Takeaway: Even when life seems like it's over or you've only heard about bad, good is coming!

Have you ever seen animal bones?

It could be a longhorn skull, legs, ribs, whatever. When I was in elementary school I was invited to a friend's ranch every once in a while. During our adventures around the property, we would find deer antlers, coyote remains, and other parts.

Often times the sight of these bones was accompanied by a horrendous smell. Coyotes were often caught in a trap and were stuck there until they decomposed. Between the terrible smell and chilling collection of bones we would find, it's no wonder that death is a creepy thing.

One of my favorite passages in all of Scripture talks about bones. It emphasizes that these bones are dry. They were there for a while, no skin, no meat, nothing. Just, well, bones.

Ezekiel is the prophet who sees these dried bones become people. He sees them breathe and move around. God shows him this in a vision to represent what he will do to the nation of Israel (and to us).

There are three main takeaways about God's promises I've noticed while reading Ezekiel. Check them out below!

I Will Take Care Of You

"And I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations." Ezekiel‬ ‭34:29‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Have you ever been sick or under the weather and no one was able to help out?

Have you felt like you were working as hard as you could, yet you were still struggling to make ends meet?

Did people tell you that you have to "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" and get it done?

Being in any of those situations is frustrating and it makes you feel

• uncared for
• discarded
• used
• betrayed

However, the promise God gives his people is that they will not be hungry anymore, that they will no long suffer from other nations is so encouraging. The Israelite nation had been in exile for decades (from Babylon and Assyria before that).

No matter what you may be going through God is going to take care of you. Whether your family has turned their back on you (even if they are 'Christian'), God will take care of you. Whether you get an unwanted diagnosis, God will take care of you. Whether you keep trying but nothing goes your way, God will take care of you.

I Will Put My Spirit In You

"'And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.'" Ezekiel 36:26-27 ESV

Life is exhaustining. We try by our own efforts to achieve our own goals. We want to

• be successful
• find the best husband / wife
• be the best husband / wife
• be a great parent
• get a raise
• etc.

Our own efforts and goals are not bad in themselves, but what about God? In one of my favorite verses in the Bible, He promises to give us a new heart. He gives us new disires which cause us to walk in his statues

Why is this good and comforting?

• If God is perfect, then his statues are good and good for us.
• If God is as good as the Bible says, then changing our hearts to follow him is incredibly kind.
• If God wants us to live, what better way than the creator of life to give us life as he defines it?

If you feel spiritually, mentally, emotionally or physically dead, God will give you new life. He will renew your spirit.

I Will Be Their God

'My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 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.”' Ezekiel 37:14,27 ESV

"I'm proud of you."

I hope you've heard that from people: friends, family, mentors, teachers, etc. There are few things that give me a warm fuzzy feeling like when my Dad would tell me that.

God tells us something that gives such a better feeling. "I will be their God... I will put my Spirit within you."

Just stop and think about that. The perfect God, the most loving, good and holy God is going to be our God. He doesn't say we'll be his servants then he'll love us. He chooses us first before we ever choose him. What a blessing.

Most of Ezekiel before this point is God describing his righteous anger and judgement upon Israel and the nations. They sinned. They turned away from God. They did not choose Him.

Yet, He still chose us. He went so far to send his Son, Jesus, to be a perfect sacrifice for us.

Jesus is the embodiment of the above promises. He wants you to know him. What is stopping you from getting to know him? How can you let Jesus into your life today?