Thoughts on Christ and His Word

Are you a morning person or a night owl? The people of Jerusalem were so fascinated with Jesus' teachings that regardless of their personal sleep preferences they came out bright and early to hear Him. Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, 38 and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple. Luke 21:37-38 Some of us like to have our time with God in the afternoon or evening, but their is something special about seeking Him in the morning. David sought God through prayer in the morning: In the morning , O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before youand wait in expectation. Psalms 5:33 Jesus himself would wake up early to spend time with his Heavenly Father: Very early in the morning , while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35 OK, maybe it's hard for some people, bu...

Have you ever gone fishing? I like fishing. Most of the time the fish don't cooperate with me. They eat my bait, laugh at me, and swim away. Perhaps I should say "I'm going to feed the fish" rather than "I'm going fishing". Some of the apostles were fishermen when Jesus called them into ministry. They used nets to catch fish rather than poles - you can catch many more fish with nets. One day after a bad day of fishing (I know the feeling) Jesus tells Peter to launch the boat again and drop their nets. Peter reluctantly rowed his boat back into the lake. He and his fishing buddies dropped the nets and "When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink." (Luke 5:6-7) Wow! From a bad day fishing to the best fishing day ever? The difference? Jesus. But why did Jes...

Hills are harder to walk than flat land, especially the older you get. Old people like to stay on flat land. It's easier on their knees and hearts. Some young people are old mentally, they don't want to climb hills or walk up mountain trails - "it's too hard" they whine; "I'm tired" they cry. They prefer the comfort of a couch than the glory of taking on a hill. Not so for Caleb. He was the leader of his clan and when the Israelites were in the middle of taking over the promised land he wanted the most difficult place to conquer. He asked for the hill country where the Anikites (huge NBA type people) lived. And catch this - he was 85 years old. 10 "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to bat...

How would you like to receive this command from God? "Go and marry a cheating wife." This is exactly what God told the prophet Hosea to do. The word of the LORD that came to Hosea...the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife Hosea 1:1-2 Why would God ask him to do such a thing? Did God want to ruin his life? Although this was a great sacrifice to ask of his prophet, God wanted to make a point, and a BIG one: That He loves us even though we act like a cheating wife. After Hosea marries Gomer (her name alone should have kept every man away from her) she sells herself into prostitution. And not just any common prostitution, but a shrine prostitute - one who has sex as a worship ritual to other gods (idols). This relationship should have ended right there. But God had other plans. The LORD said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they ...

What do singing love songs and prophesying have in common? People love to hear hear both and then walk away and ignore them. People love the poetry, deep meaning and the great voices in a love song, but few are committed to the hard practices of love. Similarly, people love to go to church and hear a beautiful sermon, but few are willing to put the principles exposed by the preacher into practice. "What a nice sermon" is often heard after a Sunday message, but many people return to their sinful practices and attitudes on Monday. God told Ezekiel that this is what the people were doing after his messages: My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. 32 Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put th...

Ezekiel was a Jewish prophet in Babylon. As a young man of about 25 years old he was uprooted from his homeland in Israel and taken captive to a town by the River Chebar in Babylon. From there God gave him a mission to preach to his fellow captives in Babylon, to send prophetic messages to the Jews that were left in Israel, and to prophecy against other nations for their wicked behavior. One concept rings out throughout the book: That "they will know that I am the Sovereign LORD" Ezekiel 28:24 Over 50 times in his book, Ezekiel writes this phrase or a similar one. God has always wanted the people of the world to know him and to worship Him - the one and only true God. Today, we have been given the same mission as Ezekiel. Our geographic location might be different, our methods are different, but the bottom line is the same - that the people might know that God is "the Sovereign LORD". Our mission is the Great Commission - to preach the gospel to all creation. Let...

"I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none." Ezekiel 22:30 Will I be the man God is looking for? Will you be the woman God is looking for? God is looking for men and women who will build the wall of his kingdom. He is looking for men and women who will stand between Him and the unsaved people of this world. From this position the man or woman would be able to pray for the people - to ask God for mercy for the people, as Moses asked God to forgive the Israelites when they sinned against God. From the position in the gap the man and woman would also be able to implore the people to turn to God and His Son for the salvation of their souls, as Peter did at Pentecost . If we decide to build the walls of our kingdom, instead of God's; if we decide to sit this one out, instead of stand in the gap, we will loose the privilege working for God's glory, bein...