Tag: Ezekiel

Reason for Advent – Part 2

Featured ~ Sowmya Gali

Jeremiah 31: 33, 34

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God. And they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Another important reason about Advent is to remember the new covenant that God made with Israelites (by faith, Gentiles as well): a new covenant that God took the initiative to be in a personal relationship with each and every one of us. No longer are His laws written on stones but on the hearts of His people. By surrendering to Him completely, He, by His Holy Spirit, stirs in us the desire to obey Him. After experiencing the new birth in Christ, who is at the very heart of this grand scheme, we will obtain a chance to make new beginnings by establishing a permanent and personal relationship with our Maker.

This born-again experience is what brings us new hope and we await with eagerness for that day when we will be forever united with our loving Savior in eternity. This experience gives as a new heart which is filled by a new Spirit from God. This Spirit will motivate us to draw closer to Jesus, know about our loving Father more intimately and also guide us to carefully keep His laws. Not grudgingly, but gladly. Jesus came to our sinful world as a humble and flawless babe, poured out His precious blood to cleanse us, conquered sin and death, raised on the third day, ascended to heaven, seated now at the right hand of our Father in Heaven, and interceding on our behalf. Therefore, through Christ our restoration with our Heavenly Father has been complete.

During this Advent season, as we remember these wonderful promises God made for a renewal of our relationship with Him, we are blessed to further know that as long as we are relying on Him, remembering Him and the promises He made, then we no longer have to worry about anything in this world but wholly trust Him for a prosperous life on this earth and beyond. 

Ezekiel 36: 26-29

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you.

My sincere prayer for us this Christmas season and beyond is that Jesus would bring us and our families that blessed hope of complete restoration: restoration of relationship with God as well as everything restored to us that which we have lost so that we will never experience lack and our storehouses will be plentiful. Merry Christmas!

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When God Orders the Steps – Ezekiel

~ Sowmya Gali

Ezekiel 2: 1-5

And He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.”

2 Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me.

3 And He said to me: “Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.

4 For they are [a]impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’

5 As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.

The Prophet Ezekiel was in exile on the banks of the River Chebar in Babylon. He would have started his life as a priest at the temple in Jerusalem if he was still there. As he was contemplating his situation and the situation that the Israelites have found themselves in, he was shown a vision of the glory of God. The vision left him paralyzed in fear and he fell on his face. He then heard the voice of God speaking to him to rise up. In his fear, he couldn’t even stand up on his feet. Then the Spirit entered him and set him on his feet.

God charged him to speak to the house of Israel. God also said that He will put the words in his mouth and he is to speak to the house of Israel just as God commands. He is to speak boldly and not be afraid. He also forewarned him that he will face ridicule and persecution but he must still continue to speak what God commands him to. Whether the rebellious people listen to him or not, he must still speak without hesitation or fear. God then feeds him the scroll and tells him that He has appointed him as the watchman. Good or bad, he must speak the Words of God courageously.

Ezekiel didn’t have a choice but to obey the command of God. He did everything that God commanded him to without excuses. When God asked him to lay on his left side for 390 days representing the number of years of sin that the nation of Israel was in, he lay on his left side. God then asked him to lay for 40 days on his right side for the nation of Judah, he obeyed. God commanded that he eat only a certain portion of food by weighing it accurately, Ezekiel obeyed. When God commanded that he should not mourn or shed a single tear when his wife dies, Ezekiel obeyed.

The Spirit of God carried him by his hair to see the abominations happening in the temple in Jerusalem. He witnessed the Spirit of God leaving the temple and Jerusalem. His heart was broken. He pleaded with God to remember the remnant that is still faithful. God in his mercy, gave him a glimpse into the highest heavens where he abides. God revealed to Ezekiel the future glory that awaits His children. While Daniel was in the palace seeing the visions of Israel’s restoration and the future glory, Ezekiel was among the exiles doing God’s bidding and witnessing the awesome glory of God.

We wonder what it must take to be like Ezekiel. Unlike Moses who was giving reasons to be exempt from God’s calling, Ezekiel simply obeyed. God revealed Himself to Ezekiel in such a glorious way that he just couldn’t say no to God’s commands. Many of us are witnesses to God’s miracle power, His provision, His protection, His healing, His leading not once but numerous times. We may not be witnesses to the glory of heaven but have experienced the power of God in our lives. Without excuses, we must be willing to obey His call. When God orders our steps, we don’t have to be afraid of the ridicule, temptations, distractions, obstacles that come our way. They are taken care of by God Almighty. We must just forge ahead with the task He assigns us.

Dear Saint of God, we may not understand God’s ways on this side of heaven but we must stick to straight and narrow path that God sets us on. It may not be of our choosing but if we obey God, He will make it right in such a way that we are left to wonder the perfection and the precision with which God unfolds His plans and fulfills them. God, in His infinite wisdom, will reveal to us His beautiful plans as we take that step of obedience.

We all have seen or heard of fresh water rivers, when they flow into the sea, their fresh water becomes salty. However, Ezekiel witnesses a river flowing from the House of God, when it flows into the sea, freshens the sea – a sea of fresh water, teaming with life.

Ezekiel 47: 8 – 9

Then he said to me, “These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down in to the Arabah; then they go toward the sea, being made to flow into the sea, and the waters of the sea become fresh.

It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be very many fish, for these waters go there and the others become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.   

Jesus said that we who believe in Him, and receive Him, out of him will flow rivers of living water. Dearly beloved, the river we carry within will freshen the lives around us. Our task is to simply obey the command of God, stick to the straight and narrow path, allow God to order the steps, and forge ahead. For the reward that awaits us is much worthy than all the pain and struggles we go through on this side of heaven.