The Bare Rock

14 I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread fishnets. You will never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.  Ezekiel 26

I listen to the chapters I'm studying when I drive into work.  It's a really good recording my husband gave me for my birthday a few years ago called The Bible Experience.  Highly recommended.  It's not your typical one person reading an audio book, they've got a full cast of voice actors, sound effects, and music throughout the entire recording.  

Anyways, I don't know who's reading this chapter, but the actor says "bare rock" like "beer rock" which is the same sound as "bierock."  If you haven't heard of a bierock, they're tasty little pastries that are filled with meat.  Think of them like the original Hot Pocket.  When I was in middle school, my mom found recipes for bierocks and went a little nuts with making them.  Our freezer was FULL of these things.  I remember telling her, "No more bierocks!" at one point in my youth when I was tired of them.  When I heard this chapter read, I immediately thought of those pastries!  They're smooth on the outside, there's absolutely no flaky-ness like you'd have with a Hot Pocket.

So God isn't actually talking about bierocks here, he's talking about a bare rock, but the surface of both of these is the same.  They're smooth - no indents or rough edges.

I talked a few weeks ago about how God the devastation of the chapter isn't always a bad thing - and it's the same message here!  God is taking Tyre and completely demolishing the city to become a bare rock, nothing of the old will remain.  The city will not be rebuilt, but will be repurposed for something new - as a place to spread fishnets.

You could look at this with the negative - the city will be used for the menial (and disgusting and smelly) task of spreading fishnets.  Or, you can look at it with a positive - the city will be used to help the greater cause of fishing for men.

It's the same concept that Kent brought up earlier this week.  There were three bricklayers who were rebuilding a church after it had been damaged by fire.  The construction architect observed the three workers, and asked, “What are you doing?”  The first bricklayer replied, “I’m laying bricks.”  The second responded, “I’m repairing a wall.”  But the third replied, “I’m building a cathedral to The Almighty.”  How do you look at your own purpose?

Thurs Devo: Letter from Jesus

If Jesus wrote a letter personally to you and to me, what would it say? In what areas would He say you and I were faithful and what weaknesses would He point out?

Here’s what He had John write to the Ephesians.

Revelation 2:1-7       “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶ But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Jesus recognized the Ephesian church’s faithful service, faithful doctrine and faithful endurance. They worked hard for Him and were conscientious to uphold Godly standards. However, they had forsaken their love for Him. Maybe they were so focused on their work FOR Jesus, that they forgot to BE with Jesus.

Jesus wants us to faithfully serve Him and uphold His truths, but not at the expense of truly spending time with Him. He desires our love first. He wants a personal relationship with each of His children where we enjoy Him, talk to Him, listen to Him, etc.

Are you and I more focused on serving God than loving and enjoying Him? Often, my answer is yes. Studying and teaching this passage this week really challenged me to take time to be with and enjoy God instead of focusing most of my energy on serving Him. 

What might need to be put off in order to pursue loving God more? Is someone or something else our first love? Or is it God Himself? He loves us so much and desires us to faithfully love and enjoy Him!

Alice

That's How He Is

He will judge everyone according to what they have done. He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.  Romans 2:6-8

As a teenager, I struggled with the concept of someone getting their just due.  Whenever someone did someone else wrong, I would lash out seeking justice for the wrongdoing.  Of course many times, it would be me who was at the wrong end of the stick, and my frustration level would be incredibly high.  “Oh why, oh God, have you decided to look favorably upon them of all things???”  My thinking was that I was a good person, and why someone who ‘clearly’ was not as good as me gets the glory while I was left to feel emptiness and pain. Being born again, my walk of faith would help me see that I was not as good as I should be.  My sins were at times as great as and greater than others, and I was not worthy of such blessings.  It was that change in perspective that caused me to focus less on what others did to earn their keep and more on what I should be doing to live a life worthy of the sacrifice of Christ.  I’m still working on it, and the more I find myself doing God’s bidding, the better I feel about how God has affected my life.

Our walk of faith requires focus on our own growth and not of the actions of others.  With some of the events that happened over the past week, it might cause many of us to struggle.  Why would someone do such an evil thing, and where was God in all of it?  Why did God put so many people in harm’s way?  Many of us may have those questions in our minds, and others struggle with these questions particularly from nonbelievers.  Our response is not to fully explain these things to them.  Instead, ours is to reflect on what God might be trying to tell us, and we must then respond with love on others as God would.  We are to remember that we live in a fallen world where sometimes, evil wins.  Nonetheless, we are responsible to respond with a Godly heart.  Thus we might say, “No, I do not know why some man decided to kill those innocent people, but I do know without question God loves us.  He would want us to love on those who were affected by the tragedy, and be a little kinder and a little more caring and humble to one another.”

We know God has all things under His control, and we will only know the full story when we see Him in Heaven.  In the meantime, we cannot focus on those things that we have no control over.  We must embrace that which we do control and more importantly how we respond to it.  One of my favorite verses in the Bible is from Job that says, “ . . . the Lord gave, and the Lord have taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21 KJV)  So if you are struggling to accept what someone else has done or received, stop focusing on what happened.  Use it as a tool to magnify the glory of God and focus not on your disappointment.  How can we see tragedy through God’s eyes?  How can we show love, grace, and comfort to those who may not even deserve as much?  My prayer is that we focus less on the ‘why it is’ and more on the ‘How He is.’  Amen.

Inspired to Build

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed?  Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.  For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,

‘The stone that you builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.’  Acts 4:8-11

What inspires me?  A few days ago, I felt I was at my best at work.  Things seemed to be connecting, and the stuff on my ‘To Do’ list seemed to get done at record speed.  My meetings were focused and thought provoking, and every connection I seemed to make put not only me but others in a better place.  Those are the days where you feel inspired to do great things.  Most days, you feel that you are a productive member of the team, but days like the one I’ve described, you feel that you are the catalyst for something more than just your team.  Don’t we all aspire to have days like that?  Don’t we all want to be inspired to do great things?

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to connect with God as a continual source of inspiration.  The Book of Acts is inspirational because of numerous stories of individuals filled with the Holy Spirit and doing amazing and courageous things.  They spoke with a conviction that was awe inspiring, and they were not only inspired by God but also won others to Christ by instilling or inspiring that very same spirit burning within them.  We may not have the ability to speak as poignantly or with as great a conviction as Peter did in today’s verses, but the beauty of being children of God is that He knows exactly what we can and cannot do.  We simply need to both trust in Him and submit all of ourselves to Him.  Through this, His spirit will dwell within to use us as He deems necessary.  Our deeds can often be more powerful than words, and just your mere presence in one’s life can be transformative to them seeing your living of a Christ-centered life.  God will direct us, and we simply need to follow His instruction.

God has made each one of us a part of something bigger than ourselves.  A parable speaks to this very point (Note: There are different versions of this, but this one I liked best).  There were three bricklayers who were rebuilding a church after it had been damaged by fire.  The construction architect observed the three workers, and asked, “What are you doing?”  The first bricklayer replied, “I’m laying bricks.”  The second responded, “I’m repairing a wall.”  But the third replied, “I’m building a cathedral to The Almighty.”  The last part of today’s verses speak of Christ being the cornerstone.  Thus, the question is very simple.  Which bricklayer are you?  Who/What is your cornerstone?   What can you do to ensure you are inspired by God each and every day?  My prayer is that we, filled with the Holy Spirit, are inspired to be Cathedral Builders.  Amen.

Tues Devo: The plan

Proverbs 16:1-3 “The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the Lord weighs the motives. Commit your works to the Lord And your plans will be established.” (NASB)

Hello,

Do you ever get frustrated that a plan doesn’t seem to be coming together? There are certainly a number of reasons as to why things don’t work out – but this passage from Proverbs is certainly a starting point!

Look at the three elements here in these verses: The plan, the reason/motive and then finally the action itself. Have you listened to what God has to say about your plan (hint, to listen…try asking first!)? Have you visited your motives (God will)? And finally, have you affirmed your purpose in seeking success is for His glory?

I am not saying that this formula is magic – but if we want plans to succeed they will be in line with His plans! So, look at what you are working towards – check the plan, your motive and your affirmed purpose once you have started. If any of these three elements are not in step with God, your plan will struggle – take the time to go back and fix it! If you are about to start something, take the time to be before God in prayer over these items – you won’t regret it.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

False Teachers

2 Peter 2:1-12

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift
destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly
people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.

I read a devotion the other day that talked about how too many preachers today never mention sinfulness or repenting and coming to forgiveness through Christ Jesus today. Too many TV evangelist are all about the feel good and not about speaking the truth of Christ. The truth of the matter is, if we aren’t centered on the hope that we have in Christ Jesus, then the message is off-kilter. Our only hope in salvation comes from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As the above scripture says, not even the angels were spared from the judgment of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, be careful of the false teachers among us and cling to the truth of the cross.