Help Is HereSample

The mightiest force on the planet is here to help you. “The Spirit gives life” (John 6:63 NIV). Could Jesus have stated the mission of the Spirit more clearly? When the Godhead divvied up the assignments for humanity, the Father chose protection and provision; the Son took salvation—and the Spirit? He chose life distribution.

Life! Robust. Resilient. Happy-hearted and hope-filled. Isn’t that what we need?

The Spirit gives it.

Need proof? Meet Ezekiel.

He was a radical, wide-eyed prophet who served as a thorn in the collective side of Israel during the sixth century BC. He was on the Hebrews’ case, urging them to turn away from foreign idols and toward their living God (Ezek. 14:6). They did not listen. Consequently, the nation experienced utter annihilation at the hands of the Babylonians in 587 BC. The city of Jerusalem was ransacked, and the magnificent temple was destroyed. Envision Washington, DC, lying in smoke and embers, the capitol building demolished, and the White House burned down. The once-proud Hebrews were marched out of their homeland. From their exile in Babylonia, the Jews declared, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope has gone. We are destroyed” (Ezek. 37:11 NCV).

The psalmist could only lament, “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion” (Ps. 137:1). And again, “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” (v. 4).

The exile was a catastrophe.

But God had other plans. The people may have abandoned God, but God never abandoned them. He made the Hebrews a promise.

For here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to take you out of these countries, gather you from all over, and bring you back to your own land. I’ll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. I’ll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. You’ll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You’ll be my people! I’ll be your God! (Ezek. 36:24–28 THE MESSAGE)

Please note the active agent in this rescue mission. God! God will rescue. God will gather. God will cleanse. He will give the people a new heart, and, most important, he will put his Spirit in them, and as a result, they will obey God’s commands.

Do you find this to be a stunning assurance? So did Ezekiel. Consequently, a field trip was in order.

God’s Spirit took me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones. He led me around and among them—a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain—dry bones, bleached by the sun. (37:1–2 THE MESSAGE)

God asked him, “Son of man, can these bones live?” (v. 3).

The prophet was a man of vision. But not enough vision to venture an answer. He deferred. “Sovereign Lord, you alone know” (v. 3 NIV).

Then the Lord gave this command:

Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” (vv. 4–6)

The prophet did as told. As he prophesied, Ezekiel heard a grand rattling. Bones clicked and clattered and reconnected. Sinew appeared out of nowhere to hinge the joints. Skin spread and refleshed the skeletons. The ravine of bones became a collection of bodies. Yet the bodies had no breath. No life. There was no evidence of beating hearts or breathing lungs. So God told the prophet to let loose another proclamation.

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.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. (vv. 9–10)

Apart from the Spirit, we may have bones, flesh, scalps, and teeth, but we have no life. He, and he alone, is the giver of life. Lest we miss the message, God delivers the punch line. “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” (v. 14).

God kept his promise. The Hebrews returned to their homeland some seventy years later. And they will return again in the new kingdom.

What the Spirit did then, he will do again for you.

The breath of heaven is awaiting your invitation. Proclaim a declaration. State a heartfelt petition. Spirit, I welcome you.

He does not coerce, cajole, or force his way into our lives. He enters when welcomed, so for heaven’s sake, welcome him.

The help you need is here. Ask the Spirit to infuse you with his power. Throw open the door! Swing wide the gate! Stand on the threshold and say, “Come in!” Inhale the one Jesus exhales. Take a deep, refreshing breath of the power and presence of God. Do so now, then again, then again.

Respond

Do you feel God’s presence in your life? Explain.

Describe a time when you felt the Holy Spirit help you.

Prayer

Almighty God, you are amazing. Your promises are true. Thank you for the sacrifice that made an eternal relationship with you possible, and thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit.