Category Archives: instead

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

 

Pray this Lazaroo with earnest desire:

“I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face…”
(2 John 1:12)

Not so different from today, Jesus!

Now, Paul might write:

“I have so much to text you…
or email you…

“…but I don’t want to use my cell.”

The message is the same:

There’s just something special
about face to face.

One day in heaven, Jesus…

with You!

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning (812) 473-7729…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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Genesis 32:30; Exodus 33:11; Numbers 12:8; Numbers 14:14; Deuteronomy 5:4; 1 Corinthians 13:12; 3 John 1:14

Thursday, October 19, 2023

 

Ask big! as you pray this Lazaroo:

“Then I said, ‘Not so, Sovereign Lord! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now…No impure meat has ever entered my mouth.’ ‘Very well,’ he said, ‘I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.’”
(Ezekiel 4:14-15)

Did Ezekiel talk You out of it, Jesus…

or was this a test?

Sometimes I don’t get what I want because I didn’t ask.

Even so, You say yes

only when it’s Your will!

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning (812) 473-7729…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

Play

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Genesis 18:17-32; Joshua 10:12-14; Psalm 37:4; Isaiah 38:1-5; Luke 18:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; James 4:2; 1 John 5:14-15

Friday, October 6, 2023

 

Pray this Lazaroo with awed admiration:

“Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’ And he says in another place, ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’”
(Hebrews 5:5-6)

You could have done that for Yourself, Jesus!

You have all power and authority.

Instead, You chose to model for us the beautiful humility

that You desire to see in my daily life.

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning (812) 473-7729…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

Play

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Psalm 68:28; Psalm 85:7; Proverbs 11:2; Romans 2:4; Romans 3:25; Galatians 5:22; James 3:13

Thursday, July 27, 2023

 

Pray this Lazaroo with pure devotion:

“When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants…told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. Then Esther summoned…one of the king’s eunuchs…and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.”
(Esther 4:4-5)

Help me not to judge the actions of others, Jesus.

I don’t know what they’re going through!

May I show them the same compassion I want to be shown

when my actions are offensive to others.

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning (812) 473-7729…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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Isaiah 11:3; Matthew 6:15; Matthew 7:1; Luke 6:37; John 12:47; Romans 14:3; 1 Corinthians 2:11

Saturday, June 10, 2023

 

Pray this Lazaroo with a heart full of love:

“Be merciful…”
(Jude 1:22)

I’ve got a question, Jesus:

Why is it so hard for me to be merciful to others

while being the grateful recipient
of all this mercy I’m receiving from You?

I know what I deserve –

and it ain’t peaches and cream.

I deserve dismemberment, humiliation and hell.
Instead, You’ve given me life, golden opportunities and heaven.

Surely, I can muster up a little of Your mercy toward others!

You’ve made it pretty clear:

If I don’t

my own mercy could come to a halt.

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning (812) 473-7729…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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Genesis 19:16; Psalm 6:2; Proverbs 28:13; Matthew 5:7; Matthew 6:15; Matthew 9:13; Galatians 6:7-9

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

 

Pray this Lazaroo with fiery determination:

“Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of well-dressed hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding. Your men will fall by the sword, your warriors in battle. The gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.”
(Isaiah 3:24-26)

So this is what a curse looks like, Jesus

Your punishment –

doled out not upon the heathen
but upon Your people, who’ve forsaken You.

Keep me true, Jesus!

May Your curse never fall on me.

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning (812) 473-7729…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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Exodus 32:34; Leviticus 26:18; 2 Samuel 7:14; Psalm 89:32; Acts 7:7; 1 Corinthians 4:21; 1 Corinthians 11:32

Sunday, December 4, 2022

 

Be comforted! as you pray this Lazaroo:

“You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and let your nakedness be exposed! The cup from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.
(Habakkuk 2:16)

This is Your promise, Jesus:

The day is coming

when You will repay every unrepentant, evil person
for the devastation they have caused!

When I see one of them getting away with it

please remind me:

They aren’t.

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning (812) 473-7729…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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Deuteronomy 7:10; Deuteronomy 32:35; 1 Kings 2:32; Romans 2:6; Romans 12:19; 2 Timothy 4:14; Hebrews 10:30

Saturday, October 29, 2022

 

Hold nothing back, as you pray this Lazaroo:

“So when we could stand it no longer…”
(1 Thessalonians 3:1)

I love knowing that Paul had that emotion, Jesus!

But it was more than mere emotion, wasn’t it?
You were moving on his heart to do something about it –

which is exactly what he did.

Work through my emotions too, LORD!

May they not be unreliable, leading me astray.
May they instead be guided by You

goading me, prompting me, pushing me, driving me

to do the very things You’ve called me to do!

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning (812) 473-7729…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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Genesis 22:12; Psalm 68:3; Luke 8:37; Luke 10:40-42; 2 Corinthians 7:9; 2 Corinthians 7:13; 1 Thessalonians 3:5

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

 

Pray this Lazaroo in total amazement:

“The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”
(Genesis 3:21)

Humanly speaking, this is incomprehensible, Jesus.

Adam and Eve knowingly, deliberately, blatantly disobey You.
As a result, they discover they’re naked.

Of course, there are consequences:

They have to leave the Garden of Eden.
Work and childbirth become harder, more painful.

But instead of abandoning them

You clothe them!

O God! Your loving mercy is unfathomable!

…which is why I’m still drawing a breath on this earth.

[LISTEN to today’s Lazaroo by phoning (812) 473-7729…or by clicking the PLAY button below:]

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Exodus 33:19; Deuteronomy 13:17; Psalm 4:1; Psalm 6:2; Psalm 25:6; Matthew 5:7; 1 Timothy 1:16