COVENANT OF PEACE

Ezekiel 37:26-28

I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant, and I will establish My sanctuary in their midst forever. My tabernacle shall be among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them, when My sanctuary is among them forever.

Encouraging Words

The God that followers of Christ worship is a covenantal God. He is relational to His created beings and is always entering into a covenant with us. The ultimate, and final, covenant was His Son, Jesus. The actions of Jesus (incarnation, sinlessness, sacrificial death, and resurrection) established God’s everlasting covenant with us. Jesus became our sanctuary. He became our permanent tabernacle. The actions of Jesus created an intimate relationship between God and us, His people. As time progresses, all peoples will know that He is Lord. Glory be to God!

HOW MUCH LOVE?

1 John 3:1

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Personal Challenge

How much love has God bestowed on us? The amount is immeasurable. He loved us enough to let His Son die for us. He loved us enough to call us His children. We have no clue how much this love cost Him. And He did it anyway. We will be unrecognized by the world when we receive this love with open arms. This means we will be rejected by the world because it rejected Him. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

HE WILL CLEANSE US

Ezekiel 36:25-27

I shall sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be cleansed from all your uncleanness, and I will also cleanse you from all your idols. I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I shall take the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I shall put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My requirements, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Personal Challenge

I find that as I examine my life, who I am, and what I have become, I still see that image of a self-made man, like so many other Americans. This mindset has made it into my Christian journey as I also see that I try to make myself into the image of Christ, when in reality I am making Jesus into my image. Ezekiel prophesied that Jesus would come as the Messiah and only He could be the one that could cleanse me and make me into His image. I must release my control of this transformation and let Him do what only He can do. He will cleanse me of my uncleanness. He will cleanse me of my idols. He will give me a new heart and put a new spirit within me. He will replace my heart of stone with a heart of flesh. He will put His Spirit within me and cause me to walk in His ways. It is all about Him! Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner!

ABIDING FOREVER

1 John 2:17

And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Personal Challenge

As followers of Christ we are supposed to live our lives with the belief that our presence on this earth is just a short, temporary part of our life span. As Paul says, we are ambassadors for God here on earth, representing Him and His kingdom. So many people who proclaim themselves to be Christians have lost sight, if they ever had it, of this truth. This blindness leads to abiding only in the present and attempting to amass rewards in this life that will rot and fade away. We must strive to develop and maintain a forever mindset and live to build that future, not this temporal lifestyle. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

BEING A SHEPHERD

Ezekiel 34:15-16

I shall feed My sheep and refresh them; and they will know that I am the Lord,” thus says the Lord and Master. “I shall seek the lost, bring back the misled, bind up the broken, strengthen the fallen, protect the strong, and feed them with judgment.”

Encouraging Words

Ezekiel articulates some of the things that a shepherd does for his flock. This is good for us to know, both as we sometimes are given the role to shepherd others and that we are always under the guidance of a shepherd. The shepherd is expected to feed his sheep and refresh them, Jesus, our ultimate shepherd, did this as an incarnate human being and still does it today. The shepherd also seeks the lost, brings back the misled, binds up the broken, strengthens the fallen, protects the strong, and feeds them with judgment. So many pastors and priests of today neglect many of these responsibilities. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Saint of the Week

St. John Chrysostom

OUR COMMANDMENT

1 John 2:7

Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.

Personal Challenge

Jesus did not come to force His followers to follow the Old Testament laws. Those laws were established to point to the Messiah, Jesus. Jesus fulfilled all these laws and did not issue a new commandment, but reiterated what the true essence of those laws meant. They were given to us to teach us to love, to love God and to love others. If we desire to be true followers of Christ then we must love as He did. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord have mercy!

FALLING DOWN ON OUR FACE

Ezekiel 1:27

Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the condition of the surrounding brightness.

This was the vision of the likeness of the Lord’s glory. I saw it, and I fell down on my face, and heard the voice of One speaking.

Personal Challenge

At times, I have found myself wondering if I am truly worshiping my Lord at the level that I should. In every account in the Old Testament where a person being called to be a prophet encounters God’s glory, they fall on their face in humility and submission. When Peter first recognizes who Jesus really is, he falls on his knees and begs Jesus to leave him for he is a sinful man. All too often we take Jesus for granted and refuse to fall upon our face to truly worship Him. He deserves our true worship, our willingness to submit everything to Him, our falling on our face before Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

DO YOU “KNOW HIM”?

1 John 2:4-6

He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

Personal Challenge

It is very easy for us to say that we know someone, when in reality all that is really happening is that we know something about them. This is so important in our relationship with Jesus. If I am not consistently doing His things, following His commandments to love and care for my neighbor, then I really do not “know Him”. It does not matter how many gold crosses I own or how much I go to church. If I am not walking as Jesus walked, then I do not “know Him”. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy?

MY REDEEMER

Lamentations 3:56-58 (3:52-54 LXX)

“You heard my voice;
Do not hide Your ears from my supplication.
You drew near at my call on the day I called upon You.
You said to me, ‘Do not fear.’
O Lord, You pleaded the case for my soul;
You redeemed my life.”

Encouraging Words

We are not alone. Our God is always with us. He hears our voice and listens to our supplications. He draws near to us when we call upon Him. He tells us not to fear. He pleads our case in the time of judgment. He redeems our life. Glory be to God!