Today there are wonderful things that are going on through social media, many are sharing every day as though the Lord is giving them totally new instruction daily. Honestly, from my standpoint, brand new instruction or goals every day can release major of confusion to God’s people. However, God is allowing it to not only judge our where our hearts are, but also for when real truth is released, everyone will know God is truly still alive. There are times when God enables us to speak those things that He is truly saying for a season, I feel that the season is upon us, yet at the same time, there are many voices being heard to bring about confusion, and to lose focus on Jesus. The way we prepare, is to begin studying the Person of Jesus; if not, we won’t have an answer when needed, nor stability for our own lives as the spirit of this world increases. The only way to know the counterfeit of Jesus, is to constantly study the “real” Jesus in our lives in His word or in our intimate times with Him.
In Ezekiel 37, there are hidden revelations of the Lord that I will try to share as we go through the chapter. Let’s begin. Ezekiel 37:1 says,
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.
One of the points I want to touch on in verse one, is Ezekiel. Like Ezekiel, we can see that most of the time, the hand of the Lord comes upon someone in their darkest hour, and the surroundings seem to be dark as well. Most of the time, if we find our lives in a valley, or in a dry place, it only confirms that the Lord has set us there. Again, our carnal mind will definitely tell us that it cannot be the Lord, because it doesn’t feel like the movements of God. We must remember, our personal time with God is the time we feel the euphoria of the Lord’s presence. The secret times with God are for regeneration, intimate relationship, and strength for tasks ahead. Personal times with God are like drinking water and it infiltrating and refreshing our bodies, to prepare us for His continued work and walk within our lives. In another sense, the refreshing of God’s presence is preparation for the valley, or dry places that the Lord will position us in.If we are in a valley, it most likely confirms that the hand of the Lord is upon us
The first verse of Ezekiel 37 also shows us, that if we are in a valley or in a dry place, it only confirms that the hand of the Lord is upon us. If we can remember and believe it, we will actually experience the hand of the Lord on our lives. For where the valleys are, is where God reveals His glory. If there’s one particular person who went through the valley, it’s the Lord Himself. He chose to come down from a high place of glory, make Himself of no reputation, and manifest in the form of sinful flesh. He walked in and through the greatest valley ever traveled, called the earth. We can see from the accounts of Jesus’s life on earth, that He didn’t always “feel” the euphoria like we’ve been conditioned to feel. However, there are other realms of the presence of God that Jesus was led by, such as long-suffering, patience, endurance, self-control and other different natures that Galatians 5 speak of. It’s important to learn all of the natures of God’s presence as Jesus did, less we miss out on understanding the Lord when He drops us in unfamiliar territory.
When Ezekiel saw where the Lord placed him, he was confused, because he would have thought when the Lord came upon him, He would place him in a wonderful church service, a big revival, or something pleasant. God picked Ezekiel because He knew Ezekiel would choose obedience to God over his own feelings. Besides, most likely one of the reasons God chose Ezekiel, was because no one else would go where God wanted to go. This also sounds very familiar, doesn’t it? It sounds like the same scenario when Jesus decided to go to the cross; not many chose to go. Our carnal minds look for easy places, or places we don’t have to endure much hardship. Easy feelings are a part of our carnal nature. It hates God’s ways and doesn’t want to truly walk in all the places of God, just the easy ones, where one doesn’t have to humble himself. Nevertheless, the valley is where God is going! If we are going to be true disciples, and apart of God’s army, we must be willing to follow Him wherever He wants to go. Besides, darkness is where Christ wins battles through us; not only in in our personal lives, but also through us when we come in contact within the dark places of other peoples’ lives. If we come together with each other and in agreement with Christ’s mind, we will not only win battles, but major wars will be won in these last days.
A Thought
I want to throw this thought out. Have you ever been in a situation where you feel like hell has been released, and everything you do seems to fall apart? You even feel like darkness has surrounded you. Well, one of the reasons it’s not working and we see nothing but darkness, is because the way we are understanding the situation is not the true reality. What has occurred, is that fear has slithered into our consciousness and has given us his understanding. In actuality, the situation is not as bad as we think. The real reason you are there, is because God is there, and the hand of God is on our lives; if we choose to see it that way, our mentality transforms, our eyes open, and Christ’s thoughts take over to understand His intentions and glory for the situation that He has walked us into. After our mental awakening, we will find ourselves prophesying and having the characteristics of the divine nature of God in a place of chaos. We must remember, we are in an invisible war against principality and powers, and rulers of darkness. We were born for chaos. Our lives were designed for warfare and intimacy with God. Therefore, rejoice when you are in warfare, for it is one of our weapons! God is not going to place us in a spot we can’t overcome! He also will not position us in a place where people or a region doesn’t need His love or power. If we are having true warfare, it confirms we are called by God.