Bones...

 Bones, no not the tv show, but actual bones. Ezekiel 37 is a weird but beautiful story about the God we serve, how He can take something dry, brittle, DEAD and give it living, breathing, LIFE. Not just back in Ezekiel's day, but now, right now, this very moment, He can do what He did then:

Jesus Christ is the same today,

yesterday, and forever.

Hebrews 13:8

I came across this text because I was leading a Dnow a few weekends ago. I have heard of this story, but never really dug down deep, and actually read it. I would like to share with yall what the Lord opened my eyes to and how He used this Dnow to show me a new character about Himself!

Ezekiel was a prophet and was told to tell the destruction that was coming, but also to tell of the restoration that was coming through the Lord.

The first thing the Lord asks Ezekiel is "Can these bones live?" (v. 3) And to the normal person, we would definitely say, "No. Bones are DEAD. That's why they are bones." Bones are remains of something dead. But the amazing thing is, that what we see isn't what the Lord sees. When we see something dead, or when the world tells us something is a certain way, the Lord has a totally different view of what it really is and how it is to Him:

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts

neither are your ways My ways,"

declares the Lord.

As the heavens are higher than the earth

so are my ways higher than you ways 

and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8-9

So when the world tells you one thing, and you believe another thing, the Lord doesn't think that way. He is the Creator of the Universe and HIS thoughts of YOU are what matter the most. When the world tells you that you are just "dead bones" the Lord sees a totally different picture (I will explain more later :) ) 

Ezekiel replies, "Oh Lord, you know." The study that I used described it as Ezekiel not trying to answer such a huge topic with his own knowledge but to acknowledge that the Lord knows all things, even when we can't understand them. I'm glad that I can intrust my past and future to the LORD, who holds all things together, and who works things together for my good.

The next thing you know is Ezekiel is prophesying to the bones by the command of the Lord and the bones begin to come together piece by piece, tendon by tendon, and before you know it there is a "great army" as the passage tells us. But before the there can be a great army, they are just bones, with tendons, muscles, etc, so the Lord asks Ezekiel to breathe life into them through His power. And then there is a great army.
     This is how our lives are before Christ. I see it as , yes God gave us physical life, but without Him breathing HIS LIFE into our bones, our flesh, our entire being , we are just a bunch of bones with muscles, and tendons. But once God breathes His life into us, watch out, we can be a great army too. And all of this is so, "That you may know that [HE is] the Lord." It is all for His glory and so that HIS name will be known in our new lives.

So to continue, there were bones, then bones with tendons, and now living breathing people. Now these aren't just random people. These were the people that had died a long time ago due to the destruction that happened. These were Israelites, as the study I used, it said, that some of these people were probably people the Ezekiel knew. He saw them brought back to life. I love what the Lord says when the people are brought back to life:

Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the people 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: 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: 11-14 (NIV)

My heart rejoices reading this! I think about how this is the story of our lives! We lose hope, and think we are a lost cause, I mean after all, our sin leaves us DEAD and HOPELESS. We think there is no hope and the enemy loves to hold us in our grave and remind us of that, but remember, the LORD doesn't work that way. When the enemy says we are dead, the Lord DECLARES that we are alive by His power and by the precious blood of Jesus we are called His children.  He calls us HIS PEOPLE. OH how my soul loves to hear that phrase. WE ARE HIS PEOPLE! HE loves us! He picks us up from the grave breathes Life into us and declares us alive and fully capable of being who He made us to be. We think we can't be put back together because we are a lost cause, but HE IS THE HEALER. I love this song by Watermark, called Mended and the chorus/verse says:

You've got all things suspended

All things connected

Nothing was forgotten

'Cause Your Love is Perfect.

You are our Healer

and You know what's broken

and we're not a mystery to You.

We will dance because You restore the wasted years and

You will sing over all our coming fears and

We'll stand grateful for all that has been left behind and all that goes before us.

Lord You mend the breech

and You break every fetter

You give us Your best, but what we thought was better

And You are to be praised.

When you lose hope in these hard days, take heart and be reminded that the LORD loves to give us hope, and He loves to mend things back together. Just remember the picture of Him mending the bones and tendons back together. The world cannot and will not ever offer the Hope that the Lord Jesus has for us. 

We must remember that this all because of the compassion God has on us. We must know that it is HE who works all things together for out good! No matter where we come from, what we've done, what we've said, HE LOVES US. I heard this story this week and it is so true:

                 Suppose I offered you a $100 bill. Would you take it?

             Well, wait, what if I crumbled it up? Tore it in half? Crumbled it again, stomped on it with my foot? You would probally still want it because it doesn't diminish the value of that $100 bill does it? 

    The same is with your life. No matter what has happened to you, or what you've done in your past (or what might happen in the future) God doesn't see what men see. He see's your heart, and wants you to see how He sees you. YOU ARE VALUABLE TO HIM. That is why we can't listen to the world and what it tells us is valuable, again, who the LORD says you are is what matters!


YOU ARE HIS BELOVED, CHILD, DAUGHTER, SON, FRIEND, REDEEMED.

Remember who we serve: A Faithful God. When He said He would call us out of the grave and give us life, HE MEANS IT.

The One who calls you is Faithful,

and He will do it.

-1 Thessalonians 5:24

I hope this has encouraged you today. It isn't about me, but this is what the Lord has put on my heart. And when He fills my cup up, it must overflow into the lives of those around me. Why not share this promise from His word? :) I hope yall have a great week. Blessings!

“Daughter, your faith has healed you."

    The story begins with a woman who has been hemorrhaging for 12 years, and she hears about Jesus coming into town, and though the streets are crowded beyond belief, she takes a leap of faith and goes anyway hoping that she will be healed. As Jesus moves through the crowd, she touches just a fringe of His garment, and is immediately healed!

    If we have grown up in church, we have heard this story multiple times. But a few weeks ago, I heard this and it was like I had heard it for the first time. I love that about the Lord. He lets you kinda skim past a story in the past, and then you hear it again, thinking, "Oh I've heard this before...." and try to tune out, and then the Lord directs your attention to His word....His living and breathing word...that brings healing and forgiveness from "mere pages."

   When I heard the story of this woman, I began to cry. Though I haven't had the problem she had, I have seen healing in my life and I am still in need of it. Why would an amazing a powerful God want to heal me? Because He is that gracious and loving...not only to me but to those reading this and to those around the world.

What struck me though was this part of the story: that she just touched a fringe of His garment. When I think of the word "fringe" I think about like a piece of thread or just like a small piece of fabric....that is all it took to heal her. Amazing. That is the power of the God we serve. As a commentary by Matthew Henry states,

"by a peculiar impulse of the Spirit of faith, she believed Him to have such an overflowing fulness of healing virtue, that every touch of His garment would be her cure. ...She believed she should be healed if she did but [just] touch the very hem of HIs garment, the very extremity of it." 

I was reading in my study Bible about how this woman, who had this problem for many years, was considered "unclean" in her society. So "unclean" that she couldn't even enter into the Lord's house to worship. Anything she sat on or touched or even by going into a room, it had to be shut off and cleaned and left for a certain number of days before it could be used again. She must have had some reputation..."There goes that woman who is unclean..." What it must have been like to hear that over and over again for 12 years. She spent all her money trying to get healed, and trying to find some answer to her problem, then she heard that this Jesus was coming, and that He performed miracles... and then, a glimpse of Hope... 

Sounds like my life... over and over I mess up. I seem to be doing fine, then I mess up by sinning, and get knocked to the ground. Over and over this happens, and I hear that same old story, "You're down again? You messed up again? Oh, come on, He will never take you back now..." The enemy loves to hold me down and tell me lie after lie... and I believe him, and therefore, I stay down. Forgetting the forgiveness in the Healer's hands. And I begin to lose my faith... the faith that I remembered just a few months ago that got me out of another mess, the faith that brought the Light to my eyes in the beginning, the faith that can move mountains. I forget... then.. BAM it hits me! No, I can and I will get up from this pit. The enemy cannot hold me down any longer, and I refuse to let him do it. I will send him back to Hell where he truly belongs with his lies and evil schemes. The Lord revealed to me while reading through this passage that just the smallest bit of faith will do so much... Remember the mustard seed? 

Wow. faith as small as a mustard seed, can move a mountain. "the fringe of His garment..." can heal a woman of a disease. The "smallest" part of faith and Jesus can save and heal us with a Mighty power. 

Back to the story... so once she touches His garment... she knows what she has done... though she is healed immediately, she remembers her past and remembers that she isn't even allowed to come near the Rabbi's, because, remember she is "unclean." Though the miraculous part is, Jesus stops and asks, "Who touched me?" He knew all along who it was...but He... a Rabbi in His time... turned to her...and she, "...came in fear and trembling and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth." She knew she did something she wasn't suppose to do, yet He looked on her with compassion and uttered the most beautiful words to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you, go in peace..." She was waiting for correction and condemnation, but received compassion and mercy instead.Matthew Henry says, "He called her daughter, for He spoke to her with the tenderness of a father."

That is me. knowing I have done wrong in the eyes the Holy and Righteous One...yet He says to me, "Daughter..." that alone makes me marvel. He sees us as His children, HIS CHILDREN! A Holy, Righteous, Almighty God, sees you and I as His child. He calls us Daughters and Sons... what a privilege. So take heart. those that are reading this... if you struggle with something that you think God can't heal you of, or you have been sick for a while, GOD CAN HEAL YOU. It may not happen immediately, but just have the faith that He will, and in HIS timing, it will happen. God sees the innermost being of us... He knows our struggles and knows our desires, run to Him with those, and trust that He will carry you through. Don't dwell on what you used to be or what the enemy (who's native tongue is lies) is telling you, cling to who God calls you, "Daughter" or "Son." and hold on to His unfailing love for you. No matter what you think it is, He will forgive you and heal you. Let His promises dwell in your heart. 

i cling to the Rock...

Hear my cry, O God, 

listen to my prayer;

from the end of the earth I call to

You

when my heart is faint.

Lead me to the rock 

that is higher than I,

for You have been my Refuge,

a strong tower against the enemy. 

-Psalm 61:1-3(ESV)

I first read this verse while I was at camp this summer. I was having just a really bad week, and I was stressed out and just not "feeling it." I have held on to this verse ever since then. Because my heart does not just grow faint one time, but usually it gets weary and tired from time to time. And I love that the Lord allows that to happen, call me crazy, but I just think He must have a purpose for it :) 

He could have enabled us with hearts strong as anything and able withstand anything and everything, but He didn't, He made me weak, feeble, frail. Note the key word in the verse above is "when" not if, when, meaning it will come up again and again.  Those are things I hate to admit to myself sometimes. But truth is, I am. I cannot do anything apart from the mercy and sovereignty of the Almighty Father, which makes me so obviously weak. But the good news is, I have, and you have, a merciful Father, that gives us His amazing word, with verses like the one above. "Lead me to the Rock..." mmm such amazing words. but the humbling part is "...that is higher than I." so many times I want to think I have in all in control, and that nothing can ruin or "mess" up this plan, then God comes in and what does He do? He seems to mess up everything I had plan! But He brings me to my knees and reminds me that He is higher than I, He knows far better, and He is in control of my life. Psalm 62:11-12 (ESV) says, "Once God has spoken; twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to You, O Lord, belongs steadfast love..." He has the power to whatever He wants and pleases with my life, all I have to do is trust that His plan is better than anything I can think of, and that He "...who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us." (Eph. 3:20) can surely do it. 

It isn't about me. Plain and simple. I can't even imaging or think of what God has in store for me! But I know with all my heart that His plan will be infinitely greater than what I, a sinful human being, could ever think of. Wouldn't you rather take hold of, and have the Creator of the universe, show you what He has planned for you? I take hold of it with "feeble fingers", and trust that His plan is perfect. 

My soul clings to You;

Your right hand upholds me. 

-Psalm 63:8 

I cry out to God Most High;to God 

who fulfills His purpose 

for me.

-Psalm 57:2

new blog....

Okay. This is my first time trying a blog in a while, so bear with me...here it goes! I hope all of you have had a wonderful week so far! it is almost friday! =)


This week as been long.. and challenging.
   I am listening to "Mercy Seat" from the Travis Cotrell CD, and I teared up, at the part where it says, "I'm running, I'm running, I'm running to the mercy seat." That is me, everyday. I fail the Lord so much in just one day. I picture myself, literally running to the mercy seat of God, and begging for His forgiveness, and amazingly, finding that His forgiveness overflows out of His love and into my life. "His blood will flow freely, it will provide the healing..." amen to that.


   We don't have to get our life straight and ACT like the "perfect child" that we think God needs. No, we come as we are and God takes us in. And with that, we leave what we used to be and embrace who He has called us to be. And I think that is the hardest part for me... I put God in this human perspective, and think that He can't possibly forgive me again. Again Lord? Are You sure? But, Lord, You see me and see what I did, and heard what I said, how come? These questions fill my mind every time I sin, and the enemy loves to remind me (and you) of what we have done in our past and what we did today, and that is when we are blinded by the enemy's lies, because they seem true. We are utterly helpless on our own, and we truly are condemned...without Christ. Those are the key words..."without Christ." And I know that I get caught up in this, but Christ has to tell me "You are forgiven! Don't you remember?" That is why He tells us in His word to remember what He has done! Isaiah 46:9 says,


Remember the former things, those of long ago; 
       I am God, and there is no other; 
       I am God, and there is none like Me.

there. is. no. other. Plainly said, there is absolutely no one like our God. No one else can provide the healing, no one else can save me from my sin, no one can give me life. No one. And with that being in my head, you would think that I would remember that "simple" Truth. But that is where my flesh takes over and thinks that God isn't enough, but that is when I am brought to my knees and reminded the same thing that Paul was reminded, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."(2 Cor. 12:9) Whether I'm having a bad day or the best day ever,God's grace is enough...God, the Creator of the universe, that makes my heart beat, the One that wakes me up in the morning, the only One, provides all sufficient grace...to me...and you. He meets us where we are, no matter what road we are on... He has been there with us every step of the way, and He isn't letting go. Now that is something I can hold on to and let echo in my mind when the enemy tells me who I was. 

"For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." (2 Cor. 15:22)

So if you find yourself questioning God's love, don't. It will leave you doubting even more because we cannot comprehend this amazing love He gives us. Just trust in it and have faith that His word is True. A quote from a book I read a while back said that "God doesn't condemn us, He calls us." Condemnation is only found through the enemy, God offers a great but a challenging call.... "follow Me." He offers us everlasting Life, a love that won't let go no matter what storm comes, and forgiveness that overflows. 

Take Him at His word, He won't disappoint you.