us all these?
“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury everyday. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.” (The parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus: Luke 16:19-26)
When Pastor Tong was raising funds for his Church in Indonesia, he told the congregation. “I told The LORD, I did not have money, but I have two knees.” He said, “The rich did not gave a single cent to help build the Church but the poorest of the poorest did.” How did he know? I concluded he know it because the money must have not came through large money order but instead collection is cent by cent and dollar by dollar, from the poorest of the poorest, in Indonesia. And The Church was built. The Lord be glorified!
THAT JOY OF ASKING:
Jesus said to his disciple, “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” (John 16:24) When I was still small, seven, eight, nine years old. Whenever I want my father to buy me something, he would always answer me like this, “Give me a number.” And it so happened that, when I want a bike, I gave him a number. When I want a video recorder, I gave him a number. When I wanted something, I gave him a number and surprisingly most of these numbers came up. But why is it that when I grew up, I don’t ask the Lord, “Give me a number?” (John 21:18; Hebrews 12:6)
Jesus said to his disciple, “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” To “complete” meaning, “Having all the necessary or appropriate parts” But “completed” meaning to, “Finish making or doing” Other bible versions translated it like this, “that your joy may be full”, “so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete.” Another version translated it as, “so that your joy may be overflow.”
After I grew up, I will yet ask The Lord many questions at times and was not satisfied until one day I found an indescribable type of intense satisfaction in communing with the Lord through one week of intense prayer (resulting in one's inner joy) and as I pray as I pray, I learn how to say (at times), “Thy will be done, Thy Kingdom come.” I am not saying that prayer should perfect us, but it does draw us nearer and closer to God and to be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit's prompting, nudging and moreover even more conscious of sin that present in our life.
In Luke 10:17, after Jesus had send out the seventy-two, and after they had returned, the seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” The seventy-two were joyous that the demons submit to them in the Name of the Lord. But much more than this joy, Jesus said, “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
What does this mean? In other words, Jesus is saying that, it is not of 'that joy' by which in the Name of God, we achieve what we want, we get what we want, and the sub-conscious mind tell us, 'ah we did it we did it'. Nope, this joy should be something that is more than this. This joy should be more than that. (Luke 12:34-35)
In the Name of Jesus, we pray, we ask, we receive, we cast out demon and evil spirit, people get heal and we have our breakthrough etc etc.. but rather what is that true hope we have in the Lord. (Luke 10:20; John 16:33; Luke 12:34; John 16:24) So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)
Secondly, Jesus has always been with his disciples. Mainly, this made them wonder what was that significance of taking the Lord's Name before Father GOD in our prayer requests. And they have never asked in the Lord Name before because the Lord has always been with them. But they were joyous because demons flee and demons submit to them in the Lord's Name. They were victorious and hence joyous.
I believe to see the bible as a whole bible point of view this is of most vital to healthy Christian’s grow. The Rich Lazarus have everything that he wants but yet he was not accepted into the kingdom of God. On the other hand, the other poor Lazarus suffered while he was on earth, and it does not mean that he did not pray or had not ask at all. (And they both called Abraham, father!) But the fact is, the poor Lazarus was indeed being richly received into God eternal dwelling. And it was God who qualified him!
Someone may want to wonder, what makes God qualifies him but not the other Lazarus? Jesus said, “Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” And this joy has to be one that is complete, meaning concise, not partial happiness, not superficial, but rather in full knowledge of God. (John 14:15-17, 13-14)
What is that joy?
Then John 16:24, verse 25-27 and Jesus continued, “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father.” (See Luke 11:9-13)
Verse 26, “In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” Note all these should be in context, when Jesus replied to his disciples, He said this, verse 26, “I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.” meaning the disciples was in some form of "cannot understand" and 'because' the Lord had all along been with them and the Holy Spirit has not yet been poured down and they, the 'puzzled' disciples have not yet asked anything in His Name and perhaps they do not even know why they should ask in their Lord's Name in the first place! (John 21:18)
BUT THAT, instead Jesus replied, “the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” Through 1 John 2:12-14, John wrote, I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
As we grow in the Lord we ought to be able to better embrace what God has in store for us. As it is, we ought to progress on with this faith level as our spiritual gifts is also accord with the faith that is proportionate in us. (Romans 12:6) Then Jesus said to Peter, "Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”
Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” (John 21:18-19) Jesus continued, John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have
overcome the world.” And this is how it should be the complete message of the Christian gospel.
Christianity is not a one message of the prosperity ages, but of hope in our Lord Christ Jesus – The Salvation of God and the continuous message of true Salvation that comes from a sincere, true faith. –The early Martyrs. (Acts 4:32)
Thy Will be done, thy Kingdom come - The Lord's model prayer.
Jesus taught this is how we should pray, “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.” (Luke 11:2-4)
(1) Through prayer, we know who is our God. (2) Through Prayer, we learn how to seek Him first. (3) Through prayer, we know there is a constant need for continuous walking right in the Lord to communing with the Lord. (4)Through prayer, we know our constrain and our weaknesses much better than we ever know ourselves. (5) Through prayer we receive The Lord.
At the mount of Olives, The Lord Jesus did not pray, ‘Father you always heard me, take this cup away from me now.’ (ref John 11:41-42) And Jesus had said to Peter, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (John 26:53) Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) - The Lord's 'Model Prayer'.
Now that I have grew up, I realized something. Many a time, what we had forgotten to ask, the Lord gave us but what we have been asking, sometimes the Lord kept "forgetting" to give it to us. And 1 John 5:14-15 tells us, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us." Verse 15, “And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.”
Today, with the help of the Holy Ghost, God wants us to know 'that joy' in which we ask, the understanding of what we ask, why we ask, and the attitude of our asking, much more than purely the joy of receiving when we ask and we receive!
“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:13-14) God does not lie and the bible says, those he loves, he chasten. But it can be horrifying to know that it is possible for one not to have known the true gospel and yet flourish, and also possible for another not to have known the true Way and yet still live in abundances.
And there Jesus said to his disciples, “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (Matthew 7:8-11) Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:13-17; 25-27)
Today we can ask everything that we want, but the one main purpose would be that “so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” Our asking is not merely a prayer to satisfy us, rather is that asking a 'want' to glorify our God. (1 John 5:14)
How sincere can one be in saying this?
“Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done.” The Lord's Model Prayer. (Luke 12:34-40; Luke 16:13-15; John 16:24)
The attitude of prayer must be the 'wants' that want to cause God The Father to be glorified in the Son. Today, if what we ask cannot glorified God, it is not God’s right kind of asking. The ONE who always wants to receive from God can never understand what does it mean to BLESS THE LORD" by saying: “THY WILL BE DONE, THY KINGDOM COME.” Thy will be done, thy kingdom come! (Scriptural reference, John 14; 16; Luke 11; 1 John 5) “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” -Jesus
