Skip to main content

Ezekiel's Dilemma

Today's readings are from Ezekiel 5, 6, 7, 8

The prophet Ezekiel ministered during the Captivity. He was sent by God to the captives who had been removed from the land and were living in a foreign land. Questions, doubt, discouragement, pain accompanied their daily lives. They couldn't comprehend the "why". To do this God enters into the realities. He "sees" what God "sees". That's the role of the prophet.

Ezekiel's dilemma is providing hope in the midst of discipline. How do we "speak the truth" when the truth is sharp, painful to hear? How do we leave the truth hurt as it should, and yet point to the future when hope is fulfilled and life is restored to God? This is much needed today.

Peace


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Comments

Paul said…
It seems to me in my limited knowledge that because I know that I don't know it all could be an advantage when dealing with speaking the truth. Remembering Jesus words of "love as I have loved" goes a long way. If we really have genuine love for the person we are speaking truth to they will be more likely to hear what we are saying. God searches our hearts and if our hearts are right, according to his ways, God just might open his or her eyes to what we are saying through the Holy Spirit. In my own experience, I didn't hear truth until I WANTED to hear truth. Not only did I not care about the truth, I could not have recognized it if I heard it. It seems to me that God can move hearts, but sometimes he wants to know if we will come to the decision to follow his son on our own. Once we make the decision to follow his son, is there anything the Holy Spirit will keep from us? We hear not because we want not. If we trust God with our lives, will we not have hope?
May 31, 2011 at 8:26 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday, Day 25: Christmas Eve - God Loves Us (So We Can Relax)

For Kids: There’s a lot of things we have to do each day. Get up from our sleep, Get dressed, Eat Breakfast, Get ready for School, Listen to the teacher, play with friends, eat our lunch, and after it’s all done, go back home. There’s time to play, Then we eat our supper… And eventually we have to get ready for bed and go to sleep! And then we do it all over again the next day. Sometimes there’s a vacation - like right now - and we get more time to play, to have fun and not have to do work at school. Our parents are good at helping us know what time it is and what we need to do next – even when we don’t want to move on to the next thing.  God is also good at helping us know what time it is, and what is next.  He doesn’t shout at us, or yell, or even scream…he does it peacefully, quietly.  He wants us to understand that he does it, most of all, for us. Christmas can be quite busy and there’s lots of things going on at once…but l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Joy to the World - Help is On the Way

It’s the first day of Advent– while you prepare for Worship this morning at church take a minute to ask God to direct you through this season that you might be prepared to “receive your King”. In the first week of Advent we celebrate the PROMISE of His Coming. His promise is based on our need. We were made in his image, but there is emptiness in our soul that is the result of the Fallen nature of sin. But why did Jesus come? What in his coming announces God's heart? His desire for us to know and experience? 10 BUT THE ANGEL SAID TO THEM, "DO NOT BE AFRAID; FOR BEHOLD, I BRING YOU GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY WHICH WILL BE FOR ALL THE PEOPLE; 11 FOR TODAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID THERE HAS BEEN BORN FOR YOU A SAVIOR, WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD. GREAT JOY! Did you know that God is Joyful? 1 CHRONICLES 16:23-27 (NASB) 23 SING TO THE LORD, ALL THE EARTH; PROCLAIM GOOD TIDINGS OF HIS SALVATION FROM DAY TO DAY. 24 TELL OF HIS GLORY AMONG THE NATIONS, HIS WONDERFUL DEEDS AMONG ALL THE PEOPLES....
46 comments
Read more

The Gospel of Matthew - Coming: An Exposition and Devotional on the Life of Jesus

Preface  I just finished writing a daily devotional of the book of Matthew with an emphasis on expositing the text and bringing some daily devotional thoughts to the text.  It will be a 40-day journey reading the book of Matthew and the things I wrote within it. Why do it?  Well, first of all, I have loved reading the Scripture for over 50 years now.  I taught the Scriptures on multiple levels from Sunday messages in a Church, to Bible Studies, to Young Adults' discipleship formation, to lectures in a college setting.  I love the Scriptures because it is the Word of God delivered to us from God through human authors, and as Paul reminded Timothy, “it is profitable”. Matthew was a disciple of Jesus, also called Levi, he was not like most of the other disciples. Many of the disciples were middle-class, some commoners, and several were fishermen by trade (which made them middle-class commoners).  We don't know what all of them did, but we do know what Matthew ...
Post a Comment
Read more