Watching the birds as they hit the feeders today.  It helps brighten an otherwise dreary, cloudy day.

No wind though, but also no snow – even on the mountains.  We do need the moisture. 

Carla got called into work today, one of her co-workers is ill.  Not that we had anything specific to do today, but after such a long and hard week she needed the down time.  She works again tomorrow but will have Wednesday off – hopefully.

Ezekiel 37:1-10 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

² And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

³ And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.

⁴ Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

⁵ Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

⁶ And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

⁸ And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

As I read these verses this morning, the first thing that came to mind is that song ‘them bones, them bones, them dry bones.....’

Then as I meditated on these verses (still with the music humming in my mind):

Ezekiel was asked if he believed God could raise these bones – he said, O Lord God, thou knowest.

He believed, an act of will and a belief in God due to His love and close relationship with God – and knowledge God would do what He says He will do.

Ezekiel was ordered to preach to a bunch of bones.

He had to tell these dry bones that they were to be raised up and they would once again have flesh upon them.

So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

He obeyed:

Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

I look at America today and I see such a dry valley with people so wrapped up in their lives and self-centered desires that their spirit is as dry as those bones.

It would be easy to get discouraged.  Can you imagine what that valley Ezekiel was first faced with looked like?  It had to be an overwhelming scene of death and destruction.  The first thing most of us would think of would be to given them a decent burial and then wonder how we could possibly accomplish such a massive undertaking. 

I wonder if Ezekiel wondered why God brought him to this place, was it to do just that?  Yet, when asked He immediately affirmed that God can make the death rise again and serve Him.

He obeyed, God fulfilled.

He can do the same thing for America.

The march into Jerusalem as Jesus was arriving in preparation for His last days on earth, He reaffirmed the authority of God, as He had the ability to raise an army from dry, disconnected bones, so if need be He would cause rocks to praise Him.

Luke 19:37-40  And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;

³⁸ Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

³⁹ And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.

⁴⁰ And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

No matter what is going on around us, no matter how dry we feel, how foolish the tasks ahead of us may be; no matter the sense of hopelessness satan tries to lay on our hearts – our God can DO ANYTHING.

He makes the blind to see, the deaf to hear; He changes the hearts of man and refreshes their souls as He did with the dry bones.

If we fail to praise Him, to acknowledge His authority and place in this world and in our hearts He will raise up those that will – and we will be the lesser for it.

Instead:

Hebrews 10:22-24 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

²³ Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

²⁴ And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

God can do anything, so when He commands us to do things we may feel make us look foolish, it is so His Glory can be shown to all and the Holy Spirit can change the stone of a heart within a sinner, to a praising Christian as he is transformed by God’s Grace.

More than once I have had a lump in my throat when I feel the command to share the Gospel with a specific individual.  I wish I could say I always obeyed that command – I can’t.  I was afraid that I would look as foolish as Ezekiel may have looked to anyone that observed him preaching to a bunch of bones; or a fear I would be rejected – no one likes that feeling.

I wish I could say that every time I did so I saw an immediate response from the person I witnessed to – I can’t.

I have had people, several years later though, come to me and tell me that my witnessing helped them find Jesus.  I preached to dry bones, but God brought another in to preach that the breath of life in their soul would be received when they accepted Christ.

I know that when we do as God says, He will honor His Word and our obedience to Him.  We just have to belief, as Ezekiel believed that God will put the flesh on the bones and create an army of believers when we preach as He commands.

Later, Art :-)