Ezekiel 2
Ezekiel's Call
1 He said to me, "Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you." 2 As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.
3 He said: "Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day. 4 The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says.' 5 And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. 7 You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. 8 But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you."
9 Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, 10 which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Deuteronomy 31
Joshua to Succeed Moses
1 Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: 2 "I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The LORD has said to me, 'You shall not cross the Jordan.' 3 The LORD your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the LORD said. 4 And the LORD will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. 5 The LORD will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
April 30, 2009
I Will Never Leave You
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READ: Deuteronomy 31:1-8
I am with you always, even to the end of the age. —Matthew 28:20
One of my earliest memories of hearing good music was when a male quartet rehearsed at our home. I was about 10 years old, and I was especially attentive to my dad, who sang first tenor. One of the quartet’s favorites was titled, “I Am With You.” Even at that tender age, I not only appreciated the music but I “got the message.”
Those words of Jesus to His disciples just before He ascended—“I am with you always”—became precious to me as the quartet sang, “In the sunlight, in the shadow, I am with you where you go.”
One of the first references to God’s unfailing presence was spoken by Moses in Deuteronomy 31:6-8, when he instructed his successor about leading God’s people into the “land of promise.” And Joshua himself heard the same word from the Lord, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you” (Josh. 1:5).
That promise is repeated in the New Testament, where the writer of Hebrews gave this assurance: “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (13:5).
Wherever you may be today, you are not alone. If you’ve placed your trust in Jesus for your eternal salvation, you can be certain that He will never leave you. — RBC Ministries
Jesus whispers “I am with you”
In the hour of deepest need;
When the way is dark and lonesome,
“I am with you, I will lead.” —Morris
First make sure you are with Him, then you can be sure He’ll be with you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 30, 2009
Spontaneous Love
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READ:
Love suffers long and is kind . . . —1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is not premeditated— it is spontaneous; that is, it bursts forth in extraordinary ways. There is nothing of precise certainty in Paul’s description of love. We cannot predetermine our thoughts and actions by saying, "Now I will never think any evil thoughts, and I will believe everything that Jesus would have me to believe." No, the characteristic of love is spontaneity. We don’t deliberately set the statements of Jesus before us as our standard, but when His Spirit is having His way with us, we live according to His standard without even realizing it. And when we look back, we are amazed at how unconcerned we have been over our emotions, which is the very evidence that real spontaneous love was there. The nature of everything involved in the life of God in us is only discerned when we have been through it and it is in our past.
The fountains from which love flows are in God, not in us. It is absurd to think that the love of God is naturally in our hearts, as a result of our own nature. His love is there only because it "has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit . . ." ( Romans 5:5 ).
If we try to prove to God how much we love Him, it is a sure sign that we really don’t love Him. The evidence of our love for Him is the absolute spontaneity of our love, which flows naturally from His nature within us. And when we look back, we will not be able to determine why we did certain things, but we can know that we did them according to the spontaneous nature of His love in us. The life of God exhibits itself in this spontaneous way because the fountains of His love are in the Holy Spirit.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The King Will Never Leave - #5819
Thursday, April 30, 2009
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When Queen Elizabeth's mother, affectionately known to the British as the "Queen Mum," died at the age of 101, reporters did a lot of reflecting on her very special place in British hearts. Much of it was traced to the way that she stood by and supported her husband, the king, as well as the British people during the darkest days of World War II. Night after night, the German bombers would rain down destruction on England's largest cities. London lived largely underground at night, trying desperately to hold out against Hitler's determination to conquer their little nation. At one point, there was a rumor that Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, then just little girls, were going to be sent to another country for their safety. When the "Queen Mum" was asked about that, this was her famous reply: "The girls can't leave unless I leave and go with them, and I can't leave unless the King leaves. And the King will never leave."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The King Will Never Leave."
That's a powerful promise, especially when the hour is really dark. It's a promise you have, or you can have, beginning this very day from the King of all kings. One of the most amazing, most significant promises Jesus Christ ever made is contained in these eight words from Hebrews 13:5, our word for today from the Word of God, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
No loopholes. No room for disappointment or a change of heart. The Son of God promises to every person who belongs to Him that He will never leave them. Which may be the kind of unloseable love, the kind of anchor-relationship that you need, because there have been way too many people who did leave. Someone who's listening right now knows what it is to be abandoned, to be betrayed, to be disappointed, or dropped, or ignored. Or maybe you've lost people close to you, maybe by their choice or maybe by their death.
All the people who have left have been preparing you for the One who will never leave you, and that is Jesus Christ, God's Son. It's almost ironic that He's our never-leaving One because of all the times we have left Him. We have, according to the Bible, gone "our own way" (Isaiah 53:6) rather than His way. We've lied when we should have told the truth, we've made so many things more important than Him in our life, we've done things with our body, our mind, our mouth, the people we love that we never should have done. But in spite of our turning our back on God and His plans for us, He has not turned His back on us. In fact, He sent Jesus, His One and only Son, to die to pay for everything we've done against Him!
Here's what He says in Isaiah 49, "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! I have engraved you on the palms of My hands." Jesus looks at His hands and He sees there the nail prints that are there because of how much He loves you.
Isn't it time you resigned from running your own life and opened up to the never-leaving love of Jesus Christ? If you want to begin your personal relationship with Him, would you tell Him that right now, right where you are? Tell Him you're putting all your trust in Him and His death for you on the cross. And then, I want to encourage you to go visit our website. So many people have gone there and found help and encouragement in being sure they belong to Jesus - in beginning this most important relationship in life. The website is YoursForLife.net. If you'd prefer, I could send you my little booklet Yours For Life. You can call for it toll free at 877-741-1200.
The bombs may be falling. The hour may be very dark. Others may not be there for you. But once you give yourself to King Jesus, the King will never leave! You have His word on it. You have His life on it.
