Tuesday, May 22, 2018
The Lord
took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley
filled with bones. He led me all around
among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the
ground and were completely dried out. Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones
become living people again?” “O
Sovereign Lord,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.” Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic
message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and
make you live again! I will put flesh
and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come
to life. Then you will know that I am
the Lord.’” So I spoke this message,
just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke,
there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and
attached themselves as complete skeletons. Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed
over the bones. Then skin formed to
cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic
message to the winds, son of man. Speak
a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may
live again.’” So I spoke the message as
he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their
feet—a great army. Then he said to me,
“Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry
bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is
finished.’ Therefore, prophesy to them
and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile
and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. When this happens, O my people, you will know
that I am the Lord. I will put my Spirit
in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have
spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes,
the Lord has spoken!’” Ezekiel 37: 1-14(NLT)
That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because
they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly,
Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his
hands and his side. They were filled
with joy when they saw the Lord! Again
he said, “Peace be with you. As the
Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive
the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s
sins, they are forgiven. If you do not
forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
John 20:19-23(NLT)
These two texts, Ezekiel’s
vision and the appearance of Jesus to His disciples after the resurrection, are
not at all about bones or ghosts…they’re all about the breath of God! Genesis tells us that when God created humankind
they were nothing until God breathed the breath of life into them. That is a simple fact; our Creator is the
author, giver, and sustainer of all life.
If He decides the next breath will not be available to you or me…that’s
it…game over!
When Jesus breathed
on his disciples it was an outward demonstration of the beginning of the indwelling
experience of God in mankind. It’s all
about the breath, the life of God in us, and God working out his purposes
through us.
The life of God is
an inside
job!
And that was the
whole point for both Israel and the disciples.
Both thought it was all over…the end…turn out the lights and go
home. Israel thought they were toast as
a nation. Yet God revived that nation just
in this past century. The disciples had
seen Jesus beaten, nailed to a tree, and then buried. Talk about game-over! But now he breathed on them, and the breath
of new life was filling their inner being with the power of God to build the Kingdom.
As Yogi Berra always
said: It ain’t over till it’s over!
For You Today
Is your church a just
a mere bag of bones compared to what it used to be?
Do you look at
that person in the mirror and wonder where the time and strength have
gone?
Perhaps you’re
looking too much on the outside.
Remember…where God is concerned, it’s always an inside job!
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