A New Wardrobe...

Imagine you have old, dirty, clothes, and on top of all that, you have no place to live. But, what if someone came along and offered you a brand new wardrobe? Most likely, you would take them up on their offer! Well I read a few weeks ago of a man in the Bible that did just that. Again, God continues to amaze me by showing me Scripture that I have read before, but when I read it again, it is like I am reading it for the first time. How amazing...

The story begins with a man who is possessed with many demons (Luke 8:26-39). You have probably heard this story before! Jesus casts the demons out of the man's body and puts the demons into the pigs and then the pigs fall off a cliff and into water and die. Hmm...sounds so exciting. :) But when I dug a little deeper into the passage, I saw how my life is so much like this man's before he encounter Christ.

Before this man encountered the Living God, he, "For a long time...had worn no clothes and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs."(v.27) Just this passage sums up this man's life: naked, homeless, and living in a graveyard. This was my life before Christ, I was living among the tombs.

His life was also controlled by the demons inside of him, the Word says that this man, "He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert." (v. 29) When I first read this, I thought it was talking about Jesus breaking the bonds, but when I looked more closely, I saw that it was actually the demon that did this. I know in my life, I have allowed the enemy to control parts of my life and let him keep me in chains and then drive me into the "desert." Beth Moore says (in Jesus: 90 Days with the One and Only) it in a way that really allowed me to understand that even demons have a supernatural power:

"Luke tells us that the demons enabled the man to break chains. I feel the need 

to stress something about supernatural power: not all of it comes from God!

...At times Satan is able to display signs and wonders. But remember, ours is the

PRINCE OF PEACE. All conflict HE ordains is for the ultimate purpose of peace 

under His righteous rule."

What I love about this story is the ending... the man who was once naked, homeless, and lived among the tombs, was forever changed once he encountered Jesus. The contrast from the opening sentences to the closing of the story is just beautiful. Let's take a look and see how beautiful this picture really is:

"Then the people went out to see what had happened,

and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone,

sitting at the feet of Jesus,

clothed and in his right mind..."(v 35)

When everyone around him was scared and running around, this man was sitting at the feet of Jesus. It reminds me of how there are so many stories in the Bible where once a person is healed, they seem to immediately run and tell everyone they know (which is a WONDERFUL thing, don't get me wrong!). But here is this man, sitting at the feet of Jesus. The man was no longer naked or homeless, but was found fully clothed (not only physically, but I believe spiritually as well) and in his right mind. BEAUTIFUL. No other can do this, our Savior is Mighty and can do what we think may be impossible! It reminds me of a passage in Ezekiel: 

"When I passed by you again and saw you, 

behold, you were at the age for love, 

and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness;

I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you,

declares the Lord GOD,

and you became mine."

(Ezekiel 16:8)

The LORD loves to cover us with His mercy and like this man, even His healing power. Who am I that this God of the entire universe would want to look upon me and heal me, let alone, save me? I want to be like this man... sitting at the feet of Jesus. 

This man later went around "...proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him." (Luke 8:39) I believe that if the crowd didn't make Jesus leave, that this man would had sat at the feet of Jesus for a very long time! But I also need to be like this man in this area too! When other's push Jesus away, I need to proclaim, even more, how much He has done for me! I want to be found at the feet of Jesus, but also shouting His praises! We aren't called as believers to constantly be sitting at His feet, meaning, that is the only place we should be, but we should also be found proclaiming (like this man) how much Jesus has done for us. Whether that be in your school, hometown, or maybe, even your home. 

As much as I would love to stay and sit at the feet of my Maker, I know there will come a day when I will get to do that for all eternity, so for now, I will proclaim the majesty and glory of the God who saved me and rescued me from the enemy! 

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD;

my soul shall exult in my God,

for HE has clothed me with the 

garments of salvation;

He has covered me with the robe of righteousness....

-Isaiah 61:10 (ESV)

Bones...

 Bones, no not the tv show, but actual bones. Ezekiel 37 is a weird but beautiful story about the God we serve, how He can take something dry, brittle, DEAD and give it living, breathing, LIFE. Not just back in Ezekiel's day, but now, right now, this very moment, He can do what He did then:

Jesus Christ is the same today,

yesterday, and forever.

Hebrews 13:8

I came across this text because I was leading a Dnow a few weekends ago. I have heard of this story, but never really dug down deep, and actually read it. I would like to share with yall what the Lord opened my eyes to and how He used this Dnow to show me a new character about Himself!

Ezekiel was a prophet and was told to tell the destruction that was coming, but also to tell of the restoration that was coming through the Lord.

The first thing the Lord asks Ezekiel is "Can these bones live?" (v. 3) And to the normal person, we would definitely say, "No. Bones are DEAD. That's why they are bones." Bones are remains of something dead. But the amazing thing is, that what we see isn't what the Lord sees. When we see something dead, or when the world tells us something is a certain way, the Lord has a totally different view of what it really is and how it is to Him:

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts

neither are your ways My ways,"

declares the Lord.

As the heavens are higher than the earth

so are my ways higher than you ways 

and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8-9

So when the world tells you one thing, and you believe another thing, the Lord doesn't think that way. He is the Creator of the Universe and HIS thoughts of YOU are what matter the most. When the world tells you that you are just "dead bones" the Lord sees a totally different picture (I will explain more later :) ) 

Ezekiel replies, "Oh Lord, you know." The study that I used described it as Ezekiel not trying to answer such a huge topic with his own knowledge but to acknowledge that the Lord knows all things, even when we can't understand them. I'm glad that I can intrust my past and future to the LORD, who holds all things together, and who works things together for my good.

The next thing you know is Ezekiel is prophesying to the bones by the command of the Lord and the bones begin to come together piece by piece, tendon by tendon, and before you know it there is a "great army" as the passage tells us. But before the there can be a great army, they are just bones, with tendons, muscles, etc, so the Lord asks Ezekiel to breathe life into them through His power. And then there is a great army.
     This is how our lives are before Christ. I see it as , yes God gave us physical life, but without Him breathing HIS LIFE into our bones, our flesh, our entire being , we are just a bunch of bones with muscles, and tendons. But once God breathes His life into us, watch out, we can be a great army too. And all of this is so, "That you may know that [HE is] the Lord." It is all for His glory and so that HIS name will be known in our new lives.

So to continue, there were bones, then bones with tendons, and now living breathing people. Now these aren't just random people. These were the people that had died a long time ago due to the destruction that happened. These were Israelites, as the study I used, it said, that some of these people were probably people the Ezekiel knew. He saw them brought back to life. I love what the Lord says when the people are brought back to life:

Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say,

'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' Therefore prophesy

and say to them; 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My people, I

am going to open your graves and bring you up from them;

I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, My people,

will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.

I will put my Spirit in you and YOU WILL LIVE, and I will settle you in your own land.

Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it,

declares the LORD.' "

Ezekiel 37: 11-14 (NIV)

My heart rejoices reading this! I think about how this is the story of our lives! We lose hope, and think we are a lost cause, I mean after all, our sin leaves us DEAD and HOPELESS. We think there is no hope and the enemy loves to hold us in our grave and remind us of that, but remember, the LORD doesn't work that way. When the enemy says we are dead, the Lord DECLARES that we are alive by His power and by the precious blood of Jesus we are called His children.  He calls us HIS PEOPLE. OH how my soul loves to hear that phrase. WE ARE HIS PEOPLE! HE loves us! He picks us up from the grave breathes Life into us and declares us alive and fully capable of being who He made us to be. We think we can't be put back together because we are a lost cause, but HE IS THE HEALER. I love this song by Watermark, called Mended and the chorus/verse says:

You've got all things suspended

All things connected

Nothing was forgotten

'Cause Your Love is Perfect.

You are our Healer

and You know what's broken

and we're not a mystery to You.

We will dance because You restore the wasted years and

You will sing over all our coming fears and

We'll stand grateful for all that has been left behind and all that goes before us.

Lord You mend the breech

and You break every fetter

You give us Your best, but what we thought was better

And You are to be praised.

When you lose hope in these hard days, take heart and be reminded that the LORD loves to give us hope, and He loves to mend things back together. Just remember the picture of Him mending the bones and tendons back together. The world cannot and will not ever offer the Hope that the Lord Jesus has for us. 

We must remember that this all because of the compassion God has on us. We must know that it is HE who works all things together for out good! No matter where we come from, what we've done, what we've said, HE LOVES US. I heard this story this week and it is so true:

                 Suppose I offered you a $100 bill. Would you take it?

             Well, wait, what if I crumbled it up? Tore it in half? Crumbled it again, stomped on it with my foot? You would probally still want it because it doesn't diminish the value of that $100 bill does it? 

    The same is with your life. No matter what has happened to you, or what you've done in your past (or what might happen in the future) God doesn't see what men see. He see's your heart, and wants you to see how He sees you. YOU ARE VALUABLE TO HIM. That is why we can't listen to the world and what it tells us is valuable, again, who the LORD says you are is what matters!


YOU ARE HIS BELOVED, CHILD, DAUGHTER, SON, FRIEND, REDEEMED.

Remember who we serve: A Faithful God. When He said He would call us out of the grave and give us life, HE MEANS IT.

The One who calls you is Faithful,

and He will do it.

-1 Thessalonians 5:24

I hope this has encouraged you today. It isn't about me, but this is what the Lord has put on my heart. And when He fills my cup up, it must overflow into the lives of those around me. Why not share this promise from His word? :) I hope yall have a great week. Blessings!