Spiritual Death: A person or people that are no longer experiencing life with God. They are out of relationship with the Lord; relationship being prayer, praise, worship, seeking God in their life for wisdom and for the things in their life. To be at death means that you were once alive through the spirit and had a relationship with God. Spiritual death is usually a process and takes time to get to a point of death.

                                                                                                                  –   Married by His Grace

 

As I reach seven years of giving my life to Christ, I begin to count how many times I have came close to flirting with the thoughts of spiritual death. Just as someone that suffers through suicidal thoughts but not attempts, this is something a Christian can struggle with. Not because of someone or something but because of ourselves. I say of ourselves because ultimately, it is about ourselves.

 

Spiritual death takes place by once being alive with Christ before the matter of death becoming a concern.

By the grace of God; He will reveal the thoughts and actions we took to get to that place. God’s revealing is for conviction and restoration, not intended for condemnation!

 

The revealing is because the Holy Spirit that lives within us is truth and the truth is to set us free. As the Holy Spirit lives within you, it will reveal things you may have known but refused to confront for the sake of restoration. If you let it, the Holy Spirit may reveal mysterious and unknown things to you that can bring repentance and freedom.

 

Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3.

 

The Book of Ezekiel describes spiritual death.

The bones are dried up and dead. The Lord came to Ezekiel and gave him a vision to prophesy to the dry bones (which are His people) about coming back to life (Spiritually).

 

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!  This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath  enter you, and you will come to life.                                                        Ezekiel   37: 1-6

 

This excerpt from Ezekiel explains to us that we can be revived spiritually. God can bring us back to life. That is the first thing you need to know and be confident in no matter what the enemy is trying to make you believe.

 

As you continue to read verses 12-14 you will learn that God will not leave the graves full of His people that are called to become a nation. His purpose and prophecy is to be fulfilled. His spirit will be put back into us and we will live!

 

Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.  I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”      Ezekiel 37: 12-14

 

If you are feeling like you are not as close to God as you were before and the thoughts of spiritual death has been entering your mind of things such as; not wanting to go to church, take a break as a Christian, living like a Christian is getting too hard, or any other lie the enemy is trying to convince you of, I truly hope you take these:

5 ways to defeat spiritual death.

 

Read Your Word:

Read your Word, Read your Word! Let me just tell you one more time incase you did not get that…..READ YOUR WORD!

Reading the bible brings understanding and knowledge. During this crucial time you need to gain understanding and knowledge of how the enemy works. The enemy’s desire is for God’s people to fail. We also need to find confidence again in who Christ is in our lives. Become confident in knowing you are a overcomer and that God’s will for your life is to have eternal life.

 

Seek Counsel:

Seeking counsel from someone you trust because of their example of following Christ is one of the best things you can do for your Spiritual walk. Godly counsel can ensure you that you are loved by God. God is calling you by them speaking to you through the word of God. Their love and compassion will come pouring out to you as they are moved by the spirit. More importantly; truth and admonishment will also take place if they allow God to use them. We sometimes forget that godly counsel also consists of correction and reproof. By our godly counsel allowing God to use them and give us correction and reproof, they are saving us from spiritual destruction from happening. To tell the truth is Christ-like love.

 

Pray:

Praying is intimate, freeing, and a deep expression of love to our Lord. Prayer will bring you to a place of vulnerability to allow God to mold and transform you into the man or woman you deeply desire to be in Christ. It increases your faith in who God is and what He truly is capable of doing. Prayer ceases the attacks of the enemy! Being this intimate with God is vital to the well being of your spiritual walk.

 

Worship:

I can worship all day! I love laying before the Lord singing praises unto him, praying, and pouring my heart out to Him. Unfortunately, during the trying times, it is a hard thing to do but I push through. Over the years I have gradually gotten more and more stronger in this area of my spiritual walk. To worship God is confessing Him as our savior and is proclaiming His love over our lives. The enemy does not want you to take time to lay before the Lord’s feet but hopefully that thought alone gives you a strength greater than ever before to go before our King and kneel in worship to the one true God so the devil will flee in fear of what will happen next when you rise up!

 

Physical Care:

Physical care can alleviate a lot of issues for yourself. Caring for yourself physically ties in with mental care. Which can and will interfere with your spiritual care if you do not take care of yourself. Our physical care can make us feel inadequate. We can begin criticizing ourselves because we don’t like the way our body looks or feel. This can lead us to constant negative thoughts about ourselves.

The enemy sees this as an open door that him and all his buddies called: insecurity, shame, self-doubt, and fear can enter and will just barge right in to take over; which then leads us to no longer believing we are renewed in Christ or that WE ARE more than a CONQUEROR in Christ. Not caring for yourself physically can turn into a spiral destruction if you do not choose to care for you body when needed. As simple as taking a walk a day can help you.

 

Thankfully, I am able to count just a few times spiritual death was a concern for me.

 

Though I would not want to bear seasons as I did during those times nor do I want you to, those trying times did teach me how to war and rise up. I was capable of doing so by crying out to the Lord. He strengthened me and gave me clarity. He showed me areas I was weak in and redirected me by His grace and mercy.

 

Though we may not feel close to the Lord at times, know that He does not forsake us. He will speak to us and convict us through the Holy Spirit. This is Love. I pray you receive it!