New Wine family and friends of New Wine,

The Holy Spirit awoke me today, with the lyrics of the song, ‘Graves into Gardens’, by Brandon Lake.
I was particularly moved by various lines and phrases of the song: ‘I searched the whole world, but it
couldn’t fill me… then You came along and put me back together… Cause the God of the mountain is
the God of the valley… You turn mourning to dancing, You give beauty for ashes, You turn shame
into glory… You turn graves into garden, You turn bones into armies, You turn seas into highway…
You’re the only one who can…’.

I speak to people every day, who are looking for breakthrough, who are needing a shifting in their
realities, who need a way through the deserts in their lives, who need something to hope for, who
need a miracle. The Lord Jesus by His Holy Spirit is ‘the only One who can’. He alone is able to
redeem, restore, renew, recreate, transform and give life, hope & peace. Through His Word, He
reveals Himself over and over, as ‘the only One who can.’ That is who He is.

In Ezekiel 37:1-14, Ezekiel is given the picture of a valley full of dry bones. The Lord showed Ezekiel
that this was a picture of His people: ‘Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the
people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off’”
(Ezekiel 37:11). The people were in exile- they had given up, their hope was gone, and they
felt as though they were lifeless dry bones. The Lord then tells Ezekiel to ask the Holy Spirit
to breathe life into these slain that my live again: ‘Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the
breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come,
breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied
as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their
feet—a vast army.’ (Ezekiel 37:9-10). There was restoration, transformation and new life,
when the Holy Spirit of God came upon them. Herein was their hope, and our hope alone.

It is only when we engage the Lord through prayer and seek His face, waiting expectantly for
His Holy Spirit to come, that transformation, restoration, breakthrough can happen. He wants
us to speak to the ‘dry bones’ in our lives and circumstances. As we speak to these ‘dry
bones’, in Jesus’ name, the Holy Spirit comes and breathes life- healing, breakthrough,
change, transformation.

The lyrics of the song, ‘Yahweh’, by Leeland, express this so powerfully… ‘Breathe on me,
breath of God, till I am wholly thine… when you breathe, dry bones comes to life; when you
breathe, dead hearts beat inside; when you breathe, heaven comes to earth… when You
breathe, walls start breaking down; when you breathe, brand new songs pour out… it
changes everything…’

The Lord desires to supernaturally invade the natural, that all will see and know that it is He
who has done it. He desires to show His power and change the natural: ‘Then you, my
people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I
will put my Spirit in you, and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land.’ (Ezekiel
37:14).

Let’s choose to respond to the Lord’s invitation for us to speak to the dry bones in our lives
and circumstances, in Jesus name. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to breathe life into these dry
bones, and let’s expectantly wait and marvel at the transformation. It will indeed change
everything.

Bless you all,
David Stansbury