Ezekiel 3:16-6:14 ~ Hebrews 4:1-16 ~ Psalm 104:24-35 ~ Proverbs 26:27
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Old Testament - In Ezekiel chapter 3 today God appoints Ezekiel as a watchman for Israel! This might sound pretty good at first... but there are some serious ramifications for Ezekiel to follow through with what God asks Ezekiel to do. My thoughts based on this chapter - Are there times in our lives where God asks us to do something that may sound good at first, but then turns out to be harder than we initially thought it would be? With potential some serious ramifications? If so, do you quit? Or do you forge ahead with what God asks of you? Will you stay within God's will for your life - even when the going gets tough? If God calls you to be a watch-person, will you be obedient to the call?
Ezekiel chapters 4 and 5 get into God's signs of the coming siege and judgment of Jerusalem and Israel. The thing that went through my mind when reading all of this was the 3rd commandment from Exodus chapter 20, verses 4-6: "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments." The term in these verses "jealous God" did come to my mind when reading Ezekiel 4 and 5. And not in a bad way. But, just in the way it was. God commanded no idols. Israel/Jerusalem created idols and did not repent after repeated warnings. God was "jealous" of all of this, and the siege and judgment came.
Ezekiel chapter 6 continues along the lines of chapters 4 & 5 - with judgment against the very land of Israel because of the pagan shrines. Verses 8 & 9 stood out to me in this chapter: ""But I will let a few of my people escape destruction, and they will be scattered among the nations of the world. Then when they are exiled among the nations, they will remember me. They will recognize how grieved I am by their unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes that long for other gods. Then at last they will hate themselves for all their wickedness." Here we see that God will preserve the Davidic line - and that the Israelites will eventually repent, and the nation will eventually be restored (as we know in hindsight now). Verse 10 in this chapter also seems to sum up a lot of what's going on in God's mind in today's readings in Ezekiel: "They will know that I alone am the LORD and that I was serious when I predicted that all this would happen to them." Do we know that God is alone the Lord in our lives today? Do we trust his Word and his predictions without a doubt?
New Testament - Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12 of course makes a One Year Bible blogger's heart happy :) - "For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are." Do you believe that the Word of God is full of power? Not just power, but Living power? Does it cut deep into your innermost thoughts and desires - and expose the condition of your heart? Does the Bible expose you for who you really are? Do you believe that the Word of God can do this? Will you let the Word of God do this?
This chapter opens up with a beautiful verse: "God's promise of entering his place of rest still stands." On a busy day, doesn't God's place of rest sound nice? I like that! God has promised us a place of eternal rest if we will simply have faith in his Son. His Son whom verse 14 today tells us: "That is why we have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God. Let us cling to him and never stop trusting him." Are you clinging to Jesus as your High Priest? Do you trust Him? Are you longing for your eternal rest with Jesus?
Psalms - Today we finish up Psalm 104, which we started yesterday. I mentioned in yesterday's post, that this is a great Psalm of praising God's creation. And indeed it is. What I didn't realize yesterday, but I picked up today, is that this Psalm overall goes through Genesis 1 and the story of creation. Not quite in the same order of creation, or the same details. But, essentially this Psalm is a retelling of Genesis 1. Very powerful...
I love Psalm 104 verse 33 today - "I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath!" I so pray that this verse will be true for both you and me. I pray we will sing to God as long as we live. I pray we will praise God to our very last breath. And in particular at our very last breath I pray we are praising God!
Proverbs - Proverbs 26, verse 27 today is so true: "If you set a trap for others, you will get caught in it yourself. If you roll a boulder down on others, it will roll back and crush you." This is a great reminder to "do unto others as you'd have done unto you" - and if you do unto others bad stuff, you'll often fall into your own trap!
Worship God: Psalm 104 today reminded me of Delirious' incredible worship song called "My Glorious!" I'm not sure if you've ever had the opportunity to worship to this song live, but it is an amazing experience. I had the opportunity once with Delirious leading it, and then several times with my church. Such a powerful song!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Do you call God "My Glorious"? Click here to get to know your Glory!
Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture this week: "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
Comments from You: What verses or insights stand out to you from today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
Grace, love, peace, and joy!
Mike
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