Many people over the years have been fascinated with death. And given the present circumstances in our nation and world death, is relevant. But I am more fascinated with life.
In Matthew 22:32 Jesus says that God is not a God of the dead but of the living. God is focused on life. God is the giver of life, both physical and spiritual. So, God being a God of the living and the source of life, and being the God that we follow leads me to believe that we should be focused on life.
Jesus came to give us life. In John 10:10 Jesus said that He came so that we would have life and have it abundantly. So, Jesus wants us to have life.
Those who are without Jesus are spiritually dead and we know that is not what Jesus wants. Those who know Jesus are spiritually alive and that is what He wants.
If people are spiritually alive, there should be signs of spiritual life. Other people should be able to see the signs of spiritual life in us. We who are alive in Jesus should show evidence of the life of Jesus in us.
1 John 3:14
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brothers.
Matthew 5:44
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Mark 12:31
The second is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
A love that consumes us and that is impartial.
We are to love those who are like us and share our beliefs.
We are to love those around us just because they exist.
We are to love those who hate us and try to harm us.
Loving those who are like me and agree with me is easy and, to be honest, all people tend to that. But loving those around me just because they exist is hard and loving those who hate me is impossible. But the One whom I follow did it and tells me to and has put His life in me through the Holy Spirit. So, if I am alive in Jesus, it will be seen in me loving like He did and does.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is loving others no matter who they are or what they believe or what they do, because Jesus does.
Philippians 4:5
Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say rejoice.
Romans 5:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Another sign of spiritual life is joy that sustains us.
We are told to rejoice in the Lord always. And we are told twice in the same verse to do that. Then we are told that joy is given to us through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Joy is not an emotion, but according to Galatians 5:22 a fruit of the Holy Spirit. We are never told by God to be something or to do something that He does not equip us to be and do.
I have to be honest. I am not seeing a lot of joy in our nation right now. I am seeing a lot of anger and frustration and blaming others. We are not told to rejoice when the circumstances are perfect. If so, we would never rejoice. We are told to rejoice in Jesus. We rejoice because of Jesus.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is rejoicing because of Jesus all the time, no matter the circumstances.
1 Timothy 1:1
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.
1 Timothy 4:10
This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.
Another sign of spiritual life is a hope that encourages our outlook.
Our hope is Jesus and so we put our hope in our living God and continue to work hard and struggle in a fallen world because we know that God makes everything right in the end. Even in the most difficult of times, God is working and will accomplish His will, and His will is always for our good.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is focusing every day on Jesus and looking to Him as our hope.
Psalm 86:11
Teach me Your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to Your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you.
David wants to live according to God’s truth and he knows that will take his heart being pure with no evil in it. In 2 Corinthians 6 Paul says that one of the ways that he and his companions have shown that they are true servants of God is by their purity.
We live in a world that does not value purity, but God does because He is pure. God thus reveals His life through us by that purity.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living out God’s purity in our daily lives.
Jeremiah 2:1-2
The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem. Thus, says the Lord. I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.
Another sign of spiritual life is devotion that makes others want to follow Jesus.
God reminds His people that their devotion to Him is to be like a bride to her husband. And they had shown that devotion as they followed Him into a land that was unknown to them. They fully trusted Him and gave themselves to Him.
In John chapter two when Jesus chases the merchants and money changers out of the temple, it was Jesus passion, his devotion to God and God’s house that impressed the disciples. After Jesus’s resurrection they showed that same devotion to Jesus by obeying and following Him fully.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living each day in complete devotion to Jesus, His word, and His will.
Psalm 133:1
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.
Another sign of spiritual life is unity among God’s people.
I want to quote a friend’s Facebook post today.
“Church, as we see our leaders and officials struggling to find the best way forward and torn between competing agendas, let’s keep our eyes on King Jesus, Immortal, Invisible, God only wise.”
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is being in unity with my brothers and sisters by keeping our eyes on Jesus.
Spiritually Alive Through Jesus, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,
Joe
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