Ezekiel has been given some crazy task to act out this siege of Jerusalem and must eat defiled food, yet here God relaxes the requirements in an act of kindness. What a bizarre scene, yet God is at work teaching the Israelites the importance of obedience. Lord strengthen me to be obedient at every moment!
Every one of us is specifically created for the ministry that God has called us to. Ezekiel was intentionally made to be hard headed and he has an unblinking face of stone …perfectly prepared to be a prophet to people who will refuse to listen. What a blessing to know that God has prepared me to do the work he has called me to.
Lord, you have uniquely wired me to minister to people struggling and blessed me with a faith to trust even in the most challenging circumstances. You have also specifically allowed me to struggle to keep me dependent on You! Help me to live my life in a way that brings You glory!
God pursues His people even when they rebel and seem like a lost cause. What stands out to me here is that even the rebellious people will be impacted by His chase. They will not be able to ignore His obvious engagement of them because He is good, powerful and accomplishes all that He sets out to do. Lord, help me to see you instantly! Help me to love You and be surrendered in every part of my heart and mind…
This passage is crazy and depicts some really incredible vision that I don’t understand, but near the end we see that God is on his throne and is speaking to Ezekiel. What a blessing that God speaks to us even out of the chaos of the unknown that we face.
God sees and knows our suffering and trials, we are not alone even if we are the cause of our trial. What a blessing to be unconditionally loved and cared for by the most powerful and most loving being. We are blessed to know Him!!!
Although this disciple is extreme, it does not last forever. God has a specific intention and once that is complete, it is over. It is not forever and it does not change our identity…they were still called daughter. Lord help me to stay submitted to You always so that I can enjoy your pleasure rather than needing to be punished.
It is so easy to focus on the present trial we are in…they loom so large, we can forget anything else exists. But this passage reminds us that we need to pursue memories of Gods past faithfulness. It is always worth the effort to be reminded of how God has come through in past time in my life or in the lives of friends. God, You are so good and we have such bad memories…strengthen me to meditate on you faithfulness!
