Life: It's a broad term. I have life, but am I really living? or... I am living, but do I really have life?
Perhaps there is the absence of both life and living...that is called dead!
When I hear the word "dead," I first think of physically dead. Yet, we can be physically dead and spiritually alive. "In Adam, all die [physically], so in Christ, all are made alive [spiritually and eventually physically when we are given new bodies!]." I Corinthians 15:22
In Ezekiel we are presented with quite the picture. Ezekiel is carried away by the Spirit of God to a valley of dead bones. There is not one glimmer of life.
Life can be that lifeless.
"Can these bones become living people again?" God asks.
Will I ever feel alive again? Will life be worth living again?
"You alone know, O Sovereign Lord," Ezekiel replies.
"...in Christ, all are made alive."
This is what the Sovereign Lord says, "Dry bones, I am going to put breath into you and make you live again!"
When God breathes into us, it is His very Spirit into our souls! This is life! "The body
is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness."
Romans 8:10
God tells Ezekiel, "Son of man, we have become old dry bones - all hope is gone...I will open your graves of exile [hopelessness] and cause you to rise again!"
"I will put my Spirit in you and you will live again..." says the Sovereign Lord.
I have come that you might have life, and have it to the fullest. -Jesus
"When this happens," says the Sovereign Lord, "you will know that I am the LORD."
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me,
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
"Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes the Lord has spoken." Ezekiel 37:14
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Friday, January 9, 2015
Misfit
Moses. Where did he fit? Born: Hebrew. Adopted: Egyptian.
Against the command of Pharaoh, Moses' mother hid Moses. By "accident", Pharaoh's daughter found Moses, was taken by his helpless cries and made him her own son.
This certainly didn't go unnoticed by the Hebrew nation trapped in brutal slavery. Mothers and fathers who had put their own sons to death out of fear of the Egyptian edict looked on this situation with both disgust and jealousy. It wasn't fair, yet how could one let one's own flesh and blood be raised and molded by the oppressor and enemy.
Moses lived the life as the princess' own son. He had the highest socioeconomic opportunities. Educated alongside the future pharaoh and the next military brass. From all appearances, he was Egyptian. At some point, however, Moses became aware that he was not the same and I suspect that those Egyptians, at some point, also became aware that underneath his appearance, Moses was not the same. He was "the same" but was not a true fit. He was an Egyptian misfit.
During these years, in the land of Goshen, I expect that they kept track of Moses. He looked so Egyptian. He was moving on in his schooling...Did you see him the other day with his "mother" when they were out and about? He carries himself so proudly. Doesn't he know where he came from? Doesn't he know what is happening to his real family? How could he live like that knowing what is going on here? It doesn't matter. He is one of them. He will never be one of us. He was a Hebrew misfit.
There comes a point in every ones life when "Who am I?" becomes a question that burns deep within. Moses was no exception. He knew what he had become: educated, strong, proud, privileged. He needed to see where he had come from. He determined to visit "his people." Why did he call them that? Deep inside he felt like a misfit among the Egyptians and he knew that the Hebrew people were his roots. Any adopted person longs to know their roots.
The visit to "his people" did not go so well. He didn't like what he saw. Why had he been privileged to grow up away from such misery? It was wrong. He must do something about it. He did, and he failed. Killing an Egyptian for beating one of "his people" only brought out the disgust that "his people" felt towards him because of his palatial upbringing and precipitated a death threat from Pharaoh because he had turned on his undeserved life of privilege.
Moses. Egyptian but not Egyptian. Hebrew but not Hebrew. Who was he? Where did he belong? Misfit.
Nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide. He fled to the wilderness...That's where God met him.
Sometimes that's what it takes. After the bottom drops out and I'm in the wilderness...that's where God meets me.
Against the command of Pharaoh, Moses' mother hid Moses. By "accident", Pharaoh's daughter found Moses, was taken by his helpless cries and made him her own son.
This certainly didn't go unnoticed by the Hebrew nation trapped in brutal slavery. Mothers and fathers who had put their own sons to death out of fear of the Egyptian edict looked on this situation with both disgust and jealousy. It wasn't fair, yet how could one let one's own flesh and blood be raised and molded by the oppressor and enemy.
Moses lived the life as the princess' own son. He had the highest socioeconomic opportunities. Educated alongside the future pharaoh and the next military brass. From all appearances, he was Egyptian. At some point, however, Moses became aware that he was not the same and I suspect that those Egyptians, at some point, also became aware that underneath his appearance, Moses was not the same. He was "the same" but was not a true fit. He was an Egyptian misfit.
During these years, in the land of Goshen, I expect that they kept track of Moses. He looked so Egyptian. He was moving on in his schooling...Did you see him the other day with his "mother" when they were out and about? He carries himself so proudly. Doesn't he know where he came from? Doesn't he know what is happening to his real family? How could he live like that knowing what is going on here? It doesn't matter. He is one of them. He will never be one of us. He was a Hebrew misfit.
There comes a point in every ones life when "Who am I?" becomes a question that burns deep within. Moses was no exception. He knew what he had become: educated, strong, proud, privileged. He needed to see where he had come from. He determined to visit "his people." Why did he call them that? Deep inside he felt like a misfit among the Egyptians and he knew that the Hebrew people were his roots. Any adopted person longs to know their roots.
The visit to "his people" did not go so well. He didn't like what he saw. Why had he been privileged to grow up away from such misery? It was wrong. He must do something about it. He did, and he failed. Killing an Egyptian for beating one of "his people" only brought out the disgust that "his people" felt towards him because of his palatial upbringing and precipitated a death threat from Pharaoh because he had turned on his undeserved life of privilege.
Moses. Egyptian but not Egyptian. Hebrew but not Hebrew. Who was he? Where did he belong? Misfit.
Nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide. He fled to the wilderness...That's where God met him.
Sometimes that's what it takes. After the bottom drops out and I'm in the wilderness...that's where God meets me.
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