Dry Bones Ezekiel 37:1-14 

God talked to Ezkiel. He showed him people that weren’t doing anything. A lot of people doing absolutely nothing. They were ill equipped, with no resources, no hope, no life, no joy. 

Speaking God’s words instills life and joy and peace and health; adding courage to seemingly impossible situations. 

How long had the bones been lying there? Where did they come from? 

Did someone place the bones there? 

God’s word is life. Speaking the Word initiates action and drives purpose into others lifeless situations bringing hope and energy into play. It pleased God to restore the bones. He’s the positive in negative settings. Don’t throw away opportunities that God presents to you. Be ready to act when God is on the move. 

God added sinew and skin to the bones; still dead, and then breathed life into them. The resources are all around us. We just have to gather them. Prayer is the classroom of the spirit. We learn by listening, not by talking. When God is ready, action takes place. ‘The noise’ is the manifestation process beginning. Listen for ‘the noise’. 

When things happen it’s because God is showing himself to us. He’s making ‘noise,’ sounds, actions, He’s creating. He becomes evident; visible to the spiritual eye, proving himself to be real and effective and ‘now’. God is all about now. 

God does things in ‘His time,’ on time, all the time. 

He always shows up. He always shows out. He always shows us who He is; no disguises, no tricks, no “magic”. Reality that is easy to see; sometimes hard to understand. 

Why does God do what He does? Because He wants to. No one makes God do anything. It’s only because He wants to. He wants us to see Him as He is. The Father, The Healer, The Counselor, The Friend, The Advocate, The Answer to every situation in any and every circumstance. 

Lack of use leaves us dry and rusty and out of practice. Apathy and laziness create dry bones. Running out of oil and burns up ‘the engine’ which then has to be rebuilt. New rings, new pistons, new this, new that, and most of all a lot of work to get it back together. 

Dry bones have to have sinew and skin to hold them together just like your spirit man has to have The Word and faith to hold it in the right position. Dry bones also have to breathe to be alive and productive, just as the spirit man has to have the anointing of The Holy Spirit to ‘breathe’. 

And so, what begins the ‘rebuilding process’ in you; the revival as it were? Your hunger. A hunger for new and better things in your life. A hunger for forgiveness of sin. A hunger for peace and safety. Any number of things can ‘spark’ the renewal process; the revival. Revival is re-energizing something. Bringing new life into the picture and mobilizing it to the extent that it takes on new life. 

 

Are you feeling ‘dry’, used up, tired, worn out, old, unhappy, misused, out of touch, bored, left out, cheated, betrayed, lonely, angry, frustrated, unappreciated, mistreated and guilty? Then you’re ‘dry’. Yes, the list is long. There are a lot of people with some or nearly all of those symptoms. You need an ‘oil change’, a refreshing, a renewal, a tune up, a purpose, a goal, a reason to go on, a change of heart, a step in the right direction, an encouraging word, a hug, a kick in the pants, a soft touch, a new outlook, a fresh word from the Lord, a quiet moment alone with Him so you can hear His voice again... calling to you. 

It’s not so hard; ‘the getting dry’. However, it’s sometimes difficult to recover, especially if you’re alone. Perhaps you have withdrawn from the people around you. That’s a device the evil one uses on us to get us away from others of like faith. If he can separate us ‘from the herd’ he can ‘take us down’ like a wolf does a deer or another kind of animal that gathers in groups. 

We must have each other to survive and grow. We must have God to guide and teach us how to succeed in life. That’s the way it was set up; the way God planned things in the very beginning. 

“Dry bones, dry bones, can you hear the spirit moan...” That’s a line from one of our songs. It depicts a person that has been discouraged and is in need of help. Don’t wait. Get up before you fall asleep for good and miss out on the Spirit realm! 

God is on the move people, and ready to do great things but He needs us to do the work. God needs our hands and minds to accomplish the tasks ahead. There are still a lot of people out there that don’t know about God’s love. They don’t know about God’s mercy and forgiveness. A lot of people out there are guilt ridden and thinking that there is no forgiveness for the things they have done, but that’s a lie from the pit of Hell. God always forgives. He doesn't see us as we are because God cannot look upon sin. He sees us through the blood of Jesus and thinks of us as His little children that are need of His help and guidance.  

Don’t let your past mistakes ‘take you down’. Get them behind you and look forward, not back. God is waiting to lift you up and out of the dry places and into the beautiful realm of His gdreat love. 

God wants the very best for us. That’s how He designed the world we live in. Man is the one that messed it up in the Garden of Eden and yet, God made a way for us to escape the death we deserve, and restore us to His presence, His right standing, His forgiveness. 

Yes, God wants the very best for us; no seconds, no hand me downs, only new life, new creations, new ideas, new anointing, new joy, new beginnings.... 

God isn’t into ‘dry bones’. 

Let Gladness Prevail

 Let gladness prevail.                                                                                          

Our lives are far too short to suffer needless pain and sorrow. I am saddened by the many I see struggling with life’s issues. Why is it that people fail to understand God’s generous provisions for their needs? What is so hard about understanding how God operates? It’s all laid out very plainly in the Word. But I suppose I shouldn’t wonder. I was once lost in time, trying to define what God was telling me because I was reading from the King James version for one thing. The “thee’s“ and “thou’s” kinda messed me up for a while.  

Now I wish that I could share more of what God has done for me, with and through those around me. Understanding came slowly because I was a poor student for one thing, but as I began to retain more and of the “nuggets” God lays out for us, I saw things clear up substantially.  

I never have been very timid about talking to others but when it comes to sharing about the Lord, it seems to bring out my shy side somehow. Why is that? I think it may have something to do with exposure. Yes, being exposed as to what you believe can be a bit intimidating, coupled with whether or not your peers accept or reject a belief. Our lives get complicated, it’s true, but wouldn’t it be nice to have all of our idiosyncrasies out of the way long enough to form closer relationships with those we love or want to know and love? 

Being judged for who or what you are can often bring a crisis into our lives. The supposed ‘new’ norm of the time can easily separate people from each other. I’m referring specifically to the notion that a person can be any sex they choose at any given time. Where does that come from? How did that catch on? It used to be a simple answer to define what sex a person is, but lately, people are acting strangely. It’s as though others have no say at all about personal ideas presented. “Either believe the way I do, or get out of my way!” It’s quite one sided. Getting ‘canceled’ is somewhat like a social death sentence in many ways. We used to consider the other person’s feelings and allow an individual his or her right to believe what they believe; right or wrong. Most of the time when someone realized that they were wrong, it was an easy process to say, ”my bad”...”sorry, I was wrong”, and get on with life. Not anymore. 

God gave us free will so we could choose who or what we want to believe. However, He also set up guidelines to go by that ultimately keep us safe from evil consequences and help make us successful in life’s arena. The ‘laws’ are designed to show us the best path through life and strengthen our minds and bodies. That is what brings wisdom into play. Wisdom and experience; two close friends. 

It looks far worse for us when we make bad decisions and ‘get off of the pathway’. It just doesn’t bode well for the creation to tell the Creator how to do things. We didn’t design ourselves. We are designed by a Spirit and we have a spiritual component that must be nurtured and taught and exercised and loved. Otherwise, we miss out on a great deal of the ‘completeness’ that God has for us. His love is so great that He made provisions for every situation in life and if we ‘listen’ closely enough we will most certainly get the answer we need to make that all important decision. 

Since the mind is such a wonderful and complicated ‘machine’, we can also reason that whoever ‘invented’ our minds must be quite complicated as well. The unsearchable nuances, the emotions and feelings, the strengths and weaknesses that combine to make each one of us an individual are so vast it seems unfathomable how the Creator can keep up with each one of us; even down to how many hairs we have on our heads. Incredible. 

And consider the plan that made it possible for us to be forgiven for whatever we do that does not line up with God’s laws. That plan provides a way to restore the relationship between each of us and God after the fall of man so long ago. Only a supernatural being could have come up with that. 

Consider healing. How does our body know to target bad cells with good cells to overcome sickness? Only a loving, generous God would set up strategies to combat evil automatically; before we ever get sick. 

With the plan of life, individual life; no two are the same. How awesome is that? You are wonderfully made. An individual unlike any other individual and equipped with power from the Spirit God Jehovah that is more powerful than anything else in existence.  
now learning how to use this power is another story. It takes total surrender and devotion to our Creator. That’s the only way; God’s way. 

About now I’m sure there are a lot of eyebrows going up and eyes rolling and probably a lot of questioning and scoffing, but I see it plainly spelled out in God’s Word. You just have to read it for yourself and then make up your mind. Don’t trust what someone else tells you. That can be misleading. Read it from God’s own Word. It will come alive to you and open your heart to real truth; God’s truth. 

If you want to be right, search out the truth for yourself. Ask God to show you and He will. That’s one of His great promises and one He likes to keep. Talk to Him in private and ask Him to show you what you need to know. He will. Once you really ‘hear’ God, you will understand real truth and want more of God’s truth in your life. Lies will fade away and leave you empty and unsatisfied. That’s one way to spot them. Truth will fill your heart and mind with power and knowledge. There’s nothing else like it. 

We don’t need to rely on a man for truth. If a person is honest that is good, but how do you know that he or she is truly honest and telling you ‘real truth’? That would be nice but in today’s world there are many dishonest people. People that are after something you have that they want, and they will do or say anything to get it. That’s dangerous. It can cost you everything; even your very life. Beware, be smart. Check things out for yourself and don’t always rely on something said to you as being the truth. 

Let Gladness Prevail.