He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"
—Ezekiel 37:3
{CHAMBERS} “Can a
sinner be turned into a saint? Can a twisted life be made right? There is only
one appropriate answer— “O Lord God, You know” (Ezekiel 37:3). Never forge
ahead with your religious common sense and say, “Oh, yes, with just a little
more Bible reading, devotional time, and prayer, I see how it can be done.” It
is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we see the activity and
mistake panic for inspiration. […] Do I really believe that God will do in me
what I cannot do? […] When God wants to show you what human nature is like
separated from Himself, He shows it to you in yourself. […] My “grave” has been
opened by God and “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good
dwells” (Romans 7:18). God’s Spirit continually reveals to His children what
human nature is like apart from His grace.”
{ELGIN} How real
is your faith? How deep is your trust? Is it real enough .. is it deep enough
to endure whatever might happen to you or people around you? Does your faith depend upon “good” things
happening in your life. Have you decided
that the proof of God’s presence and even blessing in your life is the absence
of trouble, disappointment, sickness, heartache? As I write these words, I wonder what proof I
demand in my own life? All I really have
to do is look in the mirror. There I see
a life transformed. Transformed in the midst of trouble, disappointment,
sickness and heartache. Through it all
God has shown His power and His love and His presence.
We must be careful, it is so easy to neglect
the good and focus on the bad, what is not right, what is missing. As it happens, I have been leading an effort at
work that has a lot of “moving parts”.
Very complicated with many hurdles to overcome. That effort culminated in a meeting for the
person in charge who needed to make a decision to proceed. He did make the decision. Everyone on my team made a valiant
effort to make that happen. After the
meeting, someone, not in the chain of authority, asked the team to stay for a
few minutes. He then went on a tirade
over the fact that there were some typographical errors on a slide. This person demands perfection. Even though the mission was accomplished and
the decision maker was confident as to the correctness of his decision. It really had nothing to do with the work
done, the effort made, but the desire on the part of one person for perfection
before he could be satisfied. He
effectively discouraged everyone on the team.
I had a meeting afterward to correct the new perception that we had
somehow failed because a missing “-“ and space.
As a pastor of a country church we used to attend would say “God
can hit straight with a crooked stick.” The
only one who is perfect is Jesus. We are
all jars of clay. We may demand
perfection. We can certainly strive to
be the best and do the best possible, but God is looking for willing hearts and
devoted following. Your new life in Christ
will not be perfect, not saying we should be content with sin, but God can and will
use a repentant hearted person for His purposes. That was the essential difference between
King Saul and King David. He will use
you, even with a few missing “-“’s and spaces.
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