Dry Bones Syndrome?
How did we get here? Who taught us to behave the way we do? Why are our churches filled with dry bones? No wonder the rats are scurrying about with the slightest reflection of light. How can we speak life back into the body of Christ? We have resorted to the complacency of the Dry Bones Syndrome that Ezekiel 37 talks about. With it being so easy to claim life back into those bones through the power and authority of what the gospel is all about, you know, what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross at Calvary, why are our bones still dead and not dancing?
I don’t know about you, even though I have kicked and screamed a few thousand times myself, I have made a decision to allow the Lord to restore my dried up bones back to life and engage in the Dancing Bones community. (This is probably why you will find me dancing just about everywhere these days ♥). The Dancing Bones community is what the Body of Christ comes together for; to bring back life through healing and to restore the soul through love and acceptance in being who you REALLY ARE!!!
We are living under this perception that our congregations are meant for us to visit while hiding behind these false pretenses of facades we spend so much time constructing instead of spending that time embracing who and what we are by learning together what it’s like to apply these principles which make up the gospel. God did not design you to run from being the Beautiful You you really are! None of us are perfect, and I am so grateful for that, being the imperfect person I am. How can this community happen, though, when you arrive late so you don’t have to talk to anybody and then you’re the first to leave, or you completely ignore others by keeping your head down or looking forward with tunnel vision? What are you hiding from or behind? This is what we receive through community, the knowledge and wisdom found through connecting with each other and contributing to being one of the many (1 Corinthians 12:12-27) while being united together: the definition of the gospel! Please do not rob me of the blessings in getting to know you (it is all about me, you know ♥), you have needed value to share!
I have been on a journey the past couple of years on a quest to find out what exactly it means to be a Christian woman because what I was sadly witnessing and finding throughout our churches did not mirror with what the Bible proclaims. Since a lot of Christians were living out lives that were quite contrary to Biblical doctrine once they left their congregational walls, I explored all possible avenues of what it means to look like a Christian woman.
We are taught about what it means to be a Christian and how to obtain salvation and eternal life, but what about the qualities and characteristics that are supposed to exist in being a Christian woman. Nobody taught me what my roles and responsibilities were as a Godly woman claiming the inheritance of the kingdom of God amongst a dark and evil world, so I sought out through higher education and the Spirit’s guidance, along with teaching many age groups of women and listening to real-life stories of women in ministry, to find out what would make my God, Almighty God, happy! Let me say one thing, isolation and being someone you’re not is not the answer. Not only is it deceptive, but it robs you and others of your presence, your story and your life!
If we’ve had life spoken over and into us, like how God restored the dried bones back to life in Ezekiel 37, shouldn’t we be representatives that speak to the truth, the power and the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ through the transforming power of our very own lives? Sadly, we have hindered the gospel’s meaning through the division that exists in the body of Christ! What happened to connecting, celebrating, caring, and contributing to what is spoken about in Acts 2:42-47?
The success of the gospel has been
hindered by division!
It appears somewhere down the road we have strayed away from the Biblical definition of the traditional family roles and values. We wonder why society is the way it is. I know I have done my fair share in life to corrupt society, but I take my responsibilities seriously now with being a daughter of Christ and what the gospel proclaims, so I want to leave a legacy that promotes those beliefs, no matter how hard it is or the persecution I encounter living it out to the best of my ability through the grace given me.
The number one challenging characteristic that I found through all women in general, not just Christian ones and I am including myself in this pact, is our cattiness behavior and how we’re either too afraid to love or be loved on because of “prior hurts” or “fear of rejection” or this “mean-girl victim” mentality. One thing that is adamantly clear is that we all need to be rebuilt again that only the Lord can accomplish. I am not saying this to be mean or ugly, I am only being honest. Us women are doing quite a disservice to our Lord and each other through the conditions of our hearts and minds, and major artery surgery needs to be performed by the Great Physician in order to heal our bleeding hearts so we can bring unity back into our communities.
These past years, the Lord has led me on a journey to see firsthand the condition of the hearts and minds of many Beautiful Beloveds. I have watched leaders set up other leaders just to get ahead, I have watched the hurt from deceitful words, and I’ve also witnessed walls of isolation being built around many tender hearts because we just don’t understand our value and worth in Christ. That’s really no one’s fault but our very own; it’s our responsibility to engage in a relationship with the Lord. Our relationship with the Lord is mirrored through our earthly relationships. If we don’t engage in beautiful and trusting relationships with others while being ourselves, then that’s indicative of our relationship with God. He loves us just the way we are, so why are we struggling in coming to the throne of God being ourselves? That’s why we need each other, totally exposed and vulnerable, so we can help encourage and exhort one another; that’s what the Bible says. That requires people who will care, connect, celebrate and contribute.
The only way we can allow the Lord to bring life back into our dried and brittle bones is to open up our Bibles and study the beautiful Words that are there for us to engage in and apply the principles that it teaches. How else are we going to be romanced with the greatest love affair available to mankind if we don’t engage in a daily relationship with God? He loves us just the way we are and He just wants us to tap into that life-giving power that resides through the beauty of the written Word. He just wants a little of 
our time to say hello! This is the only way healing can begin to bring the unity back alive in our congregations that the Spirit so eagerly awaits to pour out! There is responsibility with claiming that inheritance and that love should drive us to cleave into our loving daddy’s arms. Once that occurs, the Spirit of Truth will restore our old, dead bones and get us dancing again.
Tammy Ingram 
Reblogged this on Blameless and Forever Free Ministries.
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