Watering Dead Plants

“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:12)

This morning, shortly after my daughter woke up, she decided to water her cactus plant that her grandmother bought for her over the summer. Every few months, she remembers the poor thing and decides to water it. This morning, when I saw what she was doing, I chuckled and said, “I know you are not watering that thing? You do know it’s dead?” And she looked at me and said “No, it’s not dead!” Then she watered it. Instantly I heard in my spirit “WATERING DEAD PLANTS” and I thought of the church.

The disciple John wrote “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” I was drawn to the word “has” in this scripture where it says “He who HAS the Son…”. In Greek, the word here is “ECHO.” Listed below is an in-depth meaning of this greek word:

To have, to hold, in the sense of wearing, to have or comprise or involve; to have in terms of those joined to any one by the bonds of natural blood or marriage or friendship or duty or law etc, of attendance or companionship; to hold one's self or find one's self so and so, to be in such or such a condition; to hold one's self to a thing, to lay hold of a thing, to adhere or cling to, to be closely joined to a person or thing.

*** Greek Word Study (Transliteration-Pronunciation Etymology & Grammar)***

This word implies that to have Jesus is to be almost inseparable from Him. This reminds me of the scripture out of John 15:5-6 where Jesus said “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”

A branch cast out cannot live on its own. It needs to be joined with the plant to live and to bear fruit. But to be a branch still attached, is to be part of the plant. THE VINE IS THE SOURCE of your nourishment, it is your support, it is your life-giver.

I am further reminded of the scriptures out of Isaiah 61, which speak of Jesus and His purpose, and by extension describes the purpose of those who belong to Him.

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:1-3)

At the end of verse 3, the scripture emphasizes that these people will be plantings of the Lord that glorify Him. Let’s be honest, there are many “churches” and many “Christians” who do not fall under this description. They are dead, separate from the SOURCE, performing dead works.

These “Christians” are merely “believers and followers of Christ Jesus” IN NAME ONLY. All they have is the title and are void of relationship with Jesus.

So I began praying about this word and asked the Lord what does He want to do about the dead plants. I immediately was impressed with the words REPENTANCE and RESURRECTION.

Repentance is something I have been focused on for some time, in regards to the CHURCH body. In previous posts I have written about repentance, so I won’t go into great detail about it here. In essence, repentance begins with realizing that what you have done and where you are spiritually is not in line with the word of God, it is sin. This realization comes by conviction through God’s Holy Spirit and through His word. This realization then brings about a sincere and deep sorrow for having sinned against God, to the point that you confess to the Lord what you have done and ask for His forgiveness. It doesn’t end there! You THEN TURN COMPLETELY AWAY FROM THAT SIN and TURN COMPLETELY TO GOD.

Resurrection is a whole other action! We know from the scriptures that God is more than able to take that which is dead and give new life. Jesus famously announced to Martha (the sister of Lazarus) that “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26). It is through Jesus Christ that we have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). And that is not just in heaven. We can have abundant life through Him while here on earth!

So to be a spiritually dead Christian is a CONTRADICTION.

Yet God, in His great love and mercy, is not ready to let these individuals fall away. He is more than willing to pour His life-giving Spirit into the dead plants of His church. He desires RECONCILIATION with mankind. He desires to dwell with us and He desires that we desire to dwell with Him.

This reminds me of the scripture in Ezekiel 37 about the Valley of Dry Dead Bones. I realize that this is a prophetic scripture about the nation of Israel, but we as adopted children of God can glean from its well of truth and revelation. Ezekiel writes about the vision from God:

“The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”

Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.”’”

So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.” (Ezekiel 37:1-10)

God is breathing new life in His CHURCH in these last days. That which seemed too far-gone, shall live and flourish! That person who was wrapped up in their DEAD RELIGION and RELIGIOUS WORKS, shall be given NEW LIFE in Jesus. They, like Lazarus, will hear His call to come forth and be loosed. Note that in the story of Lazarus that Jesus commanded the friends and family to LOOSE LAZARUS from his GRAVE CLOTHES (John 11:38-44). I believe this is a call for the sons and daughters of God to reach out to the PRODIGALS and the RELIGIOUS with the love of God. To pray for them, to love them, to not speak death over them but to SPEAK LIFE over them. There is power in our words. If we are always using our words to tear down those who are bound, then why should we be surprised if there is no real change in them?

God asked Ezekiel “Son of man, can these bones live?” I believe He is asking the prophets of His church the same thing even now. And the answer is YES! IN JESUS THEY SHALL LIVE AGAIN!!!

In the natural world, it is pointless to water a dead plant and expect it to bloom again. But our God is a SUPERNATURAL GOD! He is willing to water these dead plants. But not to bring to life the old ways, the old creature. He is bringing NEW LIFE to that which has been dead! A new creature in Christ Jesus. A new beginning! And they will finally “be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

PRAISE GOD 🙌