SCRIPTURE
Ezekiel 37:1-14 (NRSV)
Life to dry bones
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I answered, "O Lord God, you know." Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord."
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Then he said to me, "Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act," says the Lord.
DEVOTION
I don’t know about you, but when I look around at the state of our neighborhoods, communities, and world I see a lot of “dry bones.”
I see the “walking dead.” I notice people who discharge their earthly duties like zombies devoid of love, joy, peace, hope for the future, or an attitude of gratitude.
I see people who have no passion or zeal for the good things in life like loving relationships, tranquil moments spent in silence before Almighty God, or laughter over a home cooked meal with friends or family.
I see the “walking dead.” These are people who exist only for their own selfish ambition and greedy gain. They seek only to make a name for themselves and to become rich and famous at any cost.
These “zombies” are willing to destroy their marriages, families, neighborhoods, and/or countries all in a vain effort get more and more and more stuff that they don’t really need.
Isn’t this sad?
As Christians, also known as The Church, Followers of the Way, and The Called Out Ones, we are sent to prophesy to these dry bones. We are sent out as ambassadors of God’s GOOD NEWS Kingdom of Love. We are to speak to these dry bones declaring God’s love, the forgiveness of sin, and the promise of eternal life!
As we prophesy, we are to speak love, joy, and peace into the lives of those people who declare, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.”
We have the privilege of proclaiming that dry bones can live, hope can be restored, and people can be reconciled with God through Jesus Christ!
Isn’t it wonderful that we get to bear witness to the fact that God loves all of us so much that God gave Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life?
What wondrous joy fills my soul every time I tell someone that Jesus saves and He saves to the utmost! What ecstasy is ours as we prophesy to dry bones seeing them restored to life and vitality through their faith in Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
God has a deep and abiding desire to breathe on us! At Pentecost, God’s breath filled the disciples and empowered, equipped, and enabled them to boldly proclaim the GOOD NEWS message.
That same breath fills the lungs of our hearts and minds empowering, enabling, and equipping us to share GOOD NEWS with others.
Look around you my friends! There are zombies everywhere! There are dry bones laying about baking in the sun! There are rotten, stinking, corpses littering our neighborhoods and communities!
God is asking us today, “Can these dry bones live?”
And we must answer, “Yes! Yes, Lord! We believe that these dry bones can live!” As we pray for God to breathe on our family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and even our enemies, dry bones shall live and declare the salvation of the Lord!
Now, ain’ta that GOOD NEWS?!
Will you prophesy to someone suffering from the affliction of "dry bones?”
Dear God, now that you have opened my eyes, I see dry bones everywhere! I am so sad to notice so many of Your people living like zombies, devoid of the life giving power of Your Holy Spirit. Please breathe on me, Breath of God! Empower, enable, and equip me to boldly prophesy to those who are in need of a saving relationship with You through Christ Jesus! Thank you that you love us so much that you sent Jesus to die for us! Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, I have the blessed assurance that dry bones can live, for you are the Lord of the Resurrection! Drench us in Your Spirit, Oh God, that we might live to declare Your praise! In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Congratulations to the people who have recently put all of their hope in Jesus! We celebrate your re-birth-day and promise to hold you in our prayers!
If you would like to put all of your hope in Jesus today, please visit my blog entitled, “Putting All Your Hope In Jesus” located at
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/04/putting-all-your-hope-in-jesus.html
If you have additional questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, "Come to Jesus"
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/come-to-jesus.html
Pastor Yolanda is now publishing another blog entitled, “A Spoken WORD” in celebration of Holy Hip Hop, Gospel/Christian Rap and Spoken Word. Please check it out @ http://aspokenword.blogspot.com/
You are invited to follow Pastor Yolanda on Twitter www.twitter.com/PastorYolanda
Good News has now added a Prayer Ministry. http://www.kindlejoy.com/groups/goodnews
You are invited to leave comments or questions regarding today’s devotional. These comments are public.
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Thanks for reading and please come again. Pastor Yolanda extends a very special welcome to all of our friends reading outside of the United States of America! We are honored that you are sharing with us today.
From Pastor Yolanda's blog http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com
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