by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Ezekiel 30-32
With colorful language, Ezekiel once more comes against the pride of man.
Why is pride such a horrible thing, you might ask. Remember, it was pride which entered Satan’s heart and caused him to try to overthrow God. Thus, when pride is the root, he is not far away. The devil tries to tempt people to think that they are so great, they don’t really need God.
There are two kinds of confidence. One from the devil and the other from God.
When confidence has devilish roots, people think that they are superior to others and they arrogantly take credit for their gifts. Their intelligence, athleticism, creativity, or beauty are worn as badges for self-exaltation. Those around them sense the weight of their self-centeredness.
When confidence has godly roots, the outcome is totally different. This type of confidence comes, not from pride, but from honor of God. These people who exhibit godly confidence are optimistic and energetic because of their God and all that He has done for them. They know that He is the giver of gifts, whether the gift is intelligence or anything else. God is also the giver of favor and opportunity, paving a way for success. No room for bragging here.
Godly confidence is accompanied by kindness and compassion. People with godly confidence want to see others achieve as much s themselves. They often go out of their way to help others discover and implement their god-given gifts.
There is only One who stands tall among the rest of us. His name is Jesus.
It’s important for us to remember that!
I Peter 4
So you have gifts? Your gifts are for giving!
“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (V.10).
It’s obvious, isn’t it? Gifts aren’t given to us for displaying, but for giving. If you have a gift to speak, your speech should represent God and bring others closer to Him. If your gift is serving, serve with God’s strength and not your own.
Remember that everything we do is wrapped in the law of love. We love others as ourselves, and we give generously, as our father gives to us.
It’s part of God’s plan. He gives and we do, too.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Ezekiel 19-21
“What was your mother? A lioness among lions. She lay down among young lions. She reared her cubs. When she brought up one of her cubs, He became a lion.” (19:2)
This is a picture of Israel in her former days. A strong, powerful mother to many young lions. Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Josiah…many young lions who embraced their heritage of honoring the Lord God as their king.
What happened? We can look around today and see the same things.
When people begin to have a “spirit of familiarity,” they don’t honor what they have. They take it for granted.
Have you ever seen cows grazing in a pasture? If not, let me share some interesting lessons to be learned. If you watch them long enough, you will see a few go over to the fence, stick the tips of their noses through, and graze “on the other side of the fence.” (This is where we get the phrase, “The grass is greener on the other side of the fence.”)
You can scan the pasture and readily see that the greenest grass is within the fence, but these cows don’t seem to appreciate it. They like the “other side” better.
That same spirit is here in our modern society when it comes to those who have been brought up in Christianity. A rebellious spirit can rise up and cause people to think that the “grass is greener somewhere else.”
When we look at humans instead of cows, this plays out in people wanting to look to other religions instead of their own. There are so many out there. Could they all be wrong?
The answer is “Yes, they can all be wrong.” There is only one God and only one way to Him.
There is only One who paid the price for their sins. There is only One who cleanses us, forgives us, heals us, and empowers us with His Spirit actually living within us. There is only One who arose from the dead. Jesus is the only One.
When we look at Israel in the time of Ezekiel, the Jews were looking on the other side of the fence and they saw many cults around. Surely they couldn’t all be wrong. Yes, they could. There was only One God. Jesus hadn’t yet come, but God was laying the groundwork to bring Him to the earth. He was developing His people to receive Him into their heritage and help to save the world.
If they would just listen and remain faithful.
We could learn a lot from Israel.
James 5
“The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” (V.16)
This is a verse to keep in mind when we are praying – especially when we have a crisis before us.
James compares us to Elijah. He prayed and the rain stopped in his land for three years. Then he prayed again and the rain started back. Powerful!
Do you think that your prayers can accomplish that much? James says that they can.
One difference between Elijah and us is that Elijah believed his prayers would be answered. Do you remember the story about his prayer for rain to return?
First he “heard” the sound of rain. (In his heart he knew that it was time). Then he went up on the mountain, put his head between his knees, and began to pray. He told his servant to go and check to see if he saw any signs of rain, but the servant saw none.
He then sent the servant seven times, as he was praying, to check for rain. Finally, the servant returned saying that there was a cloud the size of a man’s hand.
It was here! Elijah then told the servant to run and tell Ahab to run for cover because torrents were on their way. And that is exactly what happened.
Elijah knew what he was praying for and he knew that it was time. So he refused to give up until he saw the rain.
Our prayers too can avail much if we press into what God wants us to. We can hear by the spirit what he wants us to pray for – and we can push forth in faith and patience to receive.
Are you wanting awakening in your family? In your country? In the world? You know that it is God’s will and it is definitely time. Pray and don’t stop until you see your answer.
You are a righteous man, and your prayers can avail much.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Ezekiel 10-12
Ezekiel gets discouraged. A small number of Jews have been left in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, and they are continuing to go after other gods. The priests and prophets alike have given up on God and are “doing their own thing.”
In a vision, the Lord shows Ezekiel the dilemma, and it’s almost too much for him.
However, the Lord has a plan, as He always does. There will come a day when He will bring back the jews who have been scattered abroad.
“I shall gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I shall give you the land of Israel…When they come there, they will remove all the detestable things and all its abominations from it. And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh”
Restoration, sweet restoration. Don’t we love it?
What our Father did for Israel, He does for all of us in this present day. He takes us from the land of the enemy and He brings us to His own land – His kingdom. Then he puts a new heart within us. No longer do we have the heart of stone which we once had. Now our hearts are soft and pliable in His hands.
Not only that, our Father is also bringing all of the prophecies to pass for the nation of Israel. In 1948, suddenly, as if hearing a drum beat beckoning them, Jews from all over the world began to go back to their original land. The nation was finally recognized as a country, and God’s plans were continuing to come to pass.
Stop and think about that tiny little country, in the middle of so many big countries. The whole nation is no bigger than one of our small states. Yet all of the world knows about Israel.
Sometimes huge ungodly countries act as though they fear Israel. Get a map and look at it. It’s really amazing that they have so much influence worldwide.
God’s hand has been upon them. The Jews, the children of Abraham, still are in covenant with God.
And then on a spiritual level, so are we. Yet our covenant is even better. Just hide and watch. We are going to see mighty things from the hand of God.
Hebrews 13
A couple of really significant points are in this final chapter.
First is the famous verse, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.”(V. 8) When some attempt to say that healing and deliverance have gone away, they have a hard time with this verse.
Jesus is the same today. He is still a healer. He still wants to bless us. And He still wants to show God’s plan of redemption through our lives.
When others look at our lives, hopefully, they will recognize that God is good and that we can expect miracles from Him.
Which leads me to the other point. This life we live is not necessarily popular. Even though we know that out in the world there is no peace which can compare to the peace we have, many who don’t know Jesus just don’t understand that. They think that we are superstitious or fanatical when we really do believe in our God.
That’s why we have to be willing to “go outside the camp, bearing his reproach, for here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.” (V.13-14) We might not be doing what is popular, but we will be doing the right thing when we live our lives for our God.
And He won’t let us down.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Ezekiel 7-9
The bottom line is this: there is only one way to God, and it is through Jesus Christ. Period!
To recap what we have been seeing and saying over the last few months, God found a man, Abraham, who would follow Him. He proved this man’s obedience over a period of about 25 years, and then God sent him a son of promise – and a promise that through that son there would be a multitude. Just as promised, the jewish people grew and flourished. They learned of this great God and they learned about what He exzpected of them.
The idea was to instill within this group of people enough knowledge of God and His ways that they would be able to eventually bring His own Son to the earth.
When we come to the time period of Ezekiel, God’s whole plan is in jeapordy. The Jews have gone their own way, and they are worshipping false gods. The less privileged nations around them have all sorts of idols, and this generation has thought it more sophisticated to blend in with their neighbors than to remain faithful to the one true God. (Unbelievers always think that it is more sophisticated not to believe).
So in His faithfulness to Abraham, God intervenes. He demonstrates to Israel that He is the true God, and that there is no other. Of course, at this point, most of the priests and prophets are so corrupt that they spurn God’s reproof. They stil don’t believe, and they suffer the consequences.
But there are a few. As we continue in the next few books of the Bible, we will see some who believe and remain faithful. These are the ones who will reap the benefits of a walk with their God. Even in a foreign land, God will be there with them.
Word after word and demonstration after demonstration will come from Ezekiel. God and His man have such an overwhelming deisre to see the people turn away from their error and back to the Lord.
Hmmm. Does it seem like that is happening today? Something to think about.
Hebrews 12
We have a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on as we run our race.
I love that concept, don’t you? Not only of the crowd cheering us on, but of running a race. I have often thought of our lives as a journey – a trip which we take. There are always twists and turns, surprises as we go along. Some are good and some bad, but they are part of the journey.
The idea is to run a good race. We want our lives to count for God’s kingdom. We want to have a good influence on our families and those around us, and we want to leave a legacy of God’s purpose in the earth.
So when we come to the twists and turns, we must be faithful to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. He is the One who can keep us going and see us through the rocky spots.
Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, always has the wisdom and strength available for us to finish well.
So let’s shed the encumbrances and run this race. We can do it! He promises that we can.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Ezekiel 1-3
You have to get your head in gear for Ezekiel. Some of the richest messages in the Bible – messages which are true for us today, just as they were when they were written – are found in this book. Ezekiel is a true prophet, and true prophets often “see” rather than “hear” things from God.
What do I mean? Well, Ezekiel sees visions which represent what the Lord is saying. You know the old Chinese proverb, “A picture is worth a thousand words?” Well, there is never a time when that can be demonstrated better than in the messages from Ezekiel.
So let’s go. To establish the background, Ezekiel is an exile prophet, meaning that he is writing from captivity in Babylon. The once mighty nation of Israel has been carried off to Babylon, but their God is still with them. He encourages the people with promises of an eventual return and rebuilding of Jerusalem. God is indeed faithful to His people.
Now for the visions. What do you see when you see the creatures with four faces which Ezekiel describes? I see the completeness of man, as God has designed him. The four faces represent differing aspects of God’s design. He is a man first and foremost, God’s man. When he walks in the fulness of God’s plan, this man will be as bold and full of authority as a lion, he will be willing to serve as the ox, and he will soar as an eagle above the rudimentary elements of the world. God’s man is a many-faceted man.
Then, as God’s man prophesying to God’s people, Ezekiel is required to eat the scroll first. This, too, is a principle which applies today. In today’s jargon, we would say, “Practice what you preach.”
If we are our Father’s representatives, we must do what we say, and we must do what we expect others to do. That’s integrity, and it’s what God requires.
Now Ezekiel is called to speak to the nation of Israel while they are in exile, so some of the messages will just seem for the moment. Yet if we look closely, we will have the opportunity to receive messages for us also.
Ezekiel can teach us a lot, if we will just listen
Hebrews 10
There is such a contrast between those who honor the Spirit of Grace and those who insult Him. Those who honor God’s precious Spirit have the privilege of entering boldly into the throne of grace to find help in time of need. That time of need could be a time when we have sinned, or it could be when we are in need of strength, wisdom, or provision.
The main thing here is that our Father is ever ready to help us, when our hearts are toward Him.
Yet there is another side of the coin; a side which isn’t as pretty.
Paul speaks of insulting the Spirit of Grace. That’s when we take Him lightly, and continue in a life of sin or apathy towards our God.
We all know people who have had God move mightily on their behalf, and who for a season have seemed to have changed lives, living for Him. Then when the shiny objects of the world have entered the picture, they have no time for their Savior. And some times, they have turned their backs on God completely.
Dangerous territory. I’m not saying that they have committed the unforgivable sin, but I am saying that they have insulted God. Repentance is there for them. But they do need to repent.
I am not talking about just making a mistake. i am talking about after knowing Him to choose a lifestyle which honors the devil rather than God. That’s the dangerous territory, and we want to avoid it at all costs.
Grace is such a terrific gift from our Father, and not one to be taken lightly. Our Father loves us, and wants us to live closely with Him. There is nothing that He won’t do for us when we walk closely with Him.
I pray that you and I will continue to walk with Him – closer and closer every day.
