Dry Bones...Revisited

There is a song we often sing at our church that moves me every time. It refers to one of my favorite scriptures from Ezekiel 37...the Valley of Dry Bones. Just to remind you, the Spirit of the Lord takes Ezekiel to a valley and he walks up and down among these old dry bones. When Ezekiel was asked if these bones could live again, he replied, "Oh Sovereign Lord, only You know". 

This valley is beyond the Valley of Death that David writes about in Psalm 23. These bones were dry and dusty. Death had come and gone and time and weather had bleached these bones white. 

Back to the song: 

"You give life, You are love, You bring light to the darkness
You give hope, You restore, every heart that is broken
Great are you Lord! 
All the earth will shout Your praise
Our hearts will cry, these bones will sing:
'Great Are You, Lord!'"

This song always takes me back to Ezekiel 37. Scripture says the bones were "very dry". I picture them bleached white by the sun. They had lain there for years. Death had come and gone, hope of life was not even a vague thought or memory. But the Word of the Lord had brought them back together, putting muscle tissue and flesh back on them; His breath, His Spirit gave them life!

We sang it again this past Sunday and it took me back to a blog post I wrote several years ago. I'd like to re-visit part of it here...

For the last several years my family has been in a situation with a loved one that has, at times, seemed hopeless. It seems the more we pray, the farther away they run. For years now, I have carried a mental picture of standing in service and seeing my prodigal walk through the center sanctuary doors. But lately, the picture has been fading; the hope abated...the bones have been bleached white by the hot desert sun.

I prayed with a friend last week, telling her it is just so hard, the load too heavy, the grief too much! But Sunday, this song once again cause faith to rise up in me. Once again, I am hanging on to the promise. I will hold that mental picture with me and raise it up to the face of God, reminding Him of His promise:

"Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life...I will put breath in you...then you will know that I am the Lord." (Ezekiel 37:4-6)

If you, like me, are praying for prodigals in your life to come home to Jesus, I encourage you to stand in faith and hope with me. Hang on to the promise of God and like Ezekiel, prophesy to those "dry bones".

"Then He said, 'Prophecy to the breath: Breathe on these slain, that they may live.' So I prophesied...and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army!" (vs. 9-10)

©2020  'Lena Ehlert

"Live! Live! Dry bones hear the Word of the Lord!"Rattle! Elevation Worship

Giving Thanks....

I will give thanks to you, Lord, 

with all my heart.

Psalm 9:1

A few weeks ago my husband and I drove down to Sumner, WA to visit my oldest son and his family. They have two precious little boys, James who is 5 1/2 years old, and Liam who is 18 months old. Both boys are precious and in many ways so different in personalities; in others so much the same.

We spent the entire day with them and were still there as mom and dad put them to bed. James has just begun saying his own bedtime prayers and when my son asked him if he wanted to pray, I was somewhat surprised that he said "yes"; I was certain our presence would make him shy or uncomfortable.

He jumped up on the couch, sat crossed legged and folded his little hands. His prayer went something like this:

Dear God,

Thank you for Mommy and Daddy,
Thank you for Liam,
Thank you for Grandma and Grandpa,
Thank you for Mitchell, Ryan, Rebecca and Mackenzie (uncles and aunt)
Thank you that I have everything I want
Thank you for Uncle Sam and Aunt Kate
Thank you for Owen and Anna (cousins)
Thank you for everything.
Thank you that I have everything I want (again)
Thank you for my house
Thank you for mom and dad (again)
In Jesus name,
Amen.

As he first began to pray, I smiled to myself because he listed off everyone he knew and said "thank you"; and then he was thankful that he got everything he "wanted". But I realized a couple of things in this sweet, simple, innocent prayer:

One, to a five year old, there's not a lot of different between what they "want" and what they "need"; so for James, who by no means gets everything he "wants", his wants were his needs. And so, he was thankful that he had everything that he needed.

Second, and perhaps most enlightening of all, was that he was truly thankful!

So many of us go to God in prayer, and we may begin our prayers with thankfulness, but before long, we begin our lists of "wants". And there is nothing wrong with presenting our needs and petitions to God... He tells us to...He WANTS us to do exactly that!

But James was just thankful! As an innocent little child, that's all he did... he just thanked God!

Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

There are so many Scriptures that tell us to give thanks. "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever" is found several times...

• 1 Chronicles 16:34
• Psalm 106:1
• Psalm 107:1
• Psalm 118:1
• Psalm 118:29
• Psalm 136:1

If there were no other reasons to give thanks to God, His goodness and His love are enough.

Even when we do bring our needs to the Lord, Paul tell us:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

My little grandson taught me a valuable lesson that night... I have SO MUCH for which to be thankful! Yes, I have needs... there are times that I need a 

Waymaker
Miracle Worker
Promise Keeper
Light in the Darkness
(remember, music speaks to me!)

But without another thing, another blessing, another healing, another rescue, I can easily, and wholeheartedly say to the Lord...

"Thank you! You have been good to me!"



Blessings,
'Lena
©2018

You gotta listen to this song!

Music Speaks to Me....

Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst." 

John 4:10, 13-14

Music speaks to me....

When I was a little girl, my Daddy sang in a southern gospel quartet, The Virginia Travelers. I have fond memories of going to concerts up and down the east coast listening to him sing with his beautiful tenor voice. After he left the group, he began to promote gospel music and host concerts with many of the other gospel quartets of that time: The Stamps, The Blackwood Brothers, The Happy Goodman Family, The LeFever's, Bill Gaither, The Rambos, and so many others. We lived at the bottom of a hill, on the end of the street and there were many times that there would be two, three, or four big tour buses in our driveway as we hosted the quartets and Momma and Grandma would cook meals for them.

Music has always been an important  part of my life. I remember as a young girl playing record albums and sitting in the floor pretending I was on stage singing. At one time I thought I would be the next Karen Carpenter. Momma would fuss at me because I was always humming at the dinner table...a big "no-no" in a proper southern home.

Music speaks to me....

I began singing in church choirs at the age of thirteen and music is always playing in my car, my home, my office. There is a soothing and calming peace that fills the environment when I play worship music.

Maybe that's why when I often hear a word from the Lord it's when I'm singing. Scriptures that I know in the depths of my heart will often come to the surface in the middle of praise or worship. Pictures come to life in songs. Connections between the physical and spiritual are made in songs.

 

Music speaks to me....

 

Which brings me to my story...

Last Thursday night during choir rehearsal, I had a bottle of water; every time I took a drink it seemed I was even thirstier than before. I remember thinking, "Why isn't this water quenching my thirst? I must be really dehydrated." I will admit that water is not my favorite beverage... I'd rather have sweet tea or coke.

Later in the evening when the choir went  upstairs to join the orchestra and band for prayer, we began singing "Hunger". There is a line in the song that says, 

"There's a hunger, and a thirst; 

I am desperate, immerse me."

The music spoke to me....

physically, my body needed water

spiritually, my soul needed water

My mind immediately went to the scene in John 4 where Jesus has a conversation with the woman at the well. He asked her for a drink of water. She was surprised that He would ask her, a Samaritan woman, for water. His reply:

"If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water...everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst." 

John 4:10, 13-14

As I pondered over that verse the next few  days, I wondered if the living water keeps us from ever thirsting again, why am I spiritually so thirsty now? Jesus had told the woman that "a spring of living water would well up inside" and any who drank of his living water would never thirst again.

That's when it hit me....

I'm not drinking enough water! 

Often life gets busy, even doing great things, things for the Kingdom, and I get distracted. I am often going in so many different directions that I forget to stop and take a "drink". Instead of drinking "living water", I substitute it with other things that don't quench my thirst. 

There's a hunger

And a thirst.

I am desperate

Immerse me!

Nothing will satisfy like the Living Water only Jesus can give. I have determined, again, to make the time to sit and drink from the well, read and meditate on His Word, listen more intently...

I want springs of living water to well up within my soul! 

Are you thirsty? What water are you drinking? Is it the true living water? Or have you found a substitute to quench your thirst?

Which brings me to another old song:

Drinking at the springs of living water

Happy now am I

My soul they satisfied

Drinking at the springs of living water

O wonderful and bountiful supply!
(public domain)

Blessings,

'Lena

©2018

 

A Tribute…

To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Jude 24, 25 

One journey ends…another begins.

A lifetime of experiences…an eternity of joy.

A legacy left behind.

An adventure continues…

On April 26, 2015 at 12:22 am on a Sunday morning, I stood at Heaven’s Gate and watched as a man walked through.

It was a moment of heartache and loss…

It was a moment of beauty and wonder…

It was a moment of holiness…

You see, this man was a Godly man. He had spent his years serving as a pastor, shepherding flocks, teaching and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He officiated over my wedding almost 32 years ago. His daughter has been my dearest friend for almost 35 years. And one of the last things he did before he slipped into unconsciousness was call her and her husband into his room to pray for the Church. Romans 11:29 tells us that "His gifts and His calling are irrevocable." For this man, that was true; as he laying slipping into eternity, His call to the Church was still there.

He had been lying unresponsive for three days or so. I sat with his son, daughter and her husband, and one of his granddaughters…waiting, watching, reminiscing; sometimes with laughter, sometimes with tears. They remembered days in their childhood, homes they had lived in, some better than others. Conversations they had with their dad in recent days and in days gone by; vacations they had taken even as recently as last year. The joys of life and the heartaches of life.

We would laugh at some of the things he would say that a former pastor should, perhaps, not have said. And then the tears would come, as they told him how much they loved him, what an amazing father and “papa” he was; and while they would miss him greatly, he was free to go and rest in the arms of Jesus and be reunited with his wife of over 60 years, Ruth.

We had Pandora playing music in the background. Every now and then a song would come on that we would sing along with, filling the room with worship. And then a song would play that would be a little odd and we would chuckle and say, “Skip!”

Along about midnight on Saturday, his breathing began to change again. Instead of striving for breath, he became more peaceful and we knew the time was near. His granddaughter heard a woman giggle and say, “Come on!” His daughter crawled into bed alongside him and a song begins to play…

Bless the Lord O my soul, o my soul

Worship His holy name

Sing like never before, o my soul

I’ll worship Your holy name.

And on that day when my strength is failing

The end draws near and my time has come

Still my soul will sing Your praise unending

10,000 years and forever more!

She looks at me and says, “What an appropriate song!” and lays her head down on his chest, and begins to weep as she listens to his final heartbeats. The song continues to play…

Bless the Lord O my soul, o my soul

Worship His holy name

Sing like never before, o my soul

I’ll worship Your holy name.¹

As the last notes of the song fade away, he takes his last breath. The gates of Heaven swing wide, and he walks through…free from pain, free from this earthly life and on to an eternity with joy unspeakable and full of glory! A holy moment.

On Sunday morning, April 26, 2015 at 12:22 am, Charles Wesley Samuels was presented before "His glorious presence without fault and with great joy."

One journey ends…another begins

A lifetime of experiences…an eternity of joy

A legacy left behind

And, for Charles, a new adventure begins…

Reverend Charles Wesley Samuels

2/4/1928 – 4/26/2015

‘Lena Ehlert

©Whispers in Worship, 2015

¹10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman

God is my Stronghold!!

So, I had a kind of paradigm shift last night. Or maybe it was just a true revelation from God. Anyway, it changed the way I was thinking about strongholds. Last night at prayer meeting, Pastor Alec was reading Psalm 18 and though he read the first thirty one verses, I could hardly get past the last word of verse two:

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
    my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Psalm 18:2 (ESV)

Wait… what? God is my stronghold?! In all my years of being a Christian, I have always thought of a “stronghold” as a tool of Satan – like a pit or dungeon where he keeps us bound up in sin . . . fear, depression, drugs, alcohol, adultery, lying, stealing, gossip, jealousy, etc. And yet, here in Psalm 18:2 David writes that God is my stronghold!

I stood there thinking about this and realized that all this time I have tried to fight my way out of Satan’s stronghold, prayed for God to break the chains that hold me in those strongholds, not realizing God IS my stronghold!!  

If God is my stronghold, then that place of safety and deliverance is greater and more fortified than the chains and cords of Satan’s strongholds.  What amazing freedom is in that revelation!

God is not only my rock, 

my fortress, my deliverer,

 my refuge and my shield….

He is my STRONGHOLD!

“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them,

for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

1 John 4:4

‘Lena Ehlert

© Whispers in Worship, 2014

Remember . . . Hope!

But this I call to mind,

    and therefore I have hope

Lamentations 3:21

I purchased a new Bible this past week and in the back of it is a reading guide. It is not your typical “read the Bible in a year” plan, in that it has specific dates for specific passages. So rather than begin reading this new Bible at the beginning, I began reading the Scriptures listed for the date I received the Bible. Saturday morning, the portion I was to read was from Lamentations. 

Okay...let’s just start with that word.

What comes to mind when you hear the word lamentations? The dictionary defines the word “lamentations” as: the passionate expression of grief or sorrow; weeping.  The Hebrew word ekah which means “how?!” and expresses dismay is used often in this book. The rabbis began to call the book “loud cries” or “lamentations.” It’s a book assumed to be written by Jeremiah after the fall of Jerusalem. One commentator said: 

“Like Job, Lamentations pictures a man of God puzzling over the results of evil and suffering in the world. However, while Job dealt with unexplained evil, Jeremiah lamented a tragedy entirely of Jerusalem’s making. The people of this once great city experienced the judgment of the holy God, and the results were devastating.” 

So my first thought as I began reading was not one of excitement or encouragement. Here are a few examples from the first few chapters:

 “Look, O Lord, for I am in distress; my stomach churns;  

my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious.  

In the street the sword bereaves; in the house it is like death” (1:20).

“How the Lord in His anger has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud!  

He has cast down from heaven to earth the splendor of Israel; 

He has not remembered His footstool in the day of His anger” (2:1).

“The Lord has scorned His altar, disowned His sanctuary; 

He has delivered into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; 

they raised a clamor in the house of the Lord as on the day of festival” (2:7).

“My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns;  

 . . . because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,  

because infants and babies faint in the streets of the city” (2:11).

“The Lord has done what He purposed;  He has carried out His word, 

which He commanded long ago;  He has thrown down without pity; 

 He has made the enemy rejoice over you and exalted the might of your foes” (2:17). 

“He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; 

He has made my chains heavy;  though I call and cry for help 

 He shuts out my prayer; He has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;  

 He has made my paths crooked” (3:7-9).

You get the idea… not a pleasant read. And even though the people of God had brought this on themselves through their sin, I couldn’t help but think of some of the things we ourselves are facing and having to live through that are not necessarily of our own doing. Yes, our sin separates us from God, but sometimes life just messes up and we find ourselves “lamenting” to God: “Where are You? Why haven’t you rescued me? How long will You ignore me?” Just read some of the Psalms David has written and you’ll see what I mean. Psalm 13 is one of my favorites.

This past week has been especially difficult for my family as we saw hope pulled out from under us. Some things we had been praying for and working towards, hoping resolution would occur soon, we discovered were not going to happen. And it was painful. And I lamented! I could definitely relate to Lamentations 2:11, “My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns…” And Saturday morning when I was reading His Word and looking for peace and encouragement, I get assigned Lamentations??? Seriously?!

But I persevered…and in His faithfulness, He spoke.

About halfway through chapter 3, the author takes a breath and says:

But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in Him.”

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
    to the soul who seeks Him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.

Lamentations 3:21-26 (ESV)

This is what the Lord spoke to me in these verses:

• Remember what He has already done; already promised you.
• My hope is in Him and His Word which is “yes” and “amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
• His love never ceases and His mercies, not only  will they never come to an end, but they are new each and every morning!
• And then the reminder to wait quietly for His answer and salvation.

God is so faithful!

Hope in the Lord

Wait on the Lord!

Rest in the Lord!

 One more encouragement, this time from Moses: 

“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord,

which he will work for you today.”

Exodus 14:13 (ESV)

‘Lena Ehlert

Whispers in Worship ©2014