Dead People Walking

Many people around the world are struggling to be Christians. Some are struggling with old addictions. Some are struggling with worldly temptations. Some are struggling with the events of their past coming back to haunt them.

Satan is the master of reminding you where you've been. He throws it up in our faces on a daily basis. It pulls us down. "How can God love you? Look what you've done to him. Look what you were. What you are. You will never be different. You are an alcoholic, a sex addict, a murderer, a liar, a drug abuser. You have been used by others for their pleasure. You are nothing but a pile of trash. You do not deserve to be loved." These are some of the things the king of lies tells us moment by moment.

My previous pastor knew what to say to these lies. "I don't talk to dead people." The Bible says, "Old things have passed away and Behold I have made all things new." When you accept Jesus into your heart, he makes in you a new creature. Everything you stood for in the past has disappeared. When your life is surrendered over to him you have spiritually died on the cross with him. That's why they call it being born again. Baptism symbolizes dying, being buried in the grave, and rising again in Christ anew. Past has died.

Paul used to be a man named Saul who lived his life killing Christians because they believed different than he did. He murdered countless people. One day, God opened his eyes, changed his name, and loved him the same. Paul then wrote most of the New Testament and started and oversaw many churches. God loved him despite what he did in his past. Accepting Christ made him new.

When satan reminds you of your past, whether it be drug abuse, being used and abused, or going against the cause of Christ, you can now know that it was not your past, but the past of a dead person. And at that moment, you can turn around, and tell him, "I don't talk to dead people!"