Was Dead and Now Alive

I don't have much to say, so I'll just let scripture speak for itself.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt… nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14  

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked… But God… even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. Ephesians 2:1-2,5

I've been mulling over this scripture all morning. It's very simple, and beautiful. The only thing that changed between being dead and being alive was Christ's work for us. We don't try harder to be alive, we don't put our heads down and push forward, we accept the work of Christ and seek first His Kingdom.

-matt

A Lonely Candle

The Lord showed me a really encouraging picture this morning at church that I though I'd share. The picture was of a single candle burning in total darkness. Darkness's only objective is to snuff out the candle, but darkness itself has no direct control over the flame. You see, the only thing that can put the candle out is a lack of wick to burn. Without fuel, there can be no flame. If this is the case, the candle, us, has no reason to fear the darkness. There is no reason to let darkness incite fear in us, nor should we allot it to dominate our thoughts or our hearts. If indeed Christ reigns, our focus should be his victory. That enables us to burn bright. We fear no evil, for God is with us.

Practically, there is no reason to worry. Jesus is Lord and in the end will get all the glory he deserves. His truth will keep our candle lit, and as long as we fan the flame with scripture we can stand firm against the darkness. You see darkness can only distract us from feeding the flame. It only gains ground when we allow our flame to falter through ignoring and rejecting Christ.
So don't let fear and darkness have power over you, because Christ has equipped you with all you need to stand strong and thrive when darkness whispers lies, deceit, and wickedness. Check your heart with scripture and don't believe everything you hear, but rather believe what Scripture says. Darkness has no power over the Children of the Light. And that is precisely who we are.

Here's a link to Ben Stuart's sermon this morning, that conveniently enough (Thanks Holy Spirit) dealt with similar topics. Ben Stuart Fall 2012 Series | Sermons | Faithbridge

-matt