1169

I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. Psalms 116:9

I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. Psalms 116:9

If you were to visit the Howard County Sheriff’s office in Nashville, Arkansas, and ask to see arrest photo #1169. And if you do that you will find a picture of me.

I was in my orange attire; my face was sunken in, the skin around my eyes was recessed, and my eyes looked hollow. I probably weighed around 165 which is exceptionally lightweight for me. My jawline was sharp, and my cheeks were sunken with no color. I had the appearance of death. Yes, I looked like the living, walking dead.

When I saw the picture, I just laughed and said I’m going to catch up with the sheriff and tell him he needs a new picture of me because if he goes looking for the guy in photo number 1169, he won’t find him. You see, that guy is dead. He no longer exists.

While we were at a church camp, I wanted to share this story with our youth and explain how they should not look the same when they get home. But the Lord wouldn’t let me. He just kept that picture number 1169 in my thoughts.

At first, I didn’t understand. “Is that a scripture?” I asked. I started flipping through the Bible trying to find a chapter with 69 verses. Then it hit me: Psalm 116:9. I asked, “Lord, is that it?” And He confirmed it. So I opened my Bible and read:

“I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.” Wow.

God had taken what once identified me in death, 1169, and redeemed it as a declaration of life. That picture told a powerful story of what sin will do to you: it will hollow you out and kill you from the inside. But God’s grace revives. When you walk with Him, you don’t just look alive, you are alive.

That’s the power of the gospel. When you leave behind the old man and begin to walk with the Lord, everything changes. Your countenance changes. Your conversations with Him become real. You begin to recognize His voice, and He knows yours.

“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:16

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

When God says all things work together, rest assured, He means all things. When the number of your arrest photo becomes vital to God, He means everything.

Does God’s Spirit testify with your spirit?

TODAY’S BATTLE ORDERS

Find a picture of yourself from your hardest season, or if you don’t have one, write down the number, the date, the moment that once defined you at your lowest. Look at it. Now write next to it: “That person is dead. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.” Psalm 116:9. Carry that declaration with you today. Every time the enemy tries to resurrect who you used to be, remind him: he’s looking for someone who no longer exists.

WEAPON CHECK

The Weapon of Redeemed Identity

The enemy loves your old number. He keeps your mugshot on file, ready to slide it across the table the moment you start believing you’ve changed. He whispers: “Remember who you really are.” But here’s what he can’t handle, God got there first. He took the very thing that identified you in death and stamped it with resurrection. Romans 8:16 says the Spirit testifies with your spirit that you are God’s child. That’s not a feeling. That’s a legal declaration from a higher court. When the enemy pulls out your old photo, pull out your new identity. You are not case number anything. You are known by name, by the Father, in the land of the living.

CHECKPOINT

What number does the enemy keep calling you by? What old image of yourself does he use to convince you that nothing has really changed?

Because here’s the truth: God is not surprised by your worst moment. He was already there, already working, already writing a psalm into the wreckage. The question isn’t whether He can redeem it. He already has.

The question is whether you believe the new picture.