The Outside Has To Match The Inside

 

 

Ezekiel 14:3-5 -"Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?  Therefore speak to them and tell them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet, I the LORD will answer him myself in keeping with his great idolatry.  I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.'

 

Some of the elders had gone to ask Ezekiel to ask God to send them a message. God was so angry that they had become so double minded…worshiping idols in their hearts….but still wanting God to help them as well. Gods answer to them was harsh…full of judgment….disease…famine…war….wild beast attacks….and plagues.

 

The Ten Commandments tell us to have no other gods before the Lord…but we don’t always see the shopping…the bigger pay check…or the other things we do as other gods.  Anything that shoves God into second place in our lives is technically an idol to God.

 

Jesus quoted this law in Matthew 22:37.  It says…. ‘Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' If we truly do that…our outside matches the heart inside…and God truly comes first.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder to keep God first.  Forgive me for letting anything in my life become a stumbling block or idol.  Help me to uncover the things in my life that I still need to let go of so you can have complete control of my heart…and mind…and soul. Amen.

Are We Repairing The Breaks In Our Walls?

 

 

Ezekiel 13:5-7 - You have not gone up to the breaks in the wall to repair it for the house of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the LORD.  Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. They say, "The LORD declares," when the LORD has not sent them; yet they expect their words to be fulfilled.  Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, "The LORD declares," though I have not spoken?

 

God gave Ezekiel a word for the false prophets that had appeared among the people.  They told the people that God was bringing a time of peace…and even swore that God had given them the message. They told the people what they wanted to hear…and gave them a false sense of comfort and confidence.

 

God said they had left the walls of the city broken….flimsy…easy to attack.  They let the false words of the fake prophets lull them into a time of rest…when they should have been repairing the damage that had been done and fortifying the city for another attack.

 

Made me wonder if I rest a little too much….take the calm and easy times of my life for granted. Perhaps I should be working a little harder to fortify my heart against attacks.  I could always study his word a little longer….and spend more of my time in prayer.

 

We are reminded in 2 Timothy 2:15…. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”  We also read in 2 Thessalonians 5:17 …. “pray without ceasing.”

 

Father…..thank you for the reminder to be watchful for those that speak idle words that are not from your gospel.  Thank you for reminding me that I need to spend more time with you in study and prayer. Forgive me for the times that I have listened to any false teachings.  Forgive me for not using the time you have given me more wisely.  Help me to find more time to study your word…and more time to spend in serious prayer.  Amen.

We Know Not The Hour

 

 

Ezekiel 12:26-28 -  The word of the LORD came to me:  "Son of man, the house of Israel is saying, 'The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future.'  "Therefore say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "

 

Ezekiel was told to demonstrate to the rebellious people he lived with how it would be for them in the first days of their exile. So he took his bag out in the street in the light of day….and packed it as full as he could with what he would need. Then as night fell he dug through the wall with his hands and left for the night.

 

It wasn’t that the people did not believe him….they just thought the judgment he foretold was so far in the future it did not affect them. They uttered a favorite proverb of old… “The days as they pass make liars out of every prophet.” So God put an end to that proverb by making Ezekiel’s vision come true in less than 6 years.

 

I can’t help but wonder if that is part of the reason more people don’t take God’s word more seriously now. They dismiss his Bible….they write their own rules…they follow other teachings because so many of the prophecies of the Bible have not come full circle yet. It made me wonder….what if the world as we know it….had less than 6 years left?

 

There needs to be an urgency to how we share God with others….just because we don’t know how much time the world as we know it has left. The disciples got a full sermon about it from Jesus in Matthew 24…but verse 36 says…."No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that there needs to be an urgency in my heart to share your love with others. Forgive me for letting time be my enemy.  Take the part of my heart that has gone cold from the evil I am exposed to every day…and warm it back up with your power and strength. Help me to be what you need me to be…so more people will believe that we are closer to the end than ever before.  Amen.

The Irony Of True Humility

 

 

Ezekiel 11:1-4  -  Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east. There at the entrance to the gate were twenty-five men, and I saw among them Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. The LORD said to me, "Son of man, these are the men who are plotting evil and giving wicked advice in this city.  They say, 'Will it not soon be time to build houses? This city is a cooking pot, and we are the meat.'

 

God gave Ezekiel a harsh message for the leaders of Israel. They had caused the people under them to follow in wickedness and evil ways. They had given evil advice and plotted to get ahead at the expense of the people they served. He had to tell these corrupt leaders that they were about to lose their lives for this great sin.

 

It is a bit ironic that the people who thought they were safe were doomed…and some of the people who suffered through the worst of the captivity in Babylon would actually become the remnant that carried on the Jewish line of ancestry. God works best through the humble heart…because it recognizes who has the real power to save.

 

It is a great reminder to me to keep working toward removing the pride that tries to puff up my heart into thinking it is better than it really is. I have to keep telling myself that I am nothing…except what God allows to help him work his purpose in the whole of creation.  Paul said it best in 2 Corinthians 12:10.  It says… “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

 

Father…thank you for reminding me of my need to stay completely humble.   Forgive me for the times that I forget to give you all the glory and praise for the things you allow me to accomplish on this earth.  Help me to say thank you more often…and give you the credit for all I have and ever hope to be.  Amen.

Pray For New Eyes To See The Majesty Of God

 

 

Ezekiel 10:10-12 - As for their appearance, the four of them looked alike; each was like a wheel intersecting a wheel.  As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced; the wheels did not turn about as the cherubim went. The cherubim went in whatever direction the head faced, without turning as they went.  Their entire bodies, including their backs, their hands and their wings, were completely full of eyes, as were their four wheels.

 

Ezekiel’s vision continued. The man dressed in white linen was told to collect some burning coals from among what were called cherubim…floating….on a floating wheel that went any direction they needed.  The glory of God followed them to the entrance of the temple…then to the courtyard…then rose completely out of the area where the temple stood. The spirit of the creatures was inside the wheels….and their bodies were covered with eyes. They looked exactly like the creatures he had seen in his other vision close to the Chebar Canal.

 

I had very few notes when I finished reading last night….just a simple summary of the events….and one note about the coals representing the purging of sin. And upon awaking this morning to write I got no help…for my alarm had not sounded and I was almost late for work….and had to skip writing till this afternoon. I sit here with no clue what this chapter really needs me to see or understand… uttering a few extras of the usual whispers to God to help me through this task…for the only thing I am sure of is that something IS there for me…to help me live closer to his will for me.

 

Perhaps this curious story of cherubim with wheels and a cloud containing the glory of God that seems to be moving away from the Holy of Holies that it used to live in….is meant to direct my human thinking to the pure awe we should have for God.  Ezekiel could only describe his essence as contained in a cloud…brightness that moved with the guardians God called cherubim. I am guilty of not entering into that state of awe enough…..my humanness keeps me way too focused on the world I see around me.

 

Perhaps the focus should be on the creatures…and the eyes and wheels that seem to be able to see and go anywhere with no notice.  They were so focused on God’s glory that the spirit within the wheels seemed to know where the glory was going at the same time as it moved. That would definitely be an improvement from the confusion I seem to live in most days.  Since I know that God is not the author of confusion…I pray for clarity…but seem to get more confusion in the myriad of choices I seem to have for options.

 

Maybe since those seem to be areas I need to improve…I need to work on both areas.   I need to keep working on shutting out the parts of the world that prevent me from focusing entirely on God… AND…. keep praying for clarity until I am sure my options are all God. That favorite Bible verse keeps ringing in my ears…..Jeremiah 29:11 says…. “I know the plans I have for you says the Lord.  They are plans to prosper you, and give you hope for your future.” So I will pray this afternoon for clarity…and eyes that see only the God options in my future....so I will be less confused.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you are Holy….you deserve the greatest of reverence…an awe that is given only to the greatest of things in my life.  Thank you for reminding me that one way to see clearer is to pray for the eyes you gave me to see only your plans for my life.  Forgive me once again for allowing the world to distract me…and help me to shut out all the confusion that is keeping me from seeing your perfect will for me.  Amen.

Are You Worthy of God's Seal?

Ezekiel 9:4-6- and said to him, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it."  As I listened, he said to the others, "Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.

Ezekiel had been transported to the Temple in a vision.  He had witnessed the glory of God once again…then heard him speak. God called 6 guards to him…one dressed in white linen and carrying a writing case.  The other 5 were told to bring swords. The one in white was to go into the city and look for anyone that was weeping for the sins they had committed …anyone who showed grief and lament for the shape the city had gotten in.  When he found someone he was to mark their forehead…a sign to the other 5 not to kill them.

Revelation 7:3 records a similar scene.  The words of God recorded there are much the same … "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."  John even goes on to give a specific number of the Israelites that will be sealed. 144,000 sounds like a small number of people considering the population of our world is pushing 7 billion.

We could get caught up in the debate over who will be sealed…or whether the 144,000 is a literal number for just the remnant of Jews….or if that is all of the 7 billion people that get sealed.  I think my time would be better spent praying and studying to insure that God finds me faithful…and that I get to be one of the sealed….my odds aren’t too great if I think in just math terms. God knows in my heart that I hope I have passed this life before all this goes down…but just in case….I need to be ready to refuse the mark of the beast…and that will take an amount of strength I do not possess on my own.

As bad as the world seems now…it will get much worse.  Some people will be tricked into taking the mark of the beast to preserve a bit more time on the Earth.  I want to have enough faith and strength to say no…even if it means immediate death. I can hear Paul’s words of courage in Philippians 1:21….he said…. “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” He saw the reward of heaven in his future…and focused on God’s face.  He knew that death would join him to the one he served for eternity…and was ready to face the uncertainty of what death might bring in those moments of passing.

Father…thank you for reminding me that I need to be more faithful.  Forgive me for mostly weeping tears of selfishness and pity.  Help me to focus more on the hurts of others and the hurting world around me.  Help me to build my faith and give me strength for the days ahead…whatever they may bring. Make me worthy to bear your seal. Amen.

God Sees Everything We Do

 

 

 

Ezekiel 8:12-13  -  He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, 'The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.' "  Again, he said, "You will see them doing things that are even more detestable."

 

Ezekiel was overcome by God’s power again to have a second vision.  In the vision he was carried to Jerusalem and showed many detestable things the people had done. He was shown idols and elders worshiping pictures of serpents and snakes…women weeping for a god that gave fertility….and even some men worshiping the sun.

 

Some people did this out in the open….completely rebelling against the laws that they had been taught. But God pointed out that some of them did their idol worship in the darkness…thinking that it was hidden to God’s eyes. They reasoned that it was okay because God had forsaken them.

 

God see everything we do.  It says in Proverbs 5:21…. “ For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths. Psalms 33:13-15 says…. “ From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind;  from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth--  he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. Hebrews 4:13 says…. “ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. And these are just a few scriptures that remind us of that God is all knowing.

 

That means that God hears evry whine and selfish thought I have.  God sees the shopping I do that has no real purpose except to fill time. God sees me lay my head down to sleep without spending time praying for the needs of others. He sees me hit the snooze button on the alarm and not spend as much time as I should with him each morning. 

 

The great thing about it is that he will forgive me and let me start over…right now…in this moment….if I am truly sorry for what I have done…and ask him to forgive me.  I might still have consequences to face for my selfish decisions…but God will help me through that season and give me strength to hold to my faith until I have learned the lesson he wanted me to learn.  God loves me so much he will allow me to choose wrong…and help me pick up the pieces of my mistake and make it a testimony.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you see everything that I do…you hear everything I say and think...and you love me in spite of my bad choices.  Forgive me for the selfish choices I have made. Help me to use the lessons you have taught me when you helped me pick up the pieces of my mess to help others know you better.  Thank you for not letting me wander so far away from you…and helping me realize I am nothing without your love and support. Amen.

Be Careful...Don't Let Money Become Your Master

 

 

Ezekiel 7:17-19 -  Every hand will go limp, and every knee will become as weak as water. They will put on sackcloth and be clothed with terror. Their faces will be covered with shame and their heads will be shaved.  They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be an unclean thing. Their silver and gold will not be able to save them in the day of the LORD's wrath. They will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it, for it has made them stumble into sin.  

 

The end of Jerusalem was not a pretty time for these people.  It held death…famine….army raids that took many to unknown places as slaves. The remnant that remained had to flee to the mountains and hide. No amount of money or gold would help them there…they would have to let God sustain them.

 

The people had let their love of money make the decisions of their heart.  It led them to vanity…idol worship… and many other evil practices that kept them from God. God allowed Timothy to record much the same thought in 1 Timothy 6:10.  He said… “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

 

I admit my guilt….it is so easy to get caught up in the money trap.  We think we need new stuff….our kids need the best toys and clothes that we didn’t have….so we use that credit card that already had too high a balance. We justify going into debt for newer cars and bigger houses…without noticing that we are straying further and further from God’s purpose as we collect things around us.

 

It is possible to get back on the right path…but it will take some control and prayer.  That huge debt you have mounted can disappear if you make decisions to give up some of those ‘things’…and use the money you would have spent to pay off those bills. I gave up TV a few years back….and decided to pay off my school loans instead of just paying minimums each month. I still struggle with shopping…but I know I have made progress in that area as well. 

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I have everything I need in you. Forgive me for the times that I have let money fill my need for things.  Help me to keep focused on you so that you can help me make the right decisions involving money. Help me to use what money you bless me with to help others.  Amen.

Gid Grants Second Chances

Ezekiel 6:7-9 - Your people will fall slain among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.  " 'But I will spare some, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations.  Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember me--how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their detestable practices.

 

Occasionally God allowed Ezekiel a message in words.  This one was harsh….and reminded the people that God would eventually bring judgment upon everyone that chose to worship anyone else but the one true God.  Those that did not repent and turn back to the laws that Moses had recorded on Mount Sanai …would die.  But a remnant would be spared and scattered all over the world.

 

For as far back as Adam and Eve…God has been granting second chances. Their continued existence required some form of punishment…but he forgave and restored them for some purpose.  Noah’s family was saved from a flood that destroyed the rest of mankind. The murderer Moses lived in exile for many years before God called him to go back home and lead God’s chosen people out of bondage. The greatest persecutor of the early church Saul had his sight taken away during the period that God transformed him to be a great preacher named Paul. And that is just a few of the ones recorded in God’s great word.

 

God alone is God.  He is the source of love that sustains us.  He is the source of strength that can get through the hardest day.  Believing in the sacrifice his son Jesus made on the cross is the only way to experience a relationship with him…it will provide for us everything we need.  He has given me many second chances…for which I could never appropriately thank him.

 

Father...thank you for reminding me that you are God alone.  Thank you for the second chances you have given me in this life that Have taught me how to love you more deeply. Forgive me for taking those second chances for granted.  Help me to use the time you have granted me to love you more deeply…and allow you to use me as a vessel of your love to others.  Amen.

Are You On The Narrow Road?

Ezekiel 5:1-3 - "Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber's razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair.  When the days of your siege come to an end, burn a third of the hair with fire inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind. For I will pursue them with drawn sword.  But take a few strands of hair and tuck them away in the folds of your garment.

 

God’s next directive to Ezekiel was another object lesson.  He was to shave all the hair off of his head and face and divide it into 3 equal parts…saving just a bit back to sew into his robe.  While all the people watched… one third of the hair was burned….one third was struck with a sword …and the last third was scattered around the city.

 

Shaving the hair of a man’s head was a sign of humility…repentance…even mourning. It was symbolic of the one thing the Israelites and people of Judah would not do.  Even this …the worst judgment yet from God…could have been prevented if they had just turned from the idol worship and sin in their lives and come back to worship God.  Only a few would be left as a remnant.

 

It is no different now.  Matthew 7:14 says…. “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” We could see the narrow road clearly if we opened our eyes to the many object lessons God sends us each day…but we miss them.  Perhaps we are going in the wrong direction and never see it at all.  Perhaps we are going too fast.  Perhaps we saw it…but it looked too difficult for us to travel and we decided to wait on an easier one.

 

I admit that I have missed many lessons along the way…for all three reasons at different times.  Perhaps if I try to focus a little more on God than myself….slow down…and ask him for new strength ….instead of shrink away in fatigue… I won’t miss the road…or be afraid of it when he shows it to me.

 

Jesus found his narrow road.  He did ask for it to be taken from him once…but when he lifted off his knees from that prayer…he realized that his father would give him the strength he needed to walk it completely. 

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that your way is not the world’s way.  The narrow gate that leads to life is not always easy to walk….but you have all I need to walk it.  Forgive me for the times that I have missed the gate.  Help me to focus more on you…listen more carefully for your directions….and ask you for the strength to do it if you say no to another route. Amen.

Every Detail Is Important

Ezekiel 4:1-3 - "Now, son of man, take a clay tablet, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.  Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it.  Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.

 

Ezekiel’s first recorded task involved following a huge number of specific details. God had prepared for the people an object lesson…a complete visual that was symbolic of the judgment he was bringing on Israel and Judah. For over a year…Ezekiel was given a task that was very detailed and explicit.

 

Every detail… from the way he arranged the brick representing the city… the number of days he must lay on a specific side in his rest… the ingredients in his bread…..and the way he cooked it…was important to show the people. Each thing he was asked to do was meant to help them understand the seriousness of their sin.  God even assisted Ezekiel with the tasks he already knew would be hard for him to complete.

 

God sometimes asks us to do things in a certain way. It may seem silly or out of place at times….but he has a purpose in everything he asks us to do. The thing he asks of us may be hard…but God will send that spirit to help and give us strength. Whether the assignment is full of many small details…or one large thing…God has a reason for asking us to complete it. The lesson may not even be for us…but the people around us that watch us do what seems silly to them.

 

I needed this lesson once again this morning….a reminder that I try to rewrite the tasks that God has given me way too many times.  I am not sure that I even hear God’s specific details some days because I let the world and what seems politically correct make my public decisions. I forget so many times that the world was not created for  me…but I was created to help the world.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you have planned a specific way for me to do things.  Forgive me for the times that I have tried to rewrite your plan for me and messed up the lesson you may have planned for me and the others that would see me follow it. Help me to listen more closely and ask for the strength to complete whatever you ask me to do …exactly the way you have written it. Amen.

The Bible Is Meant To Be Fully Digested

Ezekiel 3:10-12 -  Moreover He said to me: "Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears.  And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God,' whether they hear, or whether they refuse."  Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice: "Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His place!"

 

God had given Ezekiel an important scroll during his vision. It was full of the judgments of God that he would need to share with the rebellious children of Israel.  God had told him to eat it…and it had tasted like the sweetest honey to him. Then God told him to receive it all into his heart…every word that he ate and every word that he spoke to him. The words are strikingly similar to the words John wrote in Revelation 10:8-10.  John even added the bitter aftertaste he had when it was all eaten.

 

The word of God is a source of sweet wisdom and strength….but it only changes our lives if we digest it fully….all the way into our hearts ….and apply it to how we live.  We become clanging cymbals that speak hollow words we never follow ourselves.  We read the Bible so casually that it never changes the way we live.

 

God told us all in several places of the Bible that we are to love him with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind. That means that the love we have for him changes our heart…and empowers our soul to understand the words that we read. Once we have let them sink as deep in our hearts as they can get….they are a source of help and wisdom that satan can’t destroy.

 

I admit that I am not there yet.  I read each night…my one chapter…and try to let God speak to me each morning…revealing to my heart how I should let it change me each day.  I think of words…or phrases that I have read….but I do not have them memorized deep enough in my heart to know where they are found. I find myself relying on the internet way too much for my references…but I am so thankful that God allows me this weakness. I sure need a lift from the spirit that lifted up Ezekiel…to help me digest the word more completely…so it can become a permanent part of my heart and soul and mind.  

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to be more serious with my study of your word.  I need to eat it…and digest it fully…so it can transform me into what you need me to be.  I thank you for the vast resource you gave me in the internet and ask your forgiveness for being too reliant on it.  Help me to find a way to eat it and digest it for myself…so that I can understand your word no matter where I am.  Amen.

Fill me With The Spirit I Need To Do All Of Your Will

Ezekiel 2:1-3 -  And He said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you." Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me. And He said to me: "Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.

 

Ezekiel was in the midst of a great vision.  He had been overcome by God’s very presence… so overwhelmed and broken that he could not even stand when God commanded him. God was so impressed with Ezekiel’s humility that he sent his very spirit to help him to stand so he could listen to the task God had for him.

 

God told him to preach to the people…whether they wanted to listen or not.  He said for him to not be afraid to say exactly what God gave him to say. He knew that most of Ezekiel’s life he would be relaying the words of God to deaf and rebellious ears…so he told him that up front.

 

Several things struck me as important in these verses. First….God did not explain everything to Ezekiel…just the part that he needed to know to do his job. Next….God did not ask him to do this in his own strength…he filled him with the spirit to take over when his humanness could not deal with the task. Finally…God warned him ahead of time that he would meet resistance…just like he did many of the  servants he called to preach his word.

 

It made me think of 2 Timothy 4:2-4 …where he exhorted young Timothy not to give up…but to be ready no matter what to preach to the people the truth that had been covered so well by false prophets and Christians who had strayed so far they had written their own rules.  He said…. “Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;  and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”   He might as well be talking to any Christian called to preach today.

 

Deuteronomy 4:2  says… “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.”  And he finished his words to John in Revelation 22:18 … “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book”   It is clear that we are not to adjust it to fit our needs or wants.

 

Even if you have not been called to be a preacher…there are times when God will give you a task to do…and not explain the whole job.  He expects us to act on faith and just do it….till he releases us to the next task.  He exhorts us all to listen to his words and never change the message of truth he recorded for us in the Bible.  He will fill us with as much of his spirit as we need to complete the task for him.  He wants to fill his presence so completely that we become bold servants who fear nothing but the wrath of God if we do not obey.

 

Father...thank you for the reminder that you have called me to do a work for you.  Forgive me for the times that I have doubted my job…or wanted more information than I needed to finish it. Help me to always pray for that filling of your Holy Spirit…so I will have exactly the strength and courage I need to be bold and fearless and complete each task you give me to do.  Amen.

Fall On Your Face In His Presence

Ezekiel 1:28 -  Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.

 

God called many prophets to deliver his words to his people before the Messiah appeared to do it himself. Ezekiel was called when he was about 30…as he lived among a group of God’s people taken to Babylon.  He was just hanging out along the waters near the river Chebar when a vision  came upon him.

 

He saw a cloud with inner fire and lightning…strange creatures with human form mixed with animal parts….wheels that could go any direction without turning around…and God himself sitting on his throne. I first thought of how similar the vision was to the ones John describes in Revelation 4….but then my spirit got caught up in this last verse….where he fell before God in total awe of who he was.

 

The spirit of God had entered him during his vision….giving him the strength to stand before God…but when he heard his voice he fell face down. Perhaps it was from a simple awe of his appearance…..or perhaps he was just so overcome with God’s presence his human form could not look upon his face….so he spent the rest of his vision on his knees…listening for God’s directions.

 

I had a simple vision once while at a youth camp worship service. During the music I closed my eyes to worship and saw face after face slowly emerge out of a sky filled with white fluffy clouds.  I am sure that Jesus was the last face I saw as the music ended. I smiled for weeks with the knowledge that God was telling me I would touch those people somehow with the task he would give me….even though I recognized none of them.

 

I will admit that I have only been so overcome with the presence of God one time in my life that I fell to my face. I was at the altar….asking God to strengthen me with as much of his spirit that I could handle….when I felt so overcome my knees buckled and I was on the floor crying and thanking him for just being him. They were not sad tears…but rather thankful …joyful tears that he would love me enough to forgive me and let me somehow be a vessel for him.

 

Perhaps we need to seek his presence more often in our busy lives.  Perhaps my worship hasn’t been focused enough to receive any more of these treasured moments of experiencing his love in such a tangible …memorable way. Perhaps this is the way that David felt when he wrote….This is the day that the Lord has made….I will rejoice and be glad in it …from Psalm 118. Sure can’t wait to get to church now…and see what he has in store to strengthen and uplift this tired ole gal. Perhaps if I focus more…I will be able to hear his voice more clearly when he speaks.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you are so awesome that we won’t be able to handle your full presence while we still inhabit these human bodies you gave us.  Forgive me for the times that I have forgotten to kneel in your presence and seek you …and missed your voice tell me what to do. Help me to really worship you…to seek  your spirit as I sing and read your Bible…and pray with my friends at church today.  Rain down your Holy Spirit as never before in every church around the world…and shower all your people with a huge dose of strength and comfort and faith to see us through the task you will send us all out to do in the world today.  Amen.

Restoration Is A Process

Lamentations 5:19-22  -  You, O Lord, remain forever; Your throne from generation to generation.  Why do You forget us forever, And forsake us for so long a time?  Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be restored; Renew our days as of old,  Unless You have utterly rejected us, And are very angry with us!

 

The last words from the great prophet Jeremiah are a great reminder of the consistency of God’s promise to be with us through every moment of our lives. His throne was set up to be forever…through every generation.  Even when we leave him for a time and live in our own selfish shells of want and greed…he just waits on us to come back to him.

 

God’s plan always includes a time of restoration.  He might seem far away for a period of time…but he is not. He is waiting on us to decide to let him have complete control through every season that we must go through. He may lead us through some rocky waters from time to time…but the lessons we learn when we grab his hand on the other side are priceless.

 

It was so evident to my heart as I drove away from my parent’s home this morning in Sevierville Tennessee.  I was tracking back north to watch my youngest son play football in Northern Kentucky this afternoon. We have just come through a restful productive summer.  The season of fall is beginning to show the colors of the trees as they prepare for the winter months.   As they prepare to go to sleep they put on a most amazing display of color in the hills and valleys of the land they are planted.

 

While the snow paints them with sparkly white dust….and provides them with water through the cold harsh winter… they may feel the absence of warmth and nourishment.  However…we forget sometimes that God gave them and internal  clock that responds to the skies that will eventually warm as the sun tracks closer to our earth.  Their slumber is interrupted to bring a rush of spring flowers and new growth that are just as amazing as the colors of fall. Every 365 days….God restores his earth…just like he restores us when we realize how much warmth and nourishment he can provide us.

 

The seasons of our lives are much the same. We go through periods of productivity and happiness that resemble the fun of summer. Then God sends trials and tests to send us into a mode of fall. He is preparing us to withstand and lean on his nourishment throughout that harsh winter so that we don’t die…but bring forth those colors once again…and shine with all that new growth in the spring.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you are the one constant I can always depend on.  No matter what season you lead me through…you are always on the other side waiting to restore my confidence and love for all that makes you the creator of the world. Forgive me when I let myself get cought up in the fall of life too long…and forget that you are preparing me for another spring.  Help me to learn to feed even more on your word and pray more frequently to stay connected till the son comes back to warm me up once again.  Amen.

I Hope We Can All Be Ready

Lamentations 4:16-18 -  The face of the Lord scattered them; He no longer regards them. The people do not respect the priests Nor show favor to the elders.  Still our eyes failed us, Watching vainly for our help; In our watching we watched For a nation that could not save us.  They tracked our steps So that we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near; Our days were over, For our end had come.

 

Jeremiah was recounting the horror of the end of Jerusalem. It was a horrific time filled with suffering like he had never known.  The city was under siege…for over two years.  There was no food supply and no way to provide for the many that were trapped inside…trying to leave meant immediate death. Many resorted to even eating their own children to survive.

 

I couldn’t help but think about the similarities in the book of Revelation.  It might even be worse. And when my eyes read the last sentence…my heart knew we might be closer to our own end than we care to admit….for many of the signs are already coming to pass.

 

My prayer is that I am ready…and one of the chosen that gets raptured up before the really horrible stuff starts.  But I have no guarantees that I will be in that group if I do not constantly grow closer to God and strengthen the small amount of faith he has already helped me internalize .

 

Here’s one more thought.  That house or condo I want to move to…that closet full of clothes I already own…the car I drive…they will mean nothing in those days. My body will shed all traces of this world if I am raptured.  And if I get left behind…I am pretty sure none of those things will help me survive the chaos for the full number of years God allows evil to control the Earth.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you have promised to return someday to gather your people to yourself and take them to live with you in heaven.  Forgive me for letting material things take my focus off of you for any amount of time.  Help me to focus completely on you so I will be ready when you come back. Amen.

Great Is God's Faithfulness

Lamentations 3:20-24 - My soul still remembers And sinks within me.  This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.  Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.  "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!"

Jeremiah would never forget the destruction of his beloved city. He would always wonder what might have happened if the people had listened to him in time. And even though he starts this chapter with the words of a hopeless man…he finishes it with these great words of hope.

 

I heard the words in my soul of the great hymn …..Great Is Thy Faithfulness….as soon as I read these words.  I heard it many Sundays growing up in my childhood church. I found myself researching the history behind this great song as soon as I had finished reading my Bible last night.

 

Thomas Chisholm penned the words many years before William Runyan set it to music.  Thomas was an ordinary man like me. His life was full of struggles…yet he always held fast to the hope that God would provide all he needed to be happy and satisfied.

 

I found myself thinking that I too am just an ordinary woman.  God had been so faithful to me…through many hardships and some pain that I will never be able to complete rid my soul of.  But through it all he has also blessed me so much with many good things…friends….family…and the sweet task of writing. He has helped me pen over 900 blog posts in the last four years.

 

Father…thank you for never leaving my side and being so faithful to this sinner who never deserved one once of your love and care.  Forgive me for the times I have taken this for granted.  Help me to really internalize the great words of Thomas’s hymn…and moment by moment rest in all the care you will give me to supply all that I need. Amen.

 

 

http://youtu.be/SrsfCZvqGxQ

Is Your Worship A LIe?

Lamentations 2:6-7 -  He has broken down his Temple as though it were merely a garden shelter. The LORD has blotted out all memory of the holy festivals and Sabbath days. Kings and priests fall together before his anger.  The Lord has rejected his own altar; he despises his own sanctuary. He has given Jerusalem's palaces to her enemies. They shout in the LORD's Temple as though it were a day of celebration.

 

Jeremiah’ poem of lament continues as he looks around the town. As his eyes settle on the once beautiful Temple that people went to worship…he realizes that God now despises this place where people came merely out of routine. God couldn’t bear to live within the walls of a place where so many hearts mocked his very existence.

 

The beauty and location of our worship is not nearly as important as the heart we enter into worship with. The hearts of these people had decayed from within the walls of what was believed to be the most beautiful place of worship that existed.  The routine of going to the Temple with the correct sacrifice meant nothing if their heart was not right when they offered it. Their worship was a lie…a thing they did merely for show.

 

We know how God feels about this from one of the first stories in the Bible.  Go back to Genesis 4 to get the whole story….but the short of it is that Cain and Able both brought offerings to God.  Cain’s was unacceptable…and the rejection of it made him so bitter he committed the first recorded murder in the Bible.

 

Cain didn’t see his sin either. He brought an offering…but it wasn’t his best. He didn’t even see the need to look for his best and let that sin control him just like these Israelites.  His sin created a pride in his heart that mocked the very life that God had created.  The hate that resulted knew no limits…not even the bond of family was strong enough to stop its spread.

 

It’s a huge reminder to me to never let my worship become so routine that I forget why I am worshipping.  I need to make sure that every time I go to worship God I tell him how great and mighty he is…thank him for all he has done in my life…and repent of any sin that might have crept into my heart. True worship can happen anywhere….in the lowliest of grass huts in poorest countries of Africa….in the basement of a home in any country where people must hide to study his word….in the dorm room of a student trying to share God with her friends…or the most gorgeous building set with stained glass windows and polished furniture. 

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that my worship should be purely about praising you…and thanking you for the life you gave me in your son. Forgive me for the times that I have gone to ‘church’….and not gone to ‘worship.’  Help me to always bring my best to you because I want to thank you…not just to make a show of my best for others to see.  Amen.

Are Your Tears God-Centered?

Lamentations :16-18  -  "This is why I weep and my eyes overflow with tears. No one is near to comfort me, no one to restore my spirit. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed."  Zion stretches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. The LORD has decreed for Jacob that his neighbors become his foes; Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.  "The LORD is righteous, yet I rebelled against his command. Listen, all you peoples; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into exile.

 

Jeremiah opens this second book he wrote with a funeral song for Jerusalem. He saw the desolation and destruction…the empty streets and he mourned for her the way we mourn for a lost loved one. His eyes were wet with the tears of a broken man….broken from God’s great judgment on the city he had tried to save.

 

Jeremiah’s tears flow freely as he realizes and fully admits the city’s guilt. They are God-centered tears…that show he accepts God’s judgment.  They signal his own acceptance of God’s will and his intentions to keep following him….no matter what.

 

His God-centered tears remind me that most of my tears of self-centered. They fall when I am feeling left out…or lonely.  They fall when I feel the least loved…and fuel the pity party that tries to become a part of my soul.

 

Jeremiah’s God-centered tears will eventually help wash the sadness of his heavy heart away.  They use the supernatural power of God’s healing. When we cry those tears of remorse and guilt that focus us on God…they begin to heal us and repair the brokenness that brought us to the place of tears in the first place.

 

Father…thank you for reminding me of the power of tears to heal and repair a broken heart.  Forgive me for the times that I have let my tears represent my own sadness and start a pity party.  Help me to use the brokenness of my life to cry God-centered tears that heal me and restore my soul….so I can begin to be used by you to help others.  Amen.

Watch And Pray...Strengthen Your Spirit

Jeremiah 52:2-3 -  He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done.  It was because of the LORD's anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence. Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

 

The last words we have of Jeremiah summarize the fall of Jerusalem. He recounts much of what is recorded in 2 Kings 24 and 25…..and also his own chapter of Jeremiah 39. He makes sure to tell us that God was so very angry about the way his people chose to live that he intervened and destroyed the town they lived in. He had them spend a long time reflecting on their actions in captivity.  Some eventually got it…and returned to God to worship him alone…but others died refusing to see the error of their ways.

 

God was finally through with Jeremiah.  He gave his entire life speaking the correcting words of God to a people with mostly deaf ears. They were harsh words…and no one loved him for them except God…but he gave his entire life to deliver them.   They did not earn him any fame…but he delivered them anyway.

 

We are not told what happened to this dedicated prophet in the end. The last words we read placed him living with the poorest exiles that had been left to keep the land. My heart wants to believe that this remnant of God’s people may have been poor in material wealth…but rich in love for God. I picture this small group of believers rallying around this man of God and caring for him….and continuing to use his knowing heart to help them through this hard time in their lives.

 

I know that I need more of Jeremiah’s faith and endurance…for I fail miserably at some of the tasks God gives me to do. I am so oblivious to his voice sometimes that I don’t even hear him tell me what to do. I know that I need to do better…but let life beat me down….tiredness seep in and take over…and it seems easier just to give in and let life control my next steps.

 

Guess that is the human in all of us…especially in me right now. Several people have even quoted Matthew 26:41 to me this week.  It says…. “Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” If I had been listening to the still small voice of God from the start…I would have gotten his hints sooner.  My prayer life has always been one of my weakest areas.

 

Even the smallest of prayers takes the focus off of ourselves and places it back on God where it belongs. The more we pray…the more time we spend in God’s presence….the more time we spend listening for how to keep going in whatever hard task he has given us to do. The more time we spend with God…the more time he has to build us up and strengthen us. We can’t lose if we are spending time with God.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to stay connected with you at all times with prayer. Forgive me for all the time I have let life distract me from spending time with you.  Help me to develop a life that focuses on you in deeper prayers for strength. Retune my ears to your still small voice….and set an alarm in my heart to pray for what I need from you. Amen.