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 ! 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. Ezekiel 37:3-4, 7-10 NLT
When my pastor shared this passage a few weeks ago, my spirit stirred with anticipation. Dead bones coming alive and creating a great army; that would be an amazing thing to witness.
This passage has been a catalyst in the dreams God has placed in my heart since the story came alive to me over ten years ago. This day, my pastor was encouraging those who were feeling dry that God could breathe fresh life into them. I know that these dry bones were Israelites that had died. I know Israelites were God’s chosen people.
I truly believe God will bring dead bones back to life again. However, when I read this scripture I don’t read it in the context of believers who are feeling dry going through the motions or even backsliding. To quote Haley Joel Osment from the movie The Sixth Sense, “I see dead people.” I see people who are spiritually dead, but who were once alive. It is not the lost, but those who once knew the way but have turned away from God.
People who have given in to the culture around us and compromised the gospel so much that it is no longer the truth. People whose belief system is so contorted that they are no longer serving God, even though they may be sitting in a church religiously. I see people walking around without purpose in their soul. It breaks my heart, as I know it breaks God’s heart.
When I read these scriptures, I see a great awakening as The Church rises up to be the active body of Christ. I see life being breathed back into the dead bones in this region. I see The Church speaking life into the dead bones. I see The Church rising up to fulfill our individual and collective roles as God called us to. I see God joining individual parts of the The Church working in unity instead of broken and divided.
I see an army rising up to push back the gates of hell and take back what has been readily handed to the enemy- our marriages, our children, our families, our schools and even our churches. I see God’s Holy Spirit filling this region, state, and nation as the Spirit that lives inside of every believer is allowed free rule and reign as God intended. I see a move of the Spirit that would rival the Day of Pentacost.
And I see a ministry birthed out of God’s desire to meet the tangible needs of others. I see a battle taking place where God’s people stop settling for political correctness but in love and compassion reach out to the hurting world around us. I see the collective body of Christ meeting the needs of the poor, widows, orphans, captives, prisoners, hurting, broken and lost. This vision of the dry bones burns deep within my soul, as I know God wants to breath life into dead bones again.
Words have power, whether they are spoken to a person or just about them – they bring life or death. Men need our encouragement and if we are only focused on their faults and shortcomings, that will be harder to give genuinely. One day I had listened to enough of the husband bashing and asked the wives to share something they appreciated about their spouse. As they shared the positive, one would think they were talking about a completely different person than the man they had just been talking about.
It is easy to forget about the war going on around us. 
We have to realize that heat burns up what doesn’t belong. It might be painful, but getting out the impurities is for our benefit. Letting God burn off pride is a painful process, but scriptures remind Pride goes before destruction (
I have no idea what made me think of this as I was driving home from work. Yet, I immediately thought, “we do the same thing with the Gospel.” We add things to it and act like it should still have the impact on our soul that it would if we just applied the Word as written. We want to add our justification on the parts that we struggle with, and still expect the refreshing blessing of God to fall.
I was visiting with some ladies the other day about marriage. God has remodeled my marriage. Most people can not believe the amount that my husband and I have weathered and that we are truly happy and in love after everything we have put each other through. Our story can inspire most that there is hope for a better relationship.
When I was running, those who tried to speak life into my marriage, I kept at arm’s length. I remember sitting before my pastor with my husband at my side telling them both, I had no desire to be there and work towards reconciliation. I was done. I went, but begrudgingly and out of “religious duty” not desire. I was mourning what I was loosing, but I wasn’t willing to look at the impact on my children or the effort my husband was putting forth in trying to change.