He should have expected it from the get go! Building that beautiful home in the middle of a planet full of unrest and trouble. The area that He placed the foundation seemed perfect, and by design the dwelling was formidable and admirable. But the delays in the sale, and the habitation of the home proved to be its downfall and deterioration.
First there were secretive squatters; and then interior defamation by malicious vandals, and by the time the outside of the home was tagged with the graffiti of the day, ... the interior supporting structure of the home was all but gone. Sorrow filled the heart of the owner, and He returned to redeem the building and restore it to its former glory. The redemption of the home cost the owner all that He had, to say the least.
Though the owner paid dearly, the contractors who cleaned, swept and repainted the interior, and refinished the exterior... because there was a delay, once again, in the plan for habitation (the owner even offered to take up residency)... the next destruction of the home was even more degrading than the first time. The structure was condemned ... "Uninhabitable".
Now ... This is paramount to mirroring a life that responds to conviction of the conscience and attempts to reform, "turn over a new leaf" , get a fresh start... But has no plan to allow the Creator/Savior take up habitation in that life ..."Dead Man Walking!"
No Word ... No spirit ...
A shell of a life that is disconnected from the Power to live.
No fresh truth ... No moral compass ...
A shell that will have to walk on in the dark.
No fresh oil ... No vision ...
A shell that we have to move without the favor of Heaven's anointing.
No renewed breath ... No refreshed soul ...
A shell whose movements forward will leave a trail of dwindling joy and no peace.
Dead man walking!" Prior to the 1960's this was a term that used to be shouted down the hallways of "Death Row" in prisons as the condemned walked their last steps to execution. What a sad commentary of the final moments of a life lived in rebellion against society and the laws that govern it.
There is a spiritual parallel: "He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." John 3:18 ... A Horrendously pivotal statement of dynamic liberation from death and Hell because of Faith in Jesus; or the unavoidable separation by Condemnatory Judgement due to the choice to not believe on the only begotten Son of God ... The key to be Fully Alive or the deciding factor for "dead man walking", is found Only in Jesus!
"There is no other Name given among men whereby we must be saved". "For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved". There is no other Way, no other Truth, and no other Life that allows us to come to the Father.
OK ... Probably everyone reading this is nodding their heads up and down in mutual agreement. But why in the world is the "called out assembly of believers" acting as if they are miserable, condemned, and living in emptiness ... "dead men walking"?
Let's do a check up and reset:
Do we hear the Word and the Spirit and welcome Him as royalty into our lives? ...
This is where we are connected to the Power to live.
Do we receive fresh Truth daily, that activates "true north" on our moral compass? ...
This is where we, daily begin to walk in the Light as He is in the Light.
Do we long for fresh oil and a lively vision as He occupies more and more of our life? ...
This is where we move in the active two-way loving favor of Heaven.
Do we daily allow His Breath to restore our soul?...
This is where we long for eternity, and move forward in ever unfolding joy and sweet restorative peace in the midst of a planet full of unrest and trouble.
The potential is Here ... Realize it! Anyone in Christ ... potentially has the opportunity for the miraculous! ... "BE" fully engaged IN CHRIST, take full advantage of all things that He offers in furnishing our life. Remember and realize we are His NEW Created Habitation... Let Him fully dwell and fellowship with and within us. As old things begin to pass by you with less and less enticement and intimidation... New things will rise up and captivate your first love of Him, and undergird your living with the Awe and Reverence of your God and Savior... Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthian 5:17 - "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away: behold. all things are become new."
Take full advantage of this ever present offer to Walk fully alive in Christ ... The world doesn't need a mirage of a church full of new ideas and "exciting" events that are drummed up from "dead man walking" shells and for "dead man walking" shells ... The world needs to see the glory of Heaven that is leaking from the called out assembly of broken vessels that are fully inhabited by Jesus.
Live, fully alive... IN JESUS ... Today !
HLFA,
Jeff