Books: Lazarus Awakening. Joanna Weaver.

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Lazarus Awakening

Joanna Weaver

Chapter 3+

• Joanna describes the indescribable joy and love a mother or father has for their child. She compares that love to the love that God has for each of his children.
• This is the kind of relationship that Christ longs to have with us. Me and every other human being that he created… past, present and future.
• God has wanted this since the foundation of the world.
• God created the world and all of its magnificence and magnificent beauty for the pleasure and delight of the humans that he would create.
  • This magnificent world was simply a backdrop, a stage upon which they (the angels) could watch God’s true purpose unfold.
  • All of it, all of creation, had been made by God to facilitate a passionate pursuit of a relationship with mankind.
• Ephesians 1:4-6 | “Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, God had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love.”
  • Long long ago God decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ.
• What does it mean to be a friend of God? The true blue, when the chips are down, who beleives in you. Like Lazarus was to Jesus.
  • It isn’t easy finding a friend like that.
  • Jesus wants/longs for that friendship/relationship with every single one of us.
  • But obviously there are so many people who love Jesus for what they can get from Jesus.
• Does God’s heart hurt when he realizs that most people hand around him for what they can get. For all of the benefits and perks and rewards that come with Christianity.
  • (A fan, not a follower… according to Kyle Idleman)
  • Such a self-centered, results oriented relationship must grieve a God. Think about how you would feel if you were a parent and your beloved child only wanted that type of relationship with you.
  • This type of relationship causes people to miss out on what God intends.

• The brilliant plan of redemption was set in motion the moment sin entered the world. And all of it was orchestrated by God.
• Though our acts of service are vital to our walk with God and even prove our faith (accorfding to James 2:17) they were meant to be the outflow of a relationship with God, not a replacement for it.
• God wants our love more than he wants our busy service.
• True worship has far more to do with nurturing a relationship with Jesus, than saying the “right words” or singing the “right hymns and praise” songs.
• Your availability and time with Jesus is far more precious to Jesus than outward form of worship.
• We were created to enjoy an intimate relationship with the King of the Universe.
• Groupies or friends? John 1:12 | “To all who beleived in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
  • You simply have to accept what he has to offer. The depth and tyupe of friendship depens entirely on the response of the person to whom it was offered.

• We are born full of light. After we enter the world our light can be added to, and/or be polluted with darkness.
• If we surround ourselves with darkness, our river of spirit will become more and more polluted and our connection to God will become blocked and difficult to get through.
• The more we surround ourself with lightness and. behave that way, our light will become brigher and push back the darkness from our soul.
• We always have a spark in us that remains which is a space reserved for God. We always have this spark, no matter the darkness within us.
• Within us, that spark is our connection to God and we will always have that connection.
• But it can become buried by the weight and darkness of our sin and the sin we surround ourselves with, so it can become extremely hard to find our way out of the muck, to the light.

• Surrounded by people who claim his name, Christ still longs for a geuine friend. A friend who cares about what HE cares about. A friend with no strings attached, no hidden agendas, no secret wish lists.
• Jesus refers to Lazarus as “our friend” with the word “philos” which describes someone “loved, dear, befriended”. It is an intimate classification reserved for those close to the heart. TRUE friendship.
• “hetairos” refers to companions who are mostly followers of a chief. Not companions for the sake of helping the chief, but for getting whatever advantage they could. A deceptive and misleading friendship. Hangers on. Not a true friend or family. (fans)
• Jesus referred to his disciples as “philos”. True friends. 
• John 15:15 | I no longer call you servants because a servant doesn’t know his master’s business. Instead I have calle dyou friends (philos) for everything that I learned from my Father, I have made known to you.

• Jesus promised to take everything God had given him – the wisdom, the authority, the very character of God – and share it freely with his disciples. What an incredible gift!
• In Garden Gethsomane, Jesus said to Judas “friend” (hetairos=selfish comrade)
• God knows he can’t force people to love him, he won’t demand it, returning his friendship is a choice only we humans can make.
• God doesn’t put up with with spoiled demanding people. He disciplines them even though he loves them. Yet they may never come to appreciate his devotion let alone feel it.
• Humans tend to view God as a our servant rather than our master. It’s no wonder we fail so often in the pursuit of being his friend.
• A man’s friend must show himself friendly and behave with tender care for his friend.
• Spiritual amnesia is a common condition among Christians.
• Because of the Cross a door has been opened into God’s presence that allows us to run straight into his arms. 
• True friendship must be reciprocated by us.  Laying down my wants and wishes that I might love with God’s best intersts in mind.

Chapter 5 +

• Jesus seeks us out wherever we are. He never tires of going out of His way to find us. he will cross stormy seeks and eternity just to make us His own.
• Jesus’ mission was healing many people but then left so that He could heal a demon possessed man across the lake. A tormented sour.
• Satan often trys to sway us to the ways of the world (evil) rather than the way of God/Jesus (love).
• Sinning vs. repentance and being saved by Jesus and His righteousness.
• Satan can do this in many ways…
  • by that voice in our heads that are arguments that bring us closer to the dark side. Things like:
  • beatibng ourselves up. calling ourselves bad names and saying bad things about ourselves.
  • Encouraging us to do what we (a child of God) know within our spiritual spark, is the wrong thing to do… gossip, theft, causing others pain, greed, judgement against others…endless list of things.
  • putting what ifs/bad scenarious in our heads causing worry.
• Satan wants us for himself and his pleasure, so he is constantly trying to steer us away from Jesus. 
• In every conceivable way, from the very simple to the more serious.
• Satan wants us in bondage to him, he doesn’t want us to surrender to God so he is constantly at us.
• By being a true follower of Jesus and always working toward righteousness we have some sort of superpower against Satan. But that doesn’t mean Satan can’t capture us. But we always have the ability to escape and go back home to Jesus. 
• Satan will try to make it hard to do that and put obstacles in our way, but if we are dilligent we can get past them (often with human help) and head home. Jesus always has His hand out, we just have to find it again.

• Strongholds are those places in us where sin and the hold self have established such an immense power base that we feel helpless to escape their control We lovee Jesus, but we remain stuck in our midchambers, unable to live free.
• For although Christ is entroned in our spirits, there are kingdoms in our souls that have yet to receive the good news. Places in our minds, will and emothions that must be brought under His control.
• Any area in our lives where Satan feels comfortable is. astronghold from which we need to be set free. A tomb God wants to opne.
• Satan despises God and he will go to any lengths to hurt, wound and grieve the Father’s heart. For you dearly belove, happend to be apple of God’s eye (Zechariah 2:8)
• Christ conquered death through his resurrection.
• He demoshied the works of Satan and thoroughly humiliated him.
• Colossioans 2:15 | Christ stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe and their sham authority at the Cross adn marched them naked through the streets.
  • Satan has no power over us, but he always tries to convince us otherwise.
  • He’s always prowling the earth looking for ways to intimidate God’s children.

There’s more…

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