Dry Bones Alive! 5 Steps to Spiritual Health – Life Is a Journey
Today we revisit a message from 2021 that continues to offer instruction and spiritual growth.
How’s your spiritual health? In a spiritually dry valley, or on a mountain top? Discover how God brings us back from spiritual dryness, and learn the five steps to spiritual health with this message.
Through this series, you’ll learn how to live well & enjoy God's promises. You are loved by God; He knows your name. He has a plan for your life. Get helpful advice, encouragement, and hope for a life well lived.
Are you walking in faith and victory? Set your eyes on the promises of God. You only have one life journey; say yes to Jesus.
Are you growing spiritually or have you pulled back?
God can revive your spiritual journey.
Today we are considering a journey of dry bones coming to life. Without spiritual growth in worship, hope of God’s grace, faithfulness, and knowledge of God, we can easily find ourselves spiritually discouraged, dry or spiritually dead.
‘The hand of the Lord was on 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. 2 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. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live? I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 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’”’ (Ezekiel 37:1-6, NIV).
The Lord is directing Ezekiel to prophesy about the spiritual situation of the Israelite people. They are pictured here as spiritually dry and dead. The Lord is giving Ezekiel, as well as us, a picture of the Israelites’ spiritual condition and what he was about to do for the people of God.
The Israelites turned their backs on God and worshiped other gods, and God allowed the surrounding nations to take the Israelites captive and take possession of the land that was promised to Abraham. The Israelites spiritually rebelled in their hearts as their physical actions of worshiping other gods revealed. Their hearts were spiritually dry and dead.
In the previous chapter Ezekiel tells us what God is about to do to the surrounding nations.
“Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes’” (Ezekiel 36:22-23).
God was about to show himself strong, so that all the world would see that he is Sovereign Lord of all. The holiness of God will become known to the nations.
He was also about to show just what happens to those who ignore or rebel against the God of all creation. He rewards those who turn and believe in him with a new heart.
“‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws’” (Ezekiel 36:24-27).
God is about to raise up the people of God for the sake of his name, that all the world will know that he is holy; that God fulfills his promise and that he is able to speak life into hearts and lives that are spiritually dry or dead. God was about to give the Israelites new hearts of flesh to replace hard hearts of stone, and to put his spirit in them.
Trials bring blessings and spiritual growth.
God is doing this today: replacing hard hearts with tender ones and putting his Spirit in people.
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).
When you were spiritually dead in your sins, God—because of his great love, mercy and grace—expressed his kindness toward you in Christ Jesus. It is by faith in Jesus you are saved and raised to new life in Christ. He has given you a new heart and removed the spiritually dry heart of stone. In doing so, God is glorified, his name is lifted up, and all the world will know God is holy, just, faithful and worthy to be praised.
Ezekiel is about to prophecy to these dry, lifeless bones. It is in the valley that we can see clearly the hand of God in our lives. Mountain top blessings occur following valley experiences. It’s in the valley we find spiritual growth. What we learn in the valley regarding God’s love, faithfulness, and power is what gives us spiritual boldness and strength to worship him on the mountain top.
Know that there are valleys between every mountain top. Spiritual battles are fought and won in the valley.
God works miracles and speaks life into people’s lives while they are in the valley. For example:
The man with leprosy was hopeless (Matthew 8:1-4).
The centurion’s son needing healing and was helpless (Matthew 8:5-13).
The paralytic (Matthew 9:1-8), the blind and mute (Matthew 9:27-34), the dead girl (Matthew 9:18-26), and Lazarus being raised to life (John 11:14-15, 38-44), were spiritually dry and lifeless.
Jesus healed many who were living hopelessly in a valley and he spoke into their situation, and then told many to go and sin no more. They were renewed and spiritually revived by God while in the valley and they began to rejoice as they were spiritually uplifted to walk in faith and victory in Christ (Joel 3:14).
I believe it is in the valley where the most important spiritual decisions are made.
Couples can find themselves in a relational valley, and it is most often spiritual in nature.
Individuals can find themselves in a valley.
Every unbeliever is living in a spiritual valley and they are spiritually blind, hard hearted and spiritually dead regarding the truth of God.
Churches can be found in a spiritual valley, reflecting the spiritual health of the individuals, couples and families of the people in the church.
A spiritual valley can be a result of an emotional, financial, relational, or physical valley. It can be due to spiritual rebellion toward God, but not always.
At times the enemy of God will come against a person of faith and, in those instances, we need to simply remain faithful and trust God. But know this, God is with you both on the mountain top and in the valley. You are never alone no matter how you may feel. Choose to remain faithful and trust God and you will come through the valley and arrive at the mountain top.
It can be a health issue, a mental issue, an issue brought on by someone or something else altogether. No matter the case, the root problem is always sin: yours or someone else’s sin that is causing you to suffer.
Many people try to ease the pain of the valley experience through drugs, drinking, busyness, money or simply denial of the truth. But those things never help. They only make the matter worse. A person may feel hopeless, helpless and those who see no hope may even turn to suicide to ease the pain, but that is not the answer. The answer is Jesus! The answer is to turn to God almighty and wait upon him.
That is what we find here in Ezekiel 37.
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. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 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, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: 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. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 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’” (Ezekiel 37:7-14).
In the valley of dry bones Ezekiel speaks of life that only God can accomplish:
I will make breath enter you.
I will attach tendons.
I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord. The dry, dead and lifeless heart of stone is replaced with a heart of flesh.
Remember: only God Almighty can speak life into spiritually dry, dead bones.
God took the first step to bring you out of the valley.
I want to be clear. God will move upon Godly people to address the needs of spiritual issues. God will call an Ezekiel to speak to spiritually dry, discouraged and dead hearts, but God is the one to breathe spiritual life into hearts and lives.
Jesus gave the great commission—to make disciple of all nations and teach them to obey God’s commands—to his disciples and all believers (Matthew 28:19-20). Today, as believers, we are to do the same and tell the world the truth of the Gospel. However always remember, it is God Almighty who is able to breathe the breath of life into a dry and spiritually dead heart, city, nation and world.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
It is God who took the first step towards redemption and spiritual life. God promised a savior back in Genesis. God took the first step to heal the broken hearted, the spiritually dead and dry hearts.
God sent Jonah to the city of Nineveh to preach against it because of its wickedness. At first Jonah rebelled but later obeyed and the city turned from their evil ways and to God. The people were spiritually dead and destined for destruction but God showed them compassion when they repented and sought God. God relented of sending calamity when the people exhibited a new heart and love towards God (Jonah 3).
Before the foundation of the world, God purposed to raise the spiritually dead to new life by faith in Jesus (see 1 Peter 1:19-21).
We have touched on the fact that God is the one who speaks life into spiritually dry and dead hearts. It begins with individual hearts, but it also includes churches.
Are you spiritually growing or drifting?
In the book of Revelation, John addressed seven churches. God was not pleased with most of those churches:
The church of Ephesus had forsaken its first love (God).
The church of Pergamum began to accept and follow false teachings.
The church of Thyatira began to tolerate ungodly lifestyles, misleading others into spiritual adultery.
The church of Sardis had become spiritually dead even as they outwardly appeared to be doing some good.
The church of Laodicea had become spiritually lukewarm.
Each of those churches needed to repent and turn back to God if they were to remain spiritually alive. They were spiritually blind to the truth. These people were walking with one foot in the world, thinking they were spiritually OK when they were not. They each drifted away spiritually. John was warning them to repent, otherwise they would find themselves spiritually dead.
In each case, the churches were warned and given hope if they would listen and obey. If they repented and turned back to God:
They would eat from the tree of life and not be overcome or experience the second death.
They would receive a new name and overcome the evil one.
Their names would be in the book of life and be with Christ forever.
They would no longer be spiritually dry or dead,
Nothing is impossible with God!
The one who never knew God can know God.
The one who is outwardly religious can come to faith in Christ and be refreshed spiritually.
The person who sins and walks away from God can repent and be restored to newness of life.
The person of faith can remain faithful with the strength of God.
What about you? Are you in a spiritual valley feeling spiritually dry, or are you on a spiritual mountain top rejoicing and praising God with all your heart?
Ask yourself:
How is my spiritual heart?
Am I feeling spiritually dry?
Am I growing spiritually in the Lord or have I pulled back?
If you are not spiritually growing, you may be drifting into a spiritually dangerous area. An area of spiritual dryness, defeat, or discouragement.
In times like that, life can burden you down.
The world and busyness of life can dry you out spiritually.
You may slowly drift away and begin to embrace teaching that sounds good, but is deadly—spiritually unsound.
You might slowly stop praying, stop reading the word, stop attending church or bible studies, stop devotions and become spiritually weary and dry.
This happens slowly, without any warning, and deadness sets in.
5 Steps to Spiritual Health
Life’s journey doesn’t have to pass through the valley of dry bones. You can avoid areas of spiritual dryness.
The answer is to always first seek the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart to reveal any area that is spiritually vulnerable to spiritual attack or dryness.
Begin to pray for revival. Pray for others and the church. Pray for spiritual revival in the hearts of those around you and ask the Lord for spiritual revival in your heart and life.
Expect and believe: decide to press in and ask God for a deeper faith, a faith to believe and expect the impossible to be possible.
Choose to walk by faith and not by sight or feelings. Pray for a spiritual refreshing in your heart and in the body of Christ, the church, so that all the world will know that Jesus is alive.
Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart and soul as you read the word.
Start today. Seek God, pray for revival, expect the impossible, walk by faith, read the word, and worship in his presence.
Suggested Praise and Worship
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This and other sermons brought to you by Faith Chapel, an Assemblies of God church in Pleasanton, CA.
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