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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.

Encouraging Words

When Adam and Eve were created, they were created perfect. God planted in all of creation His perfection. When they sinned that perfection was soiled and has been soiled ever since. God promises us here through the prophesy of Ezekiel, that there will be a day when He will regenerate us. He will sprinkle clean water on us to cleanse us from our uncleanness and our idolization of things other than God. He will give us a new heart and a new spirit. He will fill us with His spirit and will cause us to walk in His ways. For those of who have been baptized into His family, our journey to this regenerated person has begun. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner and forgive me for continually turning back to my old worldly ways.

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

God loves His flock of sheep. Through Jesus and His works, we can all become sheep in God’s flock. As sheep in His flock, He feeds and refreshes us. We will know Him. He seeks after those who are lost, brings back those who are misled, binds up the broken ones, Strengthens the fallen ones, protects the strong ones, and feeds us all with judgment.

Ezekiel 1:27b

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.

Encouraging Words

Ezekiel had the privilege of seeing the pre-incarnate Christ, face-to-face. The apostles and others of their day had the privilege of seeing the incarnate Christ face-to-face and to live with Him while He ministered here on earth. And we, the followers of Christ, have the privilege of having Him dwell within our hearts as we await His second coming. We honor and serve a God who is real and who has manifested Himself to us in so many ways. Glory be to God!

Lamentations 3:24-27

It is good for a man when he takes up
A yoke in his youth.
“He will sit alone and be silent,
Because he bears it on himself.
He will give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And he will be filled with insults.
Yet the Lord shall not reject him forever.”

Personal Challenge

Once again many of us miss an under­standing of a passage like this one because we no longer live in a culture that is tied to an agricultural way of life. f we had a cow or an ox that we were raising with the intent of yoking them to a cart, we would start early in their life, putting a yoke on them. By doing this they become familiar with it and slowly become accustomed to its pressure and weight. Isn’t this an image of the expected life of a Christian.The sooner we let God put on His yoke of obedience, or the cross that Jesus told us to take up and bear for Him, the sooner we begin to grow accustomed to carrying out cross through live. Jesus Christ, Son of God, hare mercy on me, the sinner!

WAIT AND EXPECT

Lamentations 3:22-23

“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who will seek Him, the Good One.
He will wait for and quietly expect
The salvation of the Lord.”

Command with a Promise

Wait for and quietly expect the salvation of the Lord and He will be good to us. If we seek Him, He will be good to us. Now this does not mean that God’s salvation is dependent upon us, for there is nothing that we can do to earn that. Salvation is God’s free gift to mankind through the work of Jesus Christ. If we wait for God to show Himself in our lives, if we seek Him and wait quietly expecting His salvation, He reveal all of that to us. Glory be to God!

Baruch 2:14-15

O Lord, hear our prayer and our petition, and for Your own sake deliver us, and grant us mercy before those who have carried us into exile, in order that the whole earth may come to know that You are the Lord our God, for Israel and his descendants are called by Your name.

Personal Challenge

Just as the nation of israel was in exile in Babylon, so too are we, the followers of Christ, in exile in this fallen and temporal world. Our true home is now in the Kingdom of heaven and we are awaiting the return of our Lord to take us back home.. Therefore we pray to Him to deliver us and to grant us mercy in this foreign land. We pray that He does this so that this fallen world may know who He is. And in this prayer we are also asking that we be good representatives of Him and His Kingdom. Glory be to God!

Baruch 1:11-12

And pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his son Belshazzar, that their days on earth may be like the days of heaven. And the Lord will give us strength and enlighten our eyes, and we will live under the shelter of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and under the shelter of Belshazzar his son, and we will serve them for many days and find mercy in their sight.

Command with a Promise

So, what is the command here? Pray for the life of the king and his son and that their days on earth may be like the days of heaven. What does this mean to us? We have no king. The expectation here is that we pray for our leaders, whether we voted them into office or not. We are to pray for those who have been put into a position of authority over us. Our politicians, our managers, our parents, our teachers, our priests and bishops. Then what is the promise that goes with this command? The Lord will gave us strength and enlighten our eyes He will bless those leaders and we will live under their shelter. We will be blessed with many days under their leadership and find mercy in their sight. As a “Christian” nation, we have really lost sight of this command. No wonder we are not seeing these promises unfold in our lives. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Jeremiah 40:6-9 (33:6-9)

‘Behold, I bring her health and healing for her wounds, and I will show them how to obey. Yes, I will heal this city and bring about peace and faithfulness. I shall return the captives of Judah and Israel and will restore them, even as before. I will cleanse them from all their wrongdoings by which they sinned against Me. I will not remember their sins by which they sinned against Me and withdrew from Me. This shall be for the gladness, praise, and majesty of all the people of the earth, who shall hear all the good things I will do. They shall fear and be provoked concerning all the good things and the peace I shall bring upon them.’

Encouraging Words

God promises here all the great things that He will do for His errant children. He promises to bring health and healing for their wounds, show them how to obey Him, heal their land and bring them peace and faithfulness, return those who have been taken captive, cleanse them from their wrongdoings and sins, and not remember those sins any more. This is not just a promise for the nation, but for all who had wandered away from Him and have returned to His loving arms. He will demonstrate to us the love that He has always had for us. Glory bet God!