Can Life Come From These Dry Bones?

READ  EZEKIEL 37:1-14

MEDITATION: The coming back together of the bones in our text shows structure. And structure is truly important and necessary. The muscles represent the anointing but, the body represents structure. Without the body the muscles will fail. Without structure the anointing will come to nothing.

One of the greatest lies that the devil weighs anointed people with is that, they do not need the structure. And once you buy into that lie, the end is near. And too many anointed people have fallen victims to the lie of the devil. The body frame and the muscles must come together to create a cohesive force filled with power and dynamic energy.

God asks, “Can these bones live?” The obvious answer is, no way. But to this question, Ezekiel answers, “Only you, O Lord, know.” There are many dry bones in our lives — our compulsive gambling, our failure at work, our troubled marriage, whatever the dream is that has died or whatever the failure or defeat we have experienced. Whatever the dry bone is in our life, God has us look at it and asks, “Can these bones live? Can this lifestyle be healed? Can this marriage be saved? Can this dream be revived?” We need to be able to say, “Only you, O Lord, knows.” And we need to be able to say it with a voice of faith, assured that God does know, and that he does care, and that he is in control. Do you have a dream that has died, that shouldn’t have died? Is there a failure in your life that you really don’t believe you should accept?

The first step is to face the reality. The second is to have faith in God. That is not enough however.

The next step is to be willing to accept God’s instructions. In the midst of failure or in the middle of a significant problem, WE want to fix things. WE want to resolve the problems. WE however often cannot fix things or resolve the problem by ourselves. We need to be willing to turn our problems over to God. And to act on his instructions.

God gives instructions, and Ezekiel follows them. Ezekiel preaches to the dry bones, and the dry bones begin to change. As the text says, “There was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked and the tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.” You see, having faith in God is not enough. We need to act on that faith. In the 14th chapter of Exodus there is a very dramatic moment. Moses has led the people out of Egypt. The people are right on the edge of the Red Sea. The Egyptian army is fast on the move, they are coming to take the Israelites back. The Hebrew people look around and say “Uh oh, what have we gotten ourselves into?” The people are stuck. The Egyptian Army is in one direction, the water is in the other. They have nowhere to go. The people start crying about how they should have stayed in Egypt. Moses is screaming orders at them and promises everything will be alright and then stops to pray. At this very dramatic point, when there is a lot of action and tension, God says to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and the water will divide.”

• In other words, God tells Moses to stop praying and to get to work.

• In the New Testament, James tells us that Faith without works is dead.

• You see, we not only need faith in God, we need to be able to act on that faith.

• Do you have a dream that has died, that shouldn’t have died? Is there a failure in your life that you really don’t believe you should accept?

• Face the reality, have in God, and act on that faith.

Ezekiel does that. He sees the reality of the dry bones. He has faith in God and he does what God leads him to do. But as you read Ezekiel, what happens is that these body parts come together, which is a tremendous miracle. But what you now have instead of the dry bones, you’ve got them dead bodies.

The bones may have come together, and the flesh may have reappeared, but the text says, there was no breath in the bodies. There was one more thing that needed to be done. One last step. God had to breathe his Holy Spirit into the bodies of these soldiers. Then they came to life. It was not enough for Ezekiel to do what he had to do. He also had to wait for God to do what He was going to do. We can face up to the reality of a problem. We can have faith in God and we can do all sorts of things to improve or to resolve our problem. But until we step back and let God get involved in our problem or our crisis, things may change, but there will be no solution. There needs to be a spiritual awakening. There needs to be an experience and an encounter with God.

Can dead, dry bones live? With God, nothing is impossible. If you have never trusted Jesus to save you, you are still living in the graveyard of dead, dry bones. God has a PLAN. Believe His Word, when it says that Jesus paid your sin-debt on the cross. Trust Him to save you, and the Holy Spirit will give you a new life.

ACTION: Place in your bowl all your dreams and hopes that have died; things that you think are impossible for God to do, if any.