Dry Bones

Ezekial 37:1.... The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones...
.2. And caused me to pass by them round about; and behold there were very many in the open valley; and tho they were very dry....
 3. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest


I have always loved the story in Ezekial where he was in the valley of dry bones. I can just imagine bones everywhere. And the bones weren't laying body by body. Nope, Henry had a leg bone here next to Roy's ribs, and Melvin's arm bone was over there with Jack's skull....you get the idea....

Some commentaries I read said that Ezekial didn't really go anywhere, to a valley full of bones. To me it doesn't matter if he "actually" was there. He saw it, that I believe in.

What would you think if you saw a valley full of dry bones? Probably freak out. And what would you think if the Lord God asked you if those old, dry bones can live?

Would you answer the same way Ezekial did? I would probably have answered no. But thankfully Ezekial knew the right answer...Only you Lord knows the answer to that......

Those old dry bones represented Israel at the time. As always they were in turmoil with the Lord. But God loved them so much he was not going to give up on them and was going to revive them . They were and are God's chosen.....

But because God sent his son, Jesus, to earth as a human, to die for and take away our sins, we are his chosen too. He did that because he loves us all and doesn't want to see anyone perish.

Today those old dry bones represent us. A nation that is turmoil. We sit on our pews, if we go to church, and say come on Lord, move me if you can. We sit and look at our watches, wishing the pastor would hurry up because there is a ballgame coming on in a few minutes. We wonder about where and what we are going to eat for lunch. We have a hard time sitting in church for an hour.
We go to church because we are christians and its the right thing to do.

But do we listen to the sermon? Do we listen to the songs that we sing? Or are we just mouthing the words?
 We have let our morals go. We seem to not care anymore. We need to stand for God!

We need to teach our children about God and Jesus. We need to tell them about how he loves us and what he has done for us. We need to teach them to pray to the Holy Father and to listen when he speaks.

We need to get on fire for the Lord. We need to let our dry bones come alive and start working for the Lord. We have to take a stand, lift up our voices and our hands and say Come on Lord, here I am, use me!!!!!!!!  Breathe your spirit in us Lord. Revive us Lord!!!!!!!! Instead of "move me if you can" we need to be, " Here I am, use me!!!!!!!!!!"

I know there are a lot of we needs in this, but if we let God breathe his spirit in us, things can and will change. The Lord will bless us. We will revive as a mighty army for the Lord!!!

Take a few minutes and click on this link and listen to this song. It's Casting Crown's song Spirit Wind.

http://youtu.be/i6wzWV5bA2s


Dear Lord, Thank you for your loving  kindness. Thank you Lord for your spirit. Thank you Lord for your blessings on your people. Lord I pray that you breathe your life into these old dry bones of ours so that we can become an army of mighty warriors for you.Only you Lord, only you can breathe that spirit into us.. Thank you Lord for forgiveness. Move us Lord, Move us in a mighty way. Move us off our pews and put us into battle for you. Fire us up! Lead , guide and direct our paths Lord.
In Jesus name I pray.....Amen

Blessings ,
Kathy

A Good Day

Have you ever had a just wonderful day?

 They are rare for me sometimes.

But the Lord has given me two good days in a row!!!!!!

Friday I spent the whole afternoon with two wonderful people I met a few years ago.

They are such a godly couple, it is a joy to be around them.

They have been married over 50 years and you can tell they love and respect each other deeply.

He is a practical joker, but she has gotten a few good laughs over on him. Oh the stories they told me about the places they had lived and the people they had met, most of which they are still in contact with. I think that is awesome because most people I have known my whole life are hard to stay in touch with.

They are undoubtedly my biggest supporters (other than immediate family) in my journey into the ministry. They help me by just being an example of godly, christian people.  And I love them dearly.

He has been diagnosed with a form of leukemia. But he does not let it get him down. Always laughing and smiling. He may hide how bad he's feeling, but his wife says he perks up when he is studying the word and when he comes to church to teach. He teaches our Wednesday night Bible study class. And he is very knowledgeable in the word. There is a lot I can learn from him.

Did I mention I love them dearly??????

Then today,Saturday the church that I preach at one Sunday a month had a "Ladies Retreat".
They had a wonderful lady named Karen come and speak on the Empowerment of God. This lovely lady from Friday went with me
. We both enjoyed the fellowship with all the other ladies. God's spirit was all over that place.. They had wonderful singing and lunch. What a great time in the Lord!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah, and I love these sweet sisters in Christ dearly too!!!!!! They don't know me and I don't know them. But because of God and his love , we can love each other and find joy in each other, and worship together!!!!! How awesome is that???!!!!!

Dear God, I thank you for these two wonderful days I have had. I thank you for your love, mercy and grace. I thank you for friends, for brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all one big family Lord. When one hurts, we hurt. When one rejoices, we rejoice !!! You are such an awesome God, and the love you have for us is hard to understand. But Lord, I praise you for all you do. Lead guide and direct our steps. Heal those who need your healing. We love and praise you!!!!!
Forgive us our sins. In Jesus name I pray,
Amen

Proverbs 17:17.....A friend loveth at all times.........

Are we doing what we are called to do?

2 Timothy 3:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

The other day I was reading a post on facebook. The discussion was on the Bible and religion.
I was shocked to see how many people think that the Bible is just a book.
Yes, it's a book, but as the verse states, it is inspired of God.

Some commented that maybe we should do away with the Old Testament because we don't live under the law anymore. It was just a bunch of stories that somebody made up.  The Old Testament is history. We can learn a lot from it. We don't need to get rid of it. We need it. If we didn't, I don't think it would be included in the Bible

I don't understand everything in the Bible. I don't think anyone is supposed to understand everything in it.  We have to trust and believe that it is the truth. How many times have you had a scripture on your heart, but could only remember a few words and you couldn't find it?  I looked on internet the other night for the scripture used here and couldn't find any matches for what words I could remember. But I picked up my Bible, asked God to help me and found it in a few minutes.

I may not understand it, but I believe it is true. I believe it is and was inspired of God. It is for us to read and study. It shows us how we need to live. It shows us how to treat others. It tells us of God's love for us. It is the history of the world, and it tells us what is coming in the future.

I believe we are called to go out and tell others about Jesus. He says so in the Bible. Jesus said we are to go out into all the world and spread His word.

I know I fail at that. I know there are many times I have an opportunity to talk to someone and I don't.
But the Lord is forgiving and gracious to us.

Even when we don't deserve it.

Dear Lord, Thank you for your many blessings. Thank you Lord for your word. Without it we would have no guide to live by. Thank you for inspiring the authors of the Bible and giving them the words to say. Give me boldness to go out and  spread your word. Forgive us when we fail you and do wrong. Lead, guide and direct our steps in the way you would have us to go. 
In Jesus name I pray
Amen


Blessings,
Kathy

Psalm 127:3

Psalm 127:3 Children are a gift from the Lord, they are a reward from him

Today is my oldest sons birthday. He turned 33. Where did the years go? He should still be my little boy.
The world may look at him as a grown man, but to me he will always be my baby. Even after 33 years, I can relive the day he was born. I remember the way he looked the first time I saw him. I remember the love I had for him, right from the beginning. Being a young mother was hard. I made plenty of mistakes with him. But with the Lord's help, we made it and he is a fine young man today. And I am so proud of him.

I truly believe that children are a gift from God. God blessed me with not just one , but two fine boys.

Even though with our work schedules, where we don't see each other much, I know if I called them with a need they would be there for me. And the same way with me if they needed something, I would be right there for them, doing what I could.

My boys may be grown, they may both be bigger than me, but you let somebody say or do something to them to harm them and I would fight to the death for them. That'show much I love them.


Thats the way of our Father God. When we need him, he's there. He wil fight to protect us from harm.
He sacrificed his son for our sins. How awesome is that!!!!

Dear Lord, I thank you for my children. I thank you for blessing me with not one  but two fine, God fearing boys. They are the loves of my life. I pray Lord that you watch over them and their wives and bless them the way you have blessed me. Thank you for the love you have for us, and for the forgiveness of sins.  I ask that you lead, guide and direct our steps in the way you want us to go. Forgive us our sins.
In Jesus name I pray. Amen


God Bless,
Kathy

Faith in All Times

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.


I love the 11th chapter of Hebrews. It is one of my favorite top 5 books in the Bible.
When we can look at things, touch, taste or smell something , we know it's real. But faith is believing that something we cannot see, touch, taste or smell is there, working in our lives.

Just as the verse says, it's things hoped for, yet not seen.
I know God has great things in store for me. I have the faith that they wll come to pass. But in his time and not mine.
I am a very impatient person. I want things right now. But God has shown me that his plans for me are better than my own.I have to have faith, to believe that God will work things out.

I have had prayers anwered 2 minutes after I prayed . That happened this past week. And I have some prayers that have been prayed for a long time that haven't come to pass yet.
But I try to have the faith that God will answer.....In his time.

I recently answered a call to ministry. That alone was a huge leap of  faith for me. I am the shy, reserved type. A loner by nature.   Why would God want to use me? He uses me to show what he can do. And for me to show my faith in him.

By myself I can do nothing. If I am to preach, it can't be my words.  It has to come from him.
 Each sermon I have preached, I always ask him for guidance, for what to do the sermon on and for it to be his words and not mine that I speak.

Each time I am nervous until I get behind the pulpit. I have the faith that God will be with me and give me the words to say. And he always does.

But I lack faith in other areas. And really I shouldn't. I mean if he can give me a sermon where I have to stand in front of a group of people and speak,  then I should be able to have faith at other times.

If I had a greater faith in what God can do, I could lay these nasty cigarettes down and never smoke again. If I had faith in what God can do I could quit drinking so many Mountain Dews.

Jesus says in Matthew 17:20 that if we have faith as a grain of mustard seed, we can say to a mountain, remove from this place and it will be removed and nothing will be impossible for us. (paraphrased).

A mustard seed. One of the smallest things known. If we have only that much faith nothing will be impossible for us.

I need my faith to be stronger. I have to believe that every word in the Bible is true, and to apply it to my life in every area. I have to have the faith that whatever trial I go through, God is there with me fighting the battle for me.
I believe that faith and hope and trust all mean the same things. Many times when I have been at a low point in life and I pray to God for help or ask him why he will ask me, " Do you trust me?"

I have to trust that he knows what is best for me. I have to believe his word and have faith in his promises  that he will take care of me.

Dear Lord, I thank you Father for all your blessings on me. I ask that you increase my faith. That I come to you with everything Lord and ask for your will to be done and not mine. Forgive me Lord when I fail you. Give me the stength and courage to go and do your work. Make me the person you want me to be. I ask that you bless each and every person that reads this. Increase our faith in you. In Jesus name I pray...Amen

God Bless You,
Kathy