Re: Verse reading–Proverbs 3:5-6; Galatians 2:15-21; Ephesians 2:8-10 (Day Three)
“In all your ways acknowledge him.” Before there was a material realm, there was a spiritual realm. Without the spiritual realm, no material realm would exist. “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” Therefore, the material realm is dependent upon the spiritual realm for its origin and continued existence. Because this is true, every question that comes before you has a spiritual side to it. If we decide matters by only taking into account the finite, visible side, we will produce things that will not last. If, on the other hand, we take into account the infinite, invisible side, then we begin to acknowledge God in all our ways. Perhaps a helpful prayer is this: Lord, what am I not seeing?
Author: Bryan Richardson
Bryan Richardson is the Associate Pastor for Counseling and Pastoral Ministries at FBCSA.
Dustbin
Re: Verse reading–Psalm 51; 1 John 1:9 (Day Three)
“My sin is always before me.” There comes a point where “Forgive me for all my sins” won’t say what needs saying. Sin doesn’t get swept into the dustbin by broad pronouncements in which you say, basically, “Mistakes were made,” and then get on with it. Sometimes, sitting with the Lord and looking at your sin—talking about how much you desire it, telling what you have done in order to make room for it—these are the not-so-quiet times that clean your heart.
Prone
Re: Verse reading–Psalm 119:9-16; Acts 17:10-12; 2 Timothy 3:14-17 (Day Three)
“Do not let me stray from your commands.” Songs don’t get much darker than this old hymn’s take on the fallen human condition: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.” That song gets it, and the psalmist knew it to be true long before that: The spirit might be willing, but the flesh is weaker than we thought. Sometimes, we’d rather sin than breathe. Our weakened selves need the words of scripture to brace us, to allow us to stand and take faltering steps Christward. Read, read.
Among
Re: Verse reading–Ezekiel 10:18-19; 11:22-23; 40:1-2; 43:1-9 (Day Three)
“Now let them put away from me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will live among them forever.” The words of the prophet Ezekiel join the writing of John in Revelation as brimming with the most hope in all of scripture. John writes: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.’” To live among us—this is what God intends. It is the future of the human race—those of that race who count on Christ. How will you live today—what will you think about, where will you go, what will you give your time to—knowing that God will make his home among us?
Over
Re: Verse reading–Ezekiel 37:1-14 (day three)
“I have done it, declares the Lord.” We assume the finality of things. We think we have no choice. We believe that the best days are behind us. We tell ourselves a story of defeat based on our own limited understanding. But it’s not over until the Lord says it’s over. Even when you yourself have brought about your painful circumstances, you can find your way to the future. You’ll have to take your cues from the Lord’s wisdom, but you can do it. The road ahead will be hard, and the losses painful, but your life is not over, nor are the days to come destined to condemn you to the “second best”. The Lord is not called our Redeemer for nothing.
Judgment
Re: Verse reading–Ezekiel 20:1-32 (day three)
“Will you judge them, son of man?” Judgment is a moral obligation; condemnation is a power trip. Our attempts to condemn are attempts to set ourselves in God’s place. But how the world needs wise discerners of good and evil. Nonetheless, those who judge rightly will be received no more warmly than those who attempt to condemn. “Men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” Loving people, though, means telling the truth to them.
Responsibility
Re: Verse reading–Ezekiel 18 (Day Three)
“I will judge each of you according to your own ways.” If that is so, are we off the hook for the kind of society we live in? Does the prophet’s declaration of the Lord’s word in fact create a public/private divide so that as long as I remain pure in my behavior, I bear no responsibility addressing what goes on around me? The Pharisees thought so. In truth, though, Ezekiel’s words do nothing of the sort. Because we are responsible for our own sin, the question is not, “Why did my ancestors get us here?” Rather, the question becomes: “What am I going to do about the world in which I live?”
Know
Re: Verse reading–Ezekiel 1-3 (Day Three)
“Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” God concerns himself with the likes of you and me; there are things that he wants us to know. That is evidence for love. When someone dear to us dies, we often think: Did he or she know what I thought or how I felt? We care about what our loved one knew or did not know. And so we determine to speak something to those loved ones still with us—something that will make life better. That is like God. And what we know from God not only makes life better, it makes life possible. There is something he wants you to know. Are you paying attention?
World
Re: Verse reading–Jeremiah 31-32 (day three)
“‘They will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the Lord.'” When they saw the future, the prophets didn’t settle for barely scraping by. They saw an entire world transformed. That’s because they served a God who has nothing less in mind than redeeming the entire universe. There is room for refusal on the part of human beings, of course, because God has created us with the ability to say yes or no. But on your most despairing days, will you turn your thoughts to a whole world that will pulse with God’s glory in every fiber of its being? God’s already there, and he gives us a glimpse through the words of the prophets.
Pause
Re: Verse reading – Jeremiah 21:1-10, 38:1-6 (day three)
“I myself will fight against you.” Are you sure you’ve set yourself against the thing that you should be fighting? Our capacity to think we’re right is mighty deep. When we measure events by our discomfort instead of the righteousness of God—the actual righteousness of God, mind you, not our interpretation of the righteousness of God—we tend to mark unpleasant things as coming from anywhere but God. Mark Twain said it well: “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” Gamaliel, speaking in Acts 5:39, said it even earlier: “But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”