June 1: Ezekiel 37:3 — Without Him We Are Dry Bones (Today's Reading: My Utmost for His Highest)

Ezekiel 37:3
"He said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' "

We are nothing without God. 

We cannot fix ourselves, we cannot make ourselves holy, we cannot straighten out our own lives, we cannot raise our own dead bones. 

But God can do all of this. He breathes life into dry bones—ours; separate from God's grace and God's Spirit—we are dry bones.

Our part is not effort.
Our part is surrender and trust.

We surrender our will to Him and we trust and have faith that God can and will do all that He says in the Bible. This is the death of self and self-effort, and the birth of real faith. 

Without God's grace, we are capable of being as bad as the next person in line for a jail cell.
Because in us, nothing good dwells; but with God's Spirit abiding within us, we are capable of everything He desires, which is all good.  

Most of us had rather work for the Lord under our own effort than work with the Lord under only His power. We mistake busyness, religious activity, frantic effort, and spiritual panic for inspiration. When working with the Lord, we rely only on Him for inspiration, faith, and strength...not our effort at all.

Do we really believe God can change us or do we secretly believe it is up to us to change ourselves? I can testify to the fact that we cannot fix ourselves. I can also testify that God can, and will, and does...
I really had no idea what was going to happen when I surrendered my will to the Lord. I had never heard it taught and never read anything about it... all I knew is that in my Bible was a notation: "death to self." And in my journal I had written: "Lord, how do I die when I am living and breathing? I do not understand."
I did not know if all the pretty promises in the Bible were real or just pretty. I had never experienced any of them that I was aware of. I had tried desperately to change myself and to die to self, but I did not know how and was never successful in any of my attempts.
I had no idea if God would change me. I just knew I needed to take the next step and do what the Holy Spirit was leading me to do. I was clueless... and now I'm not. I took a leap of faith—it changed my life.

We have nothing to lose and everything to gain by trusting in our Creator and sovereign God to be able to do all things. He created us... He created the world by speaking it into existence... He created all the mysteriously strange and beautiful things you see in nature... He created you and me. 

He knew us before we were sent to this earth and born as babies into this world. We have every reason to believe, trust, and have faith that He is able. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain by believing in Him. He is faithful, He is truth, He is light. He is a God full of mercy, kindness, and love. He is eternal, holy, sovereign, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. He is magnificent and glorious to behold. He is everything you think a God should be and He is more than you could ever imagine.

God's mind is far superior to ours. 
We cannot even begin to comprehend the mind of God. 
We are small and weak and the earth itself is His footstool. 
He is strong and all powerful. 
His word spoke the world into existence. 
The world and everything in it depends on Him. 
He sustains all life. 

He depends of nothing. 
We cannot compare to God. 
Our efforts are in vain. 

God does not want our puny efforts. 
He wants 
our trust, 
our surrender, 
our obedience. 
Our faithfulness, our love, and our desire for Him will be fulfilled in us after we trust, surrender, and obey.

His everything for you is only a heartbeat away...just say—"my will is Yours"— and He will get to work on you, then you can put your effort aside and enjoy the freedom of rest in His loving arms. 

God is so good.

Selah,
~ Quil 

Prayer
Lord, we love You and ask that You will draw us into the comfort of Your arms. 

Give us the courage to have the trust and the faith we need 

to step out into the unknown straight into Your will for our lives.
In Jesus' name, Amen. 

Breath Prayer: Breathe life into me — be Lord of my heart.

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Scripture References

Dry Bones / Human Inability:
Ezekiel 37:3 — Only God can make dry bones live
Ezekiel 37:5 — God breathes life into what is dead
Ezekiel 37:12 — God opens our graves and raises us
John 6:63 — The Spirit gives life; the flesh can do nothing
Romans 7:18 — Nothing good dwells in the flesh

Surrender / Trust:
Proverbs 3:5–6 — Trust in the Lord, not your own understanding
Psalm 37:7 — Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him
Matthew 16:24 — Deny yourself and follow Him
Galatians 3:3 — We cannot finish in the flesh what began in the Spirit
Philippians 2:13 — God works in us to will and to act

Lordship / God’s Power Alone:
John 15:5 — Without Jesus we can do nothing
2 Corinthians 3:5 — Our sufficiency is from God
2 Corinthians 12:9 — His strength is made perfect in weakness
Titus 3:5 — We are saved by His mercy, not our works
Psalm 127:1 — All labor is in vain unless the Lord does the work

Romans 8:11 — The Spirit gives life to our mortal bodies
Galatians 5:17 — The flesh wars against the Spirit
Jeremiah 17:9 — The heart is deceitful without God’s grace

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