Something’s missing in our lives. . .
I was in Chicago with our three sons last week. We went to the Christ/City conference with Tim Keller. Lecrae and friends followed it up with a rap concert. While we were there, we wanted to get some great deep dish Chicago pizza, so we took a taxi. We tried to engage the drivers in spiritual conversation. One driver was about 25 yrs. old and from India.
I asked him, “What do you think about Christians?” He said, “I don’t see any difference between Christians and Muslims and Hindus.” (I think part of what He was trying to say was that he didn’t see anyone of any faith any differently than anyone else. He wanted us to know that he was tolerant.)
But when he said, “I don’t see any difference between Christians and Muslims and Hindus,” I said, “That makes me sad.” He asked, “Why does that make you sad?” And I said, “I’m sad because Christians have the Spirit of God living in them. And He has come to live in us to produce us love, joy, peace, and power in our lives. We ought to be living noticeably different lives. And if you can’t tell the difference between us and everybody else, it’s like the Spirit of God isn’t even living in us. And that make me sad.”
If you claim to know Christ, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit lives in you, right? Would somebody think about you, “I don’t see any difference between him or her and the guy down the street or in the next office who doesn’t even claim to know Christ”?
“If it’s true that the Spirit of God dwells in us and that our bodies are the Holy Spirit’s temple, then shouldn’t there be a huge difference between the person who has the Spirit of God living inside of him or her and the person who does not? When people outside the church see no difference in our lives, they begin to question our integrity, our sanity, or even worse, our God. And can you blame them?” Francis Chan, The Forgotten God, p. 32.
I am tired of living with something missing in my life. I am tired of living in a way that looks exactly like people who do not have the Spirit of God living in them. I don’t want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit. I want there to be something unexplainable about my life, something undeniable about my life, something supernatural about my life. For that to happen, I need to receive more of what’s missing in my life, more of what God has to offer me through the Person and work of the Holy Spirit.
The last few weeks, we have looked at ...
Believing... See what’s dead. Speak God’s Word. Pray God’s breath.
Grieving... Lord, help me be broken over what’s broken so that tears fall and knees bend.
Dreaming... We dream and claim the promises of God to renew, rebuild, and regroup us.
Seeking... It’s more than urban renewal and lives being put together again. It’s about people knowing God; it’s about His fame, His glory, His honor. He is the One we seek.
Now, we are ready to be receiving. Nothing lasting, nothing supernatural, none of this will happen without a mighty moving of God’s Spirit.
Ezekiel speaks the Word and that results in rebuilt bodies, but they aren’t breathing. Not yet. We have corpses. But something more is needed. First, Ezekiel is told to speak to the bones themselves. Now, Ezekiel is commanded to do something different, something more.
9 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 may live." Ezekiel 37:9 (ESV)
See the words “breath” and “winds” in this verse? It’s the Hebrew word “ruach.” And that word is a word that’s used for the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.
Jesus picks up on this analogy in John 3. He describes the work of the Spirit as a wind. “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where is comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit (John 3:7-8, ESV).
So, Ezekiel is being commanded to prophesy to the Holy Spirit. Most commentators say that this is reference to prayer. Pray to the Holy Spirit to come and bring His life to these corpses. Pray God’s Breath.
Usually, we address God the Father in prayer. We pray to God the Father through God the Son in the power of God the Spirit. But there are exceptions. Here we have an exception. Here we are seeing Ezekiel being commanded to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to come and do what only He can do.
Come from the four winds. What does that mean? Come with power. Come in Your fullness. Come in an unmistakable way. Be the breath of life in me. And don’t just come in small ways. Come in big ways. Show up with power in my life
It’s long been said that the Holy Spirit is the most neglected Person of the Trinity. I want to know God the Father more. And I want to know God the Son more. But if we want revival – if we want life in the dead zones – we must see a mighty moving of God the Spirit more and more. Unless the Spirit of God breathes His breath into those who have heard His Word, there will be no revival.
Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 4:6 (ESV)
Nothing is impossible when God’s Spirit comes with power. God the Holy Spirit is a specialist in doing what no other can do.
Will you pray? Will you ask the Spirit to show up with power in your dead zones? When He comes, amazing things can happen.
10 So I prophesied [prayed] as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived…
Ezekiel 37:10 (ESV)
Before? No breath. Ezekiel first saw bones. Then he saw corpses with no life. Only one thing makes the dead live. It is the Spirit of God. God does the impossible.
Sometimes, it’s so easy for us to not to receive all God has. We say things like, “Times are different.” “Things are too far gone.” “It's too late.” “The good old days are gone forever.” “We're too old and over the hill.” “Our generation is too much into post-modernism and relativism and entertainment.” Revival is impossible. We can get cynical and bitter. So, we don’t receive.
But look at what God says He will do. Look at His promises. Look at the “I wills.”
And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD." Ezekiel 37:14 (ESV)
I will do it. I will do it. I will do it. That’s what God says. We can’t I can't bring revival. But God can. When He shows up what happens? Look at what happens when the Spirit comes and brings His life.
10b … and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Ezekiel 37:10 (ESV)
We engage in spiritual warfare. And we win! We storm the gates of hell and take back ground that the enemy has wrongfully sought to steal from our Commander in chief. We fight for our king Jesus. We become soldiers of the cross. I love the way one pastor put this, “The Spirit of God takes us from the boneyard to the battlefield.” We’re armored.
And notice. This is an exceedingly great army. What we have seen in ones and twos we start to see in 1,000s and 10,000s. We get up on our feet and we become a force for God.
This ought to really encourage us. What’s dead for you? You should live in expectation of revival.
I was in Chicago with our three sons last week. We went to the Christ/City conference with Tim Keller. Lecrae and friends followed it up with a rap concert. While we were there, we wanted to get some great deep dish Chicago pizza, so we took a taxi. We tried to engage the drivers in spiritual conversation. One driver was about 25 yrs. old and from India.
I asked him, “What do you think about Christians?” He said, “I don’t see any difference between Christians and Muslims and Hindus.” (I think part of what He was trying to say was that he didn’t see anyone of any faith any differently than anyone else. He wanted us to know that he was tolerant.)
But when he said, “I don’t see any difference between Christians and Muslims and Hindus,” I said, “That makes me sad.” He asked, “Why does that make you sad?” And I said, “I’m sad because Christians have the Spirit of God living in them. And He has come to live in us to produce us love, joy, peace, and power in our lives. We ought to be living noticeably different lives. And if you can’t tell the difference between us and everybody else, it’s like the Spirit of God isn’t even living in us. And that make me sad.”
If you claim to know Christ, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit lives in you, right? Would somebody think about you, “I don’t see any difference between him or her and the guy down the street or in the next office who doesn’t even claim to know Christ”?
“If it’s true that the Spirit of God dwells in us and that our bodies are the Holy Spirit’s temple, then shouldn’t there be a huge difference between the person who has the Spirit of God living inside of him or her and the person who does not? When people outside the church see no difference in our lives, they begin to question our integrity, our sanity, or even worse, our God. And can you blame them?” Francis Chan, The Forgotten God, p. 32.
I am tired of living with something missing in my life. I am tired of living in a way that looks exactly like people who do not have the Spirit of God living in them. I don’t want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit. I want there to be something unexplainable about my life, something undeniable about my life, something supernatural about my life. For that to happen, I need to receive more of what’s missing in my life, more of what God has to offer me through the Person and work of the Holy Spirit.
The last few weeks, we have looked at ...
Believing... See what’s dead. Speak God’s Word. Pray God’s breath.
Grieving... Lord, help me be broken over what’s broken so that tears fall and knees bend.
Dreaming... We dream and claim the promises of God to renew, rebuild, and regroup us.
Seeking... It’s more than urban renewal and lives being put together again. It’s about people knowing God; it’s about His fame, His glory, His honor. He is the One we seek.
Now, we are ready to be receiving. Nothing lasting, nothing supernatural, none of this will happen without a mighty moving of God’s Spirit.
Ezekiel speaks the Word and that results in rebuilt bodies, but they aren’t breathing. Not yet. We have corpses. But something more is needed. First, Ezekiel is told to speak to the bones themselves. Now, Ezekiel is commanded to do something different, something more.
9 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 may live." Ezekiel 37:9 (ESV)
See the words “breath” and “winds” in this verse? It’s the Hebrew word “ruach.” And that word is a word that’s used for the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.
Jesus picks up on this analogy in John 3. He describes the work of the Spirit as a wind. “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where is comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit (John 3:7-8, ESV).
So, Ezekiel is being commanded to prophesy to the Holy Spirit. Most commentators say that this is reference to prayer. Pray to the Holy Spirit to come and bring His life to these corpses. Pray God’s Breath.
Usually, we address God the Father in prayer. We pray to God the Father through God the Son in the power of God the Spirit. But there are exceptions. Here we have an exception. Here we are seeing Ezekiel being commanded to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to come and do what only He can do.
Come from the four winds. What does that mean? Come with power. Come in Your fullness. Come in an unmistakable way. Be the breath of life in me. And don’t just come in small ways. Come in big ways. Show up with power in my life
It’s long been said that the Holy Spirit is the most neglected Person of the Trinity. I want to know God the Father more. And I want to know God the Son more. But if we want revival – if we want life in the dead zones – we must see a mighty moving of God the Spirit more and more. Unless the Spirit of God breathes His breath into those who have heard His Word, there will be no revival.
Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 4:6 (ESV)
Nothing is impossible when God’s Spirit comes with power. God the Holy Spirit is a specialist in doing what no other can do.
Will you pray? Will you ask the Spirit to show up with power in your dead zones? When He comes, amazing things can happen.
10 So I prophesied [prayed] as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived…
Ezekiel 37:10 (ESV)
Before? No breath. Ezekiel first saw bones. Then he saw corpses with no life. Only one thing makes the dead live. It is the Spirit of God. God does the impossible.
Sometimes, it’s so easy for us to not to receive all God has. We say things like, “Times are different.” “Things are too far gone.” “It's too late.” “The good old days are gone forever.” “We're too old and over the hill.” “Our generation is too much into post-modernism and relativism and entertainment.” Revival is impossible. We can get cynical and bitter. So, we don’t receive.
But look at what God says He will do. Look at His promises. Look at the “I wills.”
And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD." Ezekiel 37:14 (ESV)
I will do it. I will do it. I will do it. That’s what God says. We can’t I can't bring revival. But God can. When He shows up what happens? Look at what happens when the Spirit comes and brings His life.
10b … and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Ezekiel 37:10 (ESV)
We engage in spiritual warfare. And we win! We storm the gates of hell and take back ground that the enemy has wrongfully sought to steal from our Commander in chief. We fight for our king Jesus. We become soldiers of the cross. I love the way one pastor put this, “The Spirit of God takes us from the boneyard to the battlefield.” We’re armored.
And notice. This is an exceedingly great army. What we have seen in ones and twos we start to see in 1,000s and 10,000s. We get up on our feet and we become a force for God.
This ought to really encourage us. What’s dead for you? You should live in expectation of revival.
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