God told Ezekiel that Israel was worse than a prostitute. How is that possible? Instead demanding payment in exchange for favors, Israel was doing the equivalent of offering payment for favors. Rather than coming away with some sort of monetary gain, Israel just gave everything away. She was a nation highly favored by God, but she ... [Continue Reading]
A Serious Responsibility (Ezekiel 11-13)
Reading through this section (specifically the part about the part about the false prophets) reignited my passion of the frightening responsibility of being a teacher of God's Word. These prophets in Ezekiel are condemned for leading people astray, and the same condemnation applies to teachers today who lead people in the wrong direction. Every time I get ... [Continue Reading]
On Being Faithful (Ezekiel 7-10)
God's glory is so great, so wonderful, and so pure that it far surpasses the glory of any other person, being, or thing. It's because of this that God doesn't share His glory with anyone else. The Israelites, unfortunately, did not learn that lesson as they began glorifying other gods and goddesses. The result was that God needed to clean ... [Continue Reading]
Quotable
In order to lead effectively in the church today, it is essential to understand that this is the first time in its two thousand year history that the church has had to minister to five or more generations simultaneously. Richard L. Hamm in Recreating the Church ... [Continue Reading]
The Power of Smell (Ezekiel 4-6)
God led the prophets to do some pretty incredible things in an attempt to get the attention of Israel and Judah, but in my mind none comes close to having Ezekiel burn a portion of his hair in the midst of the city. In the Old Testament, when a Nazirite vow was completed, the hair that was committed during the period of the vow was to be cut off and burned as a ... [Continue Reading]
You’re Responsible for Your Words (Ezekiel 1-3)
One of my biggest pet peeves is when people say, "God told me to tell you ______." It's not that I can't let God speak to me through other people, but I have a hard time believing that what these people say really has anything to do with God. Often when I've experienced this or I've heard stories from others experiencing it, the ... [Continue Reading]
Restore Us (Lamentations 4-5)
Lamentations reveals the suffering hearts of the Israelites. True, they had been warned for many centuries about their wandering away from God, and the punishment that they faced they largely brought upon themselves, but you can't read the book and not feel the pain. I particularly like 5:21a, "Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be ... [Continue Reading]
The Cruel Mistress (Lamentations 1-3)
I've never had an affair, but I'm guessing it's an exciting thing in the moment - otherwise people wouldn't waste their time and risk their families. The problem with a mistress is that there's not really a commitment from either party involved. The fling can end at any moment in time, and the two are left returning to the place from ... [Continue Reading]
Shoving God Away (2 Kings 24-25; 2 Chronicles 36)
While it is true that you can never really go so far from God that He refused to forgive (maybe with the exception of what's written in Luke 12:10), it is also true that you can close yourself off so much to the things of God that you aren't able to hear His voice anymore. That seems to have been the issue with the Israelites. They didn't want to ... [Continue Reading]
Where is God? (Psalm 79; Habakkuk)
Habakkuk is a book that we can all relate with because we've all, at one time or another, wondered about the presence of God. Where is He when life hurts? Where is He when wars are going on and injustices are taking place throughout the world? There are so many times when life just doesn't make sense, and we want to cry out, "Where are ... [Continue Reading]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 50
- 51
- 52
- 53
- 54
- …
- 129
- Next Page »
Connect with Me