These Dry Bones…

“The hand of the LORD was upon 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. 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. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath  enter you, and you will come to life. 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.’ ”

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. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them 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 it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O 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.  Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.  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.'”

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Conviction

“People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”

D.A. Carson

http://notebooknumberfour.tumblr.com/post/1254035944/people-do-not-drift-toward-holiness-apart-from

 

The Skill of the Holy Spirit

We often limit the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit to some vague spiritual realm, such as reading or preaching or … you get the idea. We, like the rest of this world, rush to segregate and compartmentalize. The body goes to the doctor; the mind goes to the psychiatrist; the soul goes to the church. We look to signs and wonders to prove the existence of God, and forget the miracles of nature all around us. Even as our own bodies testify to His majesty. We look to wisdom and knowledge – theories, jargons, and logic – and forget to marvel at how the very capacity of our reasoning points to God. Too often, we forget that God created the body, the mind, and the soul.

If I told you that a certain man walking down the street was overflowing with the Holy Spirit, what would you conclude? That this man could speak in tongues? Preach an amazing sermon? Understand the Bible with clear precision? Lead tearful worshippers to glorify God? What about paint? Rap? Metal work?

What?!?! Are the last three even possible? They aren’t described in the fruits of the Holy Spirit. They aren’t described in the gifts of the Church. They aren’t described anywhere in the Bible as being from God. Are they?

“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.’ ”

Exodus 31:1-5

Here, we see the Holy Spirit coming down and filling a man with skill – ability – and the knowledge of God? The word? No – all kinds of crafts.

For so long, I’ve partitioned off aspects of my life, not because I wanted to withhold them from God, but because I felt He had no power there, as if it was outside of His realm. When I think about it now, it doesn’t make any sense. No power? He created EVERYTHING. Coming from my childhood as a PK, one of the biggest things I had to wrestle with was the assumption that to leave the ministry work would effectively be leaving God. And the devil so desperately wants to deceive us so. Because then, we might forget the FREEDOM we have Christ. The SOVEREIGNTY of Him who we serve. We might limit God to a small portion of our lives, and deceive ourselves into believing that there are places in our lives God does not control. We might never reach our full potential of the gifts God has given us – ALL our gifts. But there is Good News, there is Hope, there is Freedom – and His name is Jesus Christ. Faithful and True. Word of God. King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Your freedom is here.

PTL. Praise The Lord.

http://mickeycho.com/