Go now, a child of God. Choose well the road you take,
And the decisions you make. Keep in mind always that The God you serve continues to call to you, making you more and more every day into the faithful one God wants you to be.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Seventeen

When Ezekiel was chosen by God, he was given a task to speak to rebelious people.  God even described the people as scorpions.  He was there to tell the people to change their ways or else they would die.   Eziekiel was tied up in his house and he was only to speak the words from the Lord.  All other times his tounge would be stuck to the roof of his mouth.  For 390 days he was tied in this way so he could not turn from one side to the other.  God asked him to do some incredible things, he even asked Ezekiel to  bake his food using human excrement for fuel.  This was a symbol of how vile Israel had become.  Eziekiel was a law abiding person and he protested this act and  God allowed him to use manure instead for fuel to cook his food.  God was going to cut off the food and water supply from the people and they would suffer to the point they would waste away.
Ezekiel had the message of the Lord to deliver to the people and it was not good news, it was a message of death, to everyone that had turned from God.  God was not going to have them worshiping other idols, God was the one God that had given them the land and they had the choice to turn back to God or meet their doom. 
Ezekiel was to be an example of what the people were to expect as they experienced the wrath of God.
He was to tremble when he ate his food and show fear when he drank water. He was to warn them that  the days were near when the destruction would happen. 

None of us know the day that the Lord Jesus Christ will return.  The importance of Ezekiel's message is still true in the present day.  Many people have idols they worship, they have turned from God and no one is on the street like Ezekiel with a sign "The End is Near. Repent. Proclaim Jesus Christ is Lord."  I could not imagine being chosen like Ezekiel but as a witness for the Lord he is using our trials as our daily testimony for others.  If God delivered you from certain ruin, it is your proclaimation that God delivered you, not your own or someone else.  I got my voice back and I thank God for it.   

Tonight I read through Chapter 16, and it was scary to read about the wrath of God. 
As for me I would rather know the love of God than the Wrath of God.

Sovereign Lord. 
Supreme, Superior, the highest. Lord of Lords and God of gods.  The Lord God Almighty. 

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Sixteen

This week the book of the Bible I will be reading is Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a prophet. He was like a street preacher who was asked by God to be dramatic in his teaching. Once he laid on his side for 390 days, and ate only a small amount once a day. He was born in Judah but he was taken captive to Babylon in 597B.C. He got his call from God to be a prophet at the age of 30. He was a messenger to the exiled to let them know why they were in the situation they were in, let them know they would be there a long time, bring a message of hope, and to bring the people to an awareness of their dependence of God.
In spite of his captivity, he was able to be used by God.

Ezekiel starts off with him receiving a vision from God. A vision of a cloud, light, fire, and four incredible creatures and then he saw God in the vision.

Ezekiel 1: 26
Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. 27 I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.


God appeared to people in the old Testament in the most incredible ways. His appearance to Ezekiel was no less than magnificent. He could know without a doubt that it was God that he saw.

God had a job for Ezekiel and in reading this book of the Bible, I expect to learn more about commitment that God calls from us.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Fifteen

Today I reviewed the book of Joshua. His testimony was success, faith, guidance, leadership and conquest. He lived his life with success from the Lord, faith in the Lord, guidance from the Lord, leadership from the Lord, and conquest for the Lord. Everything he did was with the Lord. Joshua had huge responsibility when Moses died and he was chosen as the new leader. There was constant change in his life as he first lead the people out of the desert and then on to conquer lands God promised to them. He had to abolish people and destroy wickedness.

Lives are all about choices we make. We are who we are because of our choices. You have the career you have because of the choices you made to get it. No one just showed up at a hospital and immediately began performing surgeries on people. Surgeons go to school to learn all they have to because they do have life and death in their hands. As they were trained they had leadership that guided them towards success. Everyone can be assured they don’t give out diplomas from medical school to someone that did not learn the lessons they were supposed to learn. Thank God.

The world is full of wickedness. As we live each day in the world, it is easy for us to be a part of anything we want. The world is wide open. Everyday we have freedom to make our own choices.

God can work in any life. Choosing God can deliver you from bad situations, and provide for your needs. He can bring healing. Including God in your life will enable you to accept challenges that you might have never taken on, like Joshua leading more than two million people into a strange new land and conquering it. I’m sure at times Joshua was frightened, at times he dealt with difficult people, and he faced injustice. He was on a great adventure with God.

Four things about Joshua qualified him as the leader after Moses died:
1. God appointed him. Numbers 27: 18-23
2. He was one of only two living eyewitnesses to the Egyptian plagues and exodus from Egypt.
3. He was Moses’ personal assistant for more than 40 years.
4. He was one of the 12 spies to enter Canaan, he and Caleb were the only two that believed God could help Israel could conquer the land.

Faith in God is the major theme of Joshua’s life. The faith that Joshua had was not just for him alone, it is for every person. Faith enters when we allow it. When we face difficulty, our faith can be challenged.

I’ve been sick all day. The virus will run it’s course and I will treat it with the medicines I have. I have several medicines that made claim to alleviate my symptoms; fever, cough, runny nose, and decongestant. None of the medicine claimed I could get my voice back. For that I have faith. I have faith that God will bring healing to my throat and He will give me my voice back. God gets all the glory when my voice is restored.

May God restore something in your life. Have faith. God is good and just. He can cleanse us of our sins, forgive us when no one else has, and strengthen us in health and sickness. Have faith.

May blessings come to you today from your faith in God.
Grace and peace be with you from God our father.

Amen.

Fourteen

I was under the weather yesterday and didn't post last night, so tonight I will post twice. 


Joshua 24:22
22 Then Joshua said, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD."
"Yes, we are witnesses," they replied.

This verse is the same today as it was in Joshua’s time. As Christians we are to live a life that glorifies God. Sometimes we do not keep ourselves in check and it is possible that our actions could cause an unbeliever not to see God in us. I’m guilty of it. I curse a lot more than I should.

Joshua had an amazing testimony in the way he lead and instructed people according to God’s commands. I wish I could hear the Lord as clear as Joshua. I know the bible is where I can find God and Jesus Christ’s words that are as true today as they were when the bible was written. When I need to hear a good word or know the greatness of God, all I have to do is spend some time reading my bible and allowing God to guide me by having the verse speak to me. There is a reason the bible is called “the living word.”

I have a sore throat and I can’t speak today. I stayed home to keep my co-workers from being sick too. Midday I watched a T.V. show and the story line was about a deaf person that had been killed. The school for the deaf where the character attended was his safe place. Within the school grounds everything was fashioned for the deaf to be able to function there. One of the characters said “the outside world” was not a safe place and deaf people often were victims just because they were different. As a hearing person it is hard to imagine a world that I could not hear and how difficult communicating with someone deaf is awkward, and people can be insensitive by not treating them like normal people. There is beauty in signing that causes me to want to watch when two are speaking, signing is so intimate and both people have to be present to speak to each other.
Extraordinary.

My loss of voice made my vocal communication very difficult today. The words just wouldn’t come out. If I lost my voice completely could I learn to sign? Sure I could and it would require everyone close to me learning to communicate with me in the same way. I think communicating with God is the same. For me and God to communicate we have to become intimate. I have to communicate through prayer. God and I both have to be present for me to know when he is communicating with me. I have to be aware of God at all times, or I might miss what He wanted to tell me.

Living a life with God, it can be easy for church to be our safe place, just like the school for the deaf is for non-hearing individuals. If you are like me, your life is not only within church. I spend just a few hours at church a week. I am very humble at church. I enjoy the service and sometimes my mind will wander and I have to remind myself to be present to hear the word of God and come away with perspective of what God wants.

I started this blog with my testimony. My testimony will evolve each day and I will share it with you. As a Christian, my testimony doesn’t end until my last day on Earth.
Logos Baptist Church is a new church and I am a part of the process by attending church there. Each service I am learning something new. Pastor Anderson is very encouraging about mission and ministry, which are all that God asks of me.

As a church there is a testimony:
By faithfully attending the church’s meetings for worship, ordinances, Bible study, prayer, fellowship, discipline, and business, unless providentially hindered;
By carefully living in the world, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and remembering our special obligation now to lead a new and holy life of spiritual fidelity, ethical integrity, sexual purity, and abstinences from practices that jeopardize our own or another’s faith;
By exercising affectionate care and watchfulness over each other while submitting to the church’s discipline as occasion may require, intent on seeking the reconciliation Christ commands.

That is where I am in my life. As an introvert I am not a person that seeks special attention, and I have to shake my head when I get my name yelled out across a crowded gymnasium singling me out from the crowd. I resisted acknowledging that I heard my name being called, but that made the person yelling my name more persistent until I turned around and waved. I felt like all eyes were on me. If anyone there did not know my name before they do now. I think God and I communicate in the same way, when I want God to hear me I cry out to Him, “God!” Do I cry out just once? No, I cry out until I know He heard me. “God! God! God!” God no longer speaks to us vocally,except through Godly people he puts in our lives, but if He did would He be crying out our names until we acknowledge Him?

If you feel God calling your name, acknowledge Him. Start having a relationship with Him, everyone starts life as a sinner, living life with God does take some adjusting. It is humbling to know that God changes people; every life can be used for His glory. Every person’s life and testimony will be different.
Extraordinary.

May blessings come your way today and may you know the grace and peace that comes from God.

Amen.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Thirteen

Serving the Lord.
Joshua 24:14-15
14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

May I have a servant heart and passion for God.

Amen

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Twelve

Most of the lessons we learn from the bible at church are about mercy and love from God. Pastor Anderson at Logos Baptist Church asked a few Sunday’s ago if the congregation feared the Lord.
“Do you fear the Lord?”
I sat in my chair and said “yes.” But Pastor Anderson went on to say that believers did not have to fear the Lord. I am a believer and I fear the Lord.
I think in context of what Pastor Anderson was saying was that believers do not have to fear the Lord in death or after death. I fear the Lord in my Life.

I read Joshua chapter 7 tonight and chapter seven is about Achan. Achan sinned, he stole some things he should not have. God had commanded that when Jericho had been overtaken – everything - not some things but everything had to be destroyed. Achan took some silver and some gold and a robe. He had hidden it in his tent. His actions went against the nation as a whole in God’s eyes. God could not have one person disobey his commandments, and not take him seriously, that kind of disobedience would have a domino affect and if one was allowed to sin, what would stop others from sinning? God was angry and was about to let Israel be destroyed by the Amorites. Joshua did not know why and he went to God and prayed to ask why and this was God’s answer:

Joshua 7:11-12
11 Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. 12 That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.

God put his foot down and told Joshua if he did not correct this disobedience, he would turn his back on Joshua and all of Israel. So Joshua had no choice but to take action and do as the Lord said.

Joshua 7: 24-26

24 Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold wedge, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. 25 Joshua said, "Why have you brought this trouble on us? The LORD will bring trouble on you today."
Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. 26 Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since.

I do fear the Lord. At any time God has the power to take away everything He has given me.
“Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

A daily walk with God, is not a walk when everyone is looking, it is a walk that not only contains your actions but also your thoughts. A fear of the Lord is knowing that you are on a constant surveillance camera that has x-ray vision into your soul.

Are my thoughts and actions constantly with God? If not they should be. I am responsible for my actions and I accept the punishment.

Growing up my father was a strict parent. When I would cry to him about some injustice, he would ask me what I had done to bring it upon myself. Then he would tell me, it was my burden to bear. Cruel maybe, but I learned not to blame others for things going on in my life. I am not saying that all misfortune is the bearer’s fault, but in instances such as financial woes, relationship troubles and the like, be bearer has to accept their part of the responsibility.

If it was God that put you where you are in some misfortune, fear Him, and call out to Him, repent and turn away from doing whatever it was that got you in the situation you are in. I know God put me where I am, alone reading my Bible, no cable T.V. and prayfully asking for His mercy, in my relationships and my finances.

May God also have mercy in my relationship with Him. Part of my reconciliation with God is to put God back into my life – my praise and worship, my actions, and my thoughts. God can sometimes ask you to do some things or have you in some situations that you do not completely understand, but draw near to Him and He will be with you through your trial.

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Eleven

In the book of Joshua, God tells the people that the time for them to claim their land is about to happen. Joshua prepares by sending spies to Jericho to find out about the enemy. There is a woman there that helps the spies and from her act of faith to simply tie a ribbon to her window she and all the inhabitants of her house will be spared when they invade.
With total faith she tied the ribbon and they kept their word and spared all the inhabitants.

Sometimes the thing we are to do to be spared terrible consequences can be a simple thing, like accepting Jesus Christ as you personal savior from your sins, seems so simple but that small act of faith will deliver you from eternal hell when He returns to gather up the people that are his.

Consider if you want to know the wrath of God or the love of God.


Grace and peace be with you from God our father.