Sunday, August 21, 2005
Scotty's Notes from Ezekiel
Well, first let me say that I see it's been over a year since I posted to this blog. Wow.
My life has not been devoid of quiet times or fellowship in that time. I guess I just forgot about posting to here. That, and I've been pretty busy.
So... Ezekiel, yeah. In January I started a personal study of the book of Ezekiel. It had been years since I read it and I felt it would be a good challenging book to read. Just about any of the big Old Testament books tends to be a challenge since so much of it deals with obeying the law and punishment. Fun topics.
My preconceptions about Ezekiel were true. It was a challenge. Several times - actually nearly almost every journal entry- I wrote something like, "I'm having such a hard time with this - it's all about death and destruction..." or something to that effect.
Yesterday I finished the book and today I took a good three hours to examine all that I wrote during my study. I was astonished to find so many really great morsels of truth and encouragement from my study. As I wrote them out in my journal I felt a need to post them here.
And here they are. I hope you find them as encouraging, honest, and challenging as I did.
1. God is active in our lives and what we DO. He uses our everyday tasks and inventions as much as he uses us and teaches us. His creativity is shown through our imagination, invention, and work.
- In Ezekiel 1, Ezekiel has a vision. He sees crazy creatures doing crazy things. Did he see the future? How would someone from 600BC describe an airplane, the space shuttle, a lightbulb? God could be using what you're doing right now in a way you never thought about.
2. Don't be afraid to do God's will. Even if you do something and fail, God will use that moment. At the least, those who you've impressed or affected will know that there's something unique about you. God goes with you when you act on his call, you are not alone. 2:5
3. Following God's lead is more important than "saving the world." In our world today the "Christian Right" is so bent on forcing people who don't believe the same way to change because they (the Christian right) have the false belief that the sins of others are their sins as well. The Bible is clear that our mission is to tell and show, not to force. In chapter 3, God tells Ezekiel that he'll be responsible for the death of evil men whom he does not confront. But he told him this while Ezekiel was hiding from God's command to preach - to TELL. As Christians we must follow God's lead. It is our responsibility to show and tell - but we must let God change hearts. WE can't do that.
4. Be glad for modern technology. God had Ezekiel do some crazy stuff to get attention. Be thankful for the communications technology we have today. But... remember that God may call you to do something out of the ordinary too. 4:12-13
5. In times of hardship, remember that he IS Lord. Throughout Ezekiel we see many times where: 1. God warned the people; 2. the people messed up; 3. the people were taken captive and almost died; 4. the people realized God did what he said he would do; 5. the people were sad because they knew God was for real. Today we live in an age of grace. The punishment for our sin is PAID. So in OUR times of hardship, when we remember that our God is Lord and that he HAS done what he promised he'd do - save us, forgive us, redeem us - we can take heart and know that he is there WITH us in any trial. 6:9-10
6. God's grace is amazing! God's grace is amazing! God's grace is amazing! As I read through Ezekiel, I saw so many instances of the immediate fulfillment of the law and its consequences. Thank God that through Jesus Christ he has given us grace to fail and mercy to learn.
7. Believe God will do what he says and take action on it. In Ezekiel God tells Israel over and over that he'll let bad things happen, and then he does it rather quickly. He has the same speed for repentance & forgiveness. And when we take action on his promises to us, he moves - sometimes rather quickly.
8. We are each responsible for our own future, our own sin.This connects back to point #3. In chapter 18 Ezekiel says twice that the soul who sins is the one who will die. And earilier in chapter 14 he says that even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there they could only save themselves, meaning that Israel was so bad that even though the world around Noah, Daniel, and Job was going to Hell in a handbasket, they would only be able to save themselves by their own faith. I'm sure that the three of them would try to convince people as they were going down. But the bottom line is that it is the INDIVIDUAL's responsibility to God. One man's salvation does not depend on the salvation or acts of others. MY salvation is not changed by what YOU do or believe. BUT... my actions, in love, could have an affect on influencing your thoughts, actions and understanding about Christ.
9. It's really about being concerned about God and seeking him in all things. In Ezekiel 16 Ezekiel addresses the issue of Sodom. Guess what - their fault was that they were inhospitable, mean, and had complete carelessness for God. It's just one example of many in this book where the people cared less about what God thought or asked of them. If we're really being honest, that's where we really fail - when we don't consider God as important or vital to our lives - when we forget about him and what he desires. See Chapter 29 on how God dealt with pharaoh.
10. Take care of your blessings. Along the same line as #9 is caring about the gifts and blessings God has given us. If we do that, he is sure to use those blessings to nourish us. If we neglect them, they grow tired and useless like a vine without water. 19:10
11. No one is "right enough." God looked for a righteous man to save the world but he found none. So he sent his own son and worked salvation for all of us. Later in chapter 22 Ezekiel commands us to distinguish between the Holy and the common. That made me think about politics. With such a politically charged world we must remember that NO ONE is "right enough" to claim that "God is on their side." God doesn't claim sides - he claims hearts.
12. Pray about what you want and seek God in his will so that when you get what you want, it will bless you and not turn on you. Chapter 23.
13. Be careful of selfish misunderstanding. When we begin to believe that God should be doing things for us we've lost our focus like Israel in Chapter 33.
14. Take care of each other, respect each other as god loves men. In Chapter 34 God really nails it to the arrogant leaders who took advantage of the weak. We must always remember that we are blessed, not privelidged.
15. Our lives are for HIS glory, not our own. Again it is God who blesses us for the sake of his name. There is tremendous power in God working through our lives. We must acknowledge him when he does that. Chapter 36.
16. Let God breathe life into you. Are we willing to let God enter our lives and give them direction? Chapter 37.
17. We have sanctuary. When life is handing us hardship and difficulty we have the sanctuary of God right here. In Christ we have the sanctuary of God's grace: pardon from the arrest & judgment we deserve. We are made right before him so that he can dwell IN us. We have his peace. 37:26-27
18. Be humbled by the awesomeness of God. In Chapter 43 God tells Ezekiel to describe the temple to the people so that they'd be ashamed of their sins. And the temple was HUGE. The description is gigantic and fanciful - and awesome. It is humbling to consider the grandness of God, what he can do, and that he has chosen to shower us with mercy.
19. We must go home another way. Ezekiel wrote that when going to the temple the people must exit the opposite side that they entered. Such it is for us after we encounter God. Everytime we sit down with him we should get up changed, different. There is life-changing power in even the shortest of meetings with him.
20. The Lord is Here. If we are in Christ, He is dwelling in us and we are his sanctuary. With Him we are filled with His spirit, tapped into the powerful water that gives life and heals. Like the fruit trees at the foot of the river in Ezekiel 47 we must bear fruit that nourishes and leaves that heal the wounds of the world. Our lives must bear the moniker "The Lord is There." (vs 48:35) Those who come into contact with us must be compelled by our lives to seek out the truth and power of God for themselves.
Well, first let me say that I see it's been over a year since I posted to this blog. Wow.
My life has not been devoid of quiet times or fellowship in that time. I guess I just forgot about posting to here. That, and I've been pretty busy.
So... Ezekiel, yeah. In January I started a personal study of the book of Ezekiel. It had been years since I read it and I felt it would be a good challenging book to read. Just about any of the big Old Testament books tends to be a challenge since so much of it deals with obeying the law and punishment. Fun topics.
My preconceptions about Ezekiel were true. It was a challenge. Several times - actually nearly almost every journal entry- I wrote something like, "I'm having such a hard time with this - it's all about death and destruction..." or something to that effect.
Yesterday I finished the book and today I took a good three hours to examine all that I wrote during my study. I was astonished to find so many really great morsels of truth and encouragement from my study. As I wrote them out in my journal I felt a need to post them here.
And here they are. I hope you find them as encouraging, honest, and challenging as I did.
1. God is active in our lives and what we DO. He uses our everyday tasks and inventions as much as he uses us and teaches us. His creativity is shown through our imagination, invention, and work.
- In Ezekiel 1, Ezekiel has a vision. He sees crazy creatures doing crazy things. Did he see the future? How would someone from 600BC describe an airplane, the space shuttle, a lightbulb? God could be using what you're doing right now in a way you never thought about.
2. Don't be afraid to do God's will. Even if you do something and fail, God will use that moment. At the least, those who you've impressed or affected will know that there's something unique about you. God goes with you when you act on his call, you are not alone. 2:5
3. Following God's lead is more important than "saving the world." In our world today the "Christian Right" is so bent on forcing people who don't believe the same way to change because they (the Christian right) have the false belief that the sins of others are their sins as well. The Bible is clear that our mission is to tell and show, not to force. In chapter 3, God tells Ezekiel that he'll be responsible for the death of evil men whom he does not confront. But he told him this while Ezekiel was hiding from God's command to preach - to TELL. As Christians we must follow God's lead. It is our responsibility to show and tell - but we must let God change hearts. WE can't do that.
4. Be glad for modern technology. God had Ezekiel do some crazy stuff to get attention. Be thankful for the communications technology we have today. But... remember that God may call you to do something out of the ordinary too. 4:12-13
5. In times of hardship, remember that he IS Lord. Throughout Ezekiel we see many times where: 1. God warned the people; 2. the people messed up; 3. the people were taken captive and almost died; 4. the people realized God did what he said he would do; 5. the people were sad because they knew God was for real. Today we live in an age of grace. The punishment for our sin is PAID. So in OUR times of hardship, when we remember that our God is Lord and that he HAS done what he promised he'd do - save us, forgive us, redeem us - we can take heart and know that he is there WITH us in any trial. 6:9-10
6. God's grace is amazing! God's grace is amazing! God's grace is amazing! As I read through Ezekiel, I saw so many instances of the immediate fulfillment of the law and its consequences. Thank God that through Jesus Christ he has given us grace to fail and mercy to learn.
7. Believe God will do what he says and take action on it. In Ezekiel God tells Israel over and over that he'll let bad things happen, and then he does it rather quickly. He has the same speed for repentance & forgiveness. And when we take action on his promises to us, he moves - sometimes rather quickly.
8. We are each responsible for our own future, our own sin.This connects back to point #3. In chapter 18 Ezekiel says twice that the soul who sins is the one who will die. And earilier in chapter 14 he says that even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there they could only save themselves, meaning that Israel was so bad that even though the world around Noah, Daniel, and Job was going to Hell in a handbasket, they would only be able to save themselves by their own faith. I'm sure that the three of them would try to convince people as they were going down. But the bottom line is that it is the INDIVIDUAL's responsibility to God. One man's salvation does not depend on the salvation or acts of others. MY salvation is not changed by what YOU do or believe. BUT... my actions, in love, could have an affect on influencing your thoughts, actions and understanding about Christ.
9. It's really about being concerned about God and seeking him in all things. In Ezekiel 16 Ezekiel addresses the issue of Sodom. Guess what - their fault was that they were inhospitable, mean, and had complete carelessness for God. It's just one example of many in this book where the people cared less about what God thought or asked of them. If we're really being honest, that's where we really fail - when we don't consider God as important or vital to our lives - when we forget about him and what he desires. See Chapter 29 on how God dealt with pharaoh.
10. Take care of your blessings. Along the same line as #9 is caring about the gifts and blessings God has given us. If we do that, he is sure to use those blessings to nourish us. If we neglect them, they grow tired and useless like a vine without water. 19:10
11. No one is "right enough." God looked for a righteous man to save the world but he found none. So he sent his own son and worked salvation for all of us. Later in chapter 22 Ezekiel commands us to distinguish between the Holy and the common. That made me think about politics. With such a politically charged world we must remember that NO ONE is "right enough" to claim that "God is on their side." God doesn't claim sides - he claims hearts.
12. Pray about what you want and seek God in his will so that when you get what you want, it will bless you and not turn on you. Chapter 23.
13. Be careful of selfish misunderstanding. When we begin to believe that God should be doing things for us we've lost our focus like Israel in Chapter 33.
14. Take care of each other, respect each other as god loves men. In Chapter 34 God really nails it to the arrogant leaders who took advantage of the weak. We must always remember that we are blessed, not privelidged.
15. Our lives are for HIS glory, not our own. Again it is God who blesses us for the sake of his name. There is tremendous power in God working through our lives. We must acknowledge him when he does that. Chapter 36.
16. Let God breathe life into you. Are we willing to let God enter our lives and give them direction? Chapter 37.
17. We have sanctuary. When life is handing us hardship and difficulty we have the sanctuary of God right here. In Christ we have the sanctuary of God's grace: pardon from the arrest & judgment we deserve. We are made right before him so that he can dwell IN us. We have his peace. 37:26-27
18. Be humbled by the awesomeness of God. In Chapter 43 God tells Ezekiel to describe the temple to the people so that they'd be ashamed of their sins. And the temple was HUGE. The description is gigantic and fanciful - and awesome. It is humbling to consider the grandness of God, what he can do, and that he has chosen to shower us with mercy.
19. We must go home another way. Ezekiel wrote that when going to the temple the people must exit the opposite side that they entered. Such it is for us after we encounter God. Everytime we sit down with him we should get up changed, different. There is life-changing power in even the shortest of meetings with him.
20. The Lord is Here. If we are in Christ, He is dwelling in us and we are his sanctuary. With Him we are filled with His spirit, tapped into the powerful water that gives life and heals. Like the fruit trees at the foot of the river in Ezekiel 47 we must bear fruit that nourishes and leaves that heal the wounds of the world. Our lives must bear the moniker "The Lord is There." (vs 48:35) Those who come into contact with us must be compelled by our lives to seek out the truth and power of God for themselves.
