Let go of dead works & be revived: The Watch Letter
Why do you seek the living among the dead? (Luke 24:5)
What if the women who followed Jesus kept coming back every day waiting at His tomb even though the angels told them he wasn’t there and had risen? We would say that it makes no sense. But every day we wait at the tomb of dead works and act as though the word of God is not alive.
Side note: The scripture above is not an “easter scripture,” it is a life scripture. And it is idolatrous for anyone to minimize the daily power of his resurrection - that we can experience - to one man-made holiday. We can remember and lean on what Jesus did for us every day.
Luke 24:5 came to mind earlier today after I read some notes from a 2019 message that our Pastor, Chief Apostle H.C. Gunn, preached called “I-Eagle.”
He was teaching us about Isaiah 40:31:“But they that wait (obey him, hope in him, serve him, seek him, stay before him, and acknowledge him daily) upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
He showed us that there was a reason God used eagles as an example in this scripture. Eagles pursue life. They refuse to just sit there and die. They get up again! They embrace resurrection power. Apostle Terah Josey preached a mighty Word yesterday during Friday night service and one of the things she said was don’t die in your sin. Choose to recover and don’t wait too long to do it.
Chief Apostle Gunn taught us that when they get weak or old, eagles don’t just stop living. They will take action and hide themselves among a rock (reminds me of Psalm 62:1-2) and pluck out their worn down feathers, and use the rock to break off their damaged beaks. They patiently wait until their new feathers and beaks grow back, which allows them to extend their lifespan (renew their strength).
Some of us have become so comfortable with dead works and dead things that we accept our dying feathers and beaks instead of going to the rock (Jesus) and allowing ourselves to be revived. The eagle seems to be a great example of Matthew 5:30. “And if thy right hand offends thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee….” We can trust God in knowing that whatever we let go or cut off to live in Him will be worth it when we are rejuvenated and are made whole in Him.
During the "I-Eagle" message, Chief Apostle Gunn said it’s time for us to “let go of dead works.” The Bible says whatever works we do without faith in God are dead and do not profit us anything in eternity. If we are coming to church but not using our faith to apply the Word, then are we sitting in those pews as dead men?
It reminds me of the Children of Israel. They had the living God right near them speaking to Moses, but they chose to worship lifeless, dead things - idols, instead of being willing to wait for the living Word of God to come to them from the prophet.
“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods.” (Exodus 32:1).
They had been in slavery all that time and would have remained that way until they died had not the Lord used Moses to deliver them, but they had no patience to wait on God or His prophet, or to see what He had to say. But they had patience to wait for the idols to be made. We will wait on everything the world has to offer us but will not wait before God.
And that's another reason why we ought to look to the eagle, which is an example of how we can wait on the Lord and be revived.
Chief Apostle Gunn said: Eagles don’t like to eat anything that's already dead. Eagles prefer to pursue and consume what is alive. Are the things we are pursuing already dead? Things we know have no life of God in them?
Chief Apostle Gunn also taught us:
Eagles don’t just see what’s in front of them, they have large eyes. They have vision beyond now. Their eyes are bigger than their brain (just like our faith should be bigger than our thoughts).
We can be like eagles in letting what we face take us higher and closer to God. They don’t let the strong winds distract them, they use the winds/problems to help them go further up and further distances.
Eagles don’t reverse course. They are not going to look back. They are determined and fearless.
If the eagle finds there’s something that’s too heavy to carry, he won’t carry it. He will let go of any dead weight. He is not so greedy that he would compromise his flight and height for one thing he wants.
Eagles can spot another eagle 50 miles away. Eagles know eagles, but are we fooled by looking for buzzards or pigeons instead?
Listen to today’s FORREAL RADIO BROADCAST: “I Reckon...Good Trouble” here:
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Great job & awesome reminder of how renewing our strength can be achieved & applied in our day-to-day lives!!!! Keep moving forward Apostle!!!!❤️