Ezekiel 37:1-14
Have you ever looked at something, or at a situation, and thought that it was beyond all hope? Perhaps you have a person in your family, or a friend, for whom you have been praying, particularly praying for their salvation, and it seems hopeless. In our Scripture passage for today, the prophet Ezekiel looked out at something that looked beyond all hope, something that looked completely dead, but God gave him reason to have hope. Let’s look into this passage together.
Ezekiel was one of the prophets who ministered and preached to the Jewish people during the time of exile in Babylon. Most of the Jewish people had been carried off from the land of Judah into captivity in the east, into the land of Babylon. Ezekiel went with them into captivity, and proclaimed God’s Word to them there. In a vision, the Lord God brought Ezekiel to a valley that was filled with bones. There were multiple hundreds of bones, scattered all throughout this valley. Different types of bones - leg bones, arm bones, spinal cord bones, ribs, skulls, etc. They were all dried out, with no life in them at all.
Then God asks Ezekiel an odd question. He asks him whether these bones could live (vs. 3). If we were looking upon a similar scene, thousands of bones, all separated from each other, lying dried and bleached by the sun, we would answer no. God then tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones, telling them to hear the Word of the Lord (vs. 4). In Ezekiel’s vision, the bones start to come together in their right positions and they stand upright. Muscles and skin come upon the bones. However they were still dead. There was no breath upon them (vs. 7-8).
These bones represented the Jewish people, spiritually dead and scattered. Not only were the Jewish people taken into captivity by the Babylonians in the late 6th century BC, but years later they were scattered around the world when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD.
Today Israel is a nation in unbelief. They are the bones put together, with skin, but no breath, no spirit, no life (vs. 8). The overwhelming majority of Jewish people have never accepted Jesus as the Messiah, and are spiritually dead, like these bones. However, as God proclaims in these verses, there is hope. There will come a day in the future when the Jewish people will turn to Jesus, and acknowledge that He is, indeed, the promised Messiah (Zechariah 12:10). At that time they will then become spiritually alive, with God’s Spirit in them (vs. 14). Until then, they are spiritually dead, like everyone else around the world who has never accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. God says, though, that though their bones are dry, and it looks like there is no hope (vs. 11), that with Him there is hope.
We can take hope from this passage, as well. Many of us have been praying for unsaved family members and friends. They may be so spiritually lost and gone, just like a pile of dried and scattered bones. We may look at them, and question within ourselves, “Can these bones live?” Is there any chance that they might get saved? We must keep praying for our unsaved loved ones. I remember an older pastor that I had, whose very elderly father was unsaved. My pastor had witnessed and shared the Gospel with him over many years, but his father stubbornly, and sometimes angrily, refused to believe. He seemed like dry bones, without any hope of spiritual life. My former pastor and his wife continued to pray for him over many years. Several weeks before he would pass away, though, my pastor’s wife talked to him about Jesus one more time, and his dry bones came to life. He accepted Jesus as his Savior! People may be spiritually dead and dry bones, like my former pastor’s father, but God can always breath spiritual life into them when they turn to Jesus. When they hear the Word of the Lord (vs. 4), and accept its truth, they will come spiritually alive.
John 9:1-41
I was looking all over for something, but I couldn’t see it. After much frustration, my daughter pointed it out to me. It was right in front of my eyes, but I hadn’t seen it. I might as well have been blind. How often has that happened to us, where something is right in front of us, as plain as day, but we don’t see it? Maybe it is an item on a shelf at the grocery store, or a book on the bookshelf. Perhaps it is a spiritual truth, but our stubborn and hardened heart has blinded our mind. In today’s Gospel reading we will read the account of Jesus healing the man born blind, and the response of the Pharisees, his neighbors, family, and himself, and see who really was blind.
As our account begins, Jesus and His disciples pass by a man who was blind from birth. Jesus turned to him and made clay from the ground and applied it to the eyes of the blind man, and then told him to go and wash it off (vs. 6-7). The blind man was obedient to Jesus, and he went to wash the clay from his eyes, even if it seemed unbelievable. His obedience brought about his healing, and the man was now able to see. He stepped out in faith, doing what the Lord told him. Had the man said to himself that it was ridiculous to believe that simply washing his eyes would bring about his healing, and then failed to obey, he would have remained blind. His obedience brought healing.
Now the problems began. Rather than rejoicing with this miracle, the whole neighborhood went into an uproar. We read in this passage of the different reactions to the healing of the blind man. First, there were the people of the neighborhood who were surprised and skeptical (vs. 8-9). They had seen him day after day begging his living on the street. They were eyewitnesses to this miracle, and yet where were the praises to what God had obviously done? Then there were the blind man’s own parents. They believed, but kept quiet for fear of the Pharisees, and fear of being excommunicated (vs. 18-23). We should never allow the fear of anyone keep us from proclaiming God’s truth.
Then we have the reaction of the Pharisees. As we read throughout all four Gospels, these religious leaders had hard hearts, and would not believe anything Jesus did or taught. This miraculous healing, the restoring of sight to a man born blind, was no exception. They already were seeking ways to bring Jesus down, arrest and destroy Him. They were proud, and extremely jealous of the attention and popularity of Jesus. Here He went and healed a man born blind, which was unheard of. And what was worst of all in their minds was that He healed people on the Sabbath day! In their minds no one could be a true servant of God and also break the Sabbath.
The fourth reaction was that of the man born blind, whom Jesus healed. This man showed consistent and growing faith. At the first, he didn’t really know who Jesus was, only that He had healed his blindness. When the Pharisees thoroughly, and then later harshly questioned the man, he went over the events to them, again and again. He didn’t know how or why he was healed, but he knew Jesus had healed him, and he was not afraid to tell the truth. He said that Jesus must be a prophet, a man of God, because obviously God heard His prayers and brought healing to a man born blind.
His bold and faithful comments about Jesus angered the jealous Pharisees, and they threw the man out of the synagogue. In the Jewish community, to be thrown out the synagogue was to ostracize someone, throw them out of the community, and shun them, sometimes leaving them with no way to make a living. When Jesus heard this had happened, He came to the man and revealed Himself as the Messiah, bringing the man to faith in Him (vs. 35-38). The man, whose heart and mind were opened, seeing the truth as well as his eyes could now see, believed and accepted Jesus as Savior.
This man who had been born blind, and thus would not have had any formal education, demonstrated more spiritual insight and common sense than all the religious authorities combined, who sat in judgment of Jesus and the healed man. They were blinded by their stubborn pride, jealousy, and sin (vs. 39-41). Here was a great miracle that God performed before their very eyes, but because of their sin, the Pharisees would not see or acknowledge it. Are we blind to what God is showing us before our very eyes? Are our hearts equally hardened? Are we skeptical or indifferent, like the neighbors? Are we afraid to speak out for God, like his parents were? Or do we seek God, like the healed man did, with open hearts, and speak out boldly for Him? Let’s open our eyes, see God working around us, and boldly give Him praise and glory.
Ephesians 5:1-14
Little children like to imitate their parents. When daddy is out mowing the lawn, a young child might follow along after him, pushing a toy lawnmower. They like to dress up like mommy and daddy, and copy their mannerisms. As parents, we hope our children will imitate our good qualities, and not any bad ones. In his epistle to the Ephesians, Paul urges Christians to be imitators of God, our Heavenly Father. As we seek to imitate Him in our life, there should be changes in our lifestyle and conduct, as Paul teaches us in our passage today.
Just like children imitate their parents, Christians should imitate their Heavenly Father (vs. 1). If we are refusing to walk in His ways, there might be a question as to who our father really is (I John 3:10). Paul also urges believers to spread the aroma of Christ through our life and behavior (vs. 2). Just like when a woman puts a little perfume on herself to smell attractive, Christ should so permeate our life, that His character, like a pleasant aroma, is evident.
Paul goes on to teach in this Scripture passage that certain behavior should not be practiced by believers who want to be following and imitating the Lord Jesus (vs. 3-7). Contrary to what many people teach from the pulpits of some churches, it does matter to God what we, as believers, do. It is true that we can’t earn our salvation, but it matters very much how our behavior is, and what our actions are. Spiritually dead people are confused in their moral thinking. To walk in Jesus’ path we must have Biblical principles and standards. We need to imitate and obey God. Act as He would act. Do what Jesus would do. Sinfulness and impurity is foul-smelling to Him. God’s holiness does not compromise with sin. There shouldn’t even be a hint of such behavior, or approval of it, in the church.
How can we praise God and speak to others of His goodness when we use filthy language? (vs. 4) There is an old saying - See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil. Christians should be careful what they watch (Psalm 101:3). We shouldn’t spend time discussing dark and evil things. We should not be listening to the false philosophies so popular in the world today (Psalm 1:1-2, Colossians 2:8). Christians should not condone sinful lifestyles or make excuses for bad behavior. Though we can befriend unbelievers, and lead them to the Lord, we must be wary of those who are evil, immoral, and who are viciously opposed to Christ and the Bible. God does not tolerate sin. It has no place in His kingdom, nor will any person whose life pattern is one of habitual immorality or impurity.
Our Scripture passage continues with contrasting light and darkness (vs. 8-14). There is a contrast between worldly darkness and Christian light. One cannot claim to have fellowship with Jesus, but walk in darkness. Christians are to be beacons of light in this dark world, showing the way to spiritual safety to the lost (Matthew 5:14-16). Our actions should reflect our faith and God’s goodness to others.
A tree is known by its fruit (Matthew 7:16-18). The fruit of living in the light versus living in the dark is clear. Live as children of the light. Pursue goodness, righteousness, and truth. Do what pleases God. Have nothing to do with darkness, and those who live in dark lifestyles. Christians should have no participation or association in such behavior, nor give any approval to this activity. Instead, a believer should take a stand for what is right, as often silence is seen as approval. God has moral principles which most often oppose popular culture. We need to judge sin, and rid it from our life.
Satan seeks to destroy God’s children, and turn them as far away as possible from His image. In light of this, Christians should seek to live in righteousness and purity, and have nothing to do with Satan’s evil ways and works. As believers, each of us needs to take our place as sons and daughters to our Heavenly Father. We need to appropriate the shed Blood of the Lamb of God, so that we can fulfill our destiny as children of God, and walk in the Light as He is in the Light.
Psalm 23
With all of the current fears over the coronavirus (Covid-19) going around, many are succumbing to fear and panic. Psalm 23 is one of many Scriptures we can meditate on, which by God’s blessing is the Psalm in the Book of Common Prayer’s Lectionary this week. Today I will focus on verse 4.
Living just a couple of miles west of Chicago, I live in the “flatlands”. However, I have driven in both the Rocky Mountains, about a thousand miles to my west, and in the Appalachian Mountains, about 500 miles to my east. Deep in the mountains there are valleys that might only get a few hours of sunlight, remaining in shadows for many more hours of the day. Back in the day when all travel was done on foot, or if lucky, on a horse or mule, dark and shadowy valleys could be fearsome, with bandits lurking in hiding for the traveler to pass through. Deep in the mountains there would be no hesitation for the bandit to harm or even kill the traveler.
Our life is a journey, traveling from the day of our birth to that of our death. There are some sunny, bright days, and some not so sunny ones. Sometimes passing through valleys, and even a valley of the shadow of death. As we all know, one doesn’t have to be old and gray for death’s shadow to come close. The shadow can come at any time in life, falling near us or a loved one. There are all sorts of illnesses that haunt the valley of the shadow of death - cancer, heart disease, pneumonia, and countless others, including just plain old age. Accidents haunt this valley, as well. This is a fearsome valley. Sunshine and light do not often reach here. Sudden death comes.
Death can cast a frightening shadow over us. There is nothing we can do to permanently stop it. At best we can struggle to put it off for a few years, perhaps, but not forever. David, our psalm’s author, conveys that the valley of the shadow of death is a perilously threatening environment. Death has the final word. God, the Good Shepherd, can walk with us through that dark valley of death, and bring us safely to the other side.
If we are believers and followers of Jesus, we will never walk through these dark valleys alone. Jesus promises to be with us. The Good Shepherd Jesus protects and guides His sheep through every twist and turn of this valley. His rod is a shepherd’s club, used to fight off predatory animals. The staff has a crooked neck, which is used to guide a wayward sheep back from danger and into the fold again. Both of these our Shepherd will use to guide and protect us.
God’s Word is the primary means of comfort the Good Shepherd uses. The truths of Scripture assure us of God’s love and strength, which can enable us to endure and grow through difficult experiences. One truth is that we can never be snatched away from Jesus’ protective hand (John 10:29). Another promise is that He will never leave us, never, even in the midst of the dark valley we travel through (Hebrews 13:5-6). He will never leave us, including during this world-wide pandemic, so we do not need to fear. Since God is leading us, and if we are faithfully following Him, we have nothing to fear.
We need to follow our Shepherd’s voice wherever He leads, even though the valley. Stop worrying, and believe in God. Look to the Shepherd. Listen to the Shepherd. Lean on the Shepherd.
I Samuel 16:1-13
Most all of us are familiar with the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. However, if we follow society’s lead today, we will be guilty of that over and over. Society tells us we will be both happy and successful if we surround ourselves with beautiful and glamorous people, ones who wear the latest fashions and spend multiple hours working out in the gym, who drive fancy sports cars and have the latest I-phones, computers and televisions. Society today also tells us that we need to check someone’s investment portfolio, their business resume, and the neighborhood they live in before we consider them worthy of associating with. Would it surprise you if I told you that God doesn’t consider any of these for His followers, or when He’s looking for someone to serve Him? Our Scripture passage today takes a look at what man considers important in a person, and what God is looking at.
Not that long after the nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan River, entering into and taking possession of the Promised Land, they started clamoring for a king to rule over them, like the other nations around them had. Though this was not what God desired for His people, He allowed them to have a king. Israel’s first king was a man named Saul, which the Scriptures say was a tall, handsome, good-looking man (I Samuel 9:1-2). That, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. There’s nothing wrong with having a good-looking king. However, if that was the only reason the people picked him, that was a mistake. It ended up that Saul was disobedient to God and His laws, and God rejected him as king (vs. 1). Saul had the good looks and height that people desired, but not the fear of God, the character or integrity that the Lord sought in a leader. Because Saul refused to submit himself to God’s command, the Lord handed the kingdom over to a man who would.
God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint the man that God would select for the next king to replace Saul. He sent Samuel into the village of Bethlehem, to the family of a man named Jesse, to anoint the next king from among his sons (vs. 1-5). Samuel asked Jesse to gather all of his sons together to sanctify them. God told him that the one He picked would be the one he should anoint as next king. Jesse lined up his many sons before Samuel, and Samuel began to fall into the same mistake that so many do, judging by appearance. When the eldest, Eliab, stood before him, Samuel was impressed by his looks, and thought surely he would be the one the Lord chose (vs. 6). God told Samuel otherwise, that He doesn’t look at physical appearances when He picks someone, but by what’s in the heart (vs. 7).
After Samuel went through each of the sons that Jesse had presented, and he felt that God had not picked any of them, he asked Jesse if there were any more sons he hadn’t included. Jesse admitted that there was still the youngest son who was out tending the sheep in the field, but he hadn’t thought to consider him (vs. 8-11). Jesse quite possibly didn’t think much of David. He didn’t think it worth the bother to include him when Samuel asked for all of his sons. David was insignificant and forgotten with his family. As much as that may have hurt David, God’s opinion is the only one that matters. In His eyes we are important.
God does not see or judge in the same way that we do. We are always evaluating people by how they look. God looks only at a person’s heart, their inner disposition and character. We have value to God, not because of our height, weight, hair color, or clothes, but because He loves us. He created us, and we are His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10).
Physical appearance doesn’t reveal what people are really like, or what their true value is. God judges us by our faith and character, not our appearance. Since only God can see what is in our inside, only He can accurately judge us. God checks our motives, whether what we do is for self, wanting to be seen by others, whether it is to feel important, etc. Wrong motives do not please God. He knows the truth.
We may have made a great start in life, but that doesn’t assure us of a good finish. We may look great on the outside, but be filled with rottenness on the inside, like a tree that looks fine, but is filled with rotted, dead pulp. For all of the time we spend maintaining our outward appearance, we should do even more to develop our inward character, patterning it after that of the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 4:5-26
She was lonely, feeling abandoned and unlovable. Ostracized by most in society, her life was probably one of sadness and hurt. As the phrase goes, she was “looking for love in all the wrong places”. Many people can relate with this woman to varying degrees. Then everything changed in her life one day when she met Someone at the well. Let’s take a look at this account of the woman at the well in the Gospel of John.
Many of us are familiar with this account in John’s Gospel, of the Samaritan woman at the well, and her transforming encounter with the Lord Jesus. Jesus’ disciples had left Him at the well to rest, while they went to buy some lunch (vs. 5-8). Usually women would come retrieve their water in groups together, and at a cooler time of day. However, this unnamed woman came alone to the well at noon. This was probably because of public shaming due to her five failed marriages, and the fact that she was currently living with another man (vs. 17-18). This caused her to become isolated from other women. She must have been startled, surprised, and shocked when she saw Jesus sitting there alone. Then He broke all proper social customs by asking her, a Samaritan woman, for water to drink. Jesus wasn’t really interested in getting a drink. Rather than seeing an outcast, Jesus saw a desperately hurting soul who needed salvation, and that is what He was going to offer her. Jesus would use the water here that she was seeking to retrieve as an allegory of the Holy Spirit and the salvation He would offer.
We come into this world spiritually thirsty. We need living water to satisfy the soul. We all have a desire for more than the world can offer, and only God can satisfy that desire. The world only gives temporary relief. We all thirst after God, even before we are saved and know that this is what we are thirsting for (Psalm 42:1, Isaiah 55:1-3). Jesus is the Living Water, symbolic of the eternal life mediated by the Holy Spirit from Him (vs. 10). Jesus used the woman’s need for physical water to sustain life as an object lesson for her need for spiritual transformation. Only Jesus can satisfy this thirst in our soul (vs. 13-15).
This woman didn’t realize that Jesus was talking about spiritual needs (vs. 15). However, Jesus turned the conversation to real spiritual needs for conversion and cleansing from sin (vs. 16). She tried to change the subject when it became uncomfortable, but He gently guided the conversation back to God and salvation (vs. 16-20). The Samaritan woman was interested in Jesus’ message because she thought it could make her life easier. However, Jesus didn't come to take away problems, but to change us and empower us to deal with them from God’s perspective.
Jesus knew her pain and heartache. She must have felt worthless, abandoned, and unloved after being divorced by five husbands. This woman wanted love and acceptance. She hurt deeply. God knows when we have deep hurt or secret shame. He knew what she needed - to feel loved, valued, and accepted. He knew a relationship with Him was the answer. Jesus showed us through this woman, that He will forgive us when we are willing to confess our sin to Him. We can never do anything so bad that it will cause God to love us less. We all have an empty void in our life that only God can fill. Any attempt to fill it with anything else will only bring temporary comfort. We were created for God. Nothing else will bring lasting satisfaction.
We all keep drinking from false wells (Jeremiah 2:13). Satan keeps deceiving us into thinking that happiness and fulfillment can be found by getting enough love, success, revenge, etc. Only a relationship with Jesus can make us whole. He gives us Living Water that quenches our thirst forever. It is only through Jesus Christ that the whole world will ever find salvation.
Romans 5:1-11
Friends and enemies. Most people have some of each throughout their lifetime. Hopefully we have more of the former and less of the latter. Some people are even blessed to have a friend who is so close, so beloved to them, that they will do anything for that person. Perhaps, if events happen, where they may lay down their life for that dear friend. Though we may not do anything terrible to our enemies, or wish them harm, most people would never consider giving their life for them. In our reading today from the Book of Romans, we read about what God did for us while we were His enemies. Let’s look into this Scripture passage today.
Before we trusted Jesus as our Savior, we were God’s enemies, hostile to Him and bent on sin (Colossians 1:21-22). When we accepted Jesus as Savior, He justified us, declaring us not guilty (vs. 1). He gave us the cloak of His righteousness, and all enmity with God was abolished. We now have peace with God. Peace with God is only possible because Jesus paid the price for our sins through His death on the cross. God declares us not guilty. Instead of being His enemies, we are His friends (John 15:15), and His children (Galatians 4:5).
When we think of people we count as “enemies”, or those we don’t like, perhaps thoughts of what they might have done to us come to mind. We aren’t likely to make them our friends if their attitude or behavior towards us doesn’t change. Yet with God, it was while we were still His enemies, that He sent Jesus to die for us (vs. 6, 8). God gave us the incredible gift of His love. He gave the life of His Son, Jesus Christ, so we could live in eternity with Him. Rarely does someone give up their life for another. Yet while we were sinners, rebellious enemies of God, Jesus gave His life for us.
None of us deserves God’s care and protection, but deserving isn’t the basis for His love. God’s nature is love (I John 4:8), which He demonstrated through Jesus’ death. The words “but God” in verse 8 reminds us that God erases the bad, and replaces it with the good. That offers us the promise of hope, and the certainty of His love. Before our salvation we were by nature opposed to God. Our redemption changed that. We now have peace with God, and are members of His family, instead of His enemies (vs. 10).
Some may feel that they are worthless, too unlovable for God to care about. However, God loved us, thinking us valuable enough to die for, even when we were still in our sin. Jesus died for everyone, not just for those that the world feels are nice and good, but for sinners, which we all are. Jesus died for us, not because we were good enough, but because He loved us. He loved us even before we turned to Him. God didn’t choose to love us because we were lovely. He loved us, and then we became lovely. Our value comes from God’s inherent value. Our value does not change with circumstances. God doesn’t love us one day, when we’re good, and then stop loving when we do something wrong. It is based in God’s infinite and unchanging love, the proof of which is God’s sacrificial death on our behalf.
Some believers question why, if they now have peace with God, why they still have trials and tribulations in their life. God uses the trials we continue to go through for our good (vs. 3-5). God’s grace doesn’t stop working when we get saved. He continues to show us mercy and give us peace. Trials don’t mean that God has stopped loving us, or that we’ve lost His grace. Our hardships have a purpose. He allows them so that we learn to persevere, develop character, and have hope. God can use our trials and difficulties for our good, to develop Christ-like character in us. They develop our endurance, strengthen our character, and solidify our hope. It deepens our faith, and prepares us for greater service in the kingdom. God is glorified in the graces of His people. When our suffering produces endurance, endurance will produce character, and that will produce hope. God is honored by these growing virtues.
In closing, let us remember that Jesus’ death on the Cross shields us from God’s wrath. His Blood defeated Satan at Calvary. Jesus, who died for our sins in order to reconcile us with God, is the only reason we have access to the Father.
