Dancing In The Dungeon

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance…”

John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Why is John 10:10 so popular? It describes the desires of Satan to kill, steal and destroy your life, and to counter that, Jesus has come to give life in abundance. Looking up definitions of the word “abundance” you come across the words “full, plenty, rich and over-flowing”. Jesus comes to give us a life that is full! We experience all that we could ever need and have an over-flowing life. I guess some people could take this to mean wealth and prosperity or success in the endeavors of life. But I think this fullness, and abundance must be defined from the spiritual side of life, not the physical or material side. So many people feel like their season is on of constant mourning and our consistently down in the dumps. It is almost like they are imprisoned in a dark, damp dungeon with no way out. Jesus, on the other hand, came to give us restoration and a change to celebrate our way out of the darkness and back into the light. He gave us the ability to dance in the dungeon and put the season of mourning behind us.

(1) What is the devil’s work?
-He hates mankind so much that he takes pleasure in stealing from you.
-He likes it when someone has no joy or peace in their lives.
-He puts fear on people, which has torment.
-His ultimate goal is to rob people spiritually, where they become spiritually bankrupt.

(2) Jesus has come to heal our emptiness and to fill your spiritual void that nothing in this world can satisfy!
Once in a while we look at people who seem so full of life, that are rich, powerful, successful, popular, and we think: wow they must be so fulfilled in that life. We are amazed when we hear of a multi-millionaire who commits suicide or a famous movie star or athlete who over-doses on drugs. But this only reveals emptiness, that nothing in this life can truly satisfy the soul. You see Solomon in Ecclesiastes where we see that everything in this world is vanity or as he says, “a chasing after the wind”. How does Jesus fill the emptiness?
-He fills it with real joy, love and peace!
-He fills us with the Holy Spirit!
-He satisfies the deeper needs that this world cannot touch.

(2) Jesus has come to take away the spirit of fear!
2 Timothy 1:7 “God has not given us the Spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
Another part of this abundance that Jesus gives is He removes the dread and the fear of living life. Without Christ death is always in the mirror and time is always working against us. Jesus comes and conquers death, and now we have hope. Only someone that has His abundance can look death in the eye and laugh.

(3) Jesus came to remove our anxieties!
Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
We do not have to worry about how everything is going to work out in our lives. It is saying, God is in control of my life, whom shall I fear, of what shall I be afraid? We seek His kingdom and all the other things in life are given into His care. God will take care of you, if you will cast your cares upon the Lord. Faith is essentially giving God control of our lives, as He is already in control of tomorrow.

(4) Jesus came to take away your guilt!
Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
Condemnation is a terrible weight to carry around in life. The guilt of sin cannot be removed by therapy, counseling, or any medication. The guilt that people carry can only be washed away by the blood. People in this world are weighed down with guilt. They feel bad about things they have done, wrongs that they have committed, and no amount of community service, good deeds or any other charitable giving will take away the gnawing in their conscience. The longer sin is carried the heavier the burden becomes. Jesus gives us abundance, we are free from condemnation.

(5) Jesus came to take away our separation from Him!
Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Sin separates us from God, but Jesus bridges the gap through the cross. We now have acceptance, and even boldness to approach God.We can dance in the dungeon because:
-We know where we are going, and who we are going with.
-We know in whom we have believed in and are persuaded that He is able to do all things for us.
-We know God is not our enemy, but our Friend and Father.
-We know we don’t have to be looking around for answers, but look up.
-We know we can sing in the prison, dance in a dungeon, and walk through the fire.
-We know we are not absent from life, but walk with victory through li