The Sweetness

3 Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.  Ezekiel 3

This is not the only instance in the bible of scroll-eating.  If you look in the previous chapter, the words are described as bitter.  God is telling Ezekiel of Jerusalem's impending destruction.  This isn't really joyful news, nor is it sweet to hear of.

Yet, the scroll tasted sweet, just as the scrolls do in the other instances.  (I apparently need to take up scroll-eating to satisfy my sweet tooth)  Why are these scrolls so sweet and tasty?  They contain the word of God, and no matter what the message is, the word of God is the sweetest thing for us to hear.

I often hear people criticize the bible because of its destructive stories.  How can people people follow a God that punishes and hurts their followers so frequently and severely?  Look at Exodus, which I just finished going through.  That's not an entirely happy story!  The Israelites rebelled against God and were punished by walking in the desert for forty years, until an entire generation had died!

Yet, the word of God is described as sweet.  Not some of it, but all of it.  Everything that comes directly from God is good to hear.  We may not like to hear it at the time, but given some time, we can also see the sweetness in his words.  I can think of plenty instances in my life where I couldn't make sense of the way things were going and I would ask God, "Why?  This doesn't make sense!"  

If you came back to me days, months, and sometimes years after, then I could see the part of the larger purpose that played.  I could see that God was with me during all those tumultuous times.  I could hear the soft voice, the sweetness, telling me to trust him and he would get me trough, because he had a purpose for me.

Sweet!

Thurs Devo: Intercessory Compassion

If someone did something against you, your loved one or your property and then got punished for it, would you try to intercede and ask that the punishment be removed?

Last year my sister and I were driving in the first snow storm of the year when another car rear-ended us. He didn’t have proof of insurance or a valid driver’s license and had his friend sit in the driver’s seat by the time the police arrived. At the time, I certainly wanted him to suffer the consequences for breaking the law and causing us trouble.

We usually want mercy for ourselves and justice for everyone else. Not Moses. He regularly pleaded for mercy on behalf of the Israelites. And, when his very own siblings turned on him and were confronted and punished by God, he immediately pleaded for mercy!

Numbers 12:13-16      ¹³ So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!”

¹⁴ The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” ¹⁵ So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.

¹⁶ After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran.

Besides Jesus, I think Moses was the most compassionate person in the entire Bible. God responded to Moses’ pleas for compassion and mercy. Here, God healed Miriam of her leprousy and lessened her punishment to a mere 7 day time-out. (God knows everything, so maybe He knew Miriam needed some time to think about what she had done. There’s no record that she repented immediately like Aaron did, as we saw last week.)

How can you and I be more compassionate? I’m not talking about making life easy for people, being a door mat, setting low expectations, or compromising God’s standards. I’m talking about lovingly valuing the life of others in such a way that we humbly point them to the One who can give them eternal compassion and mercy. We can start by praying for our own heart of compassion. Then, like Moses, we can intercede for those around us and ask for God’s mercy towards them and for them to see God's compassion.  

Alice

It's Not About You

Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.  Matthew 6:10 (NKJV)

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  John 15:13

“Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”  Mark 14:36

(This is Pt 4 of 8 – Turning the Tide – Representing God to a World that Misrepresents Him)

It is hard to believe that I have written devotions for over a decade now.  The one thing that I have realized is it never mattered whether I felt like it was a good devotion or not because writing them is never about me.  Sure, they are inspired by things I have seen and my own life experiences.  However, my writing is not to advance my cause.  It’s to show what God has taught me and its relevance to society today, and more importantly, that God uses me through my words to inspire others toward serving Him better.  One of the greatest accusations against us as Christians is that while we talk about a God we serve, we do not give of ourselves to either Him or others.  We focus on frankly other Christians or worse, ourselves.  In a world that is driven by self (you deserve this, ‘selfies,’ It’s all about me), how can we show a better life focused on serving God above all other things?

As Christians we should be selfless examples by removing ourselves from the equation and placing God before us.  Whether it is about the greater love of laying down your life for your friend or the Lord’s Prayer focusing on God’s Kingdom, Jesus is a shining example of selflessness.  However, nothing exemplifies more and drives how selfless Jesus was than Him dying on the cross for our sins.  Prior to it, He went to God as listed in today’s last verse (also in Matthew 26:39 and Luke 22:42), and note that He chose not to ask for His wishes or wants prior to His crucifixion.  Instead, He focused on God’s first.  My pastor this past Sunday noted a quote from Howard Hendricks saying, “Lord, here I am.  I want to be Your suit of clothes today.  I want you to take me and use me.  Lord, just walk around in me today.”  We should always start any action with a simple question, “Is this what God would want?”  When speaking, we should ask God to use us so that our words become His words.  These represent what selflessness sounds like.

God wants to use us in extraordinary ways.  Football coach Glenn ‘Bo’ Schembechler in one of his most famous speeches outlined how fulfilling a life focused on something greater than yourself (i.e. the team) is.  He said, “No man is more important than the team.  No coach is more important than the team.  The team.  The team.  The team!”  As Christians, we too are at our best when we first realize that nothing we say and no action we do is about us.  How can you remove your motives and replace them with God’s?  How can you best prepare yourself to be used by God?  My prayer is that we embraces selflessness remembering in the words of Rick Warren, “It’s not about you.”  Amen.

Tues Devo: Make the time

Luke 5:15-16 “But the news about Him was spreading eve farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sickness. But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray. (NASB)

Hello,

This week I am only speaking to the people who feel they are busy…the rest of you can come back to it when you also feel you are busy!

We often do a great job being very busy. Occasionally we even get busy with things that are noble causes – and hey, can anything trump a noble cause? We all have heard it – and most of us have said it – that one thing we were doing, it sounds so good the person saying it feels bulletproof from any attack. But when it comes to spending time with the Father, there are no excuses. You have to make the time. Jesus was healing people from sickness- saving their lives – but He too knew of the importance of communing with the Father.

We are not too busy – we just make the wrong priorities as we go through the day. I challenge all of us to make better choices!

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill