Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace in these days of opportunity.
I think of you often and lift you up before God asking that He will grant you all those things He has promised. And I am confident that He will do so.
God Himself has said,
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there
without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower
and bread to the eater;
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire, And
without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it”
(Isaiah 55:10-11 NASB).
The word of God is amazing. Nothing stops it. It always accomplishes what God desires. And, so, when we hear the promises of God, we can be utterly confident—knowing that His promises will be carried out. The very fact that God has uttered them ensures their completion.
God’s word brings life! In the beginning, He spoke and all that we know—seas and earth and skies, fish and cattle and birds—sprang into being.
God’s word brings life!
One of the clearest demonstrations of this is in the “Valley of Dry Bones” described in Ezekiel 37. Here, God’s spirit brings Ezekiel to a valley strewn with bones. These were not just any bones, these were bones that had been laying in the sun long enough to have had the flesh stripped away and the moisture removed.
God asked Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?”
And Ezekiel, knowing the power of God and yet not presuming upon the action of God, gave the only answer He could: “O Lord God, You Know!”
And here, we see another amazing image of God’s powerful word springing into action:
[God said,]
“Prophesy over these bones and
say to them,
‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.’
Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones,
‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you
that you may come to life.
I will put sinews on you,
make flesh grow back on you,
cover you with skin and
put breath in you
that you may come alive;
and you will know that I am the LORD.’ ” (37:4-6 NASB)
Can you imagine being called to prophesy to dried and scattered bones? I can’t quite imagine what I’d feel or what I’d expect. We don’t know what Ezekiel felt, but we do know that he obeyed:
So I prophesied as I was commanded;
and as I prophesied,
there was a noise, and behold,
a rattling;
and the bones came together,
bone to its bone.
And I looked, and behold,
sinews were on them, and
flesh grew 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 the breath,
‘Thus says the Lord GOD,
“Come from the four winds, O breath,
and breathe on these slain,
that they come to life.” ’ ”
So I prophesied as He commanded me,
and the breath came into them,
and they came to life
and stood on their feet,
an exceedingly great army. (37:7-10)
God’s word brings life!
Having given Ezekiel that experience, that image of the powerful word of God bringing life to long-dead bones, God gave Ezekiel a message of hope for Israel—a promise of presence, of restoration, of life.
And, we who have heard the call of God in Christ Jesus are already living in His promised life. He has saved us to be His people, people already actively participating in His kingdom.
God has given us life and purpose. He has promised to keep us.
There is more to come. Life will get better with the return of Christ and the miraculous transformation of our bodies. But for now, we are promised that regardless of the circumstance, we are His and in His hand. There is no better place to be.
His word has brought and is bringing us life!
In Christ,
Andrew
