THE WALKING DEAD
The angels appearing to the women when they were at the empty tomb of Jesus said, “Why are you seeking the living among the dead?” Luke 24:5
One commentary had this to say, “The angels’ question made a point: the living are not to be found among the dead. We should not expect spiritual life among those who do not have it. Many look for Jesus in dead things—religious traditionalism, formalism, man’s rules, human effort and ingenuity. We find Jesus only where there is resurrection life, when He is worshiped in Spirit and in truth.”
CHAINS OR FREEDOM
Remember old Jacob Marley in Dicken’s A Christmas Carol? He appears to Scrooge as a ghost all bound up in heavy weights and chains. Our life without the resurrected Jesus is chains, but where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. The biggest lie, is that if I follow Jesus, He will take away my freedom and fun. Jesus is the only one who gives us freedom. When we are in rebellion against the One who created us, all we will produce is death. When we try to walk in any other way the puzzle piece doesn’t fit, it’s like putting a round peg in a square hole. Jesus is the chain breaker. When you taste the water of Life that Jesus gives, nothing else will compare.
ABUNDANT LIFE
This is offered through Jesus. He is the life giver. He is the way maker. He is the chain breaker. He makes the blind to see, the deaf to hear and the lame to walk. He removes the veil from our face. How can this be? We are conquerors because Jesus conquered sin and death by shedding His blood on the cross for us. That was our penalty and He took it upon Himself. He conquered death at the resurrection. No grave could hold him down. So, we are more than conquerors over sin and death because of the blood of the lamb, the word of our testimony, and because we denied our own way and life to follow Jesus. Revelation 12:11
EXAMINE YOURSELF
Where are you looking for Jesus? Traditionalism, empty religion, morality, trying to do good, going along to get along, the golden rule, mysticism? Have you experienced this resurrected Jesus? Are you weighted down in chains by your own sin? He died for you to give you life, you also must die to yourself to have this resurrection life. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die.” John 11:25
The old self has to be put to death. There is no other way. You can’t serve two masters. Jesus wants ALL of you. If you have trusted in Him as Lord, the old self has to be put down, your thoughts, your ways, your philosophies, your ideas, your vices, your pleasures, all your idols, your pride? The Lord will continue to work in us to kill all the things that are standing in the way of the abundant Life found only in HIm. Are you clinging to something that you are not willing to crucify?
“I have been crucified in Christ, it’s no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
stones from the quarry 