Called to Greatness?

In Isaiah 6:8, the prophet says: “I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

The Lord was calling Isaiah to something great, and before knowing what it was, he stepped up and said, “I’ll do it!”

Thinking of how you pursue God, what might He be calling you to? Whatever the answer, keep in mind that the work you do, isnt about you, or your glory it is about the work of God, His Kingdom, and how He might be glorified through you.

“Jesus answered, "If I were trying to glorify myself, my glory would mean nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.'” -- John 8:84 ISV

“So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”

-- Romans 9:16 NASB

From Him, Through me, to You

I’ve known for quite some time now that one of my spiritual gifts is intercessory prayer. I don’t know why God chooses me to pray for the people He lays on my heart. I just know it happens. I also know there are 2 things I could do with these random urges to pray for people:

     1.  I could drive myself to the brink of insanity trying to figure out why OR

     2.  I could simply enjoy the fun of watching the Holy Sprit urge me into prayer

Like the time I was lead to pray for someone in Tennessee.

It was wing night at a pub; me and my buddy Cliff decided to meet there and chow down a pound or 2 of wings. Earlier in the day, Cliff managed to cross paths with an MRI repairman from California. After some small talk, cliff invited the man to join us and make it a trio. As I got to know the guy, he told me he was sent by an MRI company to tinker with one of their machines at the university.

For some reason, meeting this MRI repairman immediately brought to mind a friend and her husband living in Tennessee. What an odd connection, I thought. Why is an MRI repairman from California reminding me of friends I have in Tennessee? WeIrD!!!

I didn’t understand the connection, but I still prayed for my friend’s husband.

The next day, while talking to them over Facebook, my friend Michelle tells me her husband needs to get an MRI done on his shoulder and asks me to pray that things will go well when he’s at the appointment. A bit shocked, I tell her about what happened at the pub and the Lord’s already got me praying and will have a better prayer time now that know more about their situation.

Recently the editor of my book went to Russia on a short, 6 week mission trip. Prior to her leaving we built a rapport and she shared some details about her going. I told her if the Lord lays it on my heart/mind to pray for her while in the land of borscht I would.

I recall one time The Holy Spirit did so through the mouth of a barista in a Second Cup.

While filling an order for a French Vanilla Latte, the barista makes an interesting observation:

“What’s the deal with French vanilla? Is it any different then regular vanilla? Why does all the fancy stuff have to be named French, what’s wrong with calling it Russian Vanilla?”

The word "Russian" triggered a memory of that promise of prayer support for Jeanette, my book editor. this lead me to prayer on that occasion and many others during her 6 week adventure. The prompting to pray often accompanied her requests for prayer via her blog or Facebook page. As a thank you,  Jeanette sent me a fridge magnet and a picture from the time she spent there with a note saying that my prayers often lifted her spirits during that time.

I responded in an email saying it was a pleasure, and that my prayers are merely a blessing from God, through me, to you; and that He deserves some credit too.

Maybe that’s (in part) the point of a spiritual gift. Whatever the gift may be, prayer, hospitality, an edifying word, it is God’s way of blessing someone through you.

So if your befuddled with the “why me?” question, remember this simple little phrase. It’s a blessing from Him to someone else through you.

You're Not Moses

I am six weeks into my membership with a toast masters club. I have been going since January but have been reluctant to join. When you join you get a couple workbooks; one that teaches you about the leadership roles necessary to run the club smoothly and another is filled with assignments that guide you in formal speech delivery and preparation. Some examples of roles in their leadership manual include a time keeper. Someone to monitor the amount of time you spend speaking to the crowd. Another role is the head toastmaster, or emcee of the evening. Their responsibility is to host the crowd and provide smooth transitions between each portion of the meeting.

The workbook with speech assignments give you tools to become a better public speaker. The first assignment’s goal is to build your confidence in public speaking. It’s also designed to show you how easy it is to find content for your speeches.

I became hesitant to join after looking through the assignment book. My hesitation was due, in part, to the fact that I already know the basics of public speaking. I know that opening with a good hook, or catch phrase captivates your audience and if successful, you have lured them in wanting to know more. With approximately a decade worth of public speaking experience, instead of building on the skills I already have, I was afraid I would be digressing.

I also considered Moses who wasn’t the most eloquent speaker (Exodus 4:10), yet led an entire nation of people in revolt against Egypt’s pharaoh (Exodus 3:7-10)

These are two reasons that slowed my obedience to God in becoming a public speaker. I eventually swallowed my pride, listened to the Lord’s promptings, joined, and as of this past Tuesday, completed my second speech at toastmasters.

I have been obedient in joining a toastmasters meeting, but there are still times I catch myself asking why, if I have experience speaking before crowds, am I at toastmasters, revisiting the basics of speech preparation. Until this week.

Possibly my greatest roadblock to being obedient to God's call of pursing public speaking was knowing that Moses wasn’t the most articulate speaker, yet he was chosen by God to transform Egypt’s prime labor force into a seperate nation. If Moses wasn’t the best with words, why must I go through this training that forces me to revisit and reuse skills I have had for years? The answer came in two parts.

First and (perhaps) foremost, Moses wasn’t the one that spoke to the Israelites. His brother, Aaron, spoke to them for Moses. Comparing myself to Moses was irrelevant. Moses barely spoke to the crowds if at all. This comparison could never disqualify me from having to be part of toastmasters.

The second part of the answer had to do with name sakes. If my life was a carbon copy of Moses’ life, I’d still have to go to toast masters, or at least take part in some formal training for public speaking and relearn the basics. Why? Because I’m not Moses, I am Tim. I’m not some adopted son of a pharaoh living as a sheep herder in the Middle East. My name is Tim and I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  So comparing myself to Moses and insisting I don’t need to climb the ranks as a public speaker is just goofy, because I’M NOT MOSES.

And unless your living in the ancient middle east and share the same name, occupation, and lifestyle of the characters in the bible, perhaps your just like me: you’re not Moses (or any other biblical person for that matter), so don’t be surprised when God calls you to do something that no other biblical character has done, regardless of your likeness to any Biblical Patriarch, because, like me, YOU’RE NOT MOSES!!!

Bringing Faith to Life

The book of genesis tells us that in the beginning the earth was empty. A formless mass; devoid of anything but God and His spirit. And then He spoke.

Day one, “light.”  

Day two, “sky.”

On day 3, “I command the water to separate,” and this reveals the land. Then God speaks seed bearing plants and trees into existence

On Day four, God sets the stars in the skies. Spoken into existence, they are to be a difference maker. Stars and varying kinds of light are to keep night and day separate. Their second purpose is to mark a change in the seasons. Before standard time, people would look to the skies and determine whether it was time to plant crops or to harvest; to grill steaks outdoors or use their oven for the night’s meal. To toss a ball back and forth with your good buds wearing shorts or to light a fire and snuggle with your sweetheart as the snow falls on a chilly winter’s day. Whatever the activity God set the stars in the sky to help us determine the day’s activities.

The next day God said, “The waters need some life in them. I didn’t create them to be desolate and stagnant, but to teem with living creatures. So I shall fill them with fish and other waterfowl. I’ll set some in a random lake and let them reproduce. That way, they will fill the earth and I can enjoy watching them as they populate this planet.” After filling a lake with fish and watching them for a bit, God smiled. His fun continued as he filled the land with livestock and the sky with birds. Thinking about the next days work, day passed into night and soon day 6 began.

On Day 6, God’s creativity culminates with his greatest creation: mankind.

 Genesis 2 provides some detail on exactly how God did it. Genesis 2:7 paints a picture of God in a sandbox saying he took some dust and formed it into a shape of a man. But it didn’t end there. When God was finished shaping his sand-man, he was lifeless until God breathed life into this sand-man. “Now that this man has been brought to life, he needs a purpose. What shall I have him do?” thought God, “I’ll put him in charge of everything I have created! That way he – and those that come after him – won’t wander around aimlessly.” God’s time of creating ended on day 7 with a time of rest.

What captures my attention in this story is the importance of God breathing life into mankind. Prior to that, the inaugural human being had been just like the earth on day zero. Devoid! Or, if I can use a different word here, lifeless or even dead! Genesis says that God’s greatest creation was otherwise dead and lifeless until God breathed life into it. I wonder if the same could be said of a person’s faith. It is dead, lifeless and devoid until God breathes life into it. At least that’s what I find myself learning these days.

There are things that I say I believe but when rubber meets road, living out what I believe becomes a real challenge. I trust God with my life. I am convinced that His plans for me are far better then mine. Yet His timing can frustrate me. Take for example this publishing contest. In May I discovered a free publishing contest for authors. Having written a book but not published it yet, I decided to take a chance and enter the contest.

As far as I know, the manuscript is still floating around their office climbing the ranks and etching its way ever closer to the finish line. But I find myself getting impatient and growing restless with not knowing what’s going on with my manuscript. Daily I fight the urge to pick up where I left off and continue towards self publishing. It’s so tempting and leads to frustration but I continue to wait. As my patience is being tried I find my confidence in God growing. The feeling of trust and confident assurance that comes when you trust a tangible person is welling up within me. As I think about unknown territory my fears and worries for the general future feel more secure. I’m becoming more optimistic. My pessimism is wading away. For this I am thankful.

Survey Says: Prayer is Like Superglue

I thought this was an interesting article and a good follow-up to my last post, as it compliments and reinforces some of the ideas I previously mentioned. The original article can be found here.

Fourteen days -- 336 hours. That's how long Eddie Murphy's latest marriage lasted to film producer, Tracey Edmonds. David Letterman quipped: "They started to drift apart during the ceremony. The legal question now is who gets custody of the cake."

The star-struck couple entered the New Year with a flourish, exchanging vows on a private island off Bora Bora in French Polynesia on Jan. 1. They were the picture of perfection; dapperly dressed, sunshiny smiles and bodacious bodies honed by exercise and diet. Probing paparazzi captured faces aglow with the radiance of love. Or was it merely the beginning of sunstroke? That at least would explain the insane antics that followed.

The marriage headed south faster than a Canadian snowbird in November and they pulled the plug just days into the adventure. Apparently "till death do us part" is translated differently in French Polynesia. Eddie and Tracey discovered what most people instinctively know: enduring marriages require more than picturesque beginnings, fame or even fortune.

Flourishing relationships grow in the greenhouse of commitment, nourished by copious communication and persistent prayer. Traditional wedding vows are meant to usher in delightful devotion to a spouse. Stubborn commitment is pledged: "For better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, and faithful to you alone, till death do us part."

The Bible calls this a covenant and it was never meant to be broken. To sever such a relationship is the equivalent of ripping our tongue off on the playground slide in the middle of a Canadian winter. Not pleasant and downright bloody. No wonder God says He hates divorce. He is the outstanding Father of all time; watching His children experience such pain is nothing less than heart-wrenching.

Commitment can prevent much of that pain, forming the banks in which the marital river freely flows. If commitment forms the banks, then communication is the current. It ensures the relationship retains freshness and vigour, combating the staleness that grows in quiet waters.

Relational silence is not golden -- it is an eerily accurate forecaster of dark storm clouds gathering on the horizon. Wise couples dispel these clouds in three ways:

- They expose secrets. Alcoholics Anonymous suggests that we are as sick as the secrets we keep. Marital secrets need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the light, where they die of exposure. The heart of marriage is meant to be transparent.

- Healthy couples deal with their disagreements. They follow St. Paul's advice and "do not let the sun go down while (they) are still angry." The right time to humble ourselves and ask forgiveness is always the present. An oft forgotten bonus is that making up can be a whole lot of fun.

Perceptive spouses frequently express their love. Spoken sentiment is a gentle breeze refreshing the soul. It is a spring rain watering seeds of love sown deep within. Couples who excel in the language of love need never fear failure.

A 1997 Gallup Poll unearthed a noteworthy nugget of marital insight. It discovered that when a couple consistently prays together its chances of divorce plunges from one-in-three to one-in-1,152.

Wise couples pay attention to such findings. Fools alone discount a practice that increases the odds of success this dramatically.

The poll issues a clarion, if unconventional challenge to all. According to these findings, marriage counsellors should be clambering to arm clients with prayer manuals, couples should be flocking to churches and enterprising employers wishing to maximize employee emotional health should consider initiating prayer workshops.

You don't have to be religious to pray -- just smart. Don't worry about a formula, God appreciates simple sincerity. Try the "sorry, thank you, please" format. Express what you are sorry for. Thank God for the multitude of received blessings, including your spouse. Then discuss requests with the Divine.

Magazines littering the grocery checkout aisles proclaimed the tragedy of the Eddie and Tracey breakup. But the greatest tragedy is unheralded; that two mature individuals have yet to grasp the keys that will unlock an enduring and fulfilling relationship.

Perhaps the one redeeming factor in the entire sordid affair is the opportunity we have to glean and grow from their marital mishap.We can choose to stay true to commitments made. We can open our hearts and mouths, rejecting the lure of silence when communication is desperately needed. Persistent prayer can bind us to the One who is an artesian well of wisdom and an unending source of love.

When we live in such a way we rise above a myriad of gifted individuals who choose a lesser pathway, including two rich but lonely movie moguls who left their hearts in Bora Bora.

Busy Busy Busy

Hey everyone! I know it’s been over a month since I’ve blogged but I have been rather busy this last month.
I attended The Outpouring back in April, and during a “catch up conversation” with my good friend Dallas, he asked about the progress of my book. Telling him I have 1 more devotional to write then I can work on getting it published, he offered to host a book release party for me this fathers day weekend.

Almost immediately after hearing the news about the book release I hit the pavement hard and threw as much energy as I could into having a printed copy in hand in about 2 weeks from now. When the final devotional was finished, I immediately began editing my work. On a side note I HATE editing stuff. Doing so was more tedious then I’m used too, and was way more time consuming then I thought. But doing so turned out to be a good thing as I was able to come up with a title and introduction to the book. I then contacted the Business Development Centre in Ontario regarding the copyright for my book. The money they charged me was nearly unaffordable. But God was good at providing the funds to do so. After a night of praying how I would afford the $160 to get the copyright registered, someone donated the money to me. I now have a silent partner in my venture. Yay for them coming into my life and blessing me with this opportunity.

My book was originally going to be solely an Ebook, but after speaking with a number of people requesting an ACTUAL book – one that they can hold flip pages of and keep on a shelf – it became quite clear that I should look into binding options. My initial meeting with a printing agency didn’t fare too well. They asked me a whole bunch of questions I wasn’t really prepared for. The sales staff hit me with all kinds of questions. I had to choose the kind of paper, its thickness, size, and texture, the font style, etc etc. Whether I wanted a hard or soft cover.

They had various types of binding and a whole list of questions regarding that too. In the end, they did have some books on display that I liked but they couldn’t do it on site. They had a book on demand service they referred me to that can give me a book for a cost of $3-5 each.

Next I had to think of a cover page. I had a few ideas that I initially thought were great but had to scrap. Once I decided on a suitable graphic, I decided the best way to do it would be to design it myself by gathering up the items that would be on the front cover and take a photo. Then I could tinker around with it using Photoshop until I had what I wanted. Amidst preparing to work on the cover page, I ran into an old friend who has a photography studio. I told him what I was doing, and he volunteered to do the cover page photo for me. I was like Praise God because I’m flying by the seat of my pants here.

Then I heard that a publishing company in Winnipeg called Word Alive Press is currently running its annual publishing contest for Christian Authors. The winners get a pretty sweet publishing deal for free. Shortly before this I had been praying about how to get my books onto the bookshelves of stores like Blessings, Chapters and Scott's Parable up near Red Deer Alberta. About this time God had also been teaching me about stepping outside of our comfort zones and the benefits of taking risks. So I decided to postpone my book release party and put everything else on hold to enter this contest. Up until last week I have been running around trying to get things done for my book and/or this publishing contest. I find out in august if I win. But if I don’t, I’ll just pick up where I left off.

Things are finally starting to slow down for me as I’m in the waiting period regarding this contest and I’m glad they have slowed. I’m not quite sure how much longer I could have gone on like that. I also threw my name in the hat to be a bible teacher at a bible camp this July through Rehoboth Christian Ministries. I haven’t heard back from them yet but if you don’t see many posts here in July that may be why. That’s all I wanted to share for now so until next time, be blessed!

Denied

“A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said.” (Mark 1:40) NLT.

As I read this verse a few weeks ago, something struck me. Here the leper asks Jesus to make him clean, but only if He wants to. The following verse tells us that Jesus is willing, so He reaches out His hand touches and heals the man. The Leper is overflowing with joy. He then spreads the word about the great and mighty work that Jesus had done and he’s possibly praising God because of it. But Jesus only healed the man because He was willing to do so. What if the leper asked Jesus to heal him and He said no?

This is a reality I am faced with daily. Born with a disability I find myself echoing the words of the leper. “Jesus, I know that you can heal me, so please take this disability away.” In the face of my plea I wake up each morning with the Lord denying my request; and living life the same as yesterday. Limited in my physical abilities and having to navigate my daily functions with an unwanted challange.

I take comfort knowing that I don’t face this alone. Scripture calms my mood when God refuses to heal my legs; especially these words from the apostle Paul: “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. ” Here, Paul confesses to having a thorn embedded in his flesh. Not wanting to deal with this ailment, he too gives voice to the plea of the leper. “Jesus, if you are willing you can make me clean.” Yet Jesus withholds His healing touch. The leper praised God and spread the news of his healing, but Paul’s testimony tells a different story.

In 2 Corinthians 12:8, Paul tells us that he cried out to God, pleading three times to make his life easier by removing the thorn from his side. The Lord hears his cry and responds by saying no. Paul doesn’t need to be healed. As the thorn remains, God is shown to be bigger then healings and miracles. By keeping the thorn in his flesh, anything Paul does to advance God’s Kingdom is merely God’s Holy Spirit using Paul’s weakness to His advantage.

In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul wrote:

“…God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.”

Yet in his next letter to the Corinthian church, Paul is boasting about his weaknesses. This is an act of God’s grace. The fact that people are praising God in lieu of Paul’s weaknesses gives testimony to God’s power. No one can say that they are the only reason Paul’s ministry is thriving. Paul’s weakness is so debilitating that the ministry would suffer if he didn’t depend on God to give him his daily needs. This is why he boasts in his weaknesses. For when he is weak, God is strong. Without the thorn, Paul would rely on his own strength to see the ministry to survive. Giving him this thorn keeps Paul humbled. By solely relying on God’s strength, He gets all the credit. When someone praises Paul for his success in ministry, all the apostle can do is thank God for being an instrument of God’s grace.

Every day I wake up and realize that God denied my request to walk on my own. Consequently I’m forced to answer this question: what benefit does today’s challenge bring me? Most often the answer is humility and encouragement to those around me. When people see what I go through in a day they are humbled. Putting on socks is an example of little things that most people take for granted. Because of my disability I struggle with this task. Four or five attempts later, those socks are warming my toes. When people watch me do it with a smile, they are blown away. I’m not frustrated or beating myself up because I can’t do it or is so hard. It puts them in a place of humility.

In this example, all I’m doing is putting on a pair of socks. But some people see God in what I do. People see me struggle yet I’m not depressed or getting sad about it. I have joy! I’ve been told on countless occasions people are inspired by the joy in my heart and the smile on my face. Jesus gave me that smile. As I wake each morning, I receive the grace I need to face my challenges head on. Bringing glory to God in the midst of my weakness; praising God for His grace that is sufficient.

Earlier I shared about answering the question: what benefit does today’s challenge bring me? Think about some of your own challenges for a moment. What might some of them be? How might this approach to the challenges you face change your attitude about it? How does it help you see God in the situation?

Trying

I'm not a perfect girl. My hair doesn’t always stay in place I spill things a lot. My friends & I sometimes fight. I sometimes have a broken heart. But when I take a step back I realize how truly amazing life is & through it all God still loves me ♥

My friend Crystal has this posted on her Facebook page, and I love it to bits – no pun intended. It makes me laugh a bit. But it’s also true of life in general. If I had a chance to re-write it for myself this is what it might say:

My mouth gets me into trouble a lot. I speak before I think. Sometimes this happens in unhealthy doses. It rubs people the wrong way and I find myself in hot water. I make mistakes. Sometimes I do what I think is best and end up regretting it a moment later. I Find myself in vulnerable situations asking the question: how is me being here a good thing? All these lead me to a place of prayer. Knowing that I’ve made a mistake I find myself pleading for God to turn things around and make those mistakes into tent pegs that would expand His kingdom.

You might be reading this and wonder why I ask this of God. Like the apostle Paul, I believe that God can turn things around. In Ephesians 3:20, Paul writes that God can do an infinite amount of things to bring about his glory in a situation. The ways in which God does this is so mind boggling, words don’t do it justice. We are left staring blankly like a deer caught in the headlights. Our jaw hits the ground and our tongues roll out as this work unfolds. Humbled, the only words we can muster as a response is WOW! If not that, then some other form of incoherent mumbling finds its way past our lips.

If we believe God can do immeasurably more then we can ask or imagine, why not ask him to do so?

If you were to re-write something like that about yourself, what might it say? Would it sound something like this:

What’s Your M.V.P: Your Most Valuable Possession?

Last week was the release of James Cameron’s newest box office hit Avatar: The Extended Edition. In preparation for the event, my church decided to have a movie night dedicated to the film. We would watch the movie then have a discussion based on some of the biblical themes drawn from the film. The film itself is stunning with special effects and graphics that had me struggling to keep my chin off the floor the first time I saw it. Aside from the special effects, one of the central themes to the movie is the story of Sam Worthington’s character, Jake Sully.

One of the first things we learn about Jake is that he’s a paralytic marine. But Jake’s paralysis doesn’t disqualify him from active duty. His heart and determination are displayed by his desire to keep pace with his fellow marines, despite his lack of mobility.

Shortly after his arrival to the army base, Jake learns his paralysis may only be a temporary thing. In a private meeting with his commander, the resilient soldier learns he could undergo a procedure to regain the use of his legs. All Jake has to do is obey the Colonel’s orders, and in return the Colonel will pull the strings to make sure Jake receives full use of his legs once again.

This proves to be a source of struggle for Jake once he starts using his Avatar body. Introduced to the Na’vi people as a fellow warrior, Jake learns how the Na’vi people live. Throughout the movie, we see him learning essential skills like how to hunt and kill his prey. He becomes a skilled archer, learns how to mount a horse and tame a wild Pterodactyl-like creature. On this learning curve, Jake learns about Eywa – The deity and life source for all things on Pandora. Eywa is the one thing from which all living things originated; and the ultimate goal of the Na’vi is to become one with Eywa. Increasingly attuned to the life of the Na’vi, Jake is strangely attracted to this harmonious lifestyle. He soon finds himself torn between the Colonel’s promise and becoming one with Eywa. This resonates with the apostle Paul.

Before meeting Jesus, Paul was one of the Pharisees; a religious group in the New Testament that meticulously followed all of the Jewish laws in addition to a series of their own laws. Because he was a Pharisee, Paul took great pride in the things that made him a Pharisee. Things like being circumcised as a child. Having been born with a lineage that traces back to the Tribe of Benjamin gave him s sense of entitlement that others did not have. And in Phil 3:6 he says he was the strictest Pharisee ever known. That is, until he met Christ. After his encounter with Jesus (see Acts 9:1-19), he writes in Philippians 3:8 that all he once held dear is now considered worthless. Nothing can compare to knowing Christ. Now, Paul’s top priority is seeking unity with the father and becoming one with Christ.

In the beginning of Avatar we learn Jake longs to regain the use of his legs. As the movie progresses, we see that Jake desires change. Like the apostle Paul, Jake now craves the life he lives on Pandora and yearns to become one with Eywa. Consequently Jake begins to question the true value and worth of his mobility.

I’m not going to spoil the movie for you by telling you how it ends. But I wonder how many of us are like Paul, hanging on to something we ought to give up. How many of us have an MVP; a Most Valuable Possession? Paul’s Most Valuable Possession was his identity. These are things that made him a Jew; his circumcision, his heritage and reputation as the most devout Pharisee around. When he met Jesus, Paul was told to give it all up and follow Christ; to become one with Christ and seek unity with the Heavenly Father.

Are we any different? How many of us have MVP’s? What might be an example of a most valuable possession today? Think about your own life. Is there something you consider to be an MVP? If someone asked you to give it up, could you? Would you?

Abundant Freedom

Empty abandoned and alone. Gripped with shame you cry out to God seeking answers. How could someone rob you of your innocence then disregard you so easily? Angry and rebellious you lash out turning to fear. By instilling fear into people’s lives, you discover you can control the chaos around you. manipulation and deceit become your drug. Armed with half truths and unfulfilled promises, you greet people with a smile and sophistication; knowing deep down those little white lies bring you comfort. They feed your need for pain and disappointment, the only two things you’ve ever known.

You cry out but you’re hesitant. The only reference you have of God is one Sunday School class you attended as a cild. From that you learn that God is a loving father and he cares about those he loves. For an understanding of a loving father, you consider your own dad. Drunk and full of rage, he’s the reason you spent your childhood cowering in fear. Failing grades, fights and expulsions from school happened regularly and without consequence.

This gave birth to trouble as a teen and ultimately led you down the path your currently on. Because of a difficult past, the idea of appealing to a God with the likeness of your own father is extremely intimidating. But that doesn’t matter anymore; the weight of your shame is just too much. In a desperate plea you cry out to this loving God expecting to cower in fear once again.

In The Message, Eugene Peterson writes: “Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free!” (Eph. 1:7) Free! Did you hear that!?!? Jesus doesn’t just give us access to the heavenly father, He makes us free, and not just barely free – abundantly free!!! Free from the hurt and pain brought on by our drunk and enraged parents. Emptiness and abandonment disappear.

Instead of feeling lonely, we are welcomed into a community where we don’t need to hide behind our fake smiles and white lies. Hebrews 4:14-16 tells us that God is not far away in another universe minding his own business, as we conduct life on earth. Instead he sympathizes with our weaknesses. *In addition to creating the heavens and the earth, He was tempted with sin just like the rest of us. Because of this we can approach God with boldness and confidence.

The bible tells us that God isn’t concerned about a person’s outward appearance. He cares more about the condition of a person’s heart. So let me ask you how is your heart today? If you had a face to face encounter with God tonight, would you meet him with a smile on your face, knowing you have nothing to hide? Or would you find the nearest crawl space then respond to the Lord’s requests? If you find yourself playing hide and seek with the Lord, then I would encourage you to spend sometime in prayer asking the Lord to give you a good cleaning. If you want to talk to God about setting some things straight but find prayer intimidating, just use the words to the song below as a guide.

Create in me a Clean Heart

Create in me a clean heart oh God

And renew a right spirit within me

Create in me a clean heart oh God

And renew a right spirit within me

Cast me not away

From your presence oh Lord

Take not your Holy Spirit from me

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation

And renew a right spirit within me

Satan's plan?

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. - Jesus Christ

HHHMMMM.......

Chains of Glory

My best friend and I are living proof that opposites attract. He’s tall, I’m short. He’s skinny and I’m not. He’s quick and impatient but I’m slow and take my time. Our differences couldn’t have been more obvious then this past weekend. We spent an afternoon together hanging out in his basement suite. Around dinner time he suggested we head to a nearby burger joint to satisfy our hunger. He told me it was within walking distance and would only take a few minutes to get there. So I grabbed my crutches and away we went. A block and a half into our journey, I’m sweating up a storm but going as fast as I can. My best friend is resting half a block away waiting for me to catch up.

What was a 5 minute walk for my friend ended up taking about a half hour! The walk was quite a challenge for me and when I got there I was dehydrated and in desperate need of a drink. In a few days I was scheduled to do a 10KM road race so I treated the walk as training for the upcoming event. It wasn’t until our journey back that my friend starts to realize just how challenging this trek for burgers is for me.

It starts settling in that he has a much easier time getting around then his little friend on crutches. After seeing the workout I’m getting from a proverbial “run to the store,” he starts running on the spot. By doing this, he figures he can get the same effect I am. That day he had a lesson in humility and a lot more to be thankful for when he went to bed.

When people first see that I have a disability, they have an automatic inclination to find out what happened. I usually tell people I was born with a disability and wouldn’t have it any other way. Life with disability is all I know. Unlike someone who ends up paralyzed after birth, I have nothing to compare it too so I don’t wake up wishing I could walk again.

Viewing a disability as good is not a universal stance. Being in a wheelchair 24 hours a day is a source of pain for many. I once met a girl in a wheelchair who wants to be a scientist so she can find a cure for her disability. Doing so will free her from the prison that is her disability. Even though I consider it a joy to be in a wheelchair, there are some days I agree. Because of my disability, I am in prison. During those times, I’ve found comfort from the apostle Paul:

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. Philippians 1:12-14 NIV

Paul writes this while he is in prison awaiting trial in Rome. “He had been allowed to arrange private lodging for himself; but night and day in that private lodging there was a soldier to guard him…” some in the church might view his imprisonment as a bad thing, so he writes this to let them know exactly the opposite has happened. Whenever Paul had a visitor, he would preach to them about Christ. Because a guard had to be with him at all times, it meant the guard’s duty was to watch and, consequently, listen to everything Paul was saying. This happened on and off over a two year period. During that time it became abundantly clear to everyone that Paul had a relationship with Christ. In Paul’s eyes this was how the Lord was advancing the gospel.

Paul’s prison term had another advantage. “…because of Paul's imprisonment in Rome many people had heard the gospel who would not otherwise have heard it.” Acts 28:17-30 tells us who these people are. Unbelieving Jews and Gentiles were among those Paul preached to. Other Christians were also encouraged by Paul’s boldness in sharing his testimony. This is how Paul can praise God for such dark circumstances.

I am no stranger to being an encouragement to people. One time it happened while I was at a conference in a local church. Sessions were held all over the place. Some were in the basement while others were held atop numerous flights of stairs. Stairs are not an issue for me, so I was a trooper and climbed them as necessary. At the beginning of the second day, I ended up chatting with a gentleman who attended the conference while staying at a homeless shelter. He told me he was hesitant in coming the night before; until he seen me going up and down those stairs on crutches still smiling. He went home that night and thought about what he’d seen. Considering the joy in the midst of the struggles I had, he decided to return for the rest of the conference hearing the Gospel of Christ he might otherwise have not been exposed too.

In 2 Corinthians 12, we learn that Gods power is made perfect in weakness. In sharing his weakness with the Corinthians (2 Cor. 12:7-10), Paul tells them having the weakness keeps him humble. Any good that he accomplishes doesn’t come from any merit of his own. It is God being gracious to him and using him in the moment. Sometimes God does that with us.

He gives us a weakness to keep us humble. Anytime people see something good come out of it, we are shocked. How such good can come out of our seemingly dark circumstances? It is because God is using us in ways that at the end of the night when our head hits the pillow all we can say is “praise God!”

What are your weaknesses? How might God be using them to open doors to share what Christ is doing in your life?

Beware The Pharisees, Not Every Miracle Is Given

This past Sunday I turned on the TV and decided to take in one of the many televangelists that take the airways each Sunday. Being a stranger to early morning TV, I decided to check out Reinhard Bonnke’s program. Like most televangelists, Bonnke shows up on the screen and encourages people to call his toll free 24/7 prayer line. With the number scrolling along the bottom of the screen he tells people if they’ve been asking for a miracle they are to call and receive their miracle today.

This may be true. You could call his prayer lines, talk with the person on the other end, pray for a miracle and receive it. But there’s a danger in this line of thinking. Not everyone who asked Jesus for a miracle received one. Consider Mark 8:11-12

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had arrived, they came and started to argue with him. Testing him, they demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority. When he heard this, he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, I will not give this generation any such sign.”

If you read Mark 8:1-10, you’ll see that Jesus just fed 4000 people with a few loaves of bread and a couple fish. Jesus performed miracles prior to this mass feeding that confirmed his claims and authority as the Son of God. After witnessing these miracles the Pharisees still had unbelief in validity of Christ’s claims. They do not need another miracle; they have plenty of evidences to decide whether or not there is any integrity in Jesus being the Son of God. So he tells them no and walks off with his disciples.

Jesus then warns his disciples about the Pharisees. This is because the Pharisees belief in God was so futile. They demand strict obedience to Jewish law yet when they are under fire, will abandon God entirely. So am I saying that Reinhard Bonnke is a Pharisee, false prophet, or someone who can’t be trusted with the Gospel of Christ? I honestly don’t know my only exposure to him is a half hour TV program one Sunday morning… but that’s the impression I get. So I’m more likely to say yes, but I am a human who isn’t perfect and could be wrong. Reinhard Bonnke as a pharisaical false prophet is a decision all your own.

Fug-ge-da-bo-dit

In his letter to the church at Philippi the Apostle Paul writes:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus

Philippians 3:12-14

One thing that strikes me is what Paul’s realness in this confession. Paul “gets” something and strives toward one thing I often fall short of. Forgetting the past and moving on! I never claim to be a Curt Henning (that’s Mr. Perfect for those non wrestling fans out there.), I often will be the first one to admit that I have faults and screw up on things from time to time – you just don’t hear about them. I have a hard time forgetting about them.

Probably one of the hardest things to do after one stumbles in their relationship with God is to get back on the horse. Pick yourself up out of the muck and mire you’ve gotten yourself into, and keep on trucking. Sometimes this is easy for me to do. But there are other times I wallow for a day or two, throw myself a pity party and just sulk. It’s not that I don’t know that once God forgives me, my dirty past is now water under the bridge. It’s just one of those times I wish we had no memory.

With that said, I’m left wondering a few things. Why is it so hard to ask God to forgive you, then as a New Yorker might say – Fug-ge-da-bo-dit? Sunday afternoon, I attended an H2O session at Erik and Bonnie’s place. During the session Kyle, the guy on the video, mentioned how the church is supposed to be like a stream of clean water. Everyone is invited to come and drink from this stream. But because of its marred past, this pure stream has become polluted. I wonder if our ability to Fug-ge-da-bo-dit and keep on going, adds to the bad rep the church has built up over the years.

Thoughts comments or suggestions anyone?

Dirty Laundry

Hand washing dirty laundry is not an easy task. In some countries people carry their laundry down to the river and spend most of the day getting their clothes clean. For those of us who have the luxury of washing machines, this might be tough to imagine. But for a moment, I want you to imagine what it would be like if you did have to take your clothes to a river each day. Sifting through your dirty laundry you find the sweaty t-shirt you wore on a hot summer day. Thinking it should be easy; you decide to clean that one first. Having success you gain some confidence and decide to tackle your pair of khakis. The ones with that spaghetti stain after the waiter dropped the plate at last night’s dinner date.

Grabbing them from your laundry basket you squirt on some liquid soap and start rubbing them together. It works! The little bits of onion that have glued themselves to the fabric are now coming off. All that’s left is the red stain left by the tomato sauce. With some enthusiasm you keep on rubbing. A couple minutes pass and all it’s doing is making the spaghetti stain bigger. Being persistent you grab your grandmother’s old washboard hoping it will help. Ten minutes pass and all that remains of last night’s spaghetti stain is a weird color scheme of pink and beige on the thigh of your light brown khakis. Now frustrated, you bring out your instant stain remover; soak them in some water and hang to dry; vowing never to do that again. There’s a great parallel with this story in the psalms I want to share with you today.

The psalms are a collection of prayers by God’s people alive during the time of the Old Testament. Some psalms are written as praise to God – either for his awesomeness, or for interceding at the right time. Some of these prayers are God’s people in their rawest moments venting out their frustrations and revealing their brute honesty. Then there are psalms written after God has exposed a person’s sin, leaving them feeling guilty, bearing the stains that sin leaves behind. And they long to be clean. The scripture used today comes from one of those psalms.

Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean,

scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life.

Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,

set these once-broken bones to dancing.

Don't look too close for blemishes,

give me a clean bill of health.

God, make a fresh start in me,

shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.

Don't throw me out with the trash,

or fail to breathe holiness in me.

Bring me back from gray exile,

put a fresh wind in my sails!

Give me a job teaching rebels your ways

so the lost can find their way home.

Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,

and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.

Unbutton my lips, dear God;

I'll let loose with your praise.

Psalm 51:7-15

(The Message)

Israel’s King David wrote this psalm shortly after the Lord exposed him as an adulterer who got Bathsheba pregnant. He attempted to cover it up, and then created a conspiracy to have her husband killed (2 Samuel 11). After being confronted about his conspiracy he writes psalm 51 as a prayer of repentance for sleeping with Bathsheba.

When reading this psalm it’s clear to see that David longs to be forgiven and to be free from the consequences of his actions (2 Sam 12:13-14). His longing to be clean can again be seen in David’s request to be scrubbed clean and not thrown out with the trash. When David asks God to scrub him clean, the actual word he uses suggests that David needed to vomit out of his body whatever sin was dwelling within him that was displeasing to God. David’s hope is that his life will be transformed, and he will teach people about God’s ways instead of breaking God’s law.

Everyone that wants to follow God faces an internal war. This internal tug of war is a struggle with our human nature that seeks to satisfy our most sinful impulses and desires. Greed, jealousy, racism, sexism, violence, sexual exploitation, and chauvinism are all examples of the impulses we struggle with when it comes to pleasing the Lord. These are also areas in our lives the devil tries to use to pull us away from God.

The bible tells us to resist the devil and he will leave us be (James 4:7). But how does someone do that? I have spent the last few weeks wrestling with this issue in an attempt to provide an answer, and I’m still left wondering. Perhaps you can provide one that applies to your own “stain of sin”. With that said, let me provide you with the following scripture verses to stimulate your thinking:

Eph 4:17-24
Eph 6:10-18

if you have any thoughts or comments regarding this, please feel free to share, Tim bits

My Wonderwall

At the moment, I’m sitting in front of my computer piecing together another devotional for my eventual book. This particular piece involves an interaction with Paul’s words on the armor of God in Ephesians 6. Verse 12 in particular is jumping off the page at me and causing my mind’s wheels to turn and get me thinking. It reads from the NIV like this:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

It's not so much the actual scripture itself that’s got the gears grinding in my head, as a commentary I’m reading about Paul’s words. Allan Turner writes:

…Behind the physical confrontations we experience with our fellow human beings, there are unseen spiritual hosts of evil at work. There is an ongoing confrontation between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness… This battle is unseen but real.

I’ll get into discussions with people... those types of people can range from professing Christians, those curious about the bible, and those who outright oppose anything to do with Christianity. Some are dealt with peacefully. Other times, we both walk away with questions and curiosities to ponder until a later date, when the discussion continues. Then there are times when our confrontations become heated shouting matches. And the only real solution is for someone to referee the situation, tell the both of us to go to our corners of the ring, take off our gloves and call it a night.

Countless times I walk away from those heated arguments confused, angry, and wondering if my actions were that of a light on a hill, or an outrageous beast looking for a fight. Early on in my relationship with the Lord, I’ve known about this spiritual battle the bible speaks of. Even then I’ve always wondered why these heated arguments occur. Is it a case of right and wrong, and those of us involved are too stubborn to see the err of our ways? In my experience, sometimes that’s true. Or is it an angel and a demon locked inside a steel cage, with the gloves on, dueling it out until one wins by knock out or submission? This is a question I’ve always had ever since that first heated argument, and one I continually seek an answer for. Maybe this will be one of those questions only God has the answer too and I'll only get the answer too when I get there. Until then i'll be echoing the words of Liam Gallagher when he sang this from Wonderwall

And all the roads we have to walk along are winding

And all the lights that lead us there are blinding

There are many things that I would

Like to say to you

I don't know how

Thoughts, opinions, or suggestions anyone?

A Word About Salt

Jesus once said that we are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men This verse is often preached on by pastors and it’s usually coupled with the following verses talking about light. (Matt 5:13-16)

Over the years I’ve heard preachers say that salt is used as a metaphor for the people of the church. Depending on the preacher, the people in the church represent a myriad of things in reference to salt. Some say salt was used as a substitute to the refrigerator, as salt acts as a preservative, and coincidently God’s people are to act as a preservative “for the Lord” … what that looks like I’m not sure, (but if you’d like to discuss the possibilities of what “preserving things for the Lord” looks like, I’m more then willing to do so). Then there are others who (I’m guessing here) – like to cook – and talk about how salt is used in cooking as a flavor additive, then launch into ways on how the church ought to be a flavor additive in their lives, influencing the people around them etc etc,

Being an aspiring chef (among other things), and knowing a thing or two about cooking, I’d like to challenge the adding flavor metaphor. Occasionally I get creative and experiment with new dishes, or I take an old favorite and change some of the ingredients giving it a different flavor. I’ve found there’s a few times I experiment and I add too much salt. To counterbalance some of the saltiness in my dish, I add sugar. And it works =) I’m no scientist so I can’t explain what happens when I add sugar to it, nor am I a professionally trained chef (I’m just another Rachael Ray lol) I just know it works.

With that said, my question is this: If the church is to be a flavor additive, adding a little metaphorical salt to those around us… what should/could be done when someone opposing our beliefs comes along, adding some sugar and cancelling the flavor we – as salt – have added to the dish? Hmmmmm …......

Reflections On Scripture

Ever wonder what it would be like to live the bible? By that I mean have you ever wondered what it would have been like to actually be one of the characters in the bible. This happened to me recently. A number of weeks ago, I was reading the book of Job while working on one of my devotionals and I came across this:

Do you know how God controls the storm
and causes the lightning to flash from his clouds?
Do you understand how he moves the clouds
with wonderful perfection and skill?
JOB 37:15-16

After reading the questions I immediately thought, “Yes I do! I can explain what causes lightning! I learned that in science class. It has to do with the build up of positive and negative charges in the air during a thunder storm. The electrical potential, between these positive and negative charges eventually grows strong enough to overcome the air's resistance to electrical flow. Racing toward each other, the charges connect, completing an electrical circuit, and discharging the accumulated electricity as lightning."

I would continue by saying, "As far as the clouds go God, I can appeal yet again to science. Science tells me that clouds are formed when water vapor in the air is cooled and condenses as part of the water cycle. Clouds consist of billions of tiny water droplets (and even ice crystals) floating in the sky and appear in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on how and where they formed. Clouds are moved along by wind, which is caused by a process of air cooling and heating.”

Now I’m not about to launch into some long drawn out debate over the existence of God, nor am I here to “convert” you. To that effect I will simply say I unequivocally believe God exists, know He is a significant part of my life, and wants to be a significant part of your life too. But that’s a decision you need to make. I also believe if you’re reading this, your old enough or at least have the maturity to come to your own conclusion about whom, or what God is.

Anyways, I’m getting off topic…

After launching into these thoughts regarding lightning and the formation of clouds, I imagined myself in Job’s shoes and wondered what my buddies response would be if I shot back with that comment… would it change the following remarks in the Old Testament wisdom/poetic work? What about God’s response to Job in chapter 38 and following… would it be the same or different, complimenting Job’s knowledge of cloud formations and flashes of lightning?

What If: In The Steps Of A First Century Disciple

With it being easter weekend, i thought it would be appropriate to share one of my newest devotionals on the night of Jesus betrayal...So please enjoy one of my devotionals titled What If: In The Steps Of A First Century Disciple I hope it inspires you, Tim bits


What if…

• You discovered a new island, what would you name it and why?
• A classmate asked you for the answer to a question during an exam while the teacher was not looking? Would you give them the answer?
• You were in the bank and somebody started to hold up the bank, what would you do? How would you react?
• You had only 48 hours to live, what would you do?

Jesus told them, “Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say, ‘God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.” Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” “No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same.

MATT 26:31-35 NLT

After having a feast with his disciples, Jesus takes them on a walk to the Mount of Olives. Along the way, Jesus tells them he will be captured by the end of the night. The disciples will then run away in fear, and deny any association with Christ. Shocked by this news, Peter pledges to die with Jesus if he has too; and he proves his readiness to die by drawing a sword and hacking off someone’s ear when confronted by the mob that would take Jesus away (John 18:10). Unfortunately for Peter, Jesus was right. Peter denied ever knowing Jesus and ran like the dickens when the rubber met the road. (Matt 26:69-75).

Perhaps you’ve read the same story agreeing with Peter. If you heard Jesus say he was going to be arrested and abandoned by his closest friends, you would promise to die with Him too. Only this time it would be different. You would confirm your alliance with Christ, stand your ground and not run like the coward Peter was at that moment.

The Gospel of Luke says Jesus came to fulfill everything that the Old Testament ever spoke of concerning a coming Messiah or Savior (Luke 24:44). The first century Jews were looking for a Savior that the Old Testament referred to, and Matthew wrote his gospel to show the Israelites that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah the Old Testament spoke of. So when Matthew wrote his Gospel, he mentioned things in Jesus’ life that matched the Old Testament prophecies which spoke of a coming Messiah or Savior. The disciples scattering at the time of Jesus’ arrest is a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy proving Jesus to be the chosen one. The disciples abandoning Jesus was one of these fulfilled prophecies. So the likelihood of everyone deserting Jesus at this time is not only definite but certain.

I don’t know what your relationship with God is like today, but maybe this story is tugging at your heart. Maybe you find yourself in the same situation as Peter; feeling remorse for a stupid decision you made recently. If you do, let me say all hope is not lost. Three days after his crucifixion, Jesus rises from the dead and has a heart to heart talk with Peter during breakfast by the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-17). After this, Peter’s hope was restored and his faith rekindled. Despite his many mistakes as a disciple, Peter became a great leader in the church. He even became a contributing author to the New Testament as he wrote 1 and 2 Peter. Being restored that morning near the Sea of Galilee, Peter had no idea how God was going to bless his life. All it took was a heart to heart conversation with Jesus. If you find yourself needing the same thing as Peter did, be encouraged to know that Jesus is waiting to hear from you.

Here I am waiting

Abide in me I pray

Here I am longing

For You

Hide me in Your love

Bring me to my knees

May I know Jesus

More and more

Come live in me

All my life

Take over

Come breathe in me

I will rise

On eagle's wings

Breathe On 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.' "