November 16th One Year Bible Readings

Ezekiel 33:1-34:31 ~ Hebrews 13:1-25 ~ Psalm 115:1-18 ~ Proverbs 27:21-22
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Old Testament - In Ezekiel chapter 33 today we see Ezekiel appointed as the Watchman of Israel - once again.  You'll recall this happened previously in chapter 3 of Ezekiel as well.  The difference is that now we're in the post-destruction of Jerusalem & the Temple, so we'll quickly start to see more of a message of hope & redemption, in addition to continued calls for repentance.  I think in verse 11 we start to see this shift in the Lord's wanting to restore Jerusalem & Israel again: "As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?"   The call for repentance...  Are there areas in your life where God may be calling you to "Turn!"?  Will you Turn?

Verse 32 stands out to me today when God talks about how the exiles view Ezekiel's messages: "You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don't do it!"  This makes me think even of ourselves - maybe even in our churches...  Do we sometimes go to church looking for a good "performance" from the church or musicians or pastors?   And maybe miss the gospel message?  Do we applaud the performance?  Even hear what is said?  But don't do anything about it...?

Ezekiel chapter 34 reminds me a lot of the famous and beautiful Psalm 23 - "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want... "   However, before we get to God being the Good Shepherd - and hear about the Good Shepherd to come - there is some rebuking of the "shepherds" of Israel at that time, that may also have a message for us.   In verses 3 & 4 we read:  “You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured.” Could this verse speak into our lives in some way? Is it possible that we eat fine food and wear fine clothes at the expense of others in need? Are we consistently strengthening the weak? Healing the sick? Binding up the injured? 1.2 billion people in the world live on less than $1 a day. Are you doing something to care for these brothers and sisters on a consistent basis?  What are you doing?

New Testament - We wrap up the book of Hebrews today, and start James tomorrow!  Hebrews chapter 13 verse 2 has always stood out to me - "Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!"   Powerful eh?  When we show hospitality to strangers, we may be entertaining angels!  Something to definitely keep in mind...  Below is an engraving from the 16th century by Georg Pencz of Abraham entertaining angels from Genesis:

Verse 7 I think is a great reminder for each of us to rejoice in and show some appreciation for those that helped bring us to faith and to study the Bible - "Remember your leaders who first taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and trust the Lord as they do."  Is there someone right now that this verse makes you think of?  Can you send them a card or a quick email of encouragement to thank them for the impact they have had on your spiritual life?

Verse 8 is infamous and powerful and please memorize this one: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." This is an easy verse to memorize, no?  Say it with me.   Hebrews 13:8 - "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."   Yep, I think you got it.  :)

Psalms - Today in Psalm 115 verse 1 we will read – “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name be the glory.” (Chris Tomlin fans out there will recognize this as one of his many awesome worship tunes. . .) I don’t know how this verse strikes you, but it strikes me hard. Which is good. I think sometimes I do things for my own glory. And this verse, and really the entire Bible, is clear that the glory is God’s and not ours. Yeah, sure, we will live our lives full of “glorious” moments when we are loving God and loving people. But, we should not be living our lives to build up our own fame or our own glory. As Rick Warren states so well in the 1st sentence of the 1st chapter of his book “Purpose Driven Life”- “It is not about you.” And this is true. It is about God. And this is good news! Really. I have tried to live my life in the past where it was all about me. And this was a miserable way to live life. I pray that you see the incredible wisdom in this verse - “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name be the glory.” How are you living your life? Are you living your life to advance the fame and glory of God? Are you doing this by loving God and loving other people with all that you are? Or, are you by chance living your life to advance the fame and glory of yourself? And if so. . . how’s this going for you?

Proverbs - Proverbs 27 verse 21 I think carries forward our theme from the opening of Psalm 115 again very succinctly - "Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is tested by being praised."   When you are praised, where should the glory go?

Worship God:  Ezekiel 34:4 today reminded me of this great video below set to the amazing Sara Groves song "Add to the Beauty."  This video shows the urgent work of Blood:Water Mission, an organization drilling wells in Africa. (among other important work) The band Jars of Clay are very involved in this great organizaton.  Please take a few minutes to watch this video and then explore http://www.bloodwatermission.com/

Do you know our God of Beauty?  Click here and add to the Beauty!

Please join me in memorizing 2 verses of Scripture today:
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8 NIV

"Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness." Psalm 115:1 NIV

Comments from You:  What verses or insights stand out to you from today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

Grace, love, peace, and joy!
Mike

Comments

[Anka]

Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
If we do go to church expecting a good "performance"kinda makes it hard to obey/repect our leaders...Once a pastor said sometimes people undergo a complete change after they step out of the church building..It helps I guess to know that God is watching us ALL the time...he even knows our thoughts!!There are times I actually have to repent cos of a fleeting thought I've had....True it is good to fear the Lord and may we all continue to be Holy....as He is Holy.
God bless you all

[Peggy]

WOW WOW WOW, is all I can think of while reading the bible today,.Ezekiel 8 When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for [a] his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways. Man does that hit home. It makes me really think about who have I shared the word with lately to help them turn from their wicked ways. WOW
Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 31 You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.' " WOW again It made me think. What am I doing to help others, and not think of myself, not that I mistreat people, but I had to look at myself and ask 'what are doing to help those in need?
31 You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.' " It is a good feeling to know that God is my shepard, our shepard.
thank you for this lesson today. What a way to start out the day. With these words in mind, I know I can help make someone's day. Have a Blessed day!
Peggy

[Linda]

I struggle with "help others". Does that mean help those who are less fortunate because of a lack of opportunity, or anyone has had made (& continues to make) very poor choices? I am 61` year old Grandmother, struggling to homeschool my 14 year Grandson. I am disabled and on SSI. I live frugaly and with the help, grace, and love of God and my 2 children. My Grandson's mother (in rehab for the 3rd time) needs some one to take her younger daughter on the weekends, and take her to the doctor etc. For some reason, she has not transfered to a doctor near the rehab, and her doctor is about 30-45 minutes away. She has to go to the doctor quite often as she has a high risk pregnancy (4th time, 4 child by 4 differnt men, including my son, non of whom she married). I spend a great deal of time and energy trying to teach my Grandson self- discipline, focus, and that, the rules DO apply to him. I could interupt our schedule and take her to the doctor, but it puts our schedule and discipline into chaos. What scripture can you give me to help me make the right decisions. In our sutdy so far, God has spent a lot of time and effort chastening, and then forgiving Israel over and over, but here in Ezekiel he seems to put a lot of time and effort in punishing Israel. I know it is not my job to punish her, but is it part of my job to show her God's love and forgiveness, no matter what? I really need some scriptural help on this.

[Art]

I have great sympathy for your situation, Linda. Not being in your place, it is difficult to dispense advice. I pray for you, that God will give you the ability to truly love and forgive as He wants us to. I am certain that your situation is difficult, and there are no easy answers to the questions you might have, but I do know the God wants us to show His love and His forgiveness in every situation. As wretched as I am, His Son, Jesus Christ sacrificed His life for me. It is a small thing to do His will, no matter what.
May God Bless you and always keep you near.

[Jenny]

I love Heb 13:2 also. Reminds me of how Jesus said, As you do to the least of these, you do unto me.

yes, i think many times peopel go to church to be entertained, so they complain they dont like the musis, or the message, or this or that. Hey, when we are praising the Lord through worship, we should be doing just that...even if the music isnt our fave genre, the point is, we are worshipping God almighty! How blessed we are we can do this. the worship prepares our heart to hear the word of God. Its not what the speaker says really, its what the Holy spirit says through him. Lets get in an attitude of praise so we can then receive the message the Lord has for us...we need to be filled with the spirit or it will go in one ear, out the other. A great way to invite the spirit in is through sincere worship and prayer.

I love the fact Jesus will never change, He is an anchor and a rock we can always depend on, never wavering, always consistant....when the going gets rough, we really see the beauty in this! The going has been very rough for me the past couple days, but I know Christ is my anchor...when i'm suspended in mid air, He is still there, he will catch me. I need Him so bad to hold me up when i'm falling down...life can be so hard. Trust in the unseen, thats all i can do. For sure He gets all the glory! I am nothing without Him.

[Jan]

Mike, first of all...I give God all the glory for giving you the strength to carry on in this endeavor of bringing this site to us daily. It takes quite a bit of time to give your comments & search/find the clip art/pics & it is so interesting & visual at the same time. God, I praise Your Holy Name for putting this on our brother Mike's heart to do such a thing for such a time as this...

BTW: I listen to the "Arriving" CD by Chris Tomlin & absolutely love every song on it.