The Vision, Day 31 Origin story. Read Ezekiel chapter 31. As we read this chapter, we see God describing Pharaoh of Egypt. God talks about the fact that he made Pharaoh and the entire country beautiful to start with. They were the envy of everything. We need to recognize that the origin story of all of God’s creation was perfect. Everything was perfection, including Mankind. Unfortunately sin came into the world and ruined that perfection. We can never forget that God created us in his image. He made us and made us beautiful. The sin in our lives is what gets in our way of demonstrating the beauty of God.…

The Vision, Day 29 Arrogance, part 2. Read Ezekiel chapter 29. The king of Tyre isn’t the only one with an arrogance issue. The Pharaoh of Egypt also is extremely arrogant. God calls him out and indicates that he is taking credit for God’s creation. He’s claiming that he made the Nile, while God is the only one who is the Creator. God made the Nile and all that goes with it. We can be arrogant and think we don’t need God, like we saw yesterday. Or, we can be arrogant and take credit for what God has done. God will not atand for either. God explains through Ezekiel that…

The Vision, Day 28 God proves his holiness. Read Ezekiel chapter 28. God continues sharing his judgment and as he does he reminds the people that through the demonstration of his judgment, he is showing his holiness. People will acknowledge his holiness as a result of all that they are going through. Others that witness the judgment will acknowledge God’s holiness. This isn’t about celebrating people being judged. This is about celebrating a holy God. Do we see the signs of God’s holiness in our life? Do we acknowledge him as holy when we see good things happen to people and when we see struggles happened to people? No matter…

The Vision, Day 27 Arrogance. Read Ezekiel chapter 27. God is continuing to discuss the judgment of the people surrounding Israel. This entire chapter is about the people of Tyre. Interestingly, they are profoundly arrogant. Their perception of themselves is that they are completely perfect and don’t need anything. Yet, God knows that they are not being obedient. Are we willing to recognize and admit our failings? Do we see when we have fallen short? We must not be like the people of Tyre and be so arrogant that we don’t recognize the sin in our lives. Check out the video here: https://youtu.be/vAJhv95o584

The Vision, Day 26 Absolute judgment. Read Ezekiel chapter 26. Reading verses like these can be really hard. We think of God as a loving and gracious God, and he is. But he is also infinitely holy. He cannot allow sin to remain. Seeing God’s judgment spelled out so clearly can be difficult to read, but God will root out sin. God will punish sin. Make no mistake, God’s loving nature demands that his holiness be protected. Are we recognizing all of the nature of God, his love and his holiness? Check out the video devotional https://youtu.be/ZOYv6Ehi_M4

The Vision, Day 25 Judgment on the surrounding areas. Read Ezekiel chapter 25. God has shared over and over again that judgment is coming to the land of Israel and Judah, but in this chapter, he wants the surrounding countries to understand something more. Even though God’s people have been disobedient, that does not give others the right to laugh at them or make fun of them or do things against the people of Israel and people of Judah. Because these other countries have been doing that, they are going to be judged. God is going to bring judgment against the people for the way they’ve treated Israel. Even when…

The Vision, Day 24 The idol. Read Ezekiel chapter 24. The people had gotten to the point where they were worshipping the temple and sanctuary itself instead of the one who created them. The people had become so arrogant that God had to destroy his temple because they were speaking it more than they were worshipping him. What good things in our life have we made into idols? What items that gave been given to us by God, do we love more than the one who gave them to us? We are to worship only God. Video devotional here: https://youtu.be/J8QbztEyYpg

The Vision, Day 23 Penalty. Read Ezekiel chapter 23. This long chapter is the story of how Israel and Judah have essentially run around on God. They have wanted care and compassion for everyone else except God. Unfortunately, there is a penalty for that. God was going to bring a penalty on them for all that they have been doing. Do we obey God or are we running after our own lusts and desires? Check out the video devotional here: https://youtu.be/uLhmTDKozKo

The Vision, Day 22 Someone to stand in the gap. Read Ezekiel chapter 22. As God continues to share the judgment that is coming with Ezekiel, he makes an interesting statement. God says that he has been looking for someone who is able to build a wall and stand in the gap between the sinful people of Israel and the holy God. God has looked for this person and not been able to find him. God wants to be able to see that gap bridged. Interestingly, that is exactly what Jesus Christ does. Jesus Christ comes as the one who is able to stand in the gap. He builds the…