It’s Word Wednesday! Are you ready to dive down into the comments and share what God showed you this week? We’re in Ezekiel and, in Ezekiel, I got my toes crushed. Not just stepped on. Crushed into dust. This is one I’m going to be working on for a long time. It was so bad, there were two verses this week.
Ezekiel 16: 49-50 (NIV): Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.
AND Ezekiel 3: 18-20 (NIV): When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.
Anyone else feeling the ouch of these two verses? This theme has been on my mind a lot lately, even before I came across these two verses. The more I look at the world, the faster it seems to be spiraling out of control. It’s almost like a whirlpool, with the vortex spinning faster and stronger as you draw nearer the center. Our nation looks a lot like the verses out of Ezekiel 3 up there, doesn’t it? It looks so much like those verses, it terrifies me.
Honestly, when it comes to the second one, I think I’ll keep my mouth shut. God explains Himself pretty well here. And I have to go get a cast for my broken toes. Believe me, I feel the sting of this one.
-JB
Dawn Lucowitz says
Ezekiel 36:25-27 – I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all our impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from 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.
Thank God for a little light in the middle of Ezekiel. I felt a lot like Jodie reading this book. I felt like I was getting crushed over and over again. I feel like this world is spiraling out of control so quickly that it won’t get reigned in. I feel like I am not doing anything about working to change it either. I feel like I share my thoughts about God with many, but they are all already believers. I am not doing enough to talk to the people that need to hear about Christ. I am not even talking about strangers, I’m talking about my own immediate family! I feel like such a hypocrite saying I love my family yet am not sharing the Good News with all of them.
What I love about the verses above are that in the midst of all the bad going on around and in us, there is still hope. We can be cleansed from all our impurities. We can be given the gift of the Spirit to help lead us. During this season of lent I decided it is really time to clean up my “potty mouth.” I know that when bad words come out of my mouth, it is reflecting yuckiness in my heart. I don’t want that there. I want a pure heart with only love flowing from it. I know I can’t just do that on my own. I know I need the Spirit to help me with that. I am so thankful that all I had to do was ask God’s forgiveness and ask for his help. The bad words won’t magically disappear, but now I have a fighting chance because I’m not alone. How cool is God that he can clean us and then fill us with the perfect guide to keep us on the right path!
Jodie says
You have such an amazing spirit and so much enthusiasm for the things of God. I wish you could see yourself the way we all see you!
I almost chose this verse, because of the “heart of stone” reference. I battled so long with not feeling, this verse really touched me, the truth that God could give me a heart of flesh! So awesome!
Jen says
Nothing too deep for me this week as I’m running on about 4 hrs of sleep…
My verse for this week is one of the same ones Dawn chose… the one about God removing the heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh. Knowing my story, Jodie, you can probably guess why that one spoke to me. It’s definitely one I’ve lived! And a funny side note…. I recently shared all of that with you-know-who and he laughed and said, “Wow… yeah…. it all makes perfect sense now. That totally explains why you are the way you are!” LOL
It’s hard not to be passionate about things when you’ve experienced that kind of change. 🙂
Jodie says
Very true! And I envy your passion. Some days, it feels like I lack the passion to even get out of the bed. 🙂 What you’re doing is amazing, and I know God is going to do amazing things through you! Now go get some sleep!