When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him” (John 11:32-36 NIV)!

Jesus saw Lazarus and wept. Likewise, God sees your situation. He grieves when you grieve. He cries when you cry. He has compassion over you. Just because He hasn’t moved as quick as you want Him to, does not mean that He is not privy to your emergency. It does not mean that He does not care about you. He loves you very much and feels your grief. In due time He will restore and refresh your Lazarus.

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God” (John 11:38-40 NIV)?

In order to raise Lazarus Jesus told them to roll away the stone. I believe God is saying the same to you too. In order for Him to raise your dreams, ideas, visions He needs you to roll away the stone that you used to close your heart to that desire, which God placed in you. He is not going to roll away the stone; you have to roll away the stone. Open up for God to restore you. Be open to receive what God wants to do in you and through you.

Perhaps your response is like Martha’s: “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Have you ever been in a situation so bad that it stinks? It is so messy; and you’ve been in that situation a long time. It looks very dead and buried. Perhaps it was a dream you tried to accomplish before. Maybe you tried to fulfill a vision or desire in your heart a while ago. But things broke down and you got hurt and devastated. So you buried that dream. Just because you’ve closed yourself to that dream from ever being fulfilled does not mean that God forgot about it. Now is the time, and God is saying that you should open up so that He can bring that dream, vision, idea, or desire to life.

Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard Me. “And I know that you always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that you sent Me.” Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “loose him, and let him go” (John 11:41-44 NKJV).

After they rolled away the stone Jesus told Lazarus to come forth. But when he came forth he came out bound hand and foot, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. Similarly I believe God is calling you to come forth! Perhaps you have heeded the call. Maybe you’ve opened your heart to allow God to move in your life. He has called you forth and you have taken the leap of faith. But like Lazarus, you are still bound; hand, foot and face. And because of this, you can’t do anything because your hands are tied. You can’t go anywhere because your feet are shackled, and you can’t see or perceive anything that God is doing because your eyes are closed.

Be encouraged! God has not finished with you yet. Be confident in the fact that the work that God has begun in you, He will complete it (Philippians 1:6). God does not do things half way. While we like God to resolve our situations in one swoop, sometimes He does it gradually. I believe He does this so that every step of the way our faith and trust in Him increases. Oftentimes God takes us through a process of deliverance to resolve our emergencies.

He called Lazarus out of his hole and loosed Him from the things that bound Him. Likewise, God is not only calling you forth, but in Jesus’ name loosing you from any strong holds!

Like Jesus did for Lazarus I’m declaring that you come forth! And satan the Lord rebuke you! I come against any demonic spirit, force, entity, situation or circumstance designed and assigned to hinder, frustrate or prevent you from being who God has called you to be! Satan loose this person and let them go!

While we are to exercise our authority as children of God to tell satan to loose us from strong holds he brought in our lives, sometimes we also loose ourselves from bondages by letting things go. By this I mean forgiveness. You may have stepped out of a hole. You may have come forth from a dead relationship. Even so, there is the tendency to carry the stench of that situation with you. And that stench could hinder you from doing what you need to do, go where you need to go, and see what you need to see.

The stench could be something that was said about you to belittle you. They could be words hurled at you like arrows to pierce your heart and hurt you. These things can cling on to you if you do not forgive the person that hurt you. These things can bind you; hand, foot and face. Forgive the person and release that bondage from your life, and then become the person God created you to be.

After Lazarus came forth, he was loosed from the things that tied him, and then he could see. In essence, Lazarus EMERGED and SAW after Jesus moved on His life. Similarly, God allows emergency situations in our lives so that we can emerge (come forth) and see His move in our lives. A Godly 911 emergency is an opportunity for you to emerge and see God move in your life.

Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him (John 11:45 NKJV).

Everything we go through is ultimately to bring glory to God. When people see us emerge from our shortfalls, they get to see God in our midst. This causes them to believe in Him and become part of the kingdom. God uses our situations not only for us to emerge and see Him in a new light, but also for others to see and believe in Him, too. Every time we go through tough situations, all we need is to look at how God brought us out from past emergencies. We can be assured that He will deliver us from our subsequent battles.

This picture shows the fetal position of a baby in her mother’s womb. Medical experts assert that this position is the best position for the baby to be birthed. Similarly our Great Physician (God) wants us to be in this position as it is the best position for us to be in, for Him to birth our dreams and birth us into our destiny. If you look closely at the baby in her mother’s womb and tilt the baby’s bottom down to the left so that it is on the same line with her head (see picture below), then you’ll see that this position is a prayer position.

Don’t forget what 911 means with regard to God’s purposes: vision (the baby), prayer (fetal position), death (the sacrifices of the mother), breakthrough (breaking through the birth canal), birth (complete delivery of the baby, which usually takes place at the last minute). Regardless of what we face in life we can be rest assured that we will be protected if we dial up God’s emergency phone number. It’s also 911; Psalm 91:1 to be precise.

HE who dwells in the secret place of the most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Psalm 91:1 NKJV).

The scripture above lets us know who abides under God’s protection. A 911 person abides under God’s protection. This person dwells in God’s secret place. In this place there is worship, prayer, giving of thanks and of alms. This person is simply a giver of themselves and their resources (like Cornelius). This person also lives a fasted life, which is a form of dying to self, death or denial. The secret things are things done in private to God. This is part of why they are secret. They are not done to impress anyone but to please God our protector and deliverer (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18).

I encourage you to be a 911 person. I encourage you to dwell in God’s secret place. I encourage to love people and live a life of prayer, worship, giving and self denial; not as a formula but as a way to please our father in heaven who sees what you are doing in secret. For this He will reward you openly. He will move in your life so that you can emerge and see who you are in Him. And so that you can emerge and see the following declarations happen in your life:

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished. If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet! The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation” (Psalm 91:1-16 NIV).

Let’s look at an emergency in the Bible and I’ll elaborate further.

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it” (John 11:1-4 NIV).

I would like you to view Lazarus as yourself and as your baby. Sometimes, not only are we pregnant with dreams, ideas, visions, and desires, sometimes we are the pregnancy. Sometimes we are also the person that is about to be birthed, step out, break out or be unleashed into a new level. Lazarus was sick and his sisters sent word to Jesus. Like those sisters, what is a term often used to describe sending word to God? Prayer.

Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days (John 11:5-6 NIV).

Interestingly when Jesus heard what had happened to Lazarus He stayed where He was two more days. Do you feel like Lazarus’ sisters sometimes? You’ve prayed to God about your Lazarus situation. It is dying. It is going under. The bottom is about to fall out. You are desperate and in need of His help, but He does not move. It feels like God did not hear you. But this is not true because the scripture said “Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.”

God may not move, but he heard your prayer. He heard it the first time, and he heard it the millionth time. It’s not that God will not move; it’s that He will not move when you want Him to. I’m sure you are tired of hearing the cliché that says that God may not move when you want Him to, but He will be there on time—which is usually at the last minute. Even so, because we feel God is not moving we think that He does not love or care about us. Sometimes we feel like we may have done something wrong and God is upset with us and punishing us.

That is not true. Remember the 99 in the wilderness? Sometimes we are like those “9x11s.” They were right with God and were placed in the wilderness. God did not forget about them. In fact He trusted them not to go astray. They were mature and obedient. He knew they were strong and dedicated enough to remain where He placed them. In due time He would go back to them and continue to nurture them. Likewise, God does the same with us.

The passage actually started off saying how Jesus loved Martha, her sister and Lazarus. This throws out the thinking that we are going through what we are going through because God does not love us. He does. He loves you very much. He loves you like He loves Lazarus and his sisters. It’s one thing if the scripture said that Jesus loved Lazarus but not his sisters, or loved Martha but not Lazarus and Mary, or loved Mary and not the other two. He loved them all. He loves you too. He loves your dreams and He loves you. He loves the pregnant woman and the pregnancy. He loves the visionary and the vision. Make no mistake about it. You might be in a 911 situation. You might be in an emergency. Realize that it is an opportunity for you to emerge and see God move in your life because He loves you.

After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, (John 11:11-14 NIV)

Sometimes in an effort to speak by faith, we put a positive spin on a negative situation. However, some people don’t get it. So you just have to be straight up with them like Jesus was with the disciples. They thought Lazarus was just sleeping and Jesus got real with them and told them that he was dead!

“… and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him” (John 11:15 NIV).

One reason why God does not move immediately to resolve our situations is because He wants us to believe. If God moved quickly on some of our requests, somehow we’ll find a way to give credit to everyone but God. There is the tendency to think that the situation was resolved because of our quick thinking, our education, our experience, our expertise, our connections, our network of friends—or because we pounded the pavement, made multiple phone calls, fasted 40 days, prayed all night on our face, and blah blah blah.

I’m not saying that we don’t do our due diligence. I’m not saying we don’t make phone calls, work hard, or do what we are supposed to do. I’m not saying that we should not exercise spiritual disciplines like fasting, praying, worshipping and giving, which Cornelius and some of the people in the examples I presented earlier, did. I am saying however, that we should not get caught up on our hard work and spiritual disciplines. Sometimes we overemphasize those activities and disciplines and subordinate God’s role in the resolution of our situation. After all, Mary and Martha prayed to God—so to speak. But their situation was not resolved immediately.

While we should exercise biblical principles like giving, praying, fasting, we should not elevate the principles (spiritual disciplines) over the “Principal” (Jesus). If we do, we are inadvertently saying that we got our blessing from God because of our hard work; whether physical, spiritual or intellectual. May I remind you of the parable of the vineyard? The workers who “worked” longest thought they should get paid more, but they didn’t. Every worker’s wage was determined by the goodness of their employer. Our blessings, resolution to our emergencies, and the birthing of our visions are determined by the goodness of our Father. It’s because of His favor on our lives.

In resolving our problems our Father can and will ask us to do certain things. Then we can reap the fruit of our obedience. However, we should not be presumptuous in doing something because somebody said that’s what they did to get their breakthrough. Let’s keep things in perspective. Moses fasted 40 days, twice, and yet did not get into the Promised Land. In fact I find it ironic that in both fasts he ended up with the “law” (ten commandments), which he broke, “first,” the first time out. The law is about what you can and cannot do. That thinking can influence us to do things whether physical or spiritual in order to resolve our situations. My emphasis is that we do not get caught up on methods but on the Messiah.

So then (God’s gift) is not a question of human will and human effort, but of God’s mercy. (It depends not on one’s own willingness nor on his strenuous exertion as in running a race, but on God’s having mercy on him) (Romans 9:16 AMP).

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days….When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world” (John 11:17, 20-27 NIV).

Jesus asked Martha if she believed that He was the resurrection and the life and she responded by saying that she believed that He was the Christ. That’s not what Jesus asked her. Sometimes we get spiritual with God. He asks us a direct question to see if we believe in Him and we give Him a spiritual answer, which often suggests that we don’t really believe. Hence to help us believe He does not move as quick as we want Him to.

Another reason why God does not move as quickly as we want Him to, is because He wants Lazarus to die. Sometimes you cry out to God saying, “Help me! This relationship, business, or vision is dying!” And God says, “You mean it’s not dead yet? Ok. Tell me when it’s dead.” Sometimes we are trying to resuscitate what God wants to kill. There are visions, situations, activities, persons that God had no part with, in our lives. And they can hinder us from birthing. There are things that we started on our own; things that were initiated by us and not God. God needs those things dead, away, or separated from our lives completely so that He can do a new thing in, and for us.

If you read the whole of chapter 10 of Acts, you’ll learn that what Cornelius wanted was a relationship with God. The thing that God told him that Peter was going to tell him to do, was how to receive salvation.

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days (Acts 10:44-48 NKJV).

Salvation was the vision. By receiving Christ Cornelius and His household became newborns (birth), and their old selves passed away (death). The instruction for them to reach out to Peter who would tell them how to receive salvation, came to Cornelius in a vision, while he was praying. He then got his breakthrough when he and his household got saved and were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Their salvation and baptism in the Holy Spirit speaks volumes.

First, Salvation is of the Jews first and then the Gentiles. Gentiles are non-Jews. This is another classic example of those who were last receiving the same thing as those who were first. The Gentiles, Cornelius’ household, received the same salvation that the Jews received. Not only this, they were also baptized with the same Holy Spirit that the Jews received on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). The last received as much as the first. The Gentiles received the same blessings as the Jews.

Furthermore, people have wondered why Cornelius’ household received the baptism of the Holy Spirit before they were baptized in water. That in itself is another prime example of the last being first and the first being last. Usually, the process is that a person receives salvation, then gets baptized in water, and then the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In Cornelius’ case, he and his household got baptized in the Holy Spirit before they got baptized in water. The last (Holy Spirit baptism) became first, and the first (Water Baptism) became last.

I have an opinion why they got baptized in the Holy Spirit before they got baptized in water. This is not to suggest that this is the absolute reason why this took place or that this is the only correct answer to why they received the experience in the way they did. This is just an opinion. My opinion is derived from Peter’s response to their baptism in the Holy Spirit:

… Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days (Acts 10:46-48 NKJV).

After the Gentiles received the Holy Spirit the Bible says “then Peter answered.” When there is a “then” in a phrase we can get a better feel of what the phrase is saying when we find out what happened before “then.” What happened was the Gentiles being baptized with the Holy Spirit; then Peter responded to their experience. His response was his command for them to be baptized in water since the Gentiles received the gift of the Holy Spirit just as the Jews did. This suggests that had they not received the Holy Spirit, Peter would not have baptized them in water.

God had to show Peter three visions in order to prepare him to receive and go to Cornelius’ house (Acts 10:9-23). Apparently despite the visions and God’s move on the lives of the Gentiles, Peter still had a problem being comfortable around Gentiles. This is evident when he was confronted by Paul some time later about this issue (Galatians 2:11-14). I believe God had to baptize Cornelius’ household with the Holy Spirit in order to let Peter know that they could be baptized in water too. Had that not happened, I believe Peter would have just preached to them and left.

The children of Israel also exemplify people who underwent a 911 situation. Like I said earlier, 911 is having a vision, praying for it to come to pass (to come and to pass), dying to yourself to birth the vision and get your breakthrough, which usually happens at the last minute. The Promised Land was the vision. Moses had to intercede through prayer for the Israelites to be birthed into the vision. Meanwhile for forty years most of them who were rebellious had to die off in order for the younger ones to get in, or be birthed into the vision. And as revealed in Deuteronomy 1:1-3, after 40 years passed and all the rebels had died off, on the last part of the 40th year; the first day of the 11th month to be precise, they were 11 days from their breakthrough.

The same concept of 911 is seen when a woman is about to deliver a baby. We are like women trying to deliver babies. In our everyday language we say things like “that’s my baby.” Meaning that the baby is my project, my dream, my vision, my plan, my desire and so forth. The baby is like the vision which is first conceived by a woman. Most, if not all women pray to conceive and pray for strength to deliver. They pray for their babies to come into their womb, and pass out through their birth canal so that they could be birthed when it’s time for them to be.

While she is carrying the baby the woman has to die to herself to enable the baby to be birthed. She has to sacrifice habits and her normal mode of operation to ensure that the baby is birthed with no complications. Some, if not all women, throw up. Similarly, we all have to die to ourselves and make some sacrifices to birth the dreams, visions, ideas, desires or babies that God has placed in the wombs of our hearts. Sometimes we have to throw up some people and habits out of our lives so that we can birth our babies.

Joshua and Caleb could have made it into the Promised Land in 11 days, forty years before they did, but because of the people they were affiliated with they couldn’t do so. It makes me wonder what you and I could have accomplished had we thrown up or let go of people that we needed to let go from our lives. Perhaps you could have been in the pinnacle of your career now. Perhaps you could have been in the thick of your destiny now. Maybe you could have been married with children now. Perhaps your career and marriage would be much better now had you let go of certain people from your past, earlier. Whichever case we have to die to ourselves and make sacrifices to birth our visions.

And the vision or baby is usually birthed at the last minute. Ask the average mother and she’ll agree that the baby is birthed at the last of the birth process. This takes place after the baby breaks through the birth canal. Interestingly, the point where the baby’s head is first seen is called crowning. Obviously this has to do with the crown of the baby’s head. Notwithstanding can you envision that the ordeal, 911, or emergency you are going through is because God is trying to crown you? God is trying to manifest your royalty in your life. God is trying to lavish you with favor. We have been made unto God, kings and priests (Revelations 1:6).

Here is another glimpse of what 911 looks like for us as it pertains to God’s purposes:

So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! (Luke 15:3-7 NLT)

I know that multiplying 3 and 33 will give you 99, but the emphasis is on 911. So when you multiply 9 and 11 you get what? Yep, 99. The lost sheep usually takes the cake, makes the headlines, and gets the award. Rightfully so; because there is more joy in heaven over a sinner who repents and returns to God, than 99 others who are righteous, do not need to repent, and not strayed away.

Did you notice where the shepherd left the 99? He left them in the wilderness. Sometimes 911 people are individuals who are left in a wilderness situation. Such situations are like emergencies. This is the case because being in the wilderness is like being in a dry place. It feels like God is not present, which was the case because he went to rescue the lost sheep. Sometimes we feel that we messed up and God has left us out of anger. To the contrary. Sometimes being a 911 person in a 911 situation (the wilderness) is God’s way of complementing us. He is proud of us that despite our wildernesses, we haven’t strayed away. We remain committed to His cause. We still trust Him, don’t need to repent or have our minds changed or renewed because our minds are fixed on Him. And despite our circumstances He keeps us in perfect peace. (Isaiah 26:3)

Therefore we can view a 911 situation as an emergency (emerge-and-see)—an opportunity for us to emerge and see God move in our lives. This is where God shows up and resolves your situation at the last minute. This is when you birth your baby or vision in the last hour.

Usually when we think of 911 we think of the tragic events that took place on September 11, 2001. Our hearts still go out to the families of those that passed that day. We also continue to honor all those that met their untimely demise while they were trying to rescue others. May God’s grace, peace, and love comfort their families during this time.

For some of us 911 is also the number we dial during an emergency. Though, having these significances in mind, I’ll like to address this number from a slightly different perspective. My emphasis is on the number, and not on the event that left an indelible mark in American history. I’m going to be discussing the numbers, 9 and 11 from the perspective of God’s purposes for our lives.

The Number 9

I’m going to be highlighting some things that the numbers, 9 and 11, represent. The information I share regarding these numbers do not in any way suggest that the numbers do not represent other things. Having said that, here are four things that the number 9 represent:

a. Birth – A woman usually carries a baby for nine months and gives birth to him or her.

b. Death – Jesus died in the 9th hour.

And about the ninth hour (three o’clock) Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?—that is, My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me [leaving Me helpless, forsaking and failing Me in My need]? And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit (Mat 27:46 & 50 AMP).

It seems like the number 9 representing death contradicts it representing birth. But this is not the case. 9, representing both death and birth is actually complementary and not contradictory. Death precedes transformation. To live in the Spirit we die to the flesh. The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). When we die we’re not totally obsolete; rather, we move into a new dimension. We are transformed. The Bible says that if anyone is in Christ, old things have “passed away” (death) and all things have become new (birth) (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV). Jesus went through death to give us the new birth.

Apparently birth and death happen simultaneously. First a child is conceived, then develops in the womb, and then is birthed into the real world while he or she simultaneously dies/separates from the womb. Once the baby is birthed into the real world, the child begins to die/age. At old age the person dies from the earth and hopefully birthed into heaven—a new dimension. At death a person leaves earth to spend eternity with or apart from God. Birth and death are two processes that we all go through to grow and be transformed into the image of Christ and fulfill our purposes.

c. Prayer Time – The Ninth hour was a customary time of prayer. This does not take away from the fact that we can pray at any time.

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour (three o’clock in the afternoon) (Acts 3:1 AMP).

d. Vision Time – Cornelius received a vision in the 9th hour. This does not mean that we can’t receive visions from God at any other time.

There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do” (Acts 10:1-6 NKJV).

In the vision Cornelius was told to send men to get Peter who would tell him what to do. Obviously, Cornelius was seeking God for something, and his request was going to be fulfilled once he got in contact with Peter. Once again, the four things that the number 9 represent are birth, death, prayer and vision.

The Number 11

Two things that stand out about the number eleven are:

a. Last minute situations.

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. “He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'” ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ “The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.” ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. The last shall be first and the first shall be last. For many are called and few are chosen (Matthew 20:1-16 NIV).

Have you ever heard of the eleventh hour? This represents something that is done in the last minute. Jesus gave the parable of a landowner who hired people to work on his vineyard for a day’s wage (a denarius). He hired some people early, some people around 9am (3rd hour), some people around noon (6th hour), some people around 3pm (9th hour) and some people around 5pm—the eleventh hour. The eleventh hour workers—the last people hired, got paid first and got paid the same as those that had been working all day.

The workers that had been working earlier were upset that they got paid the same wage as those that came in the eleventh hour. The landowner told them that they agreed to be paid a day’s wage, and they should not be upset that he chose to be good by paying those who came last the same wage he paid those who came first. Jesus gave this parable to illustrate a truth that permeates the way God works in our lives.

He said the last shall be first and the first shall be last. This statement though means different things to different people at different times. However, in the context of what Jesus was saying in this passage, Jesus was saying that those that come last will be blessed as much as those that came first. God does not bless you based on how long you serve Him, but based on if you serve Him. Whether you came in the first hour or eleventh hour, you have access to all that God has to offer you just as much as anyone else—even if others have been serving years before you showed up.

With this in mind, don’t expect any less from God because you are a new Christian. Don’t think you don’t deserve certain blessings because someone who you think is more spiritual, and serving God longer than you hasn’t experienced those blessings. You have access to God’s blessings just as much as anyone else regardless of when you became a child of God.

b. Breakthrough.

THESE ARE the words which Moses spoke to all Israel [still] on the [east] side of the Jordan [River] in the wilderness, in the Arabah [the deep valley running north and south from the eastern arm of the Red Sea to beyond the Dead Sea], over near Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. It is [only] eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea [on Canaan’s border; yet Israel took forty years to get beyond it]. And in the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the Israelites according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them (Deut 1:1-3 AMP).

The children of Israel were 11 days away from Kadesh-Barnea, which was the southern border of Canaan. Canaan was the Promised Land. Therefore, the children of Israel were 11 days away from their breakthrough. In fact, the verse above reveals that Moses began to give them a recap of what got them to the point where they were about to get into the Promised Land. This took place on the first day of the 11th month of the fortieth year. In essence, it took place on the tail end or last part of the fortieth year.

911

Combining nine and eleven we can say that they represent:

1. Having a vision.

2. Praying for it to come to pass; praying for the vision to come and praying for it to pass, because you can’t just have any vision. This vision must come from God, and it usually does when we pray to Him. Cornelius was praying when a vision came to him.

3. Dying to ourselves.

4. In order to birth the vision.

5. And get our breakthrough.

6. Which usually happens at the last minute.

I recently learned that the phrase starting from scratch was first used in the Sport, Cricket.[1] It simply means, begin from the beginning. The “scratch” in question is the marked white line from which sprinters start their run in track and field events. Often sprinters emphasize how important it is, to have a good start in their races. The same holds true in relationships.

This truth is reinforced when Jesus responded to His critics, the Pharisees, about divorce (Mark 10:2; Matthew 19:3). The religious leaders asked him if a man could divorce His wife. The first part of Jesus’ response to their plan of entrapment speaks volumes. Jesus said that from the beginning God made male and female. And for that reason a man would leave his parents and cleave to his wife, so that they could be united.

The Pharisees argued that Moses permitted divorce to take place (Deuteronomy 24:1). Though their intention was to get the Lord in trouble, their question somewhat reflects a reason why some relationships and marriages don’t work. They asked Jesus about how to end a relationship. Amongst other things, Jesus hinted that to have a successful marriage, one needs to focus on how to start it, not how to end it.

In a sense Jesus reveals that marriages will be successful when we start from scratch with God’s original plan for it. Relationships won’t go south if the couple in the relationship went NORTH first. Starting from scratch, if a couple does not have God in their relationship, the relationship is destined to be scratched.

Recently I spoke extensively on this topic. Here is the message below. Feel free to download and share with others.

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