Not a solitary existence any longer
Wind...stop for a bit with me today to consider the power of the wind around you. The passage I chose today deals with a prophesy given to the prophet Ezekial about an entire valley of dry bones - parts and pieces of life, scattered all around and in great mass. Skeletal remains all over the place, totally picked clean, dried up by the sun and time - bleached white because of how long they have been there. God leads him around the valley and then through it, experiencing the full vastness of both the expanse and the multitude of bones contained there. We probably won't experience anything like this in our lifetimes, but there is significant meaning within this prophesy for God's people of that time. I also think there could be a lesson or two for us - there is power in God's Spirit!
Then God said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they’re saying: ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there’s nothing left of us.’ “Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, ‘God, the Master, says: I’ll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! Then I’ll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you’ll realize that I am God. I’ll breathe my life into you and you’ll live. Then I’ll lead you straight back to your land and you’ll realize that I am God. I’ve said it and I’ll do it. God’s Decree.’” (Ezekial 37:11-14)
In order to get as much out of this as possible, I am going to take you on a little "word journey", so bear with me! A huge valley filled with DRY bones. No signs of life - DRY. If God were to look at our lives, would he see staleness, a lack of freshness, dryness of sorts - people no longer communicating warmth, enthusiasm, or tender feelings? Bones without FLESH. The flesh may have rotted away by time, circumstance, or the lack of no longer being fed. I wonder what the impact of time passing has done to us? Or perhaps the involvement in circumstances spinning beyond our control, or the simple lack of taking time to feed upon that which maintains life? These bones may have been picked clean - by the predators all around them. How many of us suffer the impact of "predators" without even realizing we are being "picked clean"?
No APPEARANCE of hope for resuscitation. In the eyes of man, there seems to be little hope as the bones are dry and without any sign of life. They are dead by all of man's estimation and human understanding. But...when God sees them, his estimation of each bone and understanding of how they fit within his plan, he sees life. Perspective is everything - life or death! Hear the WORD of the Lord! The word of God will always bring a commotion, a stirring, and a rattling of our "dry bones". Sometimes this stirring is not enough because it just rouses us into action - we still are nothing more than revived corpses! We might have "new flesh", but just looking "new" on the outside is no assurance there is something "new" on the inside! BREATHE that they may live! It is the breathe of God that brings them alive on the INSIDE - not just the outside! They rise as a multitude - an army of warriors - warriors succest strength and vitality. Alive because of the moving of the Holy Spirit over their lives. We are made alive in the same manner - through his movement within and that affects our movement without. It is his "giving of breath" which revives.
Sometimes we are no more than unrelated parts - dry bones scattered to the far corners of the earth. We can remain as dry bones - disconnected, unrelated, scattered and dry. When we do, we live very bland and "disconnected" lives. As a result, we lack the strength and capacity of what I will refer to as "corporate" unity. In this state, we are prey to the predators of our lives - sin, evil, distraction, deception, and the list goes on. The winds of adversity will likely take us down. The circumstances of life will drain us of life even further. The trials will leave us absolutely defenseless. We are open to being carried off by our predators because we aren't connected and alive! We can settle for a week-to-week existence. You know the kind I mean - come to church each week, get a touch of life, then be drained by the time the week is even over! Or we can know the vitality of life - as God intends it - a living, breathing organism of grace.
Wind rattles what it touches - the WIND of the Spirit of God rousing us from our slumber. Sometimes we don't even know we have lost our alertness to the things of God. It is the breath of God's Spirit moving over our lives which rouses us. Maybe we need a little "wind" in our sails again! It shakes - stirring again feelings long left untouched. The wind has a way of stirring whatever it touches. In fact, this is how we know the wind is actually there - we see and feel its movement across our lives. There are areas of our lives which have not been "moved upon" in a long time. Maybe today is the day for God to "move us" - opening us to new possibilities in him. It moves - causing us to change our position, if even just a little bit. Watch the wind sometime and what you see is the effect of it upon that which it touches. There is much to be said about the wind bringing a change of position. Sometimes it is the movement which uncovers that which has been hidden for a long, long time!
Wind draws, pulling us out of the "crannies" of apathy. Things have a tendency to get stuck in the recessed places, don't they? We get apathetic to the stuff we become the most familiar with, don't we? It is the wind of the Spirit that actually "unsticks" us. It drives - moving us forward when nothing else will. Sometimes the influence of the wind is to move what has been stationary for far too long. Things which have been rigid and unchanging will yield to the pull and push of the wind. We all need a little "nudging" sometimes, don't we? The Spirit is what gives dead bones (and dead lives) new life. The purpose of the bones was the formation of a vast army - not a solitary existence, out there alone in a vast place. The army was not sparse, weak, or ill-equipped. In fact, it was vast - numberless, large, great in number! This type of army will make its presence known. It is not easy to hide an army such as this! Just sayin!
Then God said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they’re saying: ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there’s nothing left of us.’ “Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, ‘God, the Master, says: I’ll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! Then I’ll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you’ll realize that I am God. I’ll breathe my life into you and you’ll live. Then I’ll lead you straight back to your land and you’ll realize that I am God. I’ve said it and I’ll do it. God’s Decree.’” (Ezekial 37:11-14)
In order to get as much out of this as possible, I am going to take you on a little "word journey", so bear with me! A huge valley filled with DRY bones. No signs of life - DRY. If God were to look at our lives, would he see staleness, a lack of freshness, dryness of sorts - people no longer communicating warmth, enthusiasm, or tender feelings? Bones without FLESH. The flesh may have rotted away by time, circumstance, or the lack of no longer being fed. I wonder what the impact of time passing has done to us? Or perhaps the involvement in circumstances spinning beyond our control, or the simple lack of taking time to feed upon that which maintains life? These bones may have been picked clean - by the predators all around them. How many of us suffer the impact of "predators" without even realizing we are being "picked clean"?
No APPEARANCE of hope for resuscitation. In the eyes of man, there seems to be little hope as the bones are dry and without any sign of life. They are dead by all of man's estimation and human understanding. But...when God sees them, his estimation of each bone and understanding of how they fit within his plan, he sees life. Perspective is everything - life or death! Hear the WORD of the Lord! The word of God will always bring a commotion, a stirring, and a rattling of our "dry bones". Sometimes this stirring is not enough because it just rouses us into action - we still are nothing more than revived corpses! We might have "new flesh", but just looking "new" on the outside is no assurance there is something "new" on the inside! BREATHE that they may live! It is the breathe of God that brings them alive on the INSIDE - not just the outside! They rise as a multitude - an army of warriors - warriors succest strength and vitality. Alive because of the moving of the Holy Spirit over their lives. We are made alive in the same manner - through his movement within and that affects our movement without. It is his "giving of breath" which revives.
Sometimes we are no more than unrelated parts - dry bones scattered to the far corners of the earth. We can remain as dry bones - disconnected, unrelated, scattered and dry. When we do, we live very bland and "disconnected" lives. As a result, we lack the strength and capacity of what I will refer to as "corporate" unity. In this state, we are prey to the predators of our lives - sin, evil, distraction, deception, and the list goes on. The winds of adversity will likely take us down. The circumstances of life will drain us of life even further. The trials will leave us absolutely defenseless. We are open to being carried off by our predators because we aren't connected and alive! We can settle for a week-to-week existence. You know the kind I mean - come to church each week, get a touch of life, then be drained by the time the week is even over! Or we can know the vitality of life - as God intends it - a living, breathing organism of grace.
Wind rattles what it touches - the WIND of the Spirit of God rousing us from our slumber. Sometimes we don't even know we have lost our alertness to the things of God. It is the breath of God's Spirit moving over our lives which rouses us. Maybe we need a little "wind" in our sails again! It shakes - stirring again feelings long left untouched. The wind has a way of stirring whatever it touches. In fact, this is how we know the wind is actually there - we see and feel its movement across our lives. There are areas of our lives which have not been "moved upon" in a long time. Maybe today is the day for God to "move us" - opening us to new possibilities in him. It moves - causing us to change our position, if even just a little bit. Watch the wind sometime and what you see is the effect of it upon that which it touches. There is much to be said about the wind bringing a change of position. Sometimes it is the movement which uncovers that which has been hidden for a long, long time!
Wind draws, pulling us out of the "crannies" of apathy. Things have a tendency to get stuck in the recessed places, don't they? We get apathetic to the stuff we become the most familiar with, don't we? It is the wind of the Spirit that actually "unsticks" us. It drives - moving us forward when nothing else will. Sometimes the influence of the wind is to move what has been stationary for far too long. Things which have been rigid and unchanging will yield to the pull and push of the wind. We all need a little "nudging" sometimes, don't we? The Spirit is what gives dead bones (and dead lives) new life. The purpose of the bones was the formation of a vast army - not a solitary existence, out there alone in a vast place. The army was not sparse, weak, or ill-equipped. In fact, it was vast - numberless, large, great in number! This type of army will make its presence known. It is not easy to hide an army such as this! Just sayin!
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