November 12th, 2024
The Upward Look, by Jon Forrest
Who will roll away the stones in your life?
and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. (Mark 16:3-4)
It was early Sunday morning. The women who had been disciples of Jesus were headed to the tomb for the purpose of placing spices on his dead body. Suddenly an important question occurred to them, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” The stone would be too heavy for even all three of them to remove. On top of that the stone had been given the Roman seal condemning to death any individual who might even try to remove it from the entrance of the grave of the controversial rabbi who had been executed only three days prior. As they approached the tomb they were amazed and relieved to find that this heavy obstacle to their mission had already been rolled away. Of course there would be an even greater obstacle to their plan. They discovered that tomb was empty. Jesus had risen from the dead.
Many of us, if not all, have stones, very large and heavy ones, that separate us from the victorious lives God wants us to live. The trouble is that we keep struggling to remove those massive boulders by our own strength, or should I say weakness? Oh, we might gain some assistance from other people to push our stones around, but the problem is that we need them permanently removed. When the stone was moved from the grave of Jesus, it was permanent.
Some of the stones we struggle with include things like chronic or terminal illness, marital crisis, financial problems, physical or mental weakness, chemical, and alcohol dependency, the bondage of lust, immorality, prejudice, greed, or fear. It could be that your stone is simply the guilt of sin or some tragedy that haunts you from your past. Whatever your stone, understand this, HE STILL MOVES STONES!
Jesus met a number of people who had stones in their lives:
1. The Demoniac from the Garasenes (Mark 5)
Jesus rolled away the stone of demon possession.
2. The crowd of 5,000 in the wilderness (Mark 6)
Jesus rolled away the stone of hunger.
3. Jairus and his daughter (Mark 5)
Jesus rolled away the stones of unbelief and death.
4. Bartimaeus (Mark 10)
Jesus rolled away the dark storm of blindness.
5. Nicodemus (John 3)
Jesus rolled away the stone of religious legalism.
6. The Samaritan Woman at the well (John 4).
Jesus rolled away the stone of adultery and prejudice.
7. Simon Peter (John 13) Jesus rolled way the stone of egotism.
8. Zacchaeus the tax collector (Luke 19)
Jesus rolled away the stones greed and theft
9. Saul the Pharisee (Acts 9)
Jesus rolled away the stone of misguided zeal.
10. Mary, Martha and Lazarus (John 11)
Jesus rolled away the stone of death.
The list of people for whom Jesus rolled away stones could go on for a long time. But, it is good to look back on the lives of real people, not fairytale characters. Each had real needs. Jesus met each on in his own unique way.
Looking back gives us encouragement for the future and the present. If Jesus rolled those insurmountable stones away for others, he can surely remove the ones that are keeping us from being all that God wants us to be.
Jesus also met people whose stones were not removed. Stones like the greed and idolatry of the rich young ruler or the legalism of the scribes and Pharisees. However these stones were not removed because the people involved were too attached to their stones. He won’t roll your stone away if you cling to it or trust in it more than you trust in Jesus.
Jesus never removes a wanted stone.
Most of our stones are of our own making. These are the stones that come from self-centered, sinful attitudes. Our sin was the reason Jesus came into the world. He came to give himself as the sacrifice for our sins. He rose from the grave to give us victory over the penalty for sin which is death.
Today, Jesus wants to roll the stone of sin from every life. You can’t roll it away by yourself. You aren’t able. But Jesus can, if you will let go and turn it over to him.
You can lay your evil thoughts, your spiritual hunger, your unbelief, your spiritual blindness, your legalism, your adulterous heart, your prejudice, your pride, your greediness, your misguided zeal, your dead spiritual life and your sin to Jesus Christ so that he can roll it away and help you to become the victorious child of God that only he can create.
Are you willing to let Jesus roll away the stone from your life?
This Sunday we will share a message titled Let’s Have A Revival based on Lamentations 3:18-42. We will look at God’s recipe for revival as revealed by Jeremiah in this great Old Testament book. We are preparing our hearts for what God will be bringing to us next week with our brother in Christ, Andy Avery.
Rejoicing in stones rolled away,
Jon
Who will roll away the stones in your life?
and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. (Mark 16:3-4)
It was early Sunday morning. The women who had been disciples of Jesus were headed to the tomb for the purpose of placing spices on his dead body. Suddenly an important question occurred to them, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” The stone would be too heavy for even all three of them to remove. On top of that the stone had been given the Roman seal condemning to death any individual who might even try to remove it from the entrance of the grave of the controversial rabbi who had been executed only three days prior. As they approached the tomb they were amazed and relieved to find that this heavy obstacle to their mission had already been rolled away. Of course there would be an even greater obstacle to their plan. They discovered that tomb was empty. Jesus had risen from the dead.
Many of us, if not all, have stones, very large and heavy ones, that separate us from the victorious lives God wants us to live. The trouble is that we keep struggling to remove those massive boulders by our own strength, or should I say weakness? Oh, we might gain some assistance from other people to push our stones around, but the problem is that we need them permanently removed. When the stone was moved from the grave of Jesus, it was permanent.
Some of the stones we struggle with include things like chronic or terminal illness, marital crisis, financial problems, physical or mental weakness, chemical, and alcohol dependency, the bondage of lust, immorality, prejudice, greed, or fear. It could be that your stone is simply the guilt of sin or some tragedy that haunts you from your past. Whatever your stone, understand this, HE STILL MOVES STONES!
Jesus met a number of people who had stones in their lives:
1. The Demoniac from the Garasenes (Mark 5)
Jesus rolled away the stone of demon possession.
2. The crowd of 5,000 in the wilderness (Mark 6)
Jesus rolled away the stone of hunger.
3. Jairus and his daughter (Mark 5)
Jesus rolled away the stones of unbelief and death.
4. Bartimaeus (Mark 10)
Jesus rolled away the dark storm of blindness.
5. Nicodemus (John 3)
Jesus rolled away the stone of religious legalism.
6. The Samaritan Woman at the well (John 4).
Jesus rolled away the stone of adultery and prejudice.
7. Simon Peter (John 13) Jesus rolled way the stone of egotism.
8. Zacchaeus the tax collector (Luke 19)
Jesus rolled away the stones greed and theft
9. Saul the Pharisee (Acts 9)
Jesus rolled away the stone of misguided zeal.
10. Mary, Martha and Lazarus (John 11)
Jesus rolled away the stone of death.
The list of people for whom Jesus rolled away stones could go on for a long time. But, it is good to look back on the lives of real people, not fairytale characters. Each had real needs. Jesus met each on in his own unique way.
Looking back gives us encouragement for the future and the present. If Jesus rolled those insurmountable stones away for others, he can surely remove the ones that are keeping us from being all that God wants us to be.
Jesus also met people whose stones were not removed. Stones like the greed and idolatry of the rich young ruler or the legalism of the scribes and Pharisees. However these stones were not removed because the people involved were too attached to their stones. He won’t roll your stone away if you cling to it or trust in it more than you trust in Jesus.
Jesus never removes a wanted stone.
Most of our stones are of our own making. These are the stones that come from self-centered, sinful attitudes. Our sin was the reason Jesus came into the world. He came to give himself as the sacrifice for our sins. He rose from the grave to give us victory over the penalty for sin which is death.
Today, Jesus wants to roll the stone of sin from every life. You can’t roll it away by yourself. You aren’t able. But Jesus can, if you will let go and turn it over to him.
You can lay your evil thoughts, your spiritual hunger, your unbelief, your spiritual blindness, your legalism, your adulterous heart, your prejudice, your pride, your greediness, your misguided zeal, your dead spiritual life and your sin to Jesus Christ so that he can roll it away and help you to become the victorious child of God that only he can create.
Are you willing to let Jesus roll away the stone from your life?
This Sunday we will share a message titled Let’s Have A Revival based on Lamentations 3:18-42. We will look at God’s recipe for revival as revealed by Jeremiah in this great Old Testament book. We are preparing our hearts for what God will be bringing to us next week with our brother in Christ, Andy Avery.
Rejoicing in stones rolled away,
Jon
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