2023

DAVID OMOLLO
[Company name]
10/29/2023
The Valley of Dry Bones
  Are you spiritually growing or drifting?

 The Valley of Dry Bones

1The hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me
in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw
a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of
man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” 4 Then he said to me,
“Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what
the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to
life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will
put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’” 7 So I
prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound,
and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them
and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the
breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come,
breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied
as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a
vast army. 11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say,
‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to
them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My people, I am going to open your graves and
bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will
know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my
Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I
the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.’” Ezekiel 37:1-14

 God can revive your spiritual journey.

Today we are considering a journey of dry bones coming to life.
Without spiritual growth in worship, hope of God’s grace, faithfulness, and knowledge of God,
we can easily find ourselves spiritually discouraged, dry or spiritually dead.
The Lord is directing Ezekiel to prophesy about the spiritual situation of the Israelite people.
They are pictured here as spiritually dry and dead.

The Lord is giving Ezekiel, as well as us, a picture of the Israelites’ spiritual condition and
what he was about to do for the people of God.
The Israelites turned their backs on God and worshiped other gods
The Israelites spiritually rebelled in their hearts.
Their hearts were spiritually dry and dead.

 spiritual valley

A spiritual valley can be a result of:

1. An emotional valley ie stressed and depressed,
2. Financial valley,
3. Relational valley, you husband, wife, child family,
 4. Physical valley ie sickness.
It can be due to spiritual rebellion toward God, but not always.

 In the valley of dry bones Ezekiel speaks of life that only God can accomplish:

 I will make breath enter you.

 I will attach tendons.
 I will put breath in you, and you will come to life.
 Then you will know that I am the Lord. The dry, dead and lifeless heart of stone is
replaced with a heart of flesh.

 God works miracles and speaks life into people’s lives while they are in the valley.
For example:

 The man with leprosy was hopeless (Matthew 8:1-4).

 The centurion’s son needing healing and was helpless (Matthew 8:5-13).
 The paralytic (Matthew 9:1-8),
 the blind and mute (Matthew 9:27-34),
 the dead girl (Matthew 9:18-26), and
 Lazarus being raised to life (John 11:14-15, 38-44),
 Were spiritually dry and lifeless.
 Jesus healed many who were living hopelessly in a valley and he spoke into their
situation, and then told many to go and sin no more.
 They were renewed and spiritually revived by God while in the valley and they began to
rejoice as they were spiritually uplifted to walk in faith and victory in Christ (Joel 3:14).

 I believe it is in the valley where the most important spiritual decisions are made.

 Couples can find themselves in a relational valley, and it is most often spiritual in nature.
 Individuals can find themselves in a valley.
 Every unbeliever is living in a spiritual valley and they are spiritually blind, hard hearted
and spiritually dead regarding the truth of God.
 Churches can be found in a spiritual valley, reflecting the spiritual health of the
individuals, couples and families of the people in the church.

 Are you spiritually growing or drifting?

In the book of Revelation, John addressed seven churches. God was not pleased with most of
those churches:

 The church of Ephesus had forsaken its first love (God).

 The church of Pergamum began to accept and follow false teachings.
  The church of Thyatira began to tolerate ungodly lifestyles, misleading others into
spiritual adultery.
 The church of Sardis had become spiritually dead even as they outwardly appeared to be
doing some good.
 The church of Laodicea had become spiritually lukewarm.

Each of those churches needed to repent and turn back to God if they were to remain spiritually
alive. They were spiritually blind to the truth. These people were walking with one foot in the
world, thinking they were spiritually OK when they were not. They each drifted away spiritually.
John was warning them to repent, otherwise they would find themselves spiritually dead.

In each case, the churches were warned and given hope if they would listen and obey. If they
repented and turned back to God:

 They would eat from the tree of life and not be overcome or experience the second death.
 They would receive a new name and overcome the evil one.
 Their names would be in the book of life and be with Christ forever.
 They would no longer be spiritually dry or dead,.

What about you? Are you in a spiritual valley feeling spiritually dry, or are you on a
spiritual mountain top rejoicing and praising God with all your heart?

Ask yourself:

 How is my spiritual heart?

 Am I feeling spiritually dry?
 Am I growing spiritually in the Lord or have I pulled back?

 5 Steps to Spiritual Health

Life’s journey doesn’t have to pass through the valley of dry bones. You can avoid areas of
spiritual dryness.

1. The answer is to always first seek the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart
to reveal any area that is spiritually vulnerable to spiritual attack or dryness.
2. Begin to pray for revival. Pray for others and the church. Pray for spiritual revival in the
hearts of those around you and ask the Lord for spiritual revival in your heart and life.
3. Expect and believe: decide to press in and ask God for a deeper faith, a faith to believe
and expect the impossible to be possible.
4. Choose to walk by faith and not by sight or feelings. Pray for a spiritual refreshing in
your heart and in the body of Christ, the church, so that all the world will know that Jesus
is alive.
5. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart and soul as you read the word.

Start today. Seek God, pray for revival, expect the impossible, walk by faith, read the
word, and worship in his presence.