Live, Alive: Live Alive, Again

No matter what HOME looks like – we all love to be home. I have lived in Maine, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Arkansas, Arizona and South Carolina…

I have lived in mobile HOMES, two-bedroom HOMES, basement apartments, and apartments in attics.  Our girls have been stacked into bedrooms, and they have had their own rooms…Whether it was cramped or spacious…Home was Home.

Maybe every now and then you get a whiff of something that smells like laundry hanging on the clothesline – and you think of home. Maybe you hear the low rumble of a neighbor's truck fire up, and you think about your dad leaving for work every morning.

 A couple of years ago, I used AI to reproduce a Pea Soup recipe from Cambria County, Pennsylvania.  When I finished cooking it – it tasted exactly the way I remember my mom’s pea soup tasted – and I remembered how it felt to have my belly filled with that soup.

Or maybe you LONG for A HOME you missed out on. You long for a HOME where you felt safe with your dad.

Loved by your MOM. You long for a HOME where you were LOVED, VALUED, and ACCEPTED.

I think God has placed something inside us that PULLS us toward home. We WANT to be HOME. We WANT good memories of HOME. We WANT to create GOOD memories of HOME for our family.

The Israelites longed to go home. But after decades of captivity in Babylon many had stopped believing they ever would.

Ezekiel 37:1-14 (NLT2)
1  The LORD took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the LORD to a valley filled with bones. 2  He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. 3  Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?” “O Sovereign LORD,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.” 4  Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the LORD! 5  This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! 6  I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’” 7  So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. 8  Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them. 9  Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’” 10  So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army. 11  Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.’ 12  Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13  When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the LORD. 14  I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the LORD has spoken!’”

 The ISRAELITES were KIDNAPPED from their HOMES in Jerusalem. They were chained and dragged nine hundred miles to become Babylonians. Decades passed. CHILDREN grew up, DIED, and were BURIED in what Ezekiel calls “graves of exile.” They were buried in the land they didn’t belong.

 So, when God tells Ezekiel: "I WILL open your graves...", "I WILL bring you back...", "and return HOME to your own land." It reflects GOD’S CHARACTER.

God specializes in bringing people home.
v.12-14 (1 Peter 3:18)

God specializes in bringing people home.  Ever since Genesis 2, God has been working on bringing people home. Adam and Eve were living in a HOME of PARADISE. THEY were PHYSICALLY connected with GOD who walked and talked with them. THEY experienced his PRESENCE. THE GARDEN was their HOME. And SIN ruined it.

They CHOSE to sin.  They told their CREATOR…we DON’T want you in our lives. So…the consequences for their sin was EVICTION. They were sent out of the garden. Away from the presence of God. And ever since Genesis, God has focused on bringing people home.

He brought the Israelites out of EGYPT and gave them the PROMISED LAND – a HOME. He brought the Israelites out of BABYLON and brought them HOME. The PARABLE of the PRODIGAL son returning HOME points out GOD’s LOVE and desire to BRING people HOME to HIM. And JESUS’ death on the cross was the payment for our sin and rebellion to bring us HOME to GOD.

1 Peter 3:18 (NLT2)
18  Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God.

Jesus died to BRING YOU HOME to GOD. Because of our SIN WE have been the ones in exile. So Jesus paid the price for our sin to get us out of our EXILE. On the cross, he was CUT OFF from the presence of God...so that you and I could be BROUGHT safely HOME to GOD.

Maybe you have never surrendered your life to Jesus. Right now, in the quietness of your heart, you can pray something like this...

 "God, I admit my sin separated me from You. I believe Jesus died in my place and rose from the dead. I turn from my sin and surrender my life to You. Bring me home."

 If you just prayed that... WELCOME HOME.

But – not everybody will GO HOME to be with God when they die…AND…not all of the ISRAELITES returned HOME to their PROMISED LAND either.

When the King of Babylon finally told the Israelites they were freed and could go home...MOST of the Israelites STAYED in Babylon. Only a small portion…a remnant…went home.

WHY wouldn’t they grab their bags and go? Why did they prefer to live in a place they did not belong? They stayed because Babylon was comfortable. After 70 years of captivity, they had businesses, houses, neighbors. Going "home" meant a nine-hundred-mile walk to a burned-out city to rebuild rubble. They didn't stay because they were beaten down…they stayed because CAPTIVITY had become…comfortable.

See…Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t trying to KILL the Israelites – He was trying to ABSORB them into HIS Kingdom. Make them comfortable. Make them Babylonian. They arrived in CHAINS. They stayed because it got COMFORTABLE. And sometimes FOLLOWERS of JESUS can GROW comfortable through the CULTURE of the world.

They stop LIVING in the POWER of the SPIRIT of GOD. And they begin to live like they still have one foot in a GRAVE of EXILE.

The Devil wants you to live like the grave.
(1 John 5:19, 1 Peter 5:8-9) 

The Devil loves it when comfort keeps us from obedience. When we become – settled in –When we live LIKE we are ALREADY DEAD. Like the ISRAELITES in captivity experienced a world that was under the control of a King NOT theirs…we live in a world that lies under the influence of the DEVIL.

1 John 5:19 (NLT2)
19  We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.

 The Devil does not always need chains to keep you in captivity. Sometimes he uses COMFORT. Babylon stopped feeling like exile because it became FAMILIAR. That is how the Devil wants you to live like the grave. Settled. Comfortable. Motionless. Alive in Christ… but living like nothing needs to change.

1 Peter 5:8-9 (NLT2)
8  Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9  Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith…

If you are a follower of Jesus.  You WILL hear the ROAR of the DEVIL this week. It sounds like this...

 "This isn't so bad…"
"Why would you leave?"
"Why LIVE, ALIVE when living like the DEAD is so…EASY?"

Reject the LIAR’S roar and…LIVE ALIVE. As a follower of Jesus – don’t allow COMFORT to lull you to the grave. Live uncomfortable:
…by living transparently with others. Be open and honest about who you are.
…by giving UNCOMFORTABLE Grace to others. Make allowance for the faults of other people…beyond what you are comfortable with…
…by loving your NEIGHBOR as you love yourself.

Live UNCOMFORTABLE and make your FAITH in JESUS public.

Get connected to a LIFEGROUP.

 LIVE ALIVE because you are ALIVE in CHRIST. Live like a SPECIAL CHOSEN child of GOD because you ARE. The Devil wants COMFORT to keep you BURIED. But God wants you to…

Believe your future is greater than your failure.
v. 14 (Romans 8:28)

Israel EARNED exile. They worshiped other gods. They ignored the Living God and chose to live their own way…They EARNED exile. Yet GOD still says to them…

 Ezekiel 37:14a (NLT2)
14  I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land.

 Their future did not rest on their record of repentance…Their future rested ON God’s CHARACTER. And WE earned EXILE too.  We DESERVE to be separated from GOD. And the ONLY reason any of us have a FUTURE is that God is not going to allow FAILURE to define his PEOPLE.

Romans 8:28 (NLT2)
28  And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

 Not EVERYTHING we experience in this WORLD – is GOOD. CANCER is not good. DISEASE is not good. ABUSE is not good. But GOD is so GOOD he is able to take the BAD in the world and USE it FOR GOOD for HIS PEOPLE!

 God has promised to work ALL THINGS out for GOOD to those who are followers of Jesus... and God does not BREAK his promises. He never broke a promise to anybody in the BIBLE and HE is not going to BEGIN with YOU. IF you BELONG to HIM, HE will work out ALL THINGS for YOUR GOOD.

If your marriage failed...your future is greater than your failure.

If you are fighting the same addiction today that you were fighting a year ago, your future is greater than your failure.

If the anxiety has not lifted...If shame still wells up because of a lack of self-control…If your faith feels thinner than it did ten years ago...Your FUTURE is greater than your FAILURE.

The resurrection of Jesus is God's public announcement to the universe that…

...FAILURE does not get the last word.

...SHAME does not get the last word.

...DISEASE does not get the last word.

...DEATH does not get the last word.

GOD does!

AND God is NOT finished. So stand FIRM. Open your EARS to God’s WORD! SHUT out the ROAR of the Devil. BELIEVE your future is greater than your FAILURE!