Archive for May 2015

Ezekiel: A Vision of New Life

2015-05-07 Devotional, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Ezekiel 37:1-14, 23-28

The Israelites were sitting in Babylon, far from home, helpless captives of their enemies. They were a people defeated and disgraced. Their religion, their lifestyle, everything they had and had known was gone. Their nation no longer existed. They felt abandoned by their God – though in fact, they had abandoned Him.

In Ezekiel 36:16-38, God had made amazing promises to these people through His prophet, Ezekiel, who was there ministering as an exile among them. But such incredible assurances needed to be more than lofty words, so God confirmed the words with a vision, recorded in Ezekiel 37:1-10.

Ezekiel sees an entire valley full of human bones – very dry and very dead, beyond any hope of life. God challenges Ezekiel with the question, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

God commands Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones – that is, to speak God’s sovereign Word to them. When he does, the bodies first come back together as corpses. Then, at the Word of God through Ezekiel, God’s breath* brings them back to life, and they stand up on their feet – a vast army (v.10). Note that the same elements that brought life to the unformed earth – God’s sovereign Word and His Spirit* – now bring new life to what was dead.

What a stunning picture of the new life that God’s Spirit brings to us now and at the resurrection! The same Breath* of God that renews us now will soon bring us a completely new life, both spiritually and physically. 

Why is God so unbelievably lavish with His undeserving people? Because He passionately wants the entire world, every nation, every society, every family, every person, to know how holy, gracious, and forgiving He is. Ephesians 1:6 & 12 tell us that we were created and redeemed to show the world how good and loving is our wonderful God. Never forget that this is our calling. This is why we are here.

*In the original Hebrew of this passage, the words translated “Spirit”, “breath”, and “wind” are all the same word. God’s Spirit is the wind of His power and the breath of His love. God’s Spirit is His life in motion.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Ezekiel’s Vision
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Ezekiel: Complete Salvation

2015-05-05 Devotional, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Ezekiel 36:22-38

God’s people had failed, but God’s purpose would not fail. He would bring about a sweeping, dramatic salvation for His people. He would not do it for their sakes, for they had proven themselves unfaithful and unworthy. He would do it to vindicate His reputation among the nations. Note that He was not acting out of selfish interest, but because He was determined to show His love to our entire race.

In Ezekiel 36:24-38, God gives the specifics of what He would do.

  • He would regather His people from the lands where He had scattered them (v.24). Their exile had been a dramatic show of their failure. Their regathering would be a dramatic presentation of God’s power, goodness, and faithfulness to His people.
  • He would cleanse them completely from all their sin – not by their actions or by their worthiness, but by His own doing (v.25).
  • He would put within them a new heart and a new spirit – His own Spirit – to enable them to obey (vv.26-27). He would empower them to be His holy people, from the inside out.
  • He would bless their relationship with Him. They truly would be His people, and He would be their God (v.28).
  • He would give them the gift of a broken heart and true repentance (v.31). They would see their own sin in the light of God’s goodness.
  • He would bless their land, turning the desert into a Garden of Eden, so that all the nations would know that Almighty God, eternally faithful and loving, had done this (vv.30, 33-36).
  • He would increase their men (vv.37-38). Why? To any society decimated by war and captivity, especially a patriarchal society like Israel, the restoration of its male population was key to its recovery.

How good is our God! He doesn’t abandon us to our weakness and failure. By His own power and love, He acts unilaterally to save us from the inside out. He enables us to be far more than we ever dreamed we could be. Praise to Him!

The Enthronement

2015-05-03 Devotional with Hymn No comments

God has ascended amid shouts of joy,
the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.
Sing praise to God, sing praises…
For God is the king of all the earth… 

The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ,
and he will reign for ever and ever.
(Psalm 47:5-7; Revelation 11:15; NIV)

My heart longs for our God,
for our Father,
for Jesus Christ our Savior,
for the constant breath of their Spirit,
for complete oneness with them
and in them
that we taste only briefly here.

I long for Almighty God to be enthroned over
every thought,
every desire,
every relationship,
every life,
over all reality
every moment
forever.

Your Kingdom come!

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Enthronement Hymn
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

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