Listening to the Word

  Ezekiel 12-14; Revelations 5   “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!’” Revelation 5:13 One day all of creation will worship our Creator with all that we have. Our privilege is to join that worship now and give God praise, honor, glory, and power, now, as a free-will offering. This worship of the living God is opposed by Satan and his forces. We live in the age of grace where God’s glory and power are all around us, yet few choose to worship him. Despite all power and eternal glory, God doesn’t force worship. His leadership is one of self-sacrifice and pursuing love. His throne is above all other thrones; yet God still extends free will and choice to his rebellious creation. The enemy mocks him for this, as weak and impotent; yet God’s mercy and love are extended to all, freely, while ther...

Ezekiel 8-11; Revelations 4   “…I will gather you from the nations and bring you back…They will return to it and remove all vile images and detestable idols…I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh…They will be my people and I will be their God.” Ezekiel 11:17-20 Idols and vile images grieve God. They capture our heart’s devotion and worship. They rob God of his glory and they harden our hearts into stone. Hearts of stone don’t respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Stony hearts aren’t moved by the needs of others. Stony hearts are hard and heavy. However, God is very interested in the transformation of our stony hearts into soft, responsive hearts of flesh. Repentance means that we agree that our hearts are hard, and we agree that our idols and the vile images we have worshipped have hardened our hearts. Repentance involves removing the idols, throwing them away, and returni...

  Ezekiel 4-7; Revelations 3   “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne…” Revelation 3:19-21 Discipline is an indicator of God’s love for us, not his opposition to us. Our response indicates whether we are receiving God’s love. If we sincerely repent, then God’s loving discipline produces good fruit in our lives. If we resist God’s discipline, we forfeit further intimacy with him. To eat with Jesus is to be satisfied in our inner being by his love and God’s Word. This experience of being confronted, convicted by our sin, repenting, and then restored to fellowship with Jesus, is an ongoing cycle in the lives of Christ’s followers. Those who value their fellowship with Jesus through his Spirit, more than the pleasures of sin, are known as overco...

Ezekiel 1-3; Revelations 2   “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first…To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life…” Revelation 2:4, 5, 7 To know and walk with God in life is more than right believing; it is loving and being loved. First love is devoted, passionate, sacrificial, and surrendered. Do we love God that way? Or do we just love our jobs, entertainment, and vacations in that way? If we have never experienced first love for God, there is nothing to go back to. We must have a beginning. If we have tasted of this intimacy, now is the time to return. Remember what intimacy was like, time meant nothing. All we had we gave willingly, worship was intimate and personal. Repent of what have become rival lovers – entertainment, alcohol, work, and self-indulgence. Return to a lifestyle of surrender, worship, intimacy, and obedience to the Spir...

  Jeremiah 52; Revelations 1; Psalms 143, 144   “…my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed…Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails…I have put my trust in you…to you I lift up my soul…I hide myself in you…may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” Psalm 143:4, 7-10 Where do we go when our spirit feels faint within us, like lights that grow dim and begin flickering? In David’s case it was his jealous father-in-law, Saul, who was hunting for him with the intent to kill him. While our circumstances might not be that extreme, God allows suffering in the lives of his children to develop perseverance, character, and hope, (Romans 5:1-5). David’s response was to call out to the Lord, and to worship and declare that God’s Spirit was his guide. When our spirit grows weak, we need the empowerment and strength of God’s Spirit. We access that strength through prayer, worship, and by simply asking God’s Spirit to fill and empower us. A strong spirit enabled Dav...

Jeremiah 50-51; 3 John   “I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.” 3 John 9, 10 What happens when pride and jealousy gain a foothold in the heart of a leader? They abuse their authority in ways that advance their own interests and they undermine the authority of others. This letter was written to Gaius, a wealthy businessman and church elder in Ephesus. Perhaps Diotrephes was also an elder in Ephesus who was hosting a house church meeting in his home. However, Diotrephes was abusing his authority by dividing the church of Ephesus. John was both an apostle and later the pastor of the church of Ephesus. Despite being imprisoned and many miles away, John confronts the sin of this unhealthy leader. Our speech, our ...

  Jeremiah 37-39; Psalms 79; 2 John   “And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.” 2 John 6 The life of a follower of Jesus Christ should look more and more like the life of our leader, Jesus. Following Jesus in the daily choices of loving, forgiving, obeying, and supporting, is evidence that we are God’s children. When faith becomes an intellectual exercise and we fight over doctrines at the expense of love and humility, we have lost our way. The pathway of Jesus is love and obedience.   Are we walking this path? Are the words we speak and our daily habits a witness of the love of Jesus within us to those who are closest to us, as well as to our neighbors?   Does our obedience to Christ’s commands and God’s Word come from love? Is love motivating all that we do? This is the pathway of Jesus and the path of his disciples. “Lord Jesus, thank you for your love. Fill me with lo...