Amazing…Again

Ezekiel 37

I am going to breath into you and make you live again!

I love this story with the image of Ezekiel watching and suddenly the noise of rattling. The bones coming together and attaching themselves and waiting for the next command from God ~ Ezekiel once again witnessing the power of God!

God is so powerful and His creativity is awesome! Talk about getting attention and getting it immediately. We forget that not only God is powerful, strong, but He is very creative and at times I think He must have a huge sense of humor. After all, we are a mess of a people and yet He finds the most creative ways to get our attention. Don't you know He loved to surprise Ezekiel, Jeremiah, so on and then each of us?

He doesn't create animals like the giraffe or rhino and not have a sense of humor. He didn't create the Grand Canyon and not have a sense of humor thinking about the day someone would come to one side and wonder how they would get over to the next after they oooh and ahhhh over the beauty. He didn't create humans without a sense of humor!

At times, we feel like the dry bones. Dead.

Look to God and He will breathe life into you again! You will begin to dance and hold His hand while He points out the many creative wonders that He created in the world we reside in. He will bring you back.

Do you think Ezekiel snickered in amazement of God's power? Do you think he gasp? Do you think he had any fear? God was always surprising Ezekiel and I don't think he would have felt any fear after all that had happened to him, but he might have smiled at witnessing the bones or maybe a little gasp and perhaps a thought of what's next???

I am so glad to be a daughter of the most amazing King! Thank you Lord for all that you have been, all that you are and all that you will be always and forever. Amen.

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

Let’s play pretend!

Ezekiel 33:31

So my people come pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but they have no intention of doing what you say. Their mouths are full of lustful words, and their hearts seek only after money.

When you were growing up did you ever play pretend? I was always pretending to be a teacher or a mom; who was outstanding (in my mind) at both. We would play for hours pretending to be neighbors or students with switching roles. In one commentary, it said the people come sitting like students at the rabbi's feet pretending to "do the delights of God." Imagine, oops it went on to say much like today's church! Ouch…

Do you go on Sunday morning looking all churchy with your Sunday clothes on pull up screaming at your family open the door and you are all smiles? Do you have a fight with your spouse leave them at home, but act all proper when you arrive at church? Do you pretend to listen to the sermon and your mind is already at work on Monday morning? Do you let your hair down? Are you real?

God knows whether we are real or not…just like here. He even went on to say that they hear, but they don't do it! Ouch, again! We hear and know it is the truth, but we still go our own way. Imagine, we think we know better than God. When it is written down like this it makes us look pretty bad, doesn't it? It makes us look like those grumbling, mumbling, never happy Israelites…doesn't it? Will things ever change?

Forgive us Father when we fail you. Thank you for loving us so much that you point out when we are pretending in our spirit. You point out when we aren't listening and we stumble and fall, but you help us back up. Thank you for loving us so much Father. Amen

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

The LORD sees!

Lamentations 3:49-51

My tears flow endlessly; they will not stop until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees. My heart is breaking over the fate of all the women of Jerusalem.

Grief beyond words, something we have felt or will feel at some point in our journey. Imagine, where does the hope come from? The LORD!

The people were being punished, surrounded by death, the smells, the destruction, no longer beauty found anywhere only black death. Don't you know the tears would not stop? So, what is the only thing that any of us know to do? Yes, look to the LORD.

Still deep in their souls they knew that only the LORD could bring relief, end all of this death and destruction, so they cried out to Him endlessly! Have you ever been there? You knew that the only wiping of your tears and healing of your heart would come from Your Father in Heaven? I have…and indeed He did look down, see my heart breaking, the tears flowing and He began to heal my heart and take away my tears. The Lord always provides the Light in the darkest moments, He provides the fingers that wipe our tears, He provides the shoulder that will wrap us up in His mighty love, all we have to do is cry out to Him and He indeed will see!

The Lord does look down and see.

Need healing?

Cry out to The One Who Sees and Knows our Breaking Hearts so that you might receive His Touch of Mighty Healing!

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

Know

Ezekiel 28

Everyone watching will know that I am the LORD.

Then everyone will know that I am the LORD.

For then they will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.

Did they?

Do we?

God is glorified through the good and the bad at least according to the commentaries and I agree. We see God's power and might and His Word. Over and over they were warned, but did not believe. Continually He sent prophets to tell them what would happen and finally He showed them. He allowed the attack and destruction of Jerusalem. Imagine, His pain at this happening.

We are told that no longer would the neighbors prick and tear at her like briers and thorns. The original meaning for prick was to cause bitterness and thorns was wicked. So, the neighbors helped with the evil of bitterness and wickedness coming into Israel. One commentary mentioned the evil queen of Ahab bringing back the idol worship and the beginning of the end. A choice made to allow this to begin again by the people.

What choices are we making? Do you have any bitterness that is building in you that might cause evil to grow? Bitterness takes a hold in a short time and other things begin to happen. Ponder this thought for a moment and confess any bitterness ~ don't let it take a hold of you. I admit that I confessed some that was building in me and gave it to God.

Today, remember who God is and was!

Remember is love for each of us!

Remember is power!

Remember to Glorify Him in all you do today and everyday!

Remember obedience to His desires and not our own!

Remember to ~ know that He is the Sovereign LORD!

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

Worship

Jeremiah 32:40

I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me.

Yes, indeed!

Deep in our souls a yearning to have reverence and worship Our Lord! So, wonderful this desire that we don't understand, but a yearning indeed.

Once we realize this we want to worship and never leave.

Sweet Blessings,

Debbie

Cooked or Not?

Ezekiel 24:1 -24

Once again, I ask that you read this passage.

Picture a cooking pot on a burning fire, instead of wonderful food placed in that pot it is the leaders, the families, the soldiers, and all the other people. Nobody was different all were alike in that they could not be cleaned up. Imagine all the people were "zimmah" filled with the worst impurities possible! Original word for awful stuff that God had cleaned, but once again they adopted abominations.

Sounds terrible. What an awful vision to have and yet two prophets had the same vision. Remember in Jeremiah 1:13, he also had a vision of the cooking pot. Ezekiel was a priest that used pots a lot, so he knew exactly what God was saying.

It was going to be a very severe siege, when you read verse 10 ~ heap on the wood. It had to be really bad to get the bad stuff out! We all know how much God loved and loves His people and yet He knew the only way to clean them up was to place them in the middle of a huge fire. A huge uproar of violence to get rid of the ugly zimmah that overtook all people and absolutely nothing was going to stop it! A siege was going to happen to get rid of the sins.

I cannot imagine the pain that this vision caused both Ezekiel and Jeremiah and yet no one listened. Not one, but two men with a vision of a cooking pot for all the people. How could they not listen?

How do we not listen? When God places people along our path that warns us or shares God's Word and yet we don't listen? Are we any different? Well, maybe our "zimmah" isn't quite so bad, but then God doesn't weigh our sins, does He? They all are the same to Him and yet we close our hearts and our ears to hear of a better way ~ God's way!

Some of us feel like we are in a cooking pot right now, don't you? Are you willing to open your hearts and ears to God's desires for your path? Are we willing to change our ways or do we want to watch the fire heating up around us? Not a pretty vision to place in one's head, but one that maybe we might consider more…God's way or the other? Which way sounds better to you? I know I like to cook, but I don't want to be what's cooking!

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

God pursues us

Ezekiel 20: 33 -34

As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will rule over you with an iron fist in great anger and with awesome power. And in anger I will reach out with my strong hand and powerful arm and I will bring you back from the lands where you are scattered.

In spite of ourselves, God will seek us out because of His covenant. God is telling them here that He will rule because of the covenant much like a master and his slave. He has a right over them and that just because we are in a different land doesn't mean we are free from "His Rule".

I like the pursuit of God. Yes, discipline is a huge part of this image, but so is HIS LOVE. Constantly, the people ignored and did their own thing breaking all the laws, but He remembers His covenant with the people. He remembers His love for them and us, so He disciplines them to remind them of His love and covenant.

Imagine this…put yourself in the story. God will bring us back from where we put ourselves with our choices. Our sins. Our idols. He will bring us back!

God gives us all we need. He gave the people the land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful place on earth. Frankie was speaking of this earlier on the phone, so I researched it a bit for us. I found that to the Israelite audience this would mean prosperous. It would be a land where people would prosper. The "milk" might refer to animal husbandry and the use of their byproducts. Sheep were important for wool and meat, but goats had more. Goats provided more milk; their hair and hides were used to make tents, clothing, carpets, and things to hold the liquids. The "honey" refers to the fruits and vegetables. In Israel, the honey is the syrup that comes from the grapes and dates than that of the bees. We also know that they faced famines, but this was usually after they disobeyed. So, it was part of God's blessings when they prospered.

God takes care of us even when He disciplines us!

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

Finding Shelter in His Branches

Ezekiel 17

Today, it is my hope that you will read this entire chapter for yourself. To hear about the leaders being taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar and how great empires fall using the images of two eagles one being Nebby and the other from Egypt.

Even though they were both big empires they fail because God isn't with them.

Hope is found beginning in verse 22, where the LORD tells them He will take a branch from the tall cedar tree and plant it. Jesus. Do you see it? WE have hope once again because of Jesus. I love that the LORD puts it like this It will be a majestic cedar, sending forth its branches and producing seed. Birds of every sort will nest in it, finding shelter in the shade of its branches. Don't you love it?

Did you catch producing seed? He will save so many souls! Souls of all types of people will find shelter among His branches. We will be safe from harm resting in His Shelter. It is the LORD that allows us to grow and bloom, or restores our weary worn branches to blooming fruit. It is the Light that our souls receive resting in His shade that allows us to grow into the people He sees. Yes, He sees each of us as His beautiful children that will grow into the people that He envisions, if we will just seek His shelter and grow! Grown in relationship with Him through His Word, His People, and His Ways!

Oh this is so beautiful and just what I needed this morning! Hope that we have because of Jesus! Thank you Lord, for Jesus. Only Jesus may we trust with our salvation…

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

Vine or Strong tree

Ezekiel 15 ~ A Useless Vine

 

"Son of man, how does a grapevine compare to a tree?

Ponder this for a moment…

Are you able to use a vine for anything other than perhaps a decoration? Will it hold anything for you? May it be made in to furniture? May it be made to be a stronghold for anything?

No…God compares the people of Israel to a useless vine. Good for nothing and why because they did not allow God's glory to shine through them. Israel no longer produced!

What happens when we no longer produce?

Useless!

Lord, I don't want to be useless to you. Please use me to let your light shine through me. Let others see You in me!

Should this not be all of the people's prayer? Should this not be our country's prayer? I am not politically correct very often, because I've learned in reading God's Word that the two don't fall together. Recently, I've felt strongly that God is telling us to stand tall and proud of being Christians and to wear it proudly. We are constantly being bombarded with other religions and what is right for them and the whole time Christianity is being pushed and pushed further to the back.

Do we want to be rendered useless like Israel was in this passage? Do we want to be thrown into the fire to be burned?

God is a jealous God. He desires and wants our undivided love and His glory showing everywhere, are we doing this?

Ponder on this passage and think about are we the useless vine? Or the strong tree that produces fruit for God's Kingdom?

 

Sweet Blessings,

Debbie

Eyes and Ears

Ezekiel 12: 2

"Son of man, you live among rebels who have eyes but refuse to see. They have ears but refuse to hear. For they are a rebellious people.

Does this sound like us? I know I feel like we are rebelling against everything. One against the other constantly almost about the weather forecast. It is popular to disagree.

Until recently, I admit I had the opinion about a lot of the folks that were suffering perhaps on the street that it was their choice or if they wanted to do better they could. Have you said these words? Have you thought these words?

I know this is true at times, but not always. My eyes have been opened to the reality that sometimes birth is a factor. Yes, where one is born plays a role in not knowing a different world. Yes, birth might bring all new rules to life. I admit that my eyes refused to see that sometimes things could not be different even if they tried.

Now to our ears. Do you hear your name being called to perhaps do something that you aren't comfortable with? With perhaps people that you aren't comfortable with, but you are ignoring the call? Well, we might be called rebellious.

We don't want to see or hear another person's problems. After all, we have our minds made up and we know things. Well, then this verse might be about us.

Lord, what am I refusing to see and hear that is surrounding me? Show me Lord what you want me to see and hear and let my heart respond to your call. Amen

 

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

 

Obedient?

Ezekiel 3:17

"Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel."…

Ezekiel was the only prophet appointed to be a watchman for the people. Habakkuk once mentioned standing in the watch, but Ezekiel was the only watchman.

What do you think this means?

Well, upon study this is what I learned. First, he was to watch for their safety. Second, Preach for Edification, Third he was to pray for eternal welfare and last to watch for the care and welfare of the people. He had a lot on his shoulders. He was to constantly warn and continually warn the people about their sins. He was to be obedient to the LORD with the constant preaching about God. God put the care and welfare of the people on Ezekiel. He had a lot on him.

God wanted His Word taught. One commentary warned about human creeds and traditions being taught instead of His Word. God's Word is all that will be successful in the act of saving people. Preachers are to commune with the Spirit and teach what God wants taught. Is this happening in our world today? God's Word or what is easier to hear, which is taught at your church? Sometimes God's Word isn't necessarily what we want to hear, because we aren't being obedient, so fluff is easier to listen to, but is it saving souls?

We need to care enough about those around us that we talk about God's Word! We need to be obedient and share God's Word and not our own. Ezekiel "the watchman" was obedient, are we?

Sweet Blessings,

Debbie

 

Secret meetings, but heard anything?

Jeremiah 37:17- 18

Later King Zedekiah secretly requested that Jeremiah come to the palace, where the king asked him, "Do you have any messages from the LORD?" "Yes, I do!" said Jeremiah, "You will be defeated by the king of Babylon."

Jeremiah was brave and spoke truth! Imagine, the King was ashamed to been seen with Jeremiah, but yet wanted his message. He knew that Jeremiah spoke truth and he needed to hear it.

Do you ever do this? You don't want to hear something and yet you seek out the one person in your life that will always speak the truth no matter what? Jeremiah was this person. Here Jeremiah was in a deep pit with what are described as niches or cabins on the sides. Small cells in a deep pit, doesn't sound great does it?

Jeremiah is out and speaking with the king. Is there any word from the LORD? YES, indeed you are going to be defeated. He tells the man that his life is in his control. Does he hold back? No, just spits it right out at him. Jeremiah was so faithful to God that the truth just rolled out and Jeremiah would rather not return to the dungeon. So, he speaks where are your prophets now? I told you truths and it happened. He reminds the king I've not lied, I've spoken truths to you please don't send me back. The king knew this was so and allowed Jeremiah to stay around the palace imprisoned in the courtyard.

The king knew that Jeremiah was a man of God and that God spoke with him. He went in secret to Jeremiah and in the next chapter again he sent for Jeremiah and I loved what this king said…"And don't try to hide the truth. Don't you love that? Jeremiah has been speaking truth, but it wasn't what they wanted to hear. Is this us? We don't want to hear, so we don't listen? Jeremiah was all about truth and reminds them if I give you advice you don't listen anyway….Is this us?

Who do we listen to? Who speaks to our ear or heart?

God gives us the truths in His Word are we listening?

Sweet Blessings,

Debbie

Power and Wisdom

Jeremiah 51:15-16

The LORD made the earthy by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens. When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens are filled with water. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses.

I love to read about God's Power and what better topic than creation? Do you like to make things and you are so proud when you finish? Imagine, God created the world and everything else down to the smallest aspect. We gaze upon the stars and wonder, we look into the ocean depths, we see a newborn baby cry and we are amazed. God knows the ins and outs of everything.

Reading this passage we are reminded of God's power in creating the earth, in His wisdom the world order and how He planned for everything to fall right into place. His voice brings thunder! Amazing…I will never ever cease to be in awe of creation. Whether it is a little human baby or the Grand Canyon, the stars in the sky or the ocean depth, the mountains or the desert how God made all the wonders of the world is beyond my small brain, but I enjoy each and every one!

Thank you Father for sharing your power and wisdom with us through all of your creations!

Sweet Blessings,

Debbie

Determined

Jeremiah 50: 4 -5

They will come weeping and seeking the LORD their God.

They will ask the way to Jerusalem and will start back home again. They will bind themselves to the LORD with an eternal covenant that will never be forgotten.

Have you ever been lost and stopped to ask directions? What about the times that you are with a person that will not ask directions? The person is just belligerent that they know the way to leave them alone and that they do not need any help finding the way?

It happened to us once in Chicago. My dad refused to get help until after about an hour or more and by this time we were one unhappy family. We were mad at him and he was mad at us, because we all knew the right way.

Don't you think God gets so upset with us, because we cry, we ask, we cry some more and finally we come to Him? We beg forgiveness and we head back to what is familiar.

When I read this verse it hit me just how often I've done this, my loved ones have done this, friends have done this and I'm sure strangers have as well. When I was studying this verse one commentary mentioned that some people are not able to make a final decision to serve the LORD and that those not DETERMINED to reach heaven never will. Did you catch that? Are you determined? Have you messed around long enough? Are you ready to get yourself right with God?

Do you know God is Jehovah? Do you know He is forever God? Are you ready to return to Him and only Him? Well, then accept that Christ died for you and for me! Look at the Cross and remember the pain that Christ suffered for each of us. We are forever bound to God because of what Christ did for us!

Never ever do I want to make this less than exactly what it is a act of love that never ever will my little pea brain be able to comprehend it, but I do accept it! I know with all my heart and believe that Christ indeed died for me. Grace, Grace, Grace

Are you seeking? Please pray and forever bind yourself to the LORD and never ever forget what was done for us!

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

He is Our Father!

Jeremiah 31:9

Tears of joy will stream down their faces, and I will lead them home with great care. They will walk beside quiet streams and on smooth paths where they will no stumble.

We are so weighted down with pain of our sin that we weep from the deplorable reality of what we have done and yet God guides and provides for us as we are lead back to Him. What a beautiful image. Do we admit and beg for mercy, so that Our Father is able to walk with us through the desert and provide exactly what we need along the way?

Each of us at some point will walk through our desert. We will face an unthinkable situation. Are we going to walk alone and suffer more? Will we beg God's forgiveness and allow Him to lead us? God wants to lead us on the smooth paths and help us when the bumps come so that we don't stumble! He wants to lead us on the correct path for our life, the pleasing path, but do we want Him to?

Thank you Father for meeting me on my knees in the desert and taking my hand to show me the right way. So many times Lord I try to take the wrong turn and you gently guide me right back to the right turn. Only a Father that loves me so much would never give up on me. Thank you for never giving up. Thank you for granting me mercy and for protecting me so that I don't stumble. I loved the verse today that said with unfailing love you draw me to you and it is so true. You always pursue me and I thank you and I love you with all my heart.

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

Rooted by the Riverbank

Jeremiah 17: 7-8

"But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.

Hot isn't the right word for the heat of this summer is it? I mean it is hotter than hot; without cool breezes!

When I got to these verses it refreshed my soul! I need the refreshment badly! Not only is it hot outside and dry; I felt like I was running on empty without the cool drink of My Father. Why? I moved a little away for awhile. I was busy, my focus changed and oops I was drying out. I was turning brown on the edges.

Have you ever done this? You just get busy with life and all of the sudden you are drying up or perhaps withering away might be a better phrase? Some of the time I am like these verse above and I know to draw from the LORD, but others when I draw from myself I end up withering…

In original words, trust is xtb which means to feel safe, confident, and secure in the Jehovah "the existing one". I do most of the time as long as I keep my eyes on Him, but the moment I take them off of Him and onto me or something else, I falter. No longer feeling safe, it is like I am at float in the ocean with the sharks circling and this is definitely not a confident feeling of security in the LORD. No, He didn't change or move ~ I DID!

The next verse is about a believer that knows deep, deep inside that absolutely nothing will distress them because they know their strength comes from the LORD. Our roots are in the LORD, so why worry? We will not sink under any pressure because we are anchored securely with the LORD. I love this! It doesn't matter what the distress is we are confident in the LORD! WOW…true, but sometimes Debbie gets in the way and my security is lacking.

Today, The LORD reminded me to keep my eyes on Him and I will not be distressed. He reminded me to be secure and confident that He is with me. Rooted in the LORD we will be safe always. He reminds me that He knows I am a human, so I will take my eyes off Him, but that He will put His Word in my path to direct me back to Him. He reminds me that He loves us enough to place a friend with a word from Him right in front of us to turn us around. He reminds me that He places us right by the water to gain strength. He reminds me that He sent His Son to die for me and that it will not be in vain. He reminds me of a love that I will never ever totally understand. A grace that is mine not because of anything I have done, but because of all that HE IS AND WILL ALWAYS BE ~ A loving Father that provided the only way for each of us!

Thank you Father for loving me and placing me by the riverbank being fed through Your amazing love. Father, I know I will never understand just how much you love me and my brothers and sisters, but never do I doubt just how much you love me. Father, the grace you give us is so undeserving and so hard to grasp, but one that I am so thankful for that words just never say all they need to say. I love you Father and I pray that as I go today people will see YOUR LIGHT shining through me. Amen

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

The Fashioner

Jeremiah reading for August 9^th 2010

Wow, is all I can say!

So stubborn, So ignorant, So wrong…determined to worship idols. Disobedience abounds and yet they don't get it…do we?

Do we understand what it tells us in Jeremiah 10:11? Your so called gods, who did not make heaven and earth, will vanish from the earth and from under the heavens…Do we get it?

We have a God that is living! God created the world. The God that made the world with His power, keeps it going by HIS Wisdom, by His own way…

He speaks and the skys thunder…then the roar brings the rain. He causes everything to happen and yet we still want our idols….

God is the creator of everything one commentary called Him the Fashioner of the universe!

I love that!

I want to follow the Fashioner of the universe!

What about you?

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

Instead,

Jeremiah 19:1

This is what the LORD said to me: "Go and buy a clay jar."….As these men watch you, Jeremiah, smash the jar you brought. Then say to them, "This is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies says: As this jar lies shattered, so I will shatter the people of Judah and Jerusalem beyond all hope of repair."

Wow, ruin. Utter ruin! Why? Because the people were not obedient to God's Word.

Without Jesus this would be our fate.

Imagine, God so angry that He was going to destroy all. His exact words were I will shatter the people…They will bury their bodies here in Topheth, the garbage dump, until there is no more room for them. Disaster.

God loved these people and yet He was so angry with them for disobedience.

Ponder the fact that Jesus took the cup for each of us. He took God's anger upon himself on that cross, so that each of us could be spared.

Grace.

Ponder today the grace offered for us. We don't deserve it; we deserve the exact fate of these people. We are saved because of the cross. The cross that Jesus suffered and died on for you and for me to have eternal life; picture it!

When you see clay jar remember without Jesus we would lay shattered…

Instead, we have eternal life!

Sweet blessings,

Debbie

Colorado Beauty

Today, I felt like I wanted to write about the beauty of God's creation. I have spent the last week surrounded by the mountains of Colorado. The streams with rushing water with the beautiful mountains surrounding the waters were prettier than imaginable. Beautiful rocks that made the streams flow and rush differently every day!

God the Creator is amazing. I've so enjoyed watching the deer drink from the streams, then climb on the smallest rock to the top of a mountain, hummingbirds eat on the porch, and to top it off a mother moose and baby! Truly amazing with wildflowers to top it all off! It has been the most amazing week of beauty and wonder. One where I have felt God's mighty presence everywhere!

I want to give thanks for this wonderful trip! The landscapes and animals have been wonderful reminders of God's Mighty Power and Wonder. I always love to think about God's imagination in creating the world. The animals with their wonders of how small a rock a deer needs to climb up the mountain, hummingbirds finding the feeders, the mountain goats with the small space needed to just run all the way up to the top. I could go on and on, but all I truly want to say is

Thank you Father!

Sweet blessings,

Debbie