"God led me back among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. God asked me, "Son of Man, can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign Lord, You alone know." The God said to me, "Phophesy 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."
Throughout this text, you can feel the depth of desperation of Childern of Israel. How needy they are, how incredibly anxious they are, and how heartfelt their need to feel connected to God, to their homeland and even to one another.
Ezekiel has to be suspect or anything coming of prophesying, but God will not take no for an answer!
We know those bones! How many times have we hit the very depths of despair, questioning if God is hearing us in our cries, and sometimes questioning even if there is a God at all!
However, God says, "You shall live." "I will be your God, and you will be My people."
Questions and more questions, doubting even our doubts! We have all worn those shoes, as we have trudged on the valley floors of life. How easy it is to forget the mountain tops where we have met God and KNEW that God is a God of love. God is a God of answers. And if God is big enough for my answers, then God is surely big enough for my questions...
I would like to share with you my favorite piece that was written to me on the back of a phone message pad that I have carried in my Bible for over 30 years now. It was given to be by a friend when I had a lot more doubts than answers, and my life felt like dust. It is a piece that I go back to time and again when I am struggling win my faith.
"Be patient toward all that is unresolved in your heart... Try to love the questions themselves, Do not seek the answers, which cannot be given, Because you would not be able to live them, And the point is: to live everything! Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then, gradually, without noticing it, Live along into some distant day, into the answers." Rilke
And we will meet God in those questions and in those answers if we are willing to open ourselves to all that God has for us. Our God is a God of resurrection, who can bring the deadest of dead alive!
Remember all who seved and sacrificed that we may live in freedom
I join with all the angels and the saints in hallowing Thy name. May Thy kingdom, There in obedient nature, There in the lives of the most obedient humans, And there in heaven, Come here. May Thy will be endured, obeyed, and celebrated; May it be done, by me now; I hereby submit to all future affiliations,. And I open myself to receive all future blessings. Give us all we need for today. And help us to ignore an uneasy conscience or uneasy feelings Which either vaguely accuse or vaguely approve And to go about our paths, And spare us, where possible, from all crises, whether of temptation or affliction; And even from our previous prayers If we have asked anything Which would be a snare or a sorrow. For Thine is the sovereign goodness which claims my obedience, Thine is the sovereign power, Thine is the beauty so old and so new, And Thine is the light form behind the sun. Amen.
Submitted by Terri:
Truthfulness is based on confidenc in God, whose ways I do not understand. If I did, there would be no need for trust. ------Oswald Chambers
Holy Ghost, with light divine, shine upon this heart of mine! Chase the shades of night away, turn the darkness into day. Let me see my Saviour's face, let me all His beauties trace; Show those glorious truths to me, which are only known to Thee. Holy Ghost, with power divine, cleanse this guilty heart of mine; In Thy mercy pity me, from Sin's bondage set me free. Holy Ghost, with joy divine, cheer this saddened heart of mine; Yield a sacred, settled peace, let it grow and still increase. Holy Spirit, all divine, dwell within this heart of mine; Cast down every idol throne, reign supreme, and regin alone. See, to Thee I yield my heart; shed Thy life through every part. A pure temple I would be, wholly dedicate to Thee. ---Andrew Reed 1817
"Those of us who are strong and able in faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, 'How can I help?'"
Excerpt from Foothills Service Project Bulletin
submitted by Barb: Excerpts fro God Calling:
We are followers of Christ, thus His disciples. The weary and heavy laden must come to us in order to find Jesus. Therefore, be noble, be courageous.
Faith is your attitude towards God ...... Charity is your attitude towards others........ Hope is the condifence that you will succeed.
God may want YOU to be an answer to someone's prayer.
**************************************************************************************** If you feel you are in limbo, neither here nor there; step out in the middle and be led. If no stepping out, no miracle can happen. Excerpt from a message by Rev. Linda Veltheim.
An encouraging word is like a stone thrown into a still pond. It creates a rippple of hope that can change someone's day or future. Excerpt froma message by Rev. Christine Oscar
We must be the change we wish to see in the world --- Ghandi
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. Mary Angelou
