Dry Bones

Nothing says Christmas like a water buffalo. For a poor family in Asia, getting a water buffalo is like getting a farm tractor to pull a plow, or getting a milk truck full of delicious milk, or getting a stand at the market to sell cheese. A water buffalo opens the door for work, food, and income. More importantly, it opens the door to talk about Jesus.

And nothing says Christmas better than that. campaign. Hello, and thank you for tuning into this podcast, which is a part of the Jesus Breaks the Chains series. I'm evangelist Michael Bowen and I pray that the Lord blesses you greatly and you receive this word in love and in truth. This podcast is Dry Bones Come Alive. And I really enjoy this message today because we're going to be reading out of the book of Ezekiel and referencing the valley of the dry bones. And I relate to this greatly because in my life at one time, my life was a valley of dry bones when I was addicted to drugs and I could not stop using them.

And my life was devastated and in ruins and I found myself in prison. And so I really relate to this being somebody who was just lying there in death and in despair. And so I can relate to the valley of dry bones and I'm very passionate about this message. And I'm just going to speak to you today and I want you just to open up your hearts and receive this word. And there may be some dryness in your life. You may have some disappointments, some despair, may have lost a loved one, may have walked away from the Lord, may not even know the Lord.

And you feel like your life is dry and what's the point and what's the purpose? And this message is for you. Hallelujah. In the book of Ezekiel chapter 37, we're going to start in verse one and go through verse six. The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley. And it was full of bones.

Then he caused me to pass by them all around and behold, there were very many in the open valley and indeed they were very dry. And he said to me, son of man, can these bones live? So I answered, Oh Lord, you know, again, he said to me, prophesy to these bones and say to them, Oh, dry bones hear the word of the Lord.

Thus says the Lord God to these bones. Surely I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you and you shall live.

Then you shall know that I am the Lord. I ask you right now, what is this breath that they're referring to in this piece of scripture? This breath is the Holy Spirit. This breath is ruach in the tannic, which is the Hebrew Bible. The word ruach generally means wind, breath, mind, or spirit.

Now there's another definition that I like very much. The basic meaning of ruach is both wind or breath, but neither is understood as essence. Rather it is the power encountered in the breath and the wind.

Did you hear that? It is the power that is in the breath and the wind. The ruach is the power encountered in the spirit of God. Hallelujah.

Acts one eight says, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. In your mind right now, see a picture of a mighty forest standing tall, full of trees, giant, big trees with big branches and leaves. Now see a mighty windstorm blowing through the forest, blowing through the trees and see the wind uprooting and knocking down all the trees and they're falling down.

They're coming crashing down and they're being uprooted. Look at the devastation that it has left in its wake as the storm passed through. Do you see all the trees that were uprooted by the great winds?

Now think about this. What was it that knocked down all of those trees? Was it the wind? I say no, it was not the wind. If it wasn't the wind, well then what was it? It wasn't the wind that knocks down the trees.

It is the power in the wind that knocks down the trees. In Ezekiel 37 verse six, God says, I will put breath in you. I will put my ruach in you.

I will put my power in you. Then you shall know I am Lord. You will know Jesus is Lord when he puts his spirit in you as he put it in his disciples in the upper room on the day of Pentecost after he promised that he would.

Jesus told his disciples to tarry or wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the father that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. I know Jesus is Lord because he put his spirit in me when I surrender my life to him on a prison chapel floor after being addicted to drugs for 25 years. He put his ruach in me. He put his power in me. He put his Holy Spirit in me. He kept his promise in his word to me and I've been changed. No longer am I a slave to sin and addiction.

I'm now spirit filled disciple of Jesus Christ and witness to the end of the earth because of the promise God made to me. John 14, 15 through 18 says, these are the words of Jesus himself. If you love me, keep my commandments and I will pray the father and he will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever. The spirit of truth from the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans.

I will come to you. The key statement here in this verse is the promise. Jesus promised us the same spirit that dwells with them now that dwelled with the disciples will be in them in the future. The promise was for them and it's also for us today, for you and me, for everyone listening to this podcast right now.

This promise is for you. What spirit is it that dwells with them now as Jesus made them this promise? The spirit that dwells with them now is the spirit of the one true living God. John 4, 24 says, God is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. God is a spirit and Jesus is God who is spirit manifest in the flesh.

God who is spirit created for self a body as the son of God so he could reveal himself in the flesh to his creation and be our savior as he promised. Psalm 91, 14 through 16, because he has set his love upon me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high because he has known my name. He shall call upon me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him with long life. I will satisfy him and show him my salvation. And that's what he did in my life. And that's what he will do with you. When I surrender my life to Jesus Christ on that chapel prison, chapel floor, I called out to Jesus Christ. Please Jesus save me.

And he did. Hallelujah. Jesus Christ, the son is God manifested in the flesh. Jesus is God in the flesh who came to be our savior. According to Matthew 1 23, the son shall also be called Emmanuel, which is translated God with us. The spirit that was in Jesus Christ, the son is God's holy spirit.

That same spirit. He promised to put it into his disciples at a later time. And he did when they received the baptism of the holy spirit on the day of Pentecost.

Hallelujah. Where is your day of Pentecost? What day will be your day of Pentecost when you're filled with God's holy spirit as promised? John 14 11 says, believe me that I am in the father and the father in me, the spirit of God is the spirit of Christ. It is the spirit of truth. It is the same spirit that Jesus promised will be in them and in us, in you and me. The ruach will be in them.

The power will be in them. The holy ghost will be in them and will be in you and me. God has shown us our salvation by the indwelling of the spirit and those who believe on his name and receive him as Lord and savior. Won't you receive him as your Lord and savior today if you've not done so.

Won't you turn back to God if you've walked away from him in any way, if you've turned back to old sins, turn away, repent and turn back to him and come back to the one true living God who loves you. He's calling for you. He wants you to come closer, come to him. He has so much to give you.

He has so much to show you and so much to teach you. And I'm just asking you right now, turn to God right now as I did. Hallelujah.

Acts 2 38 through 39 says, then Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are far off. As many as the Lord, our God will call. God is calling you right now.

We are those who are a far off that this scripture is referring to you and me. Hallelujah. Jesus is calling you now. He is saying, come. He is saying, believe. He's saying, repent. He's saying, be baptized. He's saying, be filled with the Holy Spirit, be filled with a ruach, be filled with a power, be filled with a fire.

Acts 2 verses one through four. When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as a fire and one sat upon each of them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance and they were filled with ruach. They were filled as promised with the Spirit of truth. They were filled with God's Holy Spirit.

They were filled with power and fire. You too can be filled just as the disciples were on the day of Pentecost. Believe in Jesus and be saved. Believe in Jesus and be baptized. Believe in Jesus and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Believe in Jesus and be born again. The time is now in Jesus' name. Hebrews 12 29. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire. Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The word of God says the Lord's Prayer says on that day of Pentecost, God's kingdom had come to earth in the form of fiery tongues from heaven as the Holy Spirit invaded this world. The disciples that day and the many others over 3000 souls who came to believe all were filled with the Holy Ghost as they began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2 40-43 and with many other words he testified and exhorted them saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized and that day about 3000 souls were added to them and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and the breaking of bread and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. This is the apostles doctrine.

There is one God and his name is Jesus. God was manifest in the flesh of the son so the invisible God could be seen and known by his creation. God was manifest in the flesh so he could redeem his creation by the sacrifice of his son Jesus Christ and the spilling of the precious blood of the lamb.

They did prepare for us in Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a sinless life and only his blood could atone for the sins of humanity. 2 Corinthians 5 18-19, Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not imputing their trespasses to them and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. God was in Jesus Christ meaning the Holy Spirit was in Jesus. This same Holy Spirit that was in Christ will be in you and me just as Jesus promised to his disciples and in God's written word. John 1 4, In him was life and the life was the light of men. In Jesus was life. In Jesus was a great light. In Jesus was the Holy Spirit.

In Jesus was the Ruach. In Jesus was the power to raise the dead back to life. Jesus is the power of the resurrection. Jesus is the resurrection itself.

Jesus is the way the truth and the life and he wants to raise you all back to life right now. Oh dry bones come alive. Oh dry bones you shall live. Oh dry bones you shall have power. Oh dry bones you shall be filled with the Holy Spirit and fire. Ezekiel 1 verses 5 through 6, Thus says the Lord to these bones, Surely I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you and you shall live.

Then you shall know that I am the Lord. When I was in prison, I was nothing but dry bones. Then one day I found myself on the prison chapel floor crying out to God for him to save me. In that moment I felt the hand of God strike me like a hammer and it was like my soul split wide open and my spirit poured out onto the floor like dirty water pouring out from a broken vase. That day Jesus broke the chains of my sin and addiction once and for all. That day as I wept and cried for him to save me, my dry bones came alive.

Hallelujah. Ezekiel 37 verses 7 through 10, So I prophesied as I was commanded and I prophesied, there was a noise and suddenly a rattling and the bones came together bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them and the skin covered them over, but there was no breath in them. Also, he said to me, prophesy to the breath, prophesy son of man and say to the breath. Thus says the Lord, come from the four winds. Oh breath and breathe on these slain that they may live.

So I prophesied as he commanded me and breath came into them and they lived and stood upon their feet and exciting exceedingly great army. Oh my friends who are listening to this podcast right now, stand to your feet. Every one of you stand, shake off the dust of the ground and the dust for your old dry bones. Stand up and make some noise unto the Lord. I can hear the bones rattling now.

Oh dry bones come alive. Be filled with the breath of God. Be filled with the ruach. Be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Now you are a mighty army and you will live from this day forward. You shall live and you will know what I know that Jesus Christ is Lord. Ezekiel 37 verse 12 through 14. Therefore prophesy and say to them, thus says the Lord God, behold all my people. I will open up your graves and cause you to come up from your graves and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am Lord when I have opened your graves on my people and brought you up from the graves. I will put my spirit in you and you shall live and I will place you in your own land.

Then you shall know that I the Lord have spoken it and performed it says the Lord. Come up out of your graves you dead men and women walking. Leave the tombs of your empty lives now. Put aside all the treasures you have stored up for yourselves here in this world that have lost all their pleasure. Leave the loneliness behind. Forget about all your broken dreams. Forget about the broken promises made to you.

Put away the disappointment. Separate yourself from all your past hurts. Put down the alcohol and the drugs that have you bound. Leave this darkness behind. Break loose from the chains of your addiction. Break loose from the chains of hopelessness and despair. Let the old man and old woman die now.

Let the bones fall to the ground and become dry. Repent and turn away from your sins and be baptized. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and you will come alive.

Today God will put his spirit into you so you can live. Receive the Ruach my friends. Receive it. Receive the breath of God. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It's a promise to you.

Receive it. Receive the Spirit of Truth. Receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Let the divided tongues as a fire rest upon you now. Speak with other tongues as the Spirit gives you utterance. Be filled with the promise of the Father. Be filled with the power of God. Be filled every one of you with fire from above. Make for yourself an altar now and go lay yourself down upon it. Give yourself and your life as a sacrifice to God.

Surrender your life to Jesus so he can change you like he changed me. Old dry bones come alive now in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. I'm here to tell you, everyone listening to this podcast, my friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, those of you who don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I'm telling you right now God is for you. The same promise Jesus gave to the disciples before he sent it into heaven is the same promise he has given you today. God loves you and wants to give you his most precious gift, which is his Holy Spirit. Please receive this word of truth today and make Jesus the Lord and Savior your life. Be baptized and be filled with the Holy Spirit and let your dry bones come alive. I just want to tell you a little bit about dry bones coming alive.

Last month, November, four weeks ago, I traveled to Liberia, West Africa, where I'm a missionary. And there was a group of people in Liberia and they're called Zogos. They're the former child soldiers from the brutal civil war. And they were kidnapped from their families and they were taken by the warlords and they were put, had guns put in their hands and machetes and made to do horrible things during that civil war. And they were so frightened. They were just young boys, some 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and in their teens and they were so frightened. And in order to get them to keep them unfrightened, the warlords fed them drugs, cocaine and heroin and all kinds of different drugs, so they wouldn't be afraid. And they were made to do some horrible things and they had so much trauma during these times.

And when the disarmament came in that country in the early 2000s, there was a 13-acre cemetery, a graveyard called Palm Grove Cemetery in the center of Monrovia. And these boys didn't have anywhere to go and they had a drug addiction. They took the guns away from them, but the drug addiction stayed. And so they went and they, the only place they could go was this, this 13-acre cemetery. And they broke into the tombs and crypts and they began to live inside the tombs and crypts.

And so now, in all the cemeteries, there are ghettos that are springing up around that have, that have grown up around these cemeteries and there's a horrible problem with drugs in that country. And I went four weeks ago and I walked to the center of that cemetery. And as I walked to the center of that cemetery, I saw the Zogos, these young men, these young drug-addicted men to come up out of the buildings.

They came from around the crypts and tombs and they followed me and I walked to the center of that cemetery and I had my vial of oil and I poured that vial of oil right in the center of that cemetery. And I said, I declare and decree right now that this is holy ground, this is sacred ground. We are taking this now, this ground right here now in the name of Jesus. This is King Jesus.

This cemetery belongs to King Jesus. Oh, dry bones, you come alive now in Jesus' name. And we had, we stayed there for a little while and we prayed and the men were coming up and women were coming up and we were laying hands on them, praying with them and telling them about this Ruach, about this breath of God, about this mighty King Jesus Christ.

And you could see them change. They started to smile and be happy and there was joy that came around them. I saw the first breath of life being breathed upon them by God as he was calling them to them. And we walked down that street after pouring that oil in that cemetery and there's a bombed out building, an old building, and on the second floor there's a smokehouse or a smoke room where they're all in there smoking drugs. And we walked upstairs and we went inside that room. I told them, I said, put down these drugs.

I have something better for you. I want to tell you about Jesus Christ. I began to witness and me and my ministry team, we began to lay hands on him and we told them to put down their drugs and they put down their drugs, began to worship him and praise the Lord.

Hallelujah. So I just want to tell you that God is alive and he will breathe his spirit into you like he's breathing it on those Zogos, on those drug addicted people in Liberia. And he will do it for you.

This is what he wants to do. He wants to give us his precious gift with his Holy Spirit. And it's that precious gift. When I laid on my face in that prison, I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ and I said, I hate this world. I hate myself. I hate this world.

I don't want it anymore. All I want is you Jesus. I said, if you will save me, I will serve you the rest of the days of my life. When I was finally able to pick myself up the floor, I felt his presence and I felt his breath and I felt his rock. I felt his Holy Spirit. And it's that power that he gave to me.

And since that day, I've never had a desire to drink alcohol or do drugs ever again. Let Jesus break your chains like he broke mine. It's been my honor to be able to share this message of love and power with you. My hope is for you to understand that no matter where you are in your life or what you have done, if you give your life to Jesus Christ, like I did on that prison chapel floor, he will change you into what he created you to be. And he will deliver you once and for all from the valley of dry bones that your life has become.

I love you all. And I pray that you too can find the freedom that I've found in Jesus Christ. Jesus breaks the chains. His ruach raised my dead, dry bones back to life. Now I am a soldier for Christ in his end time army, helping him advance his word of truth as we preach the gospel to every creature in the world.

This is the greatest life I've ever lived, living my life in Jesus Christ. God bless you all. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Thank you for listening. For more information on Michael Bowen's ministry, Sons and Daughters of Thunder, visit sonsanddaughtersoffunder.org. And remember, there is no addiction in Jesus Christ. Jesus breaks the chains. This is the Truth Network.