by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Ezekiel 4-6
How would you have liked to be Ezekiel? He did what the Lord said to do, and said what the Lord said to say, but he couldn’t have been popular to the masses. In fact, many may have thought of him as a weird man.
God was using every means possible to get His message to the people. These Jews were His people, and they had a mission to accomplish still. They were to bring into the earth the Messiah, Jesus, and they were to have the history which would show God’s hand upon a nation.
However, at the time, it might not have seemed like it. They were in captivity in Babylon, and they were assimilating this new culture into their own routines.
But there were a few. There were a few who had not forsaken their God, and others who had turned back to Him because of their captivity. Those were the ones who would listen.
First Ezekiel used tremendous drama to show the plight of these people. They had turned their backs on God, and He had turned His back on them. How the mighty had fallen.
Soon he is going to begin to bring forth glorious words of hope concerning Jerusalem. The ones who believe God will grab hold of these words and feed on them.
But first he has to reiterate why they are in their current position.
Better days are ahead. Better days are always ahead when we walk with God.
Hebrews 11
“Without faith, it is impossible to please God. for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder for those who diligently seek Him.” (V. 6)
That’s what He wants from us: our faith. He wants us to believe Him. That’s the foundation for everything in our Father’s kingdom.
So what is this thing called faith? It’s the “assurance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.” (V.1)
All of us exercise faith every day, whether we know it or not. Every night when we go to sleep, we “know” that the sun will be up again in the morning. Right? Do you ever wonder or worry about that? I hope not!
Every time we sit down in a chair and trust our body weight to that structure, we have faith that the chair will hold us. Every time we turn on a light, we expect the light to come on. Every time we go to work, we expect our job to be there. (Under ordinary circumstances).
All of these are examples of faith. We aren’t seeing something at the moment, but we know what the outcome will be. It’s easy to have faith in things which we have experienced over and over.
In the same way, as we walk with God and believe Him for things, we will see results of our faith. Then the results we see will increase our ability to believe next time. Our faith will grow from the experience.
However, if we say we are Christians and never believe God’s Word, our faith won’t grow. In fact, perhaps our doubt and unbelief will grow, because we will not see Him work as much.
There’s a key here, and it’s in verse 3. “By faith, we understand that the worlds were prepared by the Word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”
A mouthful, I know. What it is saying is that the way God created the world is the same way He creates things in our lives. He spoke the word in faith, and things appeared, which had not been seen before. They had been created out of the word of God and faith in that word – when it was spoken.
Are there some unseen things in your life? Things which you have seen in God’s promises, but you haven’t seen manifested in your life?
Find those promises and meditate on them. Roll them around in your mind and heart, and speak them out loud. As you do this, your faith will grow, and you will begin to see these promises manifest in the natural.
It won’t happen overnight. Yet if you continue in God’s Word, your faith and patience will bring you into a whole new territory. A new territory of believing and receiving.
As you continue to read about the “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11, your faith will rise also. You will see that faith was an essential element of all of the heroes in the Old Testament. (In fact, when Abraham believed God’s Word to Him, he had righteousness granted to him as a gift).
Our faith is essential to a successful walk with our God. We must believe Him. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Ezekiel 1-3
You have to get your head in gear for Ezekiel. Some of the richest messages in the Bible – messages which are true for us today, just as they were when they were written – are found in this book. Ezekiel is a true prophet, and true prophets often “see” rather than “hear” things from God.
What do I mean? Well, Ezekiel sees visions which represent what the Lord is saying. You know the old Chinese proverb, “A picture is worth a thousand words?” Well, there is never a time when that can be demonstrated better than in the messages from Ezekiel.
So let’s go. To establish the background, Ezekiel is an exile prophet, meaning that he is writing from captivity in Babylon. The once mighty nation of Israel has been carried off to Babylon, but their God is still with them. He encourages the people with promises of an eventual return and rebuilding of Jerusalem. God is indeed faithful to His people.
Now for the visions. What do you see when you see the creatures with four faces which Ezekiel describes? I see the completeness of man, as God has designed him. The four faces represent differing aspects of God’s design. He is a man first and foremost, God’s man. When he walks in the fulness of God’s plan, this man will be as bold and full of authority as a lion, he will be willing to serve as the ox, and he will soar as an eagle above the rudimentary elements of the world. God’s man is a many-faceted man.
Then, as God’s man prophesying to God’s people, Ezekiel is required to eat the scroll first. This, too, is a principle which applies today. In today’s jargon, we would say, “Practice what you preach.”
If we are our Father’s representatives, we must do what we say, and we must do what we expect others to do. That’s integrity, and it’s what God requires.
Now Ezekiel is called to speak to the nation of Israel while they are in exile, so some of the messages will just seem for the moment. Yet if we look closely, we will have the opportunity to receive messages for us also.
Ezekiel can teach us a lot, if we will just listen
Hebrews 10
There is such a contrast between those who honor the Spirit of Grace and those who insult Him. Those who honor God’s precious Spirit have the privilege of entering boldly into the throne of grace to find help in time of need. That time of need could be a time when we have sinned, or it could be when we are in need of strength, wisdom, or provision.
The main thing here is that our Father is ever ready to help us, when our hearts are toward Him.
Yet there is another side of the coin; a side which isn’t as pretty.
Paul speaks of insulting the Spirit of Grace. That’s when we take Him lightly, and continue in a life of sin or apathy towards our God.
We all know people who have had God move mightily on their behalf, and who for a season have seemed to have changed lives, living for Him. Then when the shiny objects of the world have entered the picture, they have no time for their Savior. And some times, they have turned their backs on God completely.
Dangerous territory. I’m not saying that they have committed the unforgivable sin, but I am saying that they have insulted God. Repentance is there for them. But they do need to repent.
I am not talking about just making a mistake. i am talking about after knowing Him to choose a lifestyle which honors the devil rather than God. That’s the dangerous territory, and we want to avoid it at all costs.
Grace is such a terrific gift from our Father, and not one to be taken lightly. Our Father loves us, and wants us to live closely with Him. There is nothing that He won’t do for us when we walk closely with Him.
I pray that you and I will continue to walk with Him – closer and closer every day.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Lamentations 1-2
Now if somewhere along the line you began to think of Jeremiah as hard and cruel, you will change your mind now. He is broken-hearted over his nation, Israel.
The city of Jerusalem had once been called the “perfection of beauty; the joy of the whole earth.” Now it is totally destroyed. The nations around about who have envied Israel’s splendor, now are rejoicing over her destruction. They are “hissing” at her as they go by.
Everyone is in shock. These people have been raised to know that they were God’s special people – called to bring the Messiah to the earth. Even when they were disobedient, they would get warnings but they were still protected.
Yet as the warnings became more persistent, these people refused to listen. When the prophets proclaimed that repentance should come, the majority of Israelites wanted to stone the prophets If they could just shut them up, everything would be ok. They wanted their ears tickled, not wanting to hear the truth.
Well, the prophets were from God, and their word did come to pass. Alas, if only the Jews had listened.
But, as we know, God is not through with His people. As we will see later, He is with them even as they are led off to Babylon.
Hebrews 8
Not only do we have a new High Priest, we have a New Covenant. (In fact the word “testament” is another word for “covenant”).
If the old covenant had been perfect, there would be no reason to replace it, but it wasn’t perfect. In fact, no one ever became righteous by the law. The law pointed out sin, not righteousness.
If only we can get this, our lives will be so different. In this day, “the law is written in our minds and put upon our hearts” (V.10).
Now things are different. Jesus has made us clean by His blood, and His Holy Spirit is living on the inside of us. We are now God’s holy temples, the many mansions of God. (John 14:2).
If we continue by meditating on His Word and spending time with Him, our lives will grow to be more and more pure all the time. His Word feeds our spirits and causes them to grow. As a result, we are not only purer, but also more powerful. We are God’s people.
Spend time with Him, worshipping Him, and there you will see your life changing. You will go from “glory to glory” as you do.
“This is the day which the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24) The dispensation of God’s grace upon His people. The dispensation of His Holy Spirit leading and guiding us into all the truth.
This is our day to rejoice!
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Jeremiah 51-52
Jeremiah was truly speaking the words of the Lord. As we finish this book, we see that the Babylonian captivity has happened just as he said it would.
The Jews have been taken off to Babylon, and Jerusalem has been burned. The House of the Lord, the king’s palace, and all of the houses have been burned to the ground. The walls have been broken down, and everything has been left in rubble.
Jerusalem, the great city – the one which had been the most glorious place in the earth, now destroyed.
Yet God still has a good plan for His people. As we continue, we will see God’s faithfulness to the children of Abraham. This generation – after many warnings – have refused to honor God. They have sought every other imaginable God, along with the true One.
When we are going through these times in the Jewish history, it’s important not to forget that there is a big plan which our Father is carrying out. He is going to bring a Savior into the earth, and He has to have a holy people to bring Him through.
As the Jews go into captivity, there are some who are being purified because of the experience. As they see what it’s like without God’s tremendous protection and favor, they are learning to really appreciate it.
Our holy God is looking for a faithful people to usher in His Son. This is all part of the process. A few hundred years will pass before the time is right, but His plan will come to pass. And I am so thankful.
I am so thankful for our Father’s faithfulness to us in working His plan to bring his Son to us.
Here we are enjoying His faithfulness. God’s plan is complete, and we are the beneficiaries of it.
I want so much to please Our Father and honor Him in my life. I want Him to be glorified by my being a witness of His goodness toward mankind.
Hebrews 7
We really need to get this, even though it sometimes seems hard to understand.
Jesus is our High Priest, but He is not like the high priests of old. They were ordinary men from the tribe of Levi. When the law was given to Moses, Levi’s tribe was to be the tribe of the priesthood. Nothing was ever mentioned about a priest coming from the tribe of Judah.
Yet Jesus came from the tribe of Judah.
Our Father was signifying that He was changing things. No longer was an earthly man going to be our priest, but a heavenly One. No longer the order of Levi, but the order of Melchizedek.
Melchizedek came out of nowhere. No one knew who his parents were and no one knew where he was going. As Abraham paid tithes to this man, Melchizedek was like the Son of God. (If you want to refresh your memory about this, go to Genesis 14:18-20).
This is also signifying that God is changing from the law to grace. The law never brought anyone to righteousness; it only pointed out sin.
Through Jesus, we receive the gift of righteousness, and we receive His Holy Spirit living on the inside of us. The power of God within us allows us to overcome sin, and it allows us to live in a relationship with Him.
The Old Covenant produced servants of God. The New covenant produces sons of God – and that’s who we are.
Now our priest lives in heaven, seated beside our Father. We can come boldly to Him at any time. He is always on our side, and He is always communicating with us through His Holy Spirit.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Jeremiah 49-50
God wants to clear out all of the attitudes which hinder our relationship with Him. He wants a family who spends time with Him, and listens to Him as the Father He is.
As mentioned earlier, these nations which are receiving judgment, represent erroneous attitudes which hinder our walk with our God.
Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Hazar, and Elam are types for worldly lusts and mindsets which cause people to despise God’s true church. We see those attitudes throughout our modern society.
Then we get to the “biggie.” Babylon. Babylon is the nation which took Judah into captivity and burned Jerusalem. It literally destroyed the foundations of what God had done in the earth.
The word Babylon is derived from the word Babel. (It actually sits on the site of the Tower of Babel). Remember that story? God confused the languages of the people so that they couldn’t agree and accomplish their evil schemes. The word means “confusion.”
Babylon actually means, “confusion by mixing,” and we can readily see where we are going here. The modern church is confused because of all of the mixing with the ideas of the world. Taking modern ideas and trying to incorporate them into a church representing God’s ideas has created havoc. And many people have been taken into “Babylonian captivity” by trying to do just that.
So how do we get out of captivity? We turn our minds and hearts back to the One True God, and we turn our minds and hearts back to His Word. When people are trying to incorporate current erroneous thinking into their theology, they treat the Bible as if it were just another book. They critique it – and they explain away many of the truths, in an attempt to be intellectual.
That is a dangerous deadend route to take.
God is God! He is the One who is all-knowing, and He has established His Word in the earth in order to share His wisdom with us. So what are we to do? We are to reject the teachings which try to discredit the Bible, and we are to embrace His Word and His Spirit.
Technology has changed. Modes of travel have changed. Modern conveniences have redirected our activities. However, the human heart has not changed. It still has the same issues it did from the fall of man. And God still has the answers.
The theology which teaches otherwise will be overthrown, just as Babylon was. Though it held the Judeans for a while, the day would come when it would be overthrown. And a remnant of people would be allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild.
I want to be a rebuilder, don’t you? I want to see the truth return to God’s church everywhere. I want His will to be preeminent in the earth. And I want to see eyes opened to His ways as never before.
Hebrews 6
“And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (V. 11-12)
Faith and patience could be compared to a husband and wife in a marriage. They go together and they both are important.
Without faith, we cannot expect to have the promises of God in our lives. Jesus taught over and over that faith is the key to receiving God’s best.
Yet we also need patience, an attribute which undergirds our faith. With patience working on our behalf, we stay focused and assured even though we don’t see the answer yet. We don’t abort our mission, but we continue to press toward the goal set before us.
Sometimes the best God has for us takes some time to develop. Once when I was praying for my children, the Lord spoke to me. He said, “Marigolds spring up over night. Oak trees take longer.” I have remembered that moment many times when I would be praying for something which seemed to be out of reach.
Let’s allow the time necessary for our Father to bring about His best. Patience, along with our faith, will give Him whatever time He needs to create His best in our lives.
