Live!

As I prayed this morning and started to think about what to read today, I felt drawn to the book of Ezekiel, the thirty-seventh chapter.
• I read through verses five through nine where Ezekiel spoke to the dry bones and they arose.
• I read the words from the Lord where He talked about the dry bones and their desperate cry, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ (Ez. 37:11)
• Then I read about His promises, “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves … Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it”, says the LORD.' (Ez. 37:12-14)

AND IT GOT ME THINKING

I started to think about those miners, thirty-three men, who were rescued yesterday. And in an instant, their situation made me think of the condition of many individuals today. Although these men were not in a true grave - because they were not dead - it was a grave of sorts. They were buried alive within the earth. They were living, but in a dark space of confinement. They were being fed, but they were still contained.

Yet they were delivered from that grave – brought back from the pit, up and out into the light – the transition so significant that they needed shades to protect their eyes from the brightness.

Thirty-Three Men, Sixty-Nine Days

I went on to read Psalm 102

‘Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come to You. Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; incline Your ear to me in the day that I call, answer me speedily.’ (Ps. 102:1-2)

I could hear the voice of the afflicted - what those men might have cried out, sitting underground as hours turned to days, then weeks, then months; what many believers may be crying out as they face extreme situations, feeling dryness in their spirit

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY –

I could hear the cries of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the psalmist recorded his plight of:
Extreme physical pain (vs. 3)
Extreme loneliness (vs. 6-7)
Reproach from enemies (vs. 8)
Suffering indignation and wrath (vs. 10)

OUR SUFFERING SAVIOR WAS PRESENT IN PSALM 102

Yet, with all the suffering, there again was A PROMISE

‘This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD. For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven the LORD viewed the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to release those appointed to death.’ (Ps. 120:18-20)

AMAZING!

He hears the groans of those held captive – of those who have been appointed to death – but who He has commanded to live.

And here is the beautiful thing:
God does not just deliver those in lost physical situations who need to be saved and find a way out. He redeems those who are spiritually lost in sin and need to be saved unto eternal life. And, He lovingly revives and rescues those who are saved and have lost their way.

So I return to where I started in the book of Ezekiel,
And I speak to the people of God today –

To those who are ‘called to salvation’ but have not received that call:
I say ‘Live!’ Recognize that the voice of the Lord is calling out to you today. He has already paid the price for your sins and mine. And He longs to rescue you from your appointment with death. Answer the call and ask Jesus to come into your life. Be redeemed from the grave, drawn out from a dark place and into the marvelous light of relationship with God. (Jn. 3:16-17, Jn. 12:46)

To those who are ‘the called’, who have already received salvation:
I boldly declare the Word of the Lord and say to you also today, ‘Live!’

Upon the Word of the Lord and the sacrifice of Jesus, I decree that you do not have to remain entombed in the dark place of spiritual dryness where the storms of life have trapped you. (Lk. 4:18)

Just as those bones in the valley were clothed with sinews and flesh and skin –May you recognize that the Lord God Almighty has robed you in the righteousness of Christ (II Cor. 5:21)

As the prophet spoke to the winds for breath of life – May the Holy Spirit breathe into you a fresh anointing and newness of life today (Acts 2:2-4; Ps. 92:10, 12-15)

And, having been rescued, may we arise, a vast and exceedingly great army – Abounding in Love, Led by Wisdom, Filled with Power and Enabled by Grace!

God Bless You!