By Vicki Dowell

Coming Out Of The Tombs

LAZARUS! COME FORTH! We’re all familiar with this incident in the Bible where Lazarus had been dead four days and Jesus raised him. But did you know it’s possible to be alive and still live in the tombs among dead things? Jesus was sent to deliver such a man. Mark 5:1-19 This man hurt himself and cried out day and night. Chains couldn’t contain him. He appeared loose but he was not. As Jesus crossed the sea with his disciples to free this man they were met with fierce opposition, a storm that threatened to sink their boat and end their lives. Some storms come to stop you from doing God’s will.

As soon as Jesus landed He was met again with opposition. The demon who called himself Legion, approached Him. He knew he had no power over Jesus so he asked to be sent into the herd of pigs grazing nearby. As soon as the demons left the man and went into the pigs they bolted, ran off a cliff and drowned. These same demons who kept this man bound could not destroy him, though they immediately destroyed the pigs, because he was kept by God for a testimony. Luke 8:38-40

God was keeping this man while Satan was trying to destroy him. God is keeping you, too. What kind of dead things are you living among? Your past? Self-inflicted wounds? What others think of you? What are you accepting as normal that God never intended? Satan is after your territory, your freedom, your joy, and your victory. Are you tired of giving the devil your stuff? Are you ready to come out of the tombs?

Ask God to help you be free. But be prepared for opposition. Don’t expect Satan to make it easy. You’ll never know who you are until you know whose you are. You must get to Jesus. Learn the word. God wants to transform you so you have some “spiritual grit”. If the devil wants a fight, give him one. If you fail, get up and do it again! There has to be a time when you look at yourself and your life and say this is not where I am going to end up. If you want out of the tombs, you have to have some grit.

If you set out to do God’s will, expect opposition. Come out from among the dead things. God is ready, willing and able to deliver you. Are you self-inflicting? How you see yourself is more important than how others see you. See yourself as God sees you. Get to Jesus. Learn to fight with scriptures that tell Satan exactly who you are in Christ. Go tell others what Jesus has done for you.

GOD STILL CALLS PEOPLE OUT OF THE TOMBS!!

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