Day 2 - Going Up in Flames

Day 2: Going Up in Flames

  So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. 
Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ - that's where the action is.
  
  Colossians 3: 1-2 (MSG)

If we’d met a few years ago, you would be forgiven for not recognising me. I was dead.

My lungs were still breathing, my heart was still beating. But I was simply going through the motions of life, without living at all.

In the depths of death and despair, God reached in and healed me.

Sitting in church, I felt a warm, tingling sensation run down my spine. The depression that had slowly been crushing me was gone. It felt like someone had just lifted a rucksack of bricks off my shoulders.

Even as I felt the weight lifting, my posture altered. I had been living hunched over, burdened and looking down. As God breathed new life into me, I looked up.

And from that moment, everything started to change.

Let's face it, if you were brought back to life, raised from the dead, your life should change. God saved me to be set apart. My life was never meant to look the same.

Why would you keep living like someone who was dead when you are alive?

Learning to Live

Working out what a resurrection life looks like has taken time.

I was stuck in my old habits, ones I had formed as someone who was living under the curse of death.

Even now, old habits die hard.

Being stuck in lockdown is not helping my anxious, obsessive news-checking. The flashing red dots and constant 'breaking news' headlines fuel fear and isolation.

Sin tempts us to be fearful. To doubt God, to look out for number one. It’s the human condition.

We think we know better - that we should be in control.

The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me.

We look for comfort and quick fixes in earthly things: knowing all the latest information, a large glass of wine, scrolling through social media searching for connection.

While the world shouts at us to be afraid, we are called to be set apart.

We are called to die to the part of ourselves that is fearful and that longs for control. Jesus holds out his hands to us, ready to take our death and give us real life in return.

If we’re serious about this resurrection life, Paul says, act like it.

The old habits have to die. Every day, we are called to make the decision to put to death the part of us that wants to be in control.

We are raised to life through Christ every day, through the precious blood He spilled on the cross. Even the sorrows and uncertainty of the world we walk in today can't compete with Jesus' victory.

Look up. Fix your eyes on Him.

Now more than ever, while it seems like the world around us is going up in flames (or more eerily fading away) we can choose to let our old sinful selves go up in flames instead.

We can choose to die to the things of the past, the fear, the anxiety, the need for control, and step into a new, resurrection life in Jesus.

Let’s submit to the hope-filled, life-giving, promise that Jesus offers us when we lay down our old life and chase after Him.

Let's Pray

Lord Jesus,

Thank you for dying for me so that I could live. I pray that everyday my life would display your resurrection glory. In your name, I reject the fear and confusion that is sweeping the world right now. I trust in the almighty power of your Spirit to renew my mind and fill my life with your peace today.

Amen

What's Next?

Check your posture. Are you “shuffling along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you”? Look up! Fix your eyes on Heavenly things and ask the Spirit to help you see things from Jesus’ perspective.
Check your thoughts. What are you dwelling on? Are you letting unhelpful thoughts run away with you? Try making a gratitude list of everything you are thankful for in your life.
Check your message. We are called to be Children of Light, shining God's love, hope and life into the dark world around us. What message are your actions giving out? How can you demonstrate your faith in our Father and your new, resurrection life to those around you?