-
Christian Devotional – February 7, 2017
Why does God allow us to experience the consquences of our actions. This question bothers a lot of believers. After all, if God is truly God, then He could just wipe out all those consequences. Well, today, we’re looking at Ezekiel chapter 6. In reading through here, we see that God is detailing all the destruction and judgment that the people are going to experience, yet He talks about saving a remnant of people for Himself. Then in verse 10, God makes an amazing statment. He indicates that all this difficulty and judgment that the people experienced was not in vain. How could it not be in vain? As the…
-
Christian Devotional – February 5, 2017
What does it mean to be holy? Ezekiel got a crash course in holiness in Ezekiel chapter 5. He also saw the consequences of a lack of holiness. As we are looking at our own lives today, we know that only God is holy, but He expects holiness from us. As we trust and rely on Him, we will experience His holiness in our lives. Are we trusting in Him today?
-
Christian Devotional – February 3, 2017
We’ve been looking at some unusual situations in Ezekiel and chapter 4 is no different. As you read through this chapter, think about how often God uses symbols to represent what He is going to do. God wanted Ezekiel to be a human symbol. He was going to lie on one side for 390 days to symbolize the siege against Jerusalem. God was going to tie him down and he was going to eat bread that had been cooked on a fire made from human feces. I gotta say, it doesn’t really sound like being a prophet of God was really all that glamorous. As I was reading through this,…
-
Christian Devotional – January 31, 2017
In reading Ezekiel chapter 3, I am blown away by the amount of responsibility that God places on Ezekiel. God has just finished chapter 2 in which God has explained how impossible this mision is going to feel and now He adds to it in chapter 3 by explaining to Ezekiel the level of responsibility and accountability that He is going to have to deliver the message that God gives him. Take a closer look at verse 17 and following. God is placing the responsibility on Ezekiel that if someone is doing wrong and God tells him to speak to that person, and Ezekiel doesn’t, then Ezekiel will be held…
-
Christian Devotional – January 30, 2017
Reading through Ezekiel chapter 2 was eye-opening for me. As we look through there, we see what God is asking of Ezekiel. I almost heard the “Mission: Impossible” theme music rising up in the background as I read this chapter. God explains to Ezekiel all the reasons why he is going to have a very difficult and hard time with the assignment that God is giving him. He goes on to state that He will encounter people who will not listen to him. The people he is going to share with will disagree with him and Ezekiel shouldn’t be concerned about that. Ezekiel isn’t to fear them and he’s not…
-
Christian Devotional – January 26, 2017
Today we are going to start reading through Ezekiel. Take some time and read through the first chapter. As we look at the amazing and, quite frankly, indescribable vision that Ezekiel had, we see the amazing and awesomeness of God depicted here. Even though I can’t wrap my mind around exactly what Ezekiel saw, I am amazed at the sense of power that is depicted. Also, I get a great feeling of fluidity and harmony and how everythning works together. The other thing that strikes me in this passage is that this amazing description of God says over and over again that He is always moving forward, even though He…
-
Christian Devotional – January 25, 2017
For our final day looking at purpose, we turn to the New Testament and a story that Jesus gave to the people. Read Matthew 25:14-30. This parable, often called the Parable of the Talents has several applications to our lives, but one of the main ones relates to what are we doing with the gifts that God has given us. Each and every one of us have been given talents and abilities that God Himself has shaped and developed. Additionally, when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we also received the Holy Spirit and the gifts that He bestows. When it comes to our purpose and making…
-
Christian Devotional – January 24, 2017
We have been looking at purpose during this month of January and in the past several days, we are focusing in on Solomon. Today we are going to finish up Solomon. Read 1 Kings 11:14-43. Solomon had turned away from God. He had gotten distracted by his foreign wives and he had been willing to put their wants and desires ahead of God’s wants and desires. He obeyed them more than he obeyed God. God saw this and God responded by raising up adversaries against Solomon. He tried to get Solomon to turn back to God, but instead, Solomon decided that he was going to just focus on his anger.…
-
Christian Devotional – January 22, 2017
As we continue to look at Solomon, we see that things did not go well for him. He had great success and had built the temple. He was very wise and God had promised to be with him in everything if only he would trust and obey God. God even reiterated this promise to Solomon and we read about that in the last devotional. However, then comes 1 Kings chapter 11, a disastrous chapter for Solomon. Read 1 Kings 11:1-13. Here we see that Solomon got distracted. He was distracted by women and all the seemingly wonderful things that this life has to offer. He stopped following God and was…
-
Christian Devotional – January 19, 2017
Yesterday we saw that Solomon had become king and he had a conversation with God where he received wisdom to govern the people. The next few chapters in 1 Kings (4-8), we see Solomon displaying this great wisdom and even going about accomplishing the amazing purpose that God had for him. Solomon built the Temple for the Lord, which was the culmination of his father David’s dream. Then we get to 1 King chapter 9. Read verses 1-9. God reiterates his promise and reminder to Solomon. Why would He choose that very time to do that? Solomon was at the height of obedience. He’d been faithful to do what God…