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Day 236, or August 24. Live it up like a believer. Our thoughts today are rooted in Ezekiel chapter

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37 verse 14. I will put my spirit in you, and you will live.

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Now the big picture surrounding this verse. The most famous vision of Ezekiel is that

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in which he sees a valley of dry bones. In ancient times bodies of loved ones were left

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to decay and become mere bones before they were gathered together and put in special

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boxes and placed with their ancestors. This is what the Bible means when we read in several

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places that those who had died were gathered to their ancestors. It means literally that

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lots of dry bones were gathered together and added to those who had previously died. Ezekiel

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sees a valley full of such bones, and God tells him to preach the word of the Lord to

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them. Nothing but a miracle would make them live. God was promising that the seeming catastrophe

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of exile and the temple's destruction was not the end. God would redeem His people and

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give them another chance to live.

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And now today's action step. On the face of it, you can't tell the difference between

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an unbeliever and a believer. They look the same. Looking across a congregation, it can

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be hard enough to know which ones are awake, never mind which ones are believers. On a

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serious note, there comes a time for every one of us when we need to hear the word of

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the Lord and prove we have heard it by responding to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. This

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action transforms our dry bones' existence into a vital living experience with the living

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God. This is surely what Jesus meant when He said He had come to give us life in all

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its fullness. Knowing is not enough. Responding is essential. I believe churches are amongst

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the most needy mission fields in our country because they have tens of thousands of folk

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who know about God but who don't know Him. If that sums up you, then why not listen to

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day 21 again and make today the day that your dry bones receive the gift of eternal life.