Die, Dethrone, and Delight

Let’s be honest. Sometimes, as humans, we suck.

We wear out and we get frustrated (mostly at our own doing) and we turn to other things that give temporary satisfaction, if any at all.

What are the things you struggle with DAILY?

Maybe you’re not struggling with a serious drug addiction, but you can’t seem to keep your mouth shut around your “inner circle”?

Here are three points that I “came up with” (I like to believe that God placed them in my mind and upon my heart based on my own continuous struggles) that will help you in your daily battles against the world.

It’s as easy as ABC…D?

1) Die to Daily Desires

Like I said, what are those things that you struggle with daily?

What are the things you think about, look at again, say and wish you hadn’t, take, use, or abuse and those things you don’t think twice about but probably should?

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh along with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit”

Galatians 5:24-25

Here in Galatians 5, Paul talks about life in the Spirit and how desires of our flesh are not of the Spirit and we have crucified them and belong to them no longer.

Now is the point where you say, “Well it’s not that easy!”

Yeah, you’re right.

Let me preach to myself as much as to you here:

To overcome your daily desires that are not of the spirit, it’s going to take DAILY DEATH.

Whenever that temptation hits you, say to yourself

“Lord, make me dead to this desire today”

 Don’t be above asking the Father above for help.

2) Dethrone Doubt

In the book of Kings, Elijah the prophet gets into a classic “My dad can beat up your dad” argument with the prophets of Baal.

So naturally he makes a bet:

He tells the prophets of Baal to choose two bulls and put them on separate wooden altars for a burn offering. He issues a challenge:

“Then you call on the name of our god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire- he is God” Kings 18:24

Pretty bold statement right?

Elijah even taunts them and has them pour buckets of water on his stack of wood.

Elijah trusts God’s power enough to stand in front of hundreds of people and make such a bet and yet, in our own lives, we submit to our vices because, deep down, we believe they are better and more satisfying than a God who answers by fire:

“Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil and also licked up the water in the trench” Kings 18:38

                            

Ask for the Fire of the Lord to fall down in your life and dethrone your doubts of salvation and satisfaction.

3) Delight in your Deliverance

God already knows your failures.

Past, present and future.

So it’s not a shock to the Almighty when you fall down.

God, knowing our human limitations and inclination to submit to our sinful hearts, sent his only Son to die on the cross for ALL of our sin. No matter how frequent or how ugly. He died for it.

          “When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, ‘Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon give them deliverance” 2 Chronicles 12:7

          “‘You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you’” 2 Chronicles 20:17

It’s like being enrolled the class “Life 101” and God is the professor.

We expect our report card to come back to us:

A- Language choice

B- Gossip

F- Lying

D- Sexual Immorality

Student Notes: Fix your sin before you can graduate!

But how blessed are we that Jesus crushed our sins on the cross!

Sure. We fail and may earn an “F” in a certain area of our walk with Christ but God sent his Son to the “Final exam” on the cross and presents us with an exemption ticket, hot off the press, with the word “GRACE” stamped on the top.

Therefore, battle your sin already knowing the outcome.

God is on your side: HE WINS!

So come face to face with your struggles, die to them, dethrone the doubt that the presence of God may not be better than the fulfillment of your fleshly desires, and battle already knowing the victorious outcome you have with Christ.

Engage

Jesus wins, so erase the doubt.
Rise up your ashes, come off the sidelines and get off the couch.

Be engaged because a relationship is a two way street. Seek and you will find and, trust me, it's pretty sweet!

To find something, someone who is seeking you. And constantly covering all those times you come unglued.

There's no way to really capture this beauty in a lame little rhyme, but it's just a little something I thought I would give to the God who created time.

So get out of your every day cycle and dust off your shoes.

Open up the word today.

What have you got to lose?

The Stevie Wonder[ful] Gospel

Stevie Wonder? You mean the “Signed, sealed, delivered: I’m yours!” guy?

Undoubtedly, you’ve probably starting to sing this song in your head so I’ll give you a minute to “shake what yo mamma gave ya” and sing those words in your loud shower-concert voice.

You good now?

So what does Stevie Wonder have to do with the wonder that is Jesus Christ? Believe it or not, the simple lyrics of this song by Stevie sum up the Gospel and our reaction to it in a melodious nutshell. Check this out:

Signed.

When you sign something, it becomes personal. Any legal documents, papers, covenants or whatever you put your name on, you take ownership. God sent His only Son to earth in human form. How much more personal can someone get than sending their son to you? God signs off on this quest for Jesus to come to the broken earth and bring redemption, once and for all, by giving a part of him to us.

His holy signature is also ever-present in the Scripture as the words of Jesus devour the rigidity of the Law with love and grace.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” John 1:14(NIV)

Sealed.

          After Jesus’ merciless death on the cross, he is placed in the tomb.  Pilate, knowing of Jesus’ promise to rise on the third day, places guards in front of the tomb.

“So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard” Matthew 27:66(NIV)

          The Rock of ages, placed and sealed behind a giant, powerless, earthly rock.

“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.” Matthew 28: 1-2 (NIV)

Did you catch that last part? 

The risen Christ actually SITS on the stone that once sealed him.

It’s not some grueling match, “Jesus vs. Stone”, that is depicted here in Matthew;

It’s pure victory.

He doesn’t roll the stone away and come out of the grave short-breathed and sweaty and physically exhausted, He comes out of the grave and SITS on the stone.

Picture this passage in your mind and let it resonate.

The act of sitting on something that once held you captive.

The resurrection of Jesus takes the seal of the stone and says “No more”.

It defies the current knowledge of death completely.

It is defiant to the cycle of the world.

Delivered.

What does this death and resurrection mean for us?

“I tell you these things, so that in me you may have peace.

 In this world you will have trouble. But take heart!

I have overcome the world” John 16:33(NIV)

It means deliverance and redemption.

         

It means no matter what you do, wherever you go, wherever you have been,

Wherever you’re at RIGHT NOW,

Nothing can separate you from Christ’s love.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither the present or the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)

So right now, wherever you are, stop and rest in this truth.

What is separating you in this very moment from receiving and acknowledging the depths of God’s love?

Embrace the unconditional condition that is Christ’s undying grace and love for you.

I’m Yours!

Now that you’re beginning to realize this great love that is presently awaiting you, let me be the first to tell you,

You will never fully understand Christ’s selfless love-action on the cross that gives us unconditional grace.

Just try to capture all of the beauty, redemption, selflessness, love, sacrifice that it entailed.

If your mind isn’t completely blown and your heart isn’t exploding and your face is tearless, you’re haven’t even began to understand.

Our response to Jesus’s act of love should resound with Stevie’s words:

“I’M YOURS!”

Realize what Jesus did for you; For everyone.

He died!

In that moment, he was mortal and gave all he had for you…

Oh by the way, that was after he was flogged and beaten down and then demanded to carry his torture machine up a hill.

All for you.

One of my favorite Gospel-revealing verses in Romans 5.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person, someone might dare to die” Romans 5:6-7

Paul is saying here that it is very rare that someone will die for a righteous person.

Imagine someone you would die for…

Now imagine dying for a complete stranger who fails constantly and who turns their back on you willingly.

That’s what Jesus did for you.

Run all of this through your head:

He came.

He died.

He rose.

He delivered.

You.

So what’s holding you back from surrendering out to this amazing grace, this unfailing love?

Let the Lord demolish those walls keeping you from Him and belt out these words in that loud shower-concert voice, unashamed;

“I’M YOURS”