Ezekiel 18

     I have found an awesome place to have my daily devotional and I am just loving it! I have set up camp on our balcony, and it’s really special. I hope that you have a special place where you find peace and are able to focus on God and the things He wants to teach you!! Today I read Ezekiel chapter eighteen. The main idea of the chapter is to get across the point that, “The soul who sins is the one who will die”. What it means is that you are responsible for your life and you will be judged for what you have done and not for the sins of your parents.. In today’s time we must know that each person will deal with the judgment of their own sins and not for the sins of others.

     Also that chapter in Ezekiel discusses how a wicked man who turns away from his sins and follows God and does what is just and right in the eyes of the Lord, will surely live and not die. Then it goes on to state how if a righteous man turns from the Lord and does detestable things as a wicked man does, he will surely die.  After that the Bible says, “None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered.” Wow, if that doesn’t make you stop in your tracks, I don’t know what would!

     This brought me back to really think about the fact that many people in this world are tricked into the mindset that their good would outweigh their bad. This is not the case, at all. Christ wants followers! He wants people who are going to do good things in the name of Lord and not stray from the path that he has called us to follow. To elaborate on that, I just think we should do our best so that Christ can get all the recognition that He deserves. Also something else that I think is very important to remember is that God forgives the wicked man, who repents, of his sins and he who changes his ways and follows the Lord is going to live. What good news, we have sinned and we are all wicked but we can become righteous through Christ!! Praise the Lord. This is just an excerpt from my devotional this morning. I hope it challenges you like it did me.

Jonah..

Today I flipped open my Bible, and stumbled across the book of Jonah. It’s a story that I am really familiar with and so I almost turned the page. But thankfully I didn’t because I read some stuff that caused me to really think. Most people know the story, but I’ll go ahead and review it if you don’t. Jonah was one of God’s prophets and He was told by God to go to Nineveh and preach against people because of their wickedness. Well even though Jonah was one of God’s prophets, he didn’t want to go and so he disobeyed God and jumped onto a ship that was going in the opposite direction. Well God caused this HUGE storm to hit the ship and Jonah asked to get thrown overboard so the storm would cease. When he hit the water he was swallowed by a large fish and then spit up on the shore and God again commanded him to go and he went. Jonah preached to the people to repent of their sins and they did and Jonah was not happy about it! He went outside of town and watched to see what would happen next. While he was waiting this vine grew and gave him shade against the fierce heat. The next day the vine died and Jonah was furious..  

God rebuked Jonah, because Jonah was more concerned about the life of the vine then he was about the lives of more than a hundred and twenty thousand people..

That got me to thinking… Are we ever more concerned with things that are not important like how we are going to get the hottest new gadget on the market, rather than being kind to the hurting people that are right in front of us?

I mean sometimes it is hard for us to go out of the way to be kind to people who we wouldn’t necessarily hand pick as a friend, but Christ went out of His way for us – even to the point of death! I was just considering this: would I like to be remembered like Jonah was for his disobedient and selfish desires. Would you want to be remembered for that?

I know there have been times where I didn’t feel like being kind to people because I have been more concerned about my life, but that needs to change. I mean it’s not something you can just say and it happens! It takes work and courage and I want to be remembered for serving God wholeheartedly not like Jonah is remembered. I pray that you open your eyes to the situations and people that might be right in front of you, because that is my prayer! God bless you.

Are you listening?

     God blesses me with these thoughts that just pop up, and help to teach me a lesson. For example this summer I went to Alaska with my family, and we visited a camp. One day I was having my personal quiet time with the Lord, and I had positioned myself where I could gaze at the lake. It was beautiful and everyone around me was absolutely silent. When I allowed myself to be still and silent I could hear things I didn't hear before. I could hear kids from across the lake laughing and playing together. I could hear the birds chirping together. It was such a peaceful moment and exciting to be able to hear things that I wasn't able to pay attention to before.

     When I was praying it was as if the situation was meant to be, because it helped me really understand that we as Christians need to make sure that we are listening for Christ. We get so caught up in doing what we think is important, that sometimes we don't stop and listen to the things that could be heard clearly if we would just listen. My point is God can show us awesome and beautiful things when we allow ourselves to be still and rely on Him.

Psalm 46:10

“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”