Dead Bones, Rise!

As I’ve mentioned a few times, I started 2018 with the intention of reading through the Bible.

However, as 2018 closed, I only found myself in the book of Ezekiel

(NIV)

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’ ”

(NIV)

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

God, the Giver of Life

2019 is upon us.

What is it that you are looking forward to this year? What do you expect God to do with you and through you?

There are a number of pastors getting together every other Thursday and praying for the Kalona, Wellman, Riverside, and Washington communities.

And we are praying for revival—A renewal of life

We don’t know exactly how that will, or should, look. But we know that we desire to see fresh life in our own lives as well as in our community.

Ezekiel had a vision in which we see people in 3 different stages:

Completely dead and dried up

Completely dead, but looking alive

Alive and active

It’s possible that you indentify as one of these this morning

Completely dead and dried up

It could be that you are sitting here this morning and your soul simply feels dead

It could be that if there was a breath of wind, you feel like you would just blow away. You feel like you couldn’t endure one more storm

You feel like chaff that swirls and blows around as the corn is being harvested

Or maybe you feel like a skeleton—a skeleton is a crucial part of us. But if you just see the skeleton, you can’t indentify who, or sometimes what, it belongs to.

as in a museum

Maybe it’s been a long time since you have felt the distinctive breath of God blowing into your life

or been nourished by His Spirit

Or been fed by His Word

Maybe you are dead and you have come to the place where you aren’t even pretending anymore. Or maybe very nearly there

The bones in the valley were there. They were dead and weren’t eve making a pretense.

Completely dead but looking alive

Or maybe you know that you are completely dead

Maybe you know that there is not much going on inside.

You aren’t being nourisshed by the Holy Spirit

You aren’t being fed by His Word

You don’t have much contact with His Body

“Alone” tv show

Even those who are catching fish are slowly starving because they don’t have a balanced diet

The two things that cause people to throw in the towel

Hunger

Lonliness

Maybe you identify with this. Maybe you are dead or dying inside but you are doing your best to look like you are alive

This crowd of people on the desert floor looked like they could be alive. But they didn’t yet have the Spirit (pneuma—breath or wind) of the Lord blowing through them

If you identify with any of these two conditions, then this passage—this message is for you. Because look at what happens next

Alive and active

This is what the Spirit of the Lord does to us

This pile of bones on the desert floor first came together, formed into skeletons, grew ligaments, skin, and then leaped to their feet—a vast army, ready for action.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t just make us look alive, He makes us truly alive

Look at the progression here--

The LORD told Ezekiel to prophesy the first time but the bones were just covered and looked like people

That wasnt good enough

He told Ezekiel to prophesy again and this time breath entered their bodies and they stood up!

And they became an army

An army isn’t just a group of people milling around

An army is trained for one purpose—wage war on the enemy

An army is prepared for action—they have been trained and equipped.

Their eyes are on their general—They know who their leader is and are ready to follow him anywhere. They’ve been given their orders

Folks, this is what I am praying for, for myself and for us here at Fairview.

I’m praying for the Life of the Lord to enter us here

And that the life that He give would move us to worship, to vision, to action.

I’m praying that He will continue to raise us to our feet and make us ready for action.

We’ve been given our marching orders.

I’m excited to see how God is going to use us and direct us.

I’m ok with baby steps. But slowly and surely we need to be moving forward. Gaining ground on the enemy’s territory