August 22–Ezekiel 33-35

“As a shepherd cares for his herd. . .so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered. . .I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy, I will feed them with judgment”(34:12,16).

Does Jesus care?

If you mean emotion, the answer is yes. Standing with Mary at Lazarus’ tomb, our Savior was moved by the tears of his friend. “Jesus wept,” says John 11. He feels deeply the pain that comes into our lives. Death. Disappointment. Stress. Loneliness. We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with us. He cares.

If you mean action, the answer is even clearer. Yes! In Ezekiel 34, God compares Himself to a shepherd. Familiar figure of speech. See John 10. The primary work of a shepherd is active concern. Shepherd translates a Hebrew word, baqar (ba kar) which means “to seek, look for” (also used for intellectual pursuit, “to meditate or consider”). The Shepherd looks for us. Thinks about us. Pursues us. Provides for us.

When Scripture tells me to seek the Lord, it is a call for me to complete the loop, to match His interest in me with an equivalent pursuit of Him! When I rise in the morning to find Him, it is my reasonable response to His all-night, all-day, seeking-me kind of love! Love must be answered with love. It is only right.

My friend, Jane Witcher, told me one day, “You will worry less about what others think of you when you realize how seldom they do.” NOT SO with the Lord. He thinks about me all the time! Same with you. He CARES!

“Does Jesus care when my heart is pained too deeply for mirth or song, as the burdens press, and the cares distress, and the way grows weary and long? Oh, yes He cares, I know He cares, His heart is touched with my grief, when the days are weary, the long nights dreary, I know my Savior cares”(Frank E. Graeff).

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1).

August 21–Ezekiel 30-32

“Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I put My sword into the hands of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt”(30:25).

It is a reminder we need. God works in war. He is present. Aware. Involved. He determines outcomes. “One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised”(Joshua 23:10, italics mine).

Some people believe that war is a contradiction to the love of God, that war is essentially evil, that God is NOT INVOLVED in it. Scripture says they are mistaken.

In Ezekiel 30:24, God talks about giving His SWORD to the King of Babylon! Amazing language! A tool of violence, God’s sword was in a Babylonian hand. God takes sides. God is involved, even in war.

In the coming age, we will beat our swords into ploughs. See Isaiah 2:4. In the present age, however, God gives approval for the limited use of the sword. See Romans 13.

Early generations were clear on this point. At D-Day, in WWII, MANY in our nation believed that God was helping us. In the Civil war, believers perceived the forward-marching will of God even in the violent conflict. Scripture teaches the same confidence. God is very present in war. Unafraid. Unconquered. Tough. Fearless. Holy.

In Matthew 26, Jesus tells Peter to put away his metal sword. A Spiritual kingdom is not advanced by the use of military force. In the days that followed, however, Peter began to realize the power of the sword of God’s word.

In a fallen world both swords are necessary. When we are to use which sword is a decision the Lord must make and communicate to us who love Him. He is faithful to do so.

Will you be strong and brave, dear one? God has a sword. He is not afraid to use it. Will you stand with Him?

“From His mouth comes a sword so that He may strike down the nations” (Revelation 19:15).

“For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12).

August 20–Ezekiel 27-29

“Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, and I will be glorified in your midst. Then they will know that I am the Lord when I execute judgments in her”(28:22).

Sad. Most people will never know (experience) God in His LOVE. Stubbornly refusing the overtures of grace, most of the rebellious human race will only know (experience) God in His WRATH. “The way is narrow, and few find it”(Matthew 7:14).

Even so, every human will finally face Christ and confess Him as Lord. Every knee. Every tongue. The “freedom” to deny His existence and authority is temporary. Soon the OWNER will return to settle accounts. See Matthew 18.

When judgement comes, “they will know,” says the Lord in Ezekiel 28. The Sidonians will know that it was sin to ignore and dismiss the true God. “They will know,” Ezekiel repeats in chapter 29 as he speaks of Egypt and Babylon.

In this present hour, men may intentionally ignore God. They may propose school and government as “God-free zones”. Eventually, however, it will be undeniable that they were dishonest and foolish to do so. “They are without excuse,” says Paul in Romans 1.

Either in grace or in judgement, the truth about God will eventually be known to all. Men are not free to deny Him forever. He will come. Then they will know.

“Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of water”(Revelation 14:7).

August 19–Ezekiel 24-26

” ‘I, the Lord, have spoken; it is coming and I will act. I will not relent, and I will not pity and I will not be sorry; according to your ways and according to your deeds I will judge you,’ declares the Lord”(24:14).

He will weep, and then He won’t. He will be patient, and then without hesitation or apology He will act in judgement. Be warned! There is a fierce justice in the heart of God. Laser-like. Pure. True. From it will rise a remorseless sentence on human sin. “I will not be sorry, “ He says in v. 14.

Some regard this as heartless. It is actually the opposite. Is a surgeon sorry when she cuts cancer from your body? Is a police officer apologetic when he arrests a rapist? Did the soldiers on D-Day weaken their resolve with emotions of pity or regret? No, and neither will God.

In Ezekiel 24, the prophet is forbidden to publicly mourn his wife’s death. Privately, yes. Publicly, no expression of grief. Why? Because God was saying something about Himself to the people of Israel. After much patience, much warning, God will not weep when the nation dies. His heart will be calm and clear as His fearful decree is carried out.

In the Revelation, Christ appears in power with, “eyes like a flame of fire.” No tears. The time for weeping will be over. In the place of tears, fire! When judgment comes, it will be firm and fierce and final. It will be the right thing to do. The only choice. True justice. He will not be sorry.

“Then He will say also to those on His left, ‘Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels’ “(Matthew 25:41).

August 18–Ezekiel 21-23

“I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. . .thus I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath”(22:30-31).

It is a familiar passage in Ezekiel. God reports searching for a man (person) who, with repentant heart and alarmed perception, is willing to represent the city before Him. Someone who will, through prayer and personal sacrifice, rebuild the broken places in the wall, and “stand in the gap” where the wall cannot (or has not yet) been repaired.

From heaven, God searched for someone to do this work. A person of individual and Spiritual courage. A leader. An intercessor. Finding no one, God reluctantly allowed destruction to come.

Why wasn’t Ezekiel “the man?” Weren’t his prayers, enough? No. Ezekiel was no longer in Jerusalem. God was looking for a man “among them”. A person from the sinful nation who, hearing the message, would repent and take the judgment-delaying stand.

God takes no joy in wrath. So long as He can see true Kingdom movement, true evidence of spiritual life in the charred remains of human society, He will delay. The response of ONE man is enough. Heaven rejoices over ONE sinner that repents. It doesn’t take many. Never has.

Will you be that man? Will I? Ultimately, all efforts to blame society for being lost are a waste of energy and time. Like our Savior, WE are called to stand in the gap, to deal directly with God in the face of the massive rebellion that human history constitutes. We are to be intercessors. Salt, preserving society until He comes.

The wall is broken. The danger is real. He is looking for one person. Will you go stand before God, in the gap, for others?

“The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much”(James 5:16).

August 17–Ezekiel 17-20

” ‘Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,’ declares the Lord God, ‘Therefore, repent and live’ “(18:31-32).

Repentance is your super power. Mine, too.

The Old Testament word for repentance literally means “turn”. None of us is trapped. Not in our thoughts, not in our circumstances. Made by God and in His image, humans have an innate capacity for Spiritual life. It is in our design.

We can turn back to God and His ways. Having wandered from this original strength, we can go home to the Father and know Him again, anew. With surprising language, God says that we can make for ourselves new hearts!

Real repentance is a HUGE moment! “Heaven rejoices when one sinner repents,” said Jesus in Luke 15.

If God has given me the power to turn (and He has), then the real source of trouble in my life is me! The Enemy works hard to deceive me that God is unfair to me. The actual truth is the opposite. I have been unfair to the Father! The error is mine. My stubborn pride, my low need to control, my fear, my lack of humility and love, these are the sources of my failure. I am the one who needs to turn, to change, to repent.

God does NOT give us the authority to decide who we will be, or where our meaning will be established. He HAS, however, given us the ability to humbly go back to God and be part of HIS purpose.

God gives us this choice. A SUPER power, indeed.

“Men are free when they are obeying some deep, inward voice of religious belief. Obeying from within. The most unfree souls go west, and shout of freedom”(D. H. Lawrence).

“A wise man changes his mind, a fool never will” (Icelandic proverb).

August 16–Ezekiel 14-16

“How is the wood of the vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest? Can wood be taken from it to make anything?” (Ezekiel 15:2-3).

In Scripture, God often compares Israel to a vine. In Ezekiel 15, He uses this metaphor to make several sobering points. 1) The only use for the vine is to bear fruit. 2) A vine is not better than the other trees, actually has less intrinsic value. For example, the wood from a vine cannot be used for construction or fuel. 3) Once the burning of God’s judgement begins, the vine is even less valuable than before.

For years, the people of Jerusalem wrestled with God. They refused to obey His word, wanted to live life on their own terms, yet, still, somehow, clung to the idea that they were “His people”. Special status. A protected class.

A sad mistake. Very familiar in this present age. Human dignity rises from being made in God’s image and in bearing fruit in His great harvest. We have derivative rather than essential value. We are nothing apart from Him. Our true value is in cooperating and contributing to the purpose of God.

Friend, are you bearing fruit for the Creator? Actively? Courageously? Do you falsely believe, with the secular mind, that you have independent value, that EVERYONE, deserves a trophy, no matter their choices or willingness to play the game or stand with holy courage?

While His love for us is unconditional, our value to Him, our place in His kingdom, rises from obedient service.

“And the one on whom the seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty”(Matthew 13:23).

“My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work” (John 4:34).

August 15–Ezekiel 9-13

“The glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which was east of the city”(11:23).

It is a warning that I must remember. In response to unrepented sin, the Lord withdraws His glory, His presence.

Scripture tells of the day the Lord left Samson. Departed. Removed His protection. Turned off the power supply. Samson was not even aware when it happened! No additional warnings were provided. See Judges 16:20.

In one sense, there is NO place where God isn’t. David declares this truth in Psalm 139. “Where can I go from Your Spirit? . . If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there. . .your right hand will lay hold of me.”

In another sense, and just as true there are many places/people/situations in which God is NOT present. “God-forsaken” is the old word. People from whom the Spirit of God has removed Himself. Barren situations to which He no longer offers His life-giving help.

It is the very thing that happened in Jerusalem. God gave Ezekiel a sad vision of it. In Babylon, the prophet was “lifted up” and taken to a place where he could “see” his home city. As the prophet watched, the glory (Hebrew, kabob, weight, significance) of the Lord slowly departed.

It took place very gradually. In slow steps, after much warning, without fanfare, the grieved, quenched Spirit LEFT! From the cherub to the threshold (10:4). From the threshold to the east gate (10:19). From the east gate to the mountain east of the city (11:23). Over time, the power of God drained away from the city.

Perhaps this explains our nation in this present hour. Many pulpits but little power. Many people who attend church, but little prayer. Apart from real repentance, God will be absent and silent.

Friend, does this alarm your heart? It should! Men are never safe without God, and God is never near without repentance and faith. Even if only for your own safety, shouldn’t you seek the Lord today?

“Quench not the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

“Sow with a view toward righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness. Break up your fallow ground. It is time to seek the Lord” (Hosea 10:12).

August 14–Ezekiel 5-8

“Thus My anger will be spent and I will satisfy My wrath on them”(5:13).

Does God get angry? Is He angry now? Is wrath a part of His morally beautiful nature?

Believers in an earlier generation probably were clearer on this question than we are. Jonathon Edwards preached Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God. Julia Ward Howe in The Battle Hymn of the Republic, pictured God, “trampling out the vintage of the grapes of wrath.” Our ancestors were certain. God’s wrath is real and just.As you read today, will you notice Ezekiel’s prediction (and defense) of God’s judgment on Jerusalem?

“To whom much is given, much is required,” declares the Lord. The great gifts of God toward the people of Israel made them MORE responsible for their idolatry and pride, not LESS. “I will do (to them) what I have not done to others and will never do again,” God says in 5:9.

As a pastor, I often encountered people who resisted any hint of “hellfire” preaching. They treated the idea of God’s wrath as an old idea, a outworn notion of the past. They were greatly mistaken.

In Romans 1, Paul wrote. “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. . .for even though they knew God, they did not worship Him as God, nor give Him thanks.” God’s reaction against sin is NOT something we can see with eyes or understand with logic. Wrath must be revealed! It is a reality that God has to tell us, and He does so because He loves us.

Despite Ezekiel’s preaching, the people of Judah couldn’t (wouldn’t) accept this truth, nor did they adjust life accordingly. Friend, are you prepared to reconsider your own view? Is God angry with the world of rebellious men?

“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God”(John 3:18, italics mine).

August 13–Ezekiel 1-4

“And each went straight forward; wherever the Spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went”(1:12).

As I look back over my life, I mark several moments of dramatic change. Turning points!

Conversion and first steps of faith in high school. Spiritually rich years at Baylor. Ministry assignments. Meeting Holly. Marriage and family. The privilege/pressure of the pastorate. Cancer. Retirement. Who could have anticipated all the twists and turns of this road? Not me!

Viewed from Heaven, all of these turns were actually a straight line! Each was a part of the steady out-working of God’s plan in my life. No surprises from Heaven’s perspective. The Bible says God knows our days. Every crisis, every change is part of the path,”which God prepared in advance.” See Ephesians 2:10.

The prophet Ezekiel gave witness to Judah in exile. He spoke to people who (despite the warnings of God) were profoundly surprised and disappointed when Jerusalem was destroyed. In his first recorded vision, God allowed Ezekiel to see angelic beings with four faces. One facing north. One south. One east. One west. When the Spirit moved, and these beings followed, in some real sense they were still moving straight forward. They had no need to turn. “Just keep going,” whispered the Lord to these strange creatures.

The message is clear. When changes come (and they do!) they are only superficial. In heaven, the place of our true identity and destiny, nothing is truly a disruption. God causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him.

Friend, is your heart convinced of this Spiritual fact? Do you embrace every new assignment from God, every heartbreak, every loss, every opportunity, every day as a continuation and completion of His good work in you? Even when life changes, do you walk straight forward?

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight”(Proverbs 3:4-5).