Faith for Today

“The word of the Lord came to me:  ‘Son of man, the house of Israel is saying, “The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future.” ‘Therefore say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign Lord”.’” — Ezekiel 12:26–28

Hard day at the office? Usually, in our culture, the antidote is to curl up on the couch and watch a movie. Went on a bad date? If movies and television shows are any guide, the best thing to do in these situations is to buy a pint of ice cream.

In general, when life gets us down, often our default mode is to pamper ourselves until we feel better.

It’s easy to forget the role of faith in bolstering our spirits. Although our faith in God can be a tremendous comfort, many of us have a habit of reasoning that while divine pursuits may help in the long-term, we want to feel better right now, right here – in the short-term.

While this attitude is understandable, God warns Ezekiel about those who take it to an extreme. You see, the people of Ezekiel’s time – like many of us nowadays – had gotten used to thinking of faith as something that may be relevant, but only to others, or only in the future. Certainly, in the here-and-now, faith probably doesn’t have a real benefit.

This is why the Almighty had Ezekiel remind the people that faith is always meaningful and always a major source of strength and support in our lives. But it is our responsibility to take hold of the resources offered to us via faith in God and make them a part of our daily lives.

So let’s all commit to the attitude that Ezekiel was sent to encourage: that God’s word is ever present and ever relevant. We can do this by taking it upon ourselves to learn a bit of Scripture every day, or doing a kind deed once a week for a stranger, or setting aside a bit of our time to devote to charity. Truth is, it can be anything, even something small.

The key, at the end of the day, is to remember that faith – if we truly make it a part of our lives – can be a wonderful wellspring of comfort to us and to those around us.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/faith-for-today

Leader for the Good

“Say to them, ‘I am a sign to you’.” — Ezekiel 12:11

Faith is sometimes characterized as an intellectual or emotional crutch for the weak-minded. But those of us who understand the rich heritage of Scripture know better. We know that faith entails a constant struggle to better serve our Creator – to give thanks to Him for sustaining us and giving our lives meaning.

This is no easy task. After all, where should we possibly begin? Humanity being far from perfect, it seems that we have before us an endless “to-do list” if we want to truly serve the Almighty.

This is why I’ve always thought that Ezekiel’s simple message here in Chapter 12 is so powerful and comforting at the same time. Throughout his prophetic career, Ezekiel was assigned the task of instructing his countrymen on how to correct their errant behavior so as to better serve God. Not only was this often a thankless task but, if you really think about it, also an incredibly difficult one.

Think about our own lives:  is it ever easy to point out to another person – whether a friend or family member – that he or she is behaving improperly and should endeavor to change? Aside from the awkward nature of such encounters, we also realize that it’s difficult to criticize someone else when we may be guilty of the very same flaw or some other flaw. Wouldn’t pointing out someone else’s problem sound hypocritical?

God Himself acknowledges this basic problem; He tells Ezekiel that instead of just haranguing his audience, berating them into changing, he should actually go out and set a good example. Through his own actions, Ezekiel demonstrated for others how to live a life in service to God. He was “a sign.”

Let’s make this our goal. If we find ourselves in the company of those behaving poorly, or if we feel that another person could benefit from changing his or her ways, let’s not act as judge. Instead, let us work as hard as we can to ensure that we, ourselves, are behaving well and setting a good example. Imagine, if we set just one good example a day, how many lives we could alter forever!

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/leader-for-the-good

No Matter What

“Therefore say:  ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:  Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone’.” — Ezekiel 11:16

Throughout the ages, God has commanded the Jewish people always to remember the land of Israel. And in recent decades, in His kindness, God has allowed His people to re-settle the Holy Land and build it into a light among the nations. But for centuries upon centuries, all the Jewish people were able to do was pine for their homeland, hoping against hope that one day they would be able to return.

So during all those long years – and even today, for those who have not yet had the opportunity to see the land of Israel – what was a Jewish person to do while in exile? How could the Jewish people relate to God while expelled from their holy land?

This question isn’t simply academic – a historical curiosity. After all, we all experience times throughout our lives when we feel that God has hidden Himself from us. During these difficult times – whether during the illness of a loved one, a tough day at work, or even simply struggling to fine-tune our connection to God – how are we to make sure that we don’t suffer spiritual withdrawal? How are we to maintain our connection to God during those moments when He feels so far away?

God answers this question in his prophetic message to Ezekiel. He reminds the prophet that although the Jewish people have been sent into a difficult exile and have been dispersed throughout the world, they must still remember that no matter how far away from Israel the Jews have been sent, God remains “a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone” (Ezekiel 11:16). In other words, even when it is hard to see God finds a way into our lives, and serves as a sanctuary for us even until the ends of the earth.

And this is the ultimate comfort for all of us. Just as the Jewish people – no matter how far from their land they went – were accompanied by God, so too all of us – as disconnected from the Divine as we may feel at times – only need to look around us to see God at work in our lives.

Indeed, Ezekiel’s message to us whenever we feel we are at a spiritual low is that God watches over us — no matter what and no matter where.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/no-matter-what

I’ll Be There

“And whether they listen or fail to listen — for they are a rebellious house — they will know that a prophet has been among them.” — Ezekiel 2:5

Sometimes, particularly in dealing with a stubborn child who refuses to listen, parents want to throw up their hands in frustration and walk away saying, “Why am I wasting my time when my child won’t even listen to me?”

Our tendency in life is to look at a situation, figure out what’s wrong, propose a solution, and then attempt to see some results. When we see a problem, we want to fix it. It’s not enough just to diagnose the problem and leave it at that.

How strange it must have been, then, for Ezekiel to be tasked with ministering to the Jewish people even as God warns him that they may not even listen at all? Essentially, God asks Ezekiel to devote his life to the task of teaching the Jewish people how to be upright citizens in the kingdom of God . . . even while knowing that the entire endeavor may be for naught!

Indeed, imagine going to work and being given a project to which you are supposed to devote every waking hour for the next several years. Your boss tells you that you’ll be working all by yourself, day and night, pouring countless resources into finishing. But he tells you, before you start, that it may turn out in the end that the project is entirely pointless and will have accomplished nothing.

How many of us would accept such a task? Wouldn’t we all feel that such a job would be a waste of our time?

This is the importance of the final phrase in the verse. Even though God tells Ezekiel that the Jewish people may not accept his prophetic guidance, God stresses that, even so, “they will know that a prophet has been among them.” In other words, they will know that God cares about them – cares so much, in fact, that he has granted a human being the ability to be a divine messenger so that he can teach humanity what God requires of them.

The same is true for parents or anyone who worries that his or her actions are not producing results. Sometimes, the important thing is not that children listen to their parents, but that children simply know that their parents are there for them, and that their parents loves them. So too with our loved ones who need our help:  first and foremost, we need to make sure they know we are here to help, and ready to love.

That knowledge – in the long run – can be the biggest blessing of all.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/ill-be-there

On Your Feet

“He said to me, ‘Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.’ As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.” — Ezekiel 2:1–2

One of the more troubling aspects of life is knowing that bad news can strike at any time. Although our daily lives are filled with blessings, both large and small, that allow us to recognize God’s love for us, sometimes bad things happen to us — whether it’s an illness, job loss, or death of a loved one.

The question then becomes how to deal with sorrow. If suffering is part of life, then it’s certainly important for us to think about how to deal with it.

This is where Ezekiel comes in. Before Ezekiel became a prophet, he was just another young man – from a family of Jewish priests – trying to find his way in a complicated world. In those days, serving as a prophet for the Jewish people would not have been easy. They were about to enter into one of the most difficult periods in their history, when they witnessed the destruction of the Temple and experienced exile into a foreign land.

In fact, when God came to Ezekiel and appointed him a prophet to the Jewish people, He warned Ezekiel that dealing with his countrymen would be difficult – nearly impossible:  “And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them . . .” (Ezekiel 2:6).

Ezekiel knew before he even uttered one word of God’s message to his fellow Israelites that this role would change his life, and not necessarily for the better.

And yet, just as God gave Ezekiel such a difficult task, he taught him the proper way to deal with suffering:  “Son of man, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you” (Ezekiel 2:1). No matter what happens, God told Ezekiel, a person can always keep his or her pride and dignity. As difficult as life may sometimes get, we can meet any challenge standing on our feet – making sure that we always do the best to cope with the situation.

And as we do this, as God promised Ezekiel, He will watch over us and help us.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/on-your-feet

Belief in action

“They spoke against God;      they said, ‘Can God really      spread a table in the wilderness? True, he struck the rock,      and water gushed out,      streams flowed abundantly, but can he also give us bread?      Can he supply meat for his people?’” — Psalm 78:19–20

One has to wonder how, after seeing awesome miracles as they left Egypt, the children of Israel still had trouble with faith. Tradition teaches that during the exodus from Egypt, the lowliest maidservant among the Israelites experienced greater visions than even the legendary prophet Ezekiel!

Yet, we find that “again and again they put God to the test” (Psalm 78:41). They tested God in the wilderness and wondered, “Is the LORD among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7). Could God provide water for them? Would He supply bread? How about meat?

The Lord “made the water stand up like a wall” (Psalm 78:13). He had split the sea for them! That wasn’t enough? What greater proof did they need to know that there is a God and that He can provide?

It has been said that the greatest distance in the world is from the head to the heart. We can know something in our minds, but feeling it in our hearts to the point where we live it, that’s something else entirely. The Israelites did not struggle with belief in God; they struggled with putting that belief into action.

There is a great story that illustrates this. Around the mid-1800s a man known as the Great Blondin attempted to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Five thousand people gathered to watch. In the middle of the walk Blondin suddenly stopped, backflipped into the air, landed on the rope, and then continued safely to the other side. Blondin would cross the Falls many more times – once blindfolded, once carrying a stove, once in chains, and once on a bicycle.

One time, he showed up with a wheelbarrow. Blondin turned to the crowd and shouted “Who believes that I can cross pushing this wheelbarrow?” Every hand in the crowd went up. Blondin pointed at one man.

“Do you believe that I can do it?” he asked.

“Yes, I believe you can,” said the man.

“Are you sure?” said Blondin.

“Yes,” said the man.

“Absolutely certain?”

“Yes, absolutely certain.”

“Thank you,” said Blondin. “Then, sir, get into the wheelbarrow.”

Anyone can have a belief, but how many of us are ready to live what we believe? There will be times in our lives when our faith will be strong, but our fear will seem stronger. We will all have to decide if we are willing to step into the wheelbarrow and trust that God will deliver us safely across the wire.

Faith is not tested by what we say or even by what we believe. The true test of faith is in how we live.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/belief-in-action

The Good News of Ezekiel by Mark D. Roberts

Ezekiel 48:1-35

The circumference of the city is 5.1 miles. As of today, the name of the city is The LORD Is There.

Ezekiel 48:35

For the past three months, we have been walking slowing through the Old Testament book of Ezekiel. If you’ve joined me for this journey, you know that this collection of prophecies abounds with bad news. In many and various ways, Ezekiel announces God‘s judgment upon his people because of their persistent, unfaithful idolatry. They have rejected God so often that God is going to discipline them severely by using the nation of Babylon to destroy Jerusalem and drive many of the Jews into exile. Though Ezekiel contains an occasional oasis of hope, mostly it is a long, hard road to travel.

Yet, it ends with extraordinary good news. After mentioning that the circumference of Jerusalem will be 5.1 miles (literally, 18,000 cubits), the prophet adds, “As of today, the name of the city is The LORD Is There” (48:35). The LORD Is There! Think of it. Earlier in Ezekiel, the Lord withdrew his glorious presence from Jerusalem and its Temple. He took away his protection and blessing from his people. Yet this was not the end of the story, but rather a sad chapter in the middle. At the end, God will once again live in the midst of his people. They will be his, and he will be their God.

The final words of Ezekiel point forward in time to a day when God will dwell with his people. This began to happen over five centuries later when God became human in the person of Jesus Christ, the Word Incarnate. Jesus lived on earth to reveal the fullness of life offered by God and, through dying, to open up to us the way into that life. Following his resurrection and ascension, God came to dwell in and among his people through the Holy Spirit. Where God’s people are, The LORD is There.

Yet, Christians believe, like Ezekiel, that God will one day be even more fully present among us. In the second-to-last chapter of the Revelation of John we read: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne say, ‘Look! God’s dwelling is here with humankind. He will dwell with them, and they will be his peoples. God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more. There will be no mourning, crying, or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away’ ” (Rev. 21:1-4). What a marvelous hope! Not only will God dwell fully among us, but also he will renew heaven and earth. He will take away sorrow and abolish death. All things will have become new in his presence.

Today, we live with the assurance that God is with us through the Spirit. Yet we also live with hope of a new day that is coming, a day when God’s justice and peace will cover the earth. This vision empowers us to live each day for the Lord, serving him in all that we do, whether at work or at home, whether in our cities or our churches. Because God is with us now, we know we can do all things by his power. And because God will one day dwell fully among us, we have hope. In light of this hope, we wipe away tears from the eyes of those who grieve, sharing the good news of what God has done and is doing through Jesus Christ.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: When are you most aware of God being with you? How might you live differently if you were fully and regularly confident of God’s presence in your life?

PRAYER: Almighty, merciful God, thank you for the closing promise of Ezekiel. Thank you for the fact that one day you will dwell fully among us.

In the meanwhile, thank you for your presence with us through your Spirit. Thank you for healing us, teaching us, binding us together as your people, and empowering us to serve you in the world. May we do so faithfully, confident in your presence and inspired by the hope of your future.

All praise, glory, and honor be to you, O God, Immanuel, God with us! Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/good-news-ezekiel

How to Live a Fruitful Life by Mark D. Roberts

Ezekiel 47:1-23

[B]ut on both banks of the river will grow up all kinds of fruit-bearing trees. Their leaves won’t wither, and their fruitfulness won’t wane. They will produce fruit in every month, because their water comes from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for eating, their leaves for healing.

Ezekiel 47:12

We have within us a deep desire to live a fruitful life. This desire is part of our creaturely DNA, if you will. It was placed there by God when he created human beings in his image and called us to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28, ESV). Yes, sin can dull our desire to live a productive life, in addition to making it more difficult to do so. But, in my experience as a pastor, most people want to live in a way that makes a difference in this world.

Ezekiel 47 offers a vivid picture of fruitfulness, one that instructs and encourages us. In last Friday’s reflection, I focused on the first part of this chapter and its vision of a river flowing from the Temple in Jerusalem to the Dead Sea. This fresh water of the river transforms the salty deadness of the Sea into a body of water filled with fish. As the river flows from the Temple down to the formerly “dead” Sea, it nourishes “all kinds of fruit-bearing trees.” Unlike normal trees, these will not wither or stop being fruitful. Moreover, their “fruit will be for eating, their leaves for healing” (47:12).

Why are these trees so fruitful? Why will they never wither? Because, as the Lord says to Ezekiel, “their water comes from the sanctuary” (47:12). The sanctuary, more literally the “holy place,” represents the presence of God on earth. It is the place God lives, so to speak. Thus, the life-giving river in Ezekiel 47 flows from God, the source of all life. Extraordinary fruitfulness comes when trees are blessed by God’s own nourishment.

The implications for us are obvious. If we want to live fruitful lives, we need to be consistently fed by God. We need to “eat” his Word and “drink” in his Spirit. We need God’s gifts and wisdom. We need the fruit of the Spirit. When we try to live productive lives apart from God, we soon run out of energy and our leaves begin to wither as our branches stop bearing fruit.

Ironically, it is often in times of greatest productivity that I’m tempted to distance myself from God. When I have so much to do, when I’m trying to make the most of every minute, I find it easy to spend less time with the Lord. I cut short my prayers and might even skip church so I can get more done. In other words, I do exactly the wrong things if I want to be truly fruitful. Ezekiel 47 reminds and challenges me to center my life in God, to let my roots grow deeply into the soil of his life, so that I might be like those trees along the river, fruitful in every way.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: What helps you to draw nourishment from God? When and why are you tempted to live on your own? For what, in particular, do you need God’s power and wisdom today?

PRAYER: Thank you, gracious God, for being the source of life. Thank you for planting me alongside the river that flows from you. Thank you for all the ways you help me to be fruitful and resilient.

Forgive me, dear Lord, for the times I uproot myself and back away from you. Forgive me for the arrogance and ignorance that suggests I can thrive on my own. Thank you for drawing me back to you, for replanting me and renewing me.

Help me, O God, to live in you each day. Help me to be rooted and grounded in your life and love. May I bear fruit for your kingdom in every part of my life because I am living in you. Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/how-live-fruitful-life-0?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheHighCallingDailyReflections+%28Daily+Reflection+%26+Prayer%29

The Transforming River by Mark D. Roberts

Ezekiel 47:1-23

He said to me, “These waters go out to the eastern region, flow down the steep slopes, and go into the Dead Sea. When the flowing waters enter the sea, its water becomes fresh.”

Ezekiel 47:8

During last summer’s trip to the Holy Land, my family and I visited the Dead Sea. We reached this spot by driving over verdant hills and then descending to the edge of this unique body of water, which lies 1,296 feet below sea level. Because the Dead Sea has no outlet, mineral rich water that flows in cannot flow out. Evaporation takes the water, leaving the minerals behind, especially salt. Thus, the Dead Sea is about seven to ten times saltier than the ocean.

On the advice of our guide, we stopped at a beach in order to sit in the Dead Sea. That’s right, to “sit” in the Dead Sea. Because the water is so dense with minerals, you can literally sit in the water as if in a beach chair, with your head and shoulders completely above the water. I can’t adequately explain how strange it felt to do this. It was rather like sitting in a kind of liquid Jello.

Yet the Dead Sea is far from sweet. It’s called “dead” because the high salinity prevents anything from living in the Sea. The only exception is when there is a great quantity of rain in the area. For a brief time, algae can live in the Dead Sea. But this occurrence is quite rare.

In his revelation to Ezekiel, the Lord uses the unique character of the Dead Sea in order to make a point about the Temple, which lay about 15 miles away from and 3,800 feet higher than the Sea. He describes a miraculous river that flows from the Temple down to the Dead Sea: “These waters go out to the eastern region, flow down the steep slopes, and go into the Dead Sea. When the flowing waters enter the sea, its water becomes fresh” (47:8). Thus, “great schools of fish” thrive in the Dead Sea because of the transformative power of the water from the Temple.

This vision in Ezekiel 47 demonstrates what happens in us when the water of the Holy Spirit flows into our hearts. It touches and transforms every part of us, so that we might be more fully alive and life-giving to others. The dead parts of us are invigorated by God‘s Spirit, so that we might live more abundantly now, in anticipation of the life that is yet to come.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: How has your life been transformed by the “water” of God’s Spirit? What parts of you need to be touched by the life-giving power of God?

PRAYER: Gracious God, thank you for this stirring picture of the river in Ezekiel 47. Thank you for being a God who gives life, not just in creation, but in re-creation as well.

O Lord, let your living water flow into my life. Transform me so that I might live more fully and share your life with others. Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/transforming-river

Should Spirituality Always Trump Practicality? by Mark D. Roberts

Ezekiel 46:1-24

When the people of the land come into the LORD’s presence for the festivals, those who enter through the North Gate to worship should go out through the south, and those who come in through the South Gate should go out through the North Gate. They shouldn’t turn around and go out the same way they came in. Instead, they should go out the opposite gate.

Ezekiel 46:9

I’ve been in plenty of church meetings that seem to pit the “spiritual” people against the “practical.” The “spiritual” people want to raise the mission budget in the next year; the “practical” people wonder how we’re going to pay for it. The “spiritual” people want to let the Spirit be free in worship services; the “practical” people wonder when the services will be over so the Sunday School teachers can plan adequately. Sometimes, the “spiritual” folk get exasperated. They think that they can play their “spiritual” trump card, which means that the “practical” folk should back down. Is this right?

In fact, Scripture often balances the “spiritual” and the “practical.” It might be better to say that Scripture doesn’t recognize such a distinction. The God who created the heavens and the earth to be orderly seems to understand that the “spiritual” always takes shape in the “practical.”

Consider the case of Ezekiel 46, for example. This chapter explains in detail the practical matters associated with sacrifices in the temple. Verse 9 describes how the people are to flow in and out of the temple: “When the people of the land come into the LORD’s presence for the festivals, those who enter through the North Gate to worship should go out through the south, and those who come in through the South Gate should go out through the North Gate. They shouldn’t turn around and go out the same way they came in. Instead, they should go out the opposite gate” (46:9). Talk about practical! This verse is about crowd control. (I checked several commentaries to see if I had missed some sort of symbolic significance here. But scholars are agreed that this verse is simply trying to make sure the people pass in and out of the gates in an orderly fashion.)

So, if you happen to be someone with “practical” talents, if you’re an engineer or a planner, if you’re an accountant or an attorney, don’t feel as if you have to always play second fiddle to the visionaries and mystics. All of us have gifts to contribute to the body of Christ, and God has formed the body so that all of us matter. Deep spirituality is not incompatible with realistic practicality. As Paul writes to the Corinthians, “Everything should be done [that is, all spiritual gifts should be exercised] with dignity and in proper order” (1 Cor. 14:40).

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: How do spirituality and practicality come together in your experience of Christian community? What are some of the talents and gifts that God has given you for the upbuilding of the body? Are you using these talents and gifts in your church?

PRAYER: Gracious God, thank you for the example of Ezekiel 46:9. As one who tends to worry about the practical side of things, I’m encouraged by this part of your revelation to Ezekiel. I’m glad to know that you care about things like crowd control.

Help us, dear Lord, not to get stuck in unedifying debates between the “spiritual” and the “practical.” May we see how these two dimensions of life are thoroughly overlapping and interconnected. In our churches, may we learn to value the differing perspectives of others. Let us be glad for the visionaries who see what more we could become by your power. And let us be equally glad for those who tend to the details.

Help me, Lord, to use well all the talents and gifts you have given me for your purposes and glory. Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/should-spirituality-always-trump-practicality