Are You Looking for Life in Dead Places | Mornings with Mico

Good people, what's going on? My name is Meeko, and welcome to my one-on-one time with God. Today, it's the day after Resurrection Sunday, and I've had this conviction all last week that was Holy Week, we kind of like just walked through, you know, the posture of the soul that led up to the Resurrection Sunday, the crucifixion and the Resurrection Sunday. And then Sunday, we had, you know, Easter, the celebration. And typically from there, you know, you kind of go on to another series or, you know, something else. And I've had this like tension, I believe, that I believe the Holy Spirit just placed it on my heart to not quite leave this space just yet. Instead of moving on to something else, it's like I've kind of been looking at the passages and scriptures after the Resurrection, right? Like what happened immediately after the Resurrection? What was life like then, like what are some things to glean from like post-Resurrection? And so that's what I want to walk through this week with y'all, just some things that I felt like God's just been revealing to me in my readings. And yeah, I'm gonna share them with y'all. So I want to start, actually, it's in Luke chapter 24, starting with, we can start with verse one. And just to kind of set the scene, this is after, you know, Jesus had been crucified on the cross, and then he had been resurrected. You have people, you know, the disciples, Mary and everyone, they're going to the tomb looking for Jesus, but he's no longer there. He's been resurrected. And this is kind of, you know, where the scene picks up and it says, on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, which would be Monday for us, which is today, right? The women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, while they were wondering about this, suddenly two

men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. And their fright, the women bowed with their faces to the ground. But the man said to them, why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen. Just want to stop there. That passage there, why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen. It's really just like been massaging my heart since just, it's one of those, it just kind of popped out at me and I began processing this with God. And it's just, it's a reminder, right? Like here in this scene, I think that as we see these, because these are angels that pose this question to Mary, I believe, it's like the first word spoken, it wasn't even a celebration about the resurrection as much as it was like a confrontation, right? Like it's almost like, what are y'all doing? You know what I'm saying? Like, didn't y'all hear what he said he was going to do? Like, why are you looking for the living amongst the dead? And I think that in this, I'm sorry, in this, it's like they came expecting a body. They came expecting, you know, a death or, you know, to mourn the death. And it's like, that's not the case. That is not the case here, man. Jesus has risen from the dead. And I think in the angels question, it actually exposes something deeper. This is a thought I had that they hadn't adjusted their expectations to match what Jesus had already said. Jesus had already told them what was going to happen and what was happening. They hadn't met, they have yet to have adjusted their expectations to match what he has said. And if I'm honest, I think that that's something that we probably all struggle with, right?

We read the word, we know his word, but then sometimes there's still like a learning curve or an adjustment period for us to adjust our expectations and our belief to what he said, you know, he was going to do or what his word says. I think that this shows up in a number of ways, right? Like we say, you know, we'll say Jesus is alive, but still look for life in areas of our own lives that should be dead, you know, according to, you know, our walk with Christ and it's no longer us that lives, but Christ who lives in us. And these are areas that should be dead, that sometimes we still look for life and breathe life into like approval or control or comfort. old habits or um or old identities right these are areas that we still are like breathing life into and keeping alive and it's like that's dead right like we're still looking for life we're still looking for the living among the dead it's like we believe in a risen savior but we keep returning to dead places expecting this life i think luke 9 23 um a few chapters prior to this one um i think it really sharpens the point really well it sharpens it sharpens this point to a tip it says that whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves denying yourself it's it's the same it's just you know different languages dying to self right if you want to be my disciple you have to die to yourself and you don't just step into resurrection life without something dying right and not just seeing but also um the need for approval the need to control outcomes or you know the version of yourself that you're still trying to protect or the identity rooted in performance or perception like you'll see us still breathing life into that we're still like allowing that thing to kind of like you know not be fully like for us to not be fully dead to it and i think that's the tension that we that we all sit in right it's it's this we know jesus is alive but if jesus is alive why am i still reaching for the things that can't give me life why am i still finding myself not even just struggling but like sometimes even pursuing why am i still you know breathing life into these areas of my life that that that that should be dead um and not not not to not to you know condemn anyone right there's no condemnation in christ that's not what this is but it's just calling our attention to this tension that we all wrestle with that we all sit in at some point resurrection isn't just something to celebrate it's something that demands reorientation like we have to reorient ourselves our mind our beliefs our heart posture we have to reorient ourselves in this i think that um it's it's one

of those things where where these old mindsets these old ways these old patterns whatever it may be i don't know what yours may be right like these things that that that um that we may still struggle with even though you know we're we're stepping into our walk with christ we're walking with christ but we're still struggling with these things it's the i think the thing to grasp on to is not to deny it not to you know well you know it is what it is um not even trying to use bible tobacco it's just gonna be the thorn in my flesh like no like one we have to acknowledge that this is dead and because we have the holy spirit because jesus is risen we actually do have the power to reorient ourself and move in a different direction repentance is moving in a different direction and that's what we're called to do i think um something that um i just kind of want to want to want to leave us with man today during your one-on-one time with god um just want to leave you with a few thoughts for you to unpack and process with god and um and your one-on-one time with him just just the idea around um what what are you looking for what are you looking for life in places that are already dead no where are you looking for life in places that are already dead i'm sorry um what are you holding on to that jesus is asking you to release because some of those things may be areas where you know like this is something he's asking me to release and i'm still clinging to it whether it's a defense mechanism whether it's a coping mechanism like whatever it may be but you know in your heart that jesus is calling you to release it what is that thing right like write that thing down let's call that thing out what expectation in your life hasn't caught up to what god has already said where are some areas where it's like god i know you said this but you're not living your life um in a posture of expectation for that thing to actually come about right like you're not walking in that truth you believe it but you're not quite like leaning on that understanding or leaning on that truth and allowing that to dictate you know the trajectory of your life and forth if you actually believed jesus was alive and active in your life what would change and these are all kind of like you may have similar answers for all of them just really kind of like getting to taking a few different angles kind of getting to some of the same answers but ultimately like identify that thing like call that thing out what would change if i truly rested and and believed in jesus being alive and and you know as he's resurrected i'm resurrected with him the new me and everything about me from my past and and my ways that are displeasing to him like i actually now because i have the holy spirit i have the power to die to that, to deny that. If I truly believe that and walk in that, what would change in my life?

Just a few questions, man, for you to kind of sit with God and process. Anything I give you, anything I speak on, whether it's my friends, anyone, it's always like, hey, this is just something that God's placed on my heart. I'm sharing it with you. But you still have to take that to God and see what he speaks to you in it. You know, see what the Holy Spirit starts massaging in your heart. Let's close out with some prayer and let you get to get one-on-one time with God today. So, Lord Jesus, expose the places where I'm still searching for life apart from you. Give me the courage to release what's dead and step into the life you've already made available. I trust you. I believe you. In Jesus' name, we pray. All right, man. See you tomorrow.