Today at church our Minister spoke on Ezekiel and the dry bones. He spoke about how the different events during his life seemed insignificant and unimportant by themselves but when he joined them together (like the dry bones) it made up a story of how God was speaking in his life. What are some dry bones that seem inconsequetial in your life that God is working together for something greater? Sometimes if we sit and look at our lives through the lens of hindsight so much more is revealed than what was going on at that moment before.
1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.’”
Footnotes:
Ezekiel 37:5 The Hebrew for this word can also mean wind or spirit (see verses 6-14).
6 The mind of sinful man[a] is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind[b] is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.
7 Then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light.10 It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light.”
11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead,15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Jesus Comforts the Sisters
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Bethany was less than two miles[a] from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ,[b] the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
Footnotes:
John 11:18 Greek fifteen stadia (about 3 kilometers)
Today is the longest day of the year, Summer Solstice. The sun rose quietly behind the clouds at around 4.55am. At about 4.54am, on of my cats, Oscar was walking on my hair, purring loudly about how hungy he was. While all this was going on, God was reminding me of two things by way of a song in my mind and a scripture in my heart. The song is this one below by Casting Crowns and the scripture is Psalm 24:1 (read the entire Psalm below).
The Bible and all it contains is the key to learning about God, growing in Him and being with Him.
1 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters.
3 Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place? 4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god.[a]
5 They will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God their Savior. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, God of Jacob.[b][c]
7 Lift up your heads, you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory.
Recently I bought the CD “Speechless” by Steven Curtis Chapman. Last night I was listening to it, probably for the first time all the way through, while doing the dishes. When the song “With Hope” came on, it explains one of the reasons why I became a Christian. It made me think of my brothers. I have two you see, one on earth and the other passed before I could met him. He was only young and severely disabled, so I know one day I will meet him. That will be the second most important meeting for me after standing face to face with my Saviour. Here are the words.
This is not at all how
We thought it was supposed to be
We had so many plans for you
We had so many dreams
And now you’ve gone away
And left us with the memories of your smile
And nothing we can say
And nothing we can do
Can take away the pain
The pain of losing you, but…
We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
‘Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
‘Cause we believe with hope
(There’s a place by God’s grace)
There’s a place where we’ll see your face again
We’ll see your face again
And never have I known
Anything so hard to understand
And never have I questioned more
The wisdom of God’s plan
But through the cloud of tears
I see the Father’s smile and say well done
And I imagine you
Where you wanted most to be
Seeing all your dreams come true
‘Cause now you’re home
And now you’re free, and…
We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
‘Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
‘Cause we believe with hope
(There’s a place by God’s grace)
There’s a place where we’ll see your face again
We’ll see your face again
We have this hope as an anchor
‘Cause we believe that everything
God promised us is true, so…
We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
‘Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
‘Cause we believe with hope
(There’s a place by God’s grace)
There’s a place where we’ll see your face again
We’ll see your face again
We wait with hope
And we ache with hope
We hold on with hope
We let go with hope
Today I got an email, you know the ones, full of optimistic positivity focussing on love of self and disregarding all else. Here is a portion of it.
Life is too short to wake up with regrets.
Love the people who treat you right.
Forget about the ones who don’t.
Believe everything happens for a reason.
If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands.
If it changes your life, let it.
Nobody said life would be easy.
They just promised it would be worth it.
Most of it is very wrong thinking (does not line up with God’s Word) but what struck me the most was the phrase - “Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don’t.”
My thoughts immediately was, who will love the unlovable ones.You know the ones who don’t treat anyone right. The ones who everyone has abandoned.
The very next line in this flawed poem says “if you get a second chance grab it with both hands”. What about offering a second (or third or 490th) chance to someone who oh-so-doesn’t deserve it?
Because you don’t either. We are all human.
We all breathe the same air, bleed the same colour and return to the dust when we die.
We are all sinners and no one deserves a second chance. That’s where God’s grace comes swooping in. He saves us from our flaws and sins and unlovableness. He loves us unconditionally, expecting NOTHING in return.
He commanded us to love one another, not only those who treat us right. He died for all, not just those who have ticked the right boxes of some weird popularity contest.
We need to love each other, even the unlovable.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 1Corinthians 13:4-5
I pray that God lets those who listen, hear and those who look, see.
Today I realised I have to turn my comments back on. So I will be doing that. I hate prefacing things, but please don’t attack my views. If you are an “Internet Warrior” (one of those people who have too much time on their hands and go around picking what is wrong with everyones belief systems and persuasions) please don’t even bother to comment as it won’t be approved. I’m not into conflict, debating or showing all sides of things all the time. If this offends you, look up what it says about offence in the Bible.
Now onto other things. It’s been beautiful weather here, cold winds and warm sunshine. Winter is definately on its way as we even had some dew, almost a frost the other morning. Last night as I was microwaving Thumpers warm pad I stood outside and I could feel the damp cold rolling in, sooo glad we have houses around us and fences. It would have been cold out of town on the farms and paddocks.
We have a stray cat living in our backyard. We’ve called him Tabby for obvious reason (he is a grey/brown tabby. I’ll get a photo.). He’s so timid though, just slinks away into the shed when we approach. I just want to pick him up, give him a huge warm hug and bring him inside. Kind of reminds me of us with the Father. Some people come to God every so often to be fed then when He approaches they slink away to hide in the dark again. All He wants to do is pick us up, give us a warm hug and bring us inside.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:28-29
This is a devotional written for children, but the message is the same to all of us.
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” (Colossians 2:6-9)
“Say ‘Mama,’ Stella. ‘Mama!’”
“No, Stella. You can say ‘Daddy,’ better, can’t you! Say ‘Daddy’!”
Jimmy laughed at the expression on his baby sister’s face as she looked back and forth from her mom to her dad. “You guys are going to confuse her!” Jimmy said to his parents. “Stella’s going to come out with something like ‘Dama’ or ‘Maddy’ if you both keep saying your names!”
Dad laughed, too. “You’re right, Jimmy. We probably ought to give her little brain a little break. We don’t want to make her dizzy just trying to make one of us happy.”
“True,” said Mom. “Besides, she doesn’t really have to say our names to please us. Both of us will love her whether she says our names or not!” Then Mom grinned. “But she’s going to say ‘Mama’ first!”
Do you ever get the feeling that there are too many people to please? Your siblings want you to share with them. Your friends want you to play with them. Your parents expect you to behave a certain way. Your teachers assign you projects and want you to listen in class. You might have chores to do and family to visit and pets to take care of. Have you ever thought about how many “rules” there are just for good manners? Saying “please,” saying “thank you,” holding a certain fork a certain way, chewing with your mouth closed, and the list goes on! Sometimes keeping track of all you have to do and say can become very overwhelming!
Colossians 2:6-9 says that if our trust is in Christ Jesus the Lord, we ought to walk in a way that pleases Him. It says that all kinds of people have all kinds of opinions, and you might meet people who will try to spoil (ruin) you with their godless opinions and worthless ideas. But we ought to be rooted in Christ, living to please Him. This passage says that Christ is the fulness of the Godhead bodily, which means that Christ is God! He is the Creator. He is the Redeemer. He is the highest Authority, and all other authorities (like your parents and teachers) were put in their positions by Him! Christ is God. If your goal in life is to please God above everyone else, then you will be obeying His Word. You can be sure that you will be doing what you ought to be doing!
Did you ever think about how God is really the only One we have to think about pleasing? Yes – of course – it is good to practice good manners and be concerned about other people. But ultimately, if we are growing in the knowledge of God’s Son and walking worthy of Christ – then we can trust that we are living in a way that pleases Him. And God is the most important One to please. If we please God, we will usually make our parents and other people happy automatically.
God is the main One we have to be concerned about pleasing.
My Response: » Is my life pleasing God right now?
» How can I show I am more concerned about pleasing God than about pleasing others?
Recently one particular blog I’d been reading ended with a latin phrase – Soli Deo Gloria. I knew it had to be something to do with Glory so I googled it and found the Five Solas of Reformation. It explains how and what being a Christian is in a few bible passages. It’s so simple that some people miss it.
The Five Solas of the Reformation
Soli Deo Gloria To God Alone Be The Glory For the Glory of God Alone
Oh, what a wonderful God we have! How great are his riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his methods! For who can know what the Lord is thinking? Who knows enough to be his counselor? And who could ever give him so much that he would have to pay it back? For everything comes from him; everything exists by his power and is intended for his glory. To him be glory evermore. Amen. Romans 11:33-36 (New Living Translation)
Solo Christo Christ Alone By Christ’s Work Alone are We Saved
For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, `The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else! There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them. Acts 4:11-12 (New Living Translation)
For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and people. He is the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message that God gave to the world at the proper time. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 (New Living Translation)
Sola Scriptura Scripture Alone
The Scripture Alone is the Standard
But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do. 2 Timothy 3:14-17 (New Living Translation)
Sola Fide By faith alone
Justification by Faith Alone
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. Romans 5:1-2 (New Living Translation)
God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Ephesians 2:8-9 (New Living Translation)
Sola Gratia Saved by Grace Alone
Salvation by Grace Alone
He declared us not guilty because of his great kindness. And now we know that we will inherit eternal life. Titus 3:7 (New Living Translation)
And what a difference between our sin and God’s generous gift of forgiveness. For this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin. But this other man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God’s bountiful gift. Romans 5:15 (New Living Translation)
The Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save . . . . [But] your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. —Isaiah 59:1-2
A man told his doctor that he thought his wife was going deaf. The doctor told him to conduct a simple test. When the man reached the front door of his home, he called out, “Darling, is dinner ready?” Hearing no response, he walked inside and repeated himself. Still no reply. On the third try, when he was just behind her, he finally heard her say, “For the third time, yes!”
Similarly, the ancient Israelites thought God was deaf when the problem was actually with them. Isaiah was a prophet sent to warn God’s people about impending judgment, but his message fell on deaf ears. Instead of being God’s covenant people, who were to bring light to those in darkness and release them from the dungeons of sin (42:7), they refused to hear Him. “They would not walk in His ways, nor were they obedient to His law” (v.24).
The prophet explained why their prayers seemed to fall on deaf ears: “The Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God” (Isa. 59:1-2). One reason for not receiving answers from God is that sin may be blocking our hearing. Let’s examine ourselves carefully.
Nothing between my soul and the Savior,
Naught of this world’s delusive dream;
I have renounced all sinful pleasure,
Jesus is mine; there’s nothing between. —Tindley
God speaks through His Word to those who listen with their heart.
I was just reading today’s devotion Kids4Truth and noticed today’s “Big Christian Word” is one that is used often in Christian circles, but not outside of them.
Sanctification – (sank-ta-fa-kay-shun)
Sanctification is a term used to show a continual growth to become more and more like Christ. Once we are “born again” we begin a process of growth that continues until the day we are face to face with Christ. (John 17:17) “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
On a side note being “born again” is something that is the key to becoming a Christian. I was reading another devotion the last night (Our Daily Bread) which listed three scriptures which may help you to understand more. I found it interesting to read them together, following one another.
Romans 3:23, Romans 5:8, and Romans 10:13.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Once you call on the name of the Lord (pray to Jesus to save you), you become a Christian and your life begins again, so you are born-again. You don’t stay as a new born baby, you grow and gradually become sanctified (see above “big word”!). This process is gradual and continues throughout your life on earth, this generally why people read the bible and go to church, to learn how to become more Christ-like. Then comes the really good bit – because you CHOSE to enter into a relationship with God, you get to live with Him, forever.
