By Request - Dry Bones

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 37:3-5 NIV

We all go through them. Desert places. Places so dry you wonder if you will live through them - or sometimes question whether or not you even want to live through them. Well, there's good news and there's great news.

The good news is often hidden or lost to us in the dust of the desert, but it is found in Psalm 37:23, The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. If you're in the desert, or on the mountaintop, or in the valley of dead, dry bones, God knows exactly where you are and He's dealing with EVERY detail.

The great news is found in our Promise for Today - 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.

In Ephesians 5:25-26, Paul tells us, Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. Hear the Word of the Lord! Run to the Living Water. Your parched dry bones WILL come to LIFE!

Prayer:

Father,

            Thank You for Your Word! Thank You for directing our paths exactly to where we need to be! Help us to always look for Your fingerprints even in the desert sands. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen 

Dry Bones

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 37:3-5 NIV

We all go through them. Desert places. Places so dry you wonder if you will live through them - or sometimes question whether or not you even want to live through them. Well, there's good news and there's great news.

The good news is often hidden or lost to us in the dust of the desert, but it is found in Psalm 37:23, The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. If you're in the desert, God knows exactly where you are and He's dealing with EVERY detail.

The great news is found in our Promise for Today - 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.

In Ephesians 5:25-26, Paul tells us, Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. Hear the Word of the Lord! Run to the Living Water. Your parched dry bones WILL come to LIFE!

Prayer:

Father,
Thank You for Your Word! Thank You for directing our paths exactly to where we need to be! Help us to always look for Your fingerprints even in the desert sands. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

* Too Late

The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”  “O Sovereign Lord,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.” Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord!'
Ezekiel 37:1-4 NLT

Ezekiel was taken to an open valley and plopped down in the middle of dead, dry bones, bleached by the sun. Nothing left of the lives that had been. No life. No hope of life. No chance of having what might have been. What could have been. Over. Finished. No hope of ever being whatever it was they set out to be and all because they wound up on that battlefield. Just dead, dry bones... Can you see it in your mind? Can you picture that? Not a place that would evoke the desire to do a happy dance...

And God wants me to do what?!? Are you kidding me?!? Speak to dead, dry bones?!? No way! I'd look like a fool! It's too late for that! 

Do you feel like that? Does your life feel bleached out - dead and dried up? Are you lamenting over what 'woulda, coulda, shoulda' been if you had not ______________? Do you think it's too late?

Ezekiel 37:7-10 The Message, I prophesied just as I'd been commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone. I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them. He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, 'God, the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!'"  So I prophesied, just as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army...

Okay, that was just a vision. It's not like that could really happen, right?  Well, I'm here to tell you that it can and it does...every time God is invited. Whether it's your dead, dry bones or someone else's. Dry bones, listen to the Word of the Lord!

2nd Corinthians 5:17, This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

Galatians 6:15-16,  It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God.

Revelation 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

God is calling you. He already knows what you did or didn't do and only He can fix it. And believe it - He CAN fix it...and He WILL! But just like the watch can't be fixed till you take it to the jeweler, your life can't be fixed until you put it in God's hands. It's a safe place. Put yourself in His hands. It's NOT too late! It's NEVER too late.

Prayer:

Oh, God!
             Let the heart respond to Your call, to Your pleading, to Your touch. Let Your will be done, Father. We don't want blessing - we want You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen