Life after Death

I got to say, big up to Pastor Chris Durso and the whole Misfit crew. I had this theme and idea of what to do on my next blog, and all of a sudden, I see that their October series fell right in with what God was putting on my heart. Coincidence? Hardly that. The Lord has a funny way of aligning things.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, I remember when Biggie first began to leak onto the streets his brand of music. It hit hard! First album, "READY TO DIE" was a success. I loved the in your face lyrics with little care to those that were listening. It was Brooklyn at its best. I ran with it. Fed on every rhyme that came out of his mouth and formed a lifestyle that was dangerous at every turn. I just didn't care. I was ready to die in order to survive on the streets I was being raised on. Rappers rapped about it, cool... I rather be living it was my mentality.
That lifestyle brought on years of misery. Court dates after court dates. Prison stints. Drug use. It was chaos at its best. Unstable friendships and relationships. I trusted no one but myself. Second album, "LIFE AFTER DEATH" was also a smash. Gritty. Hard. Nasty. It shaped out 16 years of my life.
I was running like that till one day I was rocked by God's love and mercy. To think that someone could still love me and accept me after everything I had done was mind boggling. I couldn't piece it together, but I didn't have to. All I felt was this forgiveness and love that I still can't explain in it's entirety, but something happened that night and I have never been the same since.
In John 18:10-11, the bible states the accounts of when Jesus was arrested. He was with his disciples when guards came to arrest him. It says that one of his disciples named Peter took out his sword and cut the ear off of one of the guards as they approached Jesus. I would say Peter was READY TO DIE at the very moment, but Jesus did something that baffled all of them. He rebuked Peter, picked up the ear and attached it back on the guard, and went on his way to be crucified. He wanted to show Peter that instead of dying for the gospel, he really wanted him to live it.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" I was READY TO DIE that moment I encountered Jesus. I was tired. I was miserable. I was at the end of my rope. I couldn't continue to live the way I was living and so basically, I was done. There was a funeral that day. I did die. Died to everything I was at that moment. Once I let go of it all, I encountered LIFE! I was READY TO LIVE! Live for Jesus! Live for the gospel! I received LIFE AFTER DEATH! My life was given purpose and for once, I've never felt so alive!
If you're a follower of Christ, are you ready to die? Not die for the gospel... not die for Jesus... let's begin with dying to yourself? If you can do that, everything else will follow. It's easier said than done, cause many scream "JESUS" at the top of their lungs, but their life and choices dictate otherwise. If you want to be a world changer and turn your city upside down, die to your old self and inherit the new life that is found in Christ Jesus and watch what God will do with a life that is fully consecrated to him. Not partially, but fully. If there's nothing amazing happening in and through your life, then you may have an issue with dying for the gospel in the first place. If you can't live it, then you can't die for it. If you can't die for it, then you can't live it. That simple.

Dwight L Moody - "The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him. By God's help, I aim to be that man."

Joshua 3:5 - JOSHUA TOLD THE PEOPLE, "CONSECRATE YOURSELVES, FOR TOMORROW THE LORD WILL DO AMAZING THINGS AMONG YOU".

Love you all!
RalphyO