Arise From the Dead

Awake, Oh Sleeper, arise from the dead!

Today we explore falling spiritually asleep and becoming spiritually dead. (You can probably already tell this is not a good state to be in.)

In the book of Revelation, John shares the revelation "from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants" (Revelation 1:1a) and he writes seven letters to the churches in the province of Asia (in chapters 2 & 3).

We are looking at the fifth church John writes to, the church of Sardis. In Revelation 3:1-2 Jesus said, "I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive--but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God."

The people in the church in Sardis had become spiritually dead.  They were active in deeds, making them look good on the outside, but on the inside they were corrupt. Probably their intentions weren't in the right places--doing good deeds for the purpose of what they could get out of it and not for God.

Sardis was full of prosperous Jews so it may have been their wealth giving them an overconfident sense of security or maybe their self-satisfaction that lulled them to sleep and lead to their spiritual death. Whatever the case, they stopped depending on God and putting him first in their lives.    

The people of Sardis weren't the only ones with this issue; Paul wrote a letter to the Ephesians on the same subject.

In Ephesians 5:10-15 Paul advises, "Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, 'Awake, O Sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.' So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise."

When we make excuses or tolerate sinful behavior or compromise our beliefs we start sliding down a slippery slope. Most likely it starts off gradual, with something small; something that could be overlooked as "no big deal." But like a small snowball rolled down a hill it grows bigger and gains momentum as it goes. As the snowball travels downward, it becomes harder to stop and harder to carry back up the hill.

Once you start down a downhill slope, it's hard to stop and get back to where you were when you started. When you ignore sins you start to roll down that hill and fall spiritually asleep.

Unless you do something to change your ways.

So what can we do to avoid becoming spiritually dead? Or how do we wake up if we are already spiritually dead? The Bible shows us what is sin and gives us instructions on which path to take and which to avoid. Revelation 3:3 instructs, "Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again."

Go back to the fundamentals of faith, back to the basics, and from there grow in your knowledge of God--by reading the Bible and applying it to your life. If we hold firmly to these truths, not making excuses for sin or tolerating sin or compromising our beliefs for sin, we will keep ourselves from falling asleep into a spiritual death.

When we repent, we turn from the darkness of sin and live in the light of Christ.

Ephesians 4:22-24 says, "Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God--truly righteous and holy."

We need God to truly live.

In Ezekiel 37, the Lord carries Ezekiel to a valley filled with dry bones and God asks him if the bones can become living people again. Ezekiel wisely answered, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know the answer to that." Then comes my favorite part.

Ezekiel 37:4-6 says: Then [God] said to [Ezekiel], "Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, 'Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'

And do you know what happens next? Ezekiel spoke the message, just as God told him too, and as he spoke he heard a rattling sound and the bones came together, and muscles and flesh and skin formed over the bones. God put breath into them and they came to life and stood up on their feet.

When you don't have the spirit of God working in you, you are like those dry dead bones laying in the valley. We need God to breath life into us and make us live again.

I tell you again: Awake, oh sleeper, arise from the dead.


What we talked about today echoes what we learned studying Psalm 1:1-3. If you are to be like the blessed one then you need to be spiritually alive. (If you missed the posts you can read the first one here and the second one here.) 

The Father's Love

It’s hard to picture how great God’s love is. It surpasses knowledge!

The Apostle Paul explains it this way,  “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God,” (Ephesians 3:17b-19).

God’s love is huge. 

In 2010, God gave me a visual sample of his love.

I was attending a women’s Bible conference and the whole time was just being loved on by God as I learned more about him.  One night in particular stands out. We were given a powerful message from Priscilla Shirer then Kari Jobe got up to lead us in worship. I was seated near the back so was able to see the majority of the women. It was beautiful.

Try to envision it: Stretched out before you are 800 women, all different ages, races, sizes all worshiping God. Hands are raised, heads are bowed. There is dancing and swaying but there are also those who are still, deep in prayer. At the bottom of the stage way in the front, you can see (thanks to the camera man) that there are women laying prostrate and others kneeling with their hands stretched out in front of them on the floor. Women are hugging. Others have their arms over each other’s shoulders. There are some tears. And all the while this is going on, our voices are singing “Healer” in harmony. It was amazingly beautiful. 

I was in awe by this touching display of love. It was so cool to the different styles of worship spread out in front of me. I said to God, “Lord! Look at all this love for you!” 

At that moment, He spoke directly to my heart and He said to me, “My love for you is more than all their love for me.” Completely overwhelmed with God’s declaration of love for me, I went into prayer thanking him. What an awesome God we have! 

The love God has for me is no different than the love he has for you. It is greater than we can truly understand in our human minds--it surpasses knowledge. “This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins,” (1 John 4:10).

Galatians 4:4-7 explains a little more, "But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, 'Abba, Father.' Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir."

I am a child of God! A daughter of the Risen King! And you can be too! (If you aren’t already) All you need to do is simply believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord you will be saved (Romans 10:9).

Have a Happy Father's Day Sunday and be sure to tell our Father in Heaven you love him too. 

To Do or Not To Do (Part 2)

The fork in the road; how do we know which way is the right way?

Today we are continuing to look at Psalm 1:1-3 (the memory verses I was asked to explain).

Last week we examined verses one and two (if you missed it, read here). Quick recap: be careful who you spend your time with, read the Bible daily, and think about what you read. Before we look at verse three, let's read these verses again.

Psalm 1:1:3 reads: 

Blessed is the one 

                        who does not 

                                        walk in step with the wicked

                                        or stand in the way that sinners take

                                        or sit in the company of mockers. 

                        but whose delight

                                          is in the law of the Lord,

                                                        and who meditates on the law day and night. 

                        That person is like a tree, 

                                                         planted by streams of water, 

                                                         which yields it’s fruit in season

                                                         whose leaf does not wither--                                                                        whatever they do prospers. 

Doing what is described in the first two verses helps you become like the tree in verse three; but what does that mean? Do you want to be like a tree? 

Yes, yes you do and here's why.

The tree that is planted by streams of water has roots that are constantly connected to the source it needs to survive. The roots reach deep down into the ground, securing the tree firmly where it's planted, and touch the stream. Trees need water to survive.

The blessed one is like a tree planted by streams of water, connected to God day and night, being sustained by His word.

This tree also yields it's fruit in season. The Bible tells us you can know a person by the fruit they bear. Matthew 7:16-20 says, "You can identify them by their fruits. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions."

Good and bad fruit refer to moral behavior. To have good moral behavior one must live a productive life for God by obeying his teachings and resisting temptation. 

In addition to being planted next to streams and yielding fruit in season, this tree has leaves that do not wither. When I think of withering leaves, I think of a tree that is dying. Sinning leads to death. Ephesians 2:1 says, "Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins." Ephesians 2:4-5 goes on to say, "But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. It is only by God's grace that you have been saved." 

The last part of verse three tells us the blessed one prospers in whatever she does. This does not mean she won't have suffering or trouble (because the Bible is quite clear that believers will). Just look at 1 Peter 4:12-13 which says, "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that you are going through, as though something strange were happening to you. Instead be very glad--for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world." 

This examination of the first three verses in Psalm 1 reminds me of two verses. Matthew 6:33 which says, "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." And Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." These verses reinforce what is being said in Psalm 1:1-3. 

So, what does Psalm 1:1-3 teach us? Being careful who you hang out with, reading your Bible, and memorizing scripture is going to help you stay away from sin and obey God. This will make you like the blessed one who is constantly connected to God, lives a productive life, and is alive in Christ.

Which path in the fork in the road will you take? The way of the world that leads to destruction or the way of God that leads to life? 

I choose life. 

Matthew 7:13-14 = Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. 

To Do or Not To Do (Part 1)

It's a sin to do nothing when you know you should do something. Wow. 

Hold up. Let me back up a little. 

After I shared my post on scripture memorization (read original post here), I was asked for my interpretation of Psalm 1:1-3.  I gave a short explanation and after I kept thinking she probably isn't the only person wondering. . .even if she is the only one who asked. 

So, let's look at the meaning of these verses. Due to my long explanation being quite, well, long I'm splitting this into two parts; today, we'll focus on the first two verses and next week examine the third verse.

Psalm 1:1-3 reads: 

Blessed is the one 

                       who does not 

                                        walk in step with the wicked

                                        or stand in the way that sinners take

                                        or sit in the company of mockers. 

                       but whose delight

                                         is in the law of the Lord,

                                                       and who meditates on his law day and night. 

                       That person is like a tree, 

                                                        planted by streams of water, 

                                                        which yields its fruit in season

                                                        and whose leaf does not wither—

                        whatever they do prospers. 

(No, there is nothing wrong with your internet browser; I deliberately split the verses like that. Putting verses into smaller pieces can help you memorize the whole thing.)

The first verse shows us what the blessed one does not do. She does not (1) walk in step with the wicked, (2) stand in the way that sinners take, or (3) sit in the company of mockers. 

One who is “walking in step with the wicked” is actively participating in sin. One who is “standing in the way that sinners take” is taking a position (standing) like a sinner--this is done by justifying sinful activities; saying they are okay when the Bible says they are not. The one who is sitting with mockers is the most passive. Let's imagine a woman, Clara, is sitting on the couch with some friends. Her friends are gossiping and Clara is sitting there listening to it but isn't saying anything. Is Clara sinning? To get insight, we'll look at some scripture that relates to this issue. 

Proverbs 17:4 tells us, "Wrongdoers eagerly listen to gossip; liars pay close attention to slander." Simply by sitting with the mockers and listening to the gossip the Bible says Clara is a wrongdoer and a liar. Ouch. 

Ephesians 5:11 says, "Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them." No matter how someone takes part of worthless deeds, whether walking, standing, or sitting, she is taking part if she goes along with it. James 4:17 says, "Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it." 

Now that we've looked at verses in the Bible that relate to this issue, it's time to answer my question. Is Clara sinning? Yes, it is a sin for Clara to sit and listen to gossip. *If you find yourself in a similar situation try to stop it. Expose the gossipers by saying something like, "I'm not interested in hearing rumors," then change the subject. If your "friends" continue gossiping, remove yourself from the situation.* 

To sum up the first verse simply: be careful who you spend your time with. 

Inspirational speaker, Jim Rohn famously said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” If you are spending a lot of time with people who are only pretending to follow God’s commands, chances are you’ll start pretending too. 

Now, how can we know what we ought to do? Look at Psalm 1:2. It tells us that the blessed one delights in and meditates on the law of the Lord. In order to know what we ought to do, we need to know the law of the Lord--which is scripture. By reading the Bible daily and thinking about it, we meditate on God's law. (We are meditating on his law right now by looking at these verses and examining what they mean.) 

When meditating on his laws, it's even better if you memorize scripture-- hiding the verses in your heart like Psalm 119:11 tells us to do. It's important to learn scripture "by heart" so that we won't sin. I like the way the American Standard Version translates Psalm 119:11: "I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." I like the imagery of "storing up" God's word in my heart better than "hiding" it. They both mean the same thing, but it's easier for me to visualize storing God's word. 

I don't know about you but I want to meditate on God's word, store it up in my heart, and let it transform me. I want to be like the blessed one. 

There is a fork in the road before us, one is God's way and the other is the way of the world, which path will you take?