If I had to describe how God is working in my life at this time in three words, they would be discipline, training, and strength, for the purpose of becoming a more full representation of Christ. At this time, He is training and equipping me for moments of boldness, making me faithful to obedience in all things — even the little things — that Christ may be seen in me and receive honor.

If giving God honor wasn’t enough of a reward, He chooses to bless us in unexpected ways. You can never predict God’s actions, especially in His good gifts that are brought out of pain. I (metaphorically) feel the tearing of the old muscle tissue of my heart as He is strengthening it by His Spirit, shedding what may have been strong before and replacing with it with His strength. May my mind, body, and soul be so obedient to His voice by His Spirit that my lips only speak life and my body moves towards those who are still dead, that they may receive life.

We are living in a world of the walking dead.

We bury ourselves under layers

—we are master escape artists from the light—

burying ourselves in distractions and a false sense of pride,

strained by comparison or insecurity.

We’ve also been buried by others:

buried under the lies spoken or the ones in our heads,

buried under burdens,

buried under shame,

buried under rejection,

buried under abuse,

buried under harsh words,

buried under no words at all.

Christ enables His people to unbury the world out of these layers of dirt,

but outside of the ground

—when the world doesn’t seem to press and burden—

we are still dead bodies.

The hope of Christ is that he rose from the dead, defeating death by His own resurrection.

Only the power of Christ can resurrect the dead.

Praise be to God, He is worthy of it.

I’ve been watching Beyond Scared Straight, a TV show where juvenile delinquents go to prison to see what it is like in hopes that they will change their lives. Here is the kicker: both the visiting kids and the prisoners wound up in prison because they thought that following their own desires, life without rules, was the freest (and therefore, the best) way to live. However, the prisoners warn the kids that if they live outside of the U.S. law, they will lose all of their freedoms. Instead, if they were to obey the law (as all prisoners testify), they would have all the freedom they could ever need in order to live a full life.

Now, how can we, in view of this TV show, passively believe that living in disobedience to the God of the universe will create more freedom for us? In the same way, the warnings of God are to create freedom, not to hinder it. Here is an example: once you shoot heroin, your body desires it. The more heroin you shoot, the more and more chained you are to your own desire. The U.S. law has noted that this drug has addictive elements which have led many people into a spiral towards their own deaths. Obviously, the U.S. system has several flaws. However, how much more will the just God of the universe understand what destroys mankind, even if he has a natural desire for it? He warns not out of condemnation, but as an invitation into life and wholeness.