THE STONE HAS BEEN ROLLED AWAY.........
Stones come in various shapes and sizes in nature.They often have many uses for example they are used in building all sorts of things like homes, offices, altars, or walls. They can be used as stepping stones to take one higher or for building bridges to take one across. The Bible also has interesting accounts of the use of various sizes of stones for different things.
David brought Goliath down, by aiming at his forehead with a small stone in his sling.( 1 Samuel 17v 48- 52) The stone hit him on the forehead and running to him, he used Goliath's sword, to cut his neck off, thus defeating the Phillistians that had been terrorising the Israelite armies.
Another rather common use of stones in the bible was to secure a tomb. A tomb was where the dead were buried. A large stone was placed in front of the entrance of the tomb as an obstacle so the stench of death, and everything else, was kept in the tomb. We can call this "stone "a physical obstacle.
When Jesus was told that his friend Lazarus was ill, He decided to remain for two extra days, before he went to visit him. (John 11: 1 - 45)
When he got to Bethany, and the sister took him to the tomb where he had been laid for four days already, Jesus asked Mary to have them roll the stone away. Jesus knew He could call dead Lazarus forth, but the stone would be a physical obstruction, so He asked Martha to get them to remove the stone.
It was after the stone was rolled away that Jesus called Lazarus out, and he arose and came forth from the tomb to the amazement of family and well wishers.
After Jesus was crucified on the cross, and certified dead, His body was brought down and buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea ( Mark 15v43). A very large stone was then placed at the entrance of the tomb to ensure no one could gain access. ( Mark 15 v 46).
Early on Easter Sunday, when Mary Magdalene was going to the tomb to rub burial spices on Jesus body, she dreaded how she would gain access since the very large stone would be blocking the tomb and she knew it was too large for her to move on her own. To her greatest surprise she noticed that the big heavy stone had been rolled away and Jesus was not in the tomb (Mark 16v 2-5;Luke 24v 2-4).
The angel in the tomb confirmed that Jesus had risen like He said He would and had gone on ahead to Galilee.
It is important to note here that Jesus did not tolerate obstacles and made sure they were removed, and so must we.
In this season, Father God is reiterating the fact that all of creation is waiting for the revelation of the sons (and daughters )of the most High God ( Romans 8v 19), but it seems like stones are holding us back. Words and declarations have been prophesied over our lives, and our destiny is laid out ahead for us to walk into. The Holy Spirit has equipped, empowered, and prepared us for such a time as this. Much as these stones are spiritual, Jesus death on the cross atoned for all this, and He paid with His Blood. We thus have to enforce this and not allow ourselves to be hemmed in by spiritual stones that have held us back in the past, like fear, apprehension, faithlessness, doubt, insignificance, distrust, unbelief, low self worth,
Jesus is calling us forth into the purposes for which we were made. It's so much easier to live like the stone still obstructs us so we don't have to face challenges, or that it defines us, and we don't take authority over them. It's so much easier to choose to remain in the shadows believing all the lies of the evil one, that we can not make it, and we are not equipped, and we can not trust God at his word. We need to break free from the crippling and paralysing effect of these spiritual stones, especially fear. This is one of the most potent "stones" the enemy uses to obstruct us.
Jesus tells us that love conquers fear.(1 John 4 v 18). As we draw near in our relationship with Father God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, they can fill us with love, so that it flows from us into the world. We can ask them in our prayer closets what the spiritual stones are that are still holding us back. We can ask Jesus to identify them and show us how to get rid of these obstacles for He paid for their removal. In some cases, there is some
repentance and
forgiveness to be done, so that we forgive those who have hurt us, and stop carrying them around in our hearts like heavy stones.
Our highest desire should be to ensure that no spiritual stone is allowed to hold us back from fulfilling the purposes for which we were born and thus hinder our role in advancing His Kingdom. Also it's important, that we do not short-change Jesus in anyway and that He receives His full reward and all the Glory due Him.
May the Lord help us identify and deal with these spiritual stones in Jesus Name. Amen.