Dry Bones With No Hope

The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones.

He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry.

He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, You know."

Again He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.'

"Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life.

'I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.'"

So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.

Then He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life."'"

So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished We are completely cut off.'

"Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.

"Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people.

"I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it," declares the LORD.'" Ezekiel 37:1-14

A strange story to begin this message with isn't it. This was the message the God place on my heart last week. There is a scriptural connection with the historical nation of Israel and the current church. I believe that the message to Ezekiel regarding the state of Israel is appropriate for today's U.S. church as well.

Walk through a store or a local shopping mall and attempt to pick out the Christians from the non-Christians. How accurate do you think you would be. It is amazing to me that two Christians can work in the same place for months or for years and not know that they are not alone.

The visible witness for today's church is gone. Here is where we return to the text.

"these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished We are completely cut off.'"

"Our hope has perished" is a description of today's Church. Joy? Not so much! We are buried under our circumstances and have lost the vibrancy of our lives in Jesus.

What is the answer? The text seems to indicate that there is a two step process to returning the dry bones to an exceedingly great army.

Step one is for a few of God's anointed to begin to pray that the dry bones will begin to hear the Word of the Lord. Step two is for God's anointed and for the "hopeless" bones to begin to pray for the breath of the Spirit of God to come from the four corners to do is life giving work.

Are you one of God's anointed for this purpose? If so, begin to pray and suggest this blog to others who might pick up the mantle. If you are not prepared to stand in the gap for His church simply consider passing this blog on to someone else who might enjoy the challenge.

Rest in Peace

You've heard it, I have too. Just recently I was it again as someone wish the departed "rest in peace". I immediately began to remember the words of Jeremiah which say:

They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially,Saying, "Peace, peace, But there is no peace". Jeremiah 6:14.

No there is no peace outside of Jesus the "Prince of Peace". As a matter of fact most Christians fail to dwell in peace in spite of peace being one of the specific named fruits that the Holy Spirit brings with Him when He takes up residence in a new believer.

That discussion I will keep for another time however. Today to focus is on the empty wish of peace for the recently departed.

There will be anything BUT peace for those who die without Jesus! We too easily forget the horrific future of the damned! If we properly understood the ugliness or the horror awaiting our family and friends our prayers and our witness would take on a whole other dimension.

Nor will peace be an issue for the redeemed. The radiating joy and fullness will overwhelm every other sense. Gone are all weeping. Gone are all troubles. Gone are all concerns. Only jubilant celebration and overriding sense of wonder!

No there is no peace except for those who fully understand what Jesus did for us. It is coming to grips with the "desparate-ness" of who we really are and the grandeur of who Jesus is and what He has done that fully sets us free from worry and fret.

Consider an invitation to fall in love with Jesus! He been calling you into the love relationship that He did all of the work for. The only thing that stands in your way are religion and your preconceived conception about God! Flee from these shackles and run to Jesus!

What Do You Want Jesus To Do For You?

Gathered together in the Prayer Room at our church during the ongoing services and praying as the Holy Spirit leads us a guy walked into the room for prayer. After he sat down and we concluded the current train of prayer, I looked at this guy that I have known for some time and asked, did you come in here for prayer?

He responded with the great physical ordeal that he was facing along with all of the possible negative outcomes. After he went on about his issues for a few minutes, I asked him directly; "What do you want Jesus to do for you"

He responded to my direct question by returning to his list of dim possibilities as if I had not heard them the first time.

This told me much. He came in not for real prayer but as a good-luck charm that he could add to his charm bracelet. He was so immersed in his "death spiral" that he couldn't even hear my question. What religious teaching had instructed him to was to wallow in his tough situation.

Jesus simply doesn't care to hear all of the aches and moans. He already knows our troubles far better and we do ourselves. Jesus lamented, one day, "will the Son of Man find faith on the Earth when he returns?" Faith an endangered species today. Far preferable to faith is the certainty of a paycheck, a mortgage payment, dependable car and even a terrible illness.

So let me ask you, "what do you want Jesus to do for you?"

Oh, don't tell me, I can do nothing that you yourself can't to. Just tell Him?

Open For Business

I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Revelation 3:18

For Sale: Pure gold, crystal white garments and precious healing eye salve.

There is only one place where these items can be purchased and the price for each is impossibly high. these will not be found at the local mall or, even, online. They can be purchased from only a single source.

We live in a filthy world. We are surrounded by filth and, unfortunately, the filth doesn't remain on the outside as only someone else's problem. We easily and quickly exchange the things of exquisite value for shiny trinkets of momentary pleasure and fleeting happiness.

Oh, the things our eyes behold. We are flooded with input but seldom do we really see.

Yes, we could use a little updating of our possessions. A taste of true riches perhaps; a brand new "outfit" to dazzle the crowds and/or renewed eyes that see the unseen!

Don't get your checkbook out just yet for, you see, the cost to buy these clarifying and life changing things goes far beyond the mundane of a paltry checkbook. It will cost you absolutely everything! Oh, you certainly can choose to hold onto the things that you think are not worth surrendering for the prize offered. No one will force you to make such a wild and reckless decision. It is only true faith that will compel you to open the door to the wild and recklessness of walking in wealth beyond measure, righteousness overflowing and an insight to a world beyond ordinary vision.

There exists one singular merchant for these fine goods. He has sufficient inventory to meet any request.

Jesus calls: I advise you to buy from Me...

Blessing and Vindication

“Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. Selah Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty‑‑ he is the King of glory. Selah” (Psalm 24:3‑10).

We fight so many battles; we carry such heavy loads and, day after day, we seem to get nowhere. Wouldn't a little "vindication" be nice?

“Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?" is the question. Surely not me who is so terribly dysfunctional most of the time. Worse, because dysfunction can be excused, I purposely and stubbornly choose my own way most of the time.

"Who may stand in his holy place?" Surely not me?! Nothing as unholy as me and my mind could qualify!

'He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false'

There it is; clean hands, nope. Pure heart; not even close. Let's not even open the "searing by what is false" issue.

Does any of this surprise or disappoint God? No, He is pretty much fully aware of all my issues. He knows!

Hence: Jesus!

If I wasn't so messed up; Jesus would have been unnecessary! If the gulf between the requirements for he who could ascend God's hill and me was not so vast a simple bridge might be constructed.

No, it took Jesus and only Jesus.

On my very best days my hands are not clean and my heart is not pure. But even on my very worst days Jesus is still Jesus and His blood is still pure!

Therefore, the psalmist can encourage us to "Lift up your heads" If we would just simply understand that Jesus and His blood is enough, all of our battles would become His! "He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior".

Agree with Him! Agree with Him about who you really are and agree with Him about who He is and all that He has done to qualify you to walk up that hill.

Worship

Ok, I've had it! I am so irritated over most of the current wave of "worship" songs. Have you ever noticed how many of them come from a personal direction? "I will follow..." "As You respond to me..." The "I" , the "me" and the "us" is just another example of the sickness that is effecting the current church. Listen to current Christian with a critical ear for a couple of days.

As much as this irritates me the continued connection between music and singing and worship is an assault to our God. Almost each week as the musicians "dismiss" the church they make a statement to the effect that the team will continue to "worship" as the people leave. Really?

We have dumbed down the term of worship to the point of it not even being an issue anymore. Where are the protests, does no one care?

One simply can not worship in mass on Sunday if he hasn't personally worshiped the prior days leading up to the gathering. The lack of worship, although a major issue, is not the issue here however. The issue is how the church continues to propagate the "worship is music" message.

My rant is over!

Don't allowt the malaise that is currently going on on Christian radio or in your church deflect your true worship. He is indeed worthy!!!!1

Live Beyond Your Circumstances

For several months now, I have been telling people a brief story:

If, on that day when God came to the Garden of Eden, instead of saying, "Adam, where are you?" he said, "Adam, I know where you are." and He turned His back on mankind and walked away, still:

He would be worthy of all praise

He would be worthy of all honor

He would be worthy of everything that we could offer!

But the truth is, He did seek Adam! How could we give Him less!

This last weekend, God completed the story:

"Adam, where are you?" God inquired.

"My God, why have you forsaken Me? ( "My Father, where are you?")" Jesus pleaded

God did not turn His back on Adam. Instead, He turned His back on Jesus so that He could turn His face toward me!

Still He calls out: "____________, where are you?"

What are you still hiding from Him?

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication (surrender) with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus". Philippians 4:4-7

Too often we hear the last part of the passage regarding "the peace that surpasses comprehension but we fail to realize that there is a precondition.

Rejoice ALWAYS; in EVERYTHING...with thanksgiving; these are the things that guard our hearts and minds which lead to the peace that doesn't make sense!

Rejoice, the Lord is near!

"It is no secret what God can do. What He's done for others, He'll do for you..."

These beginning words to an old Christian song present a wonderful message.

It is no secret for many reasons not the least of which is Jesus told us! "The things that I do you shall do also and greater things shall you do because I go to the Father..." God has chosen to do much of His work through us. Somehow we must re-awaken to the truth that God desires to pour His power out through us!

Seek all that God desires for you in faith!

Don't settle for less.