Day 333 Sanity Restored

Light and Shadows give us "perspective" in life ,the natural and the spiritual.
Humility and Pride are not good bedfellows, but are good teachers.
Both give us perspective and if we learn, our sanity is restored.

Daniel 4:34 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.
His dominion is an eternal dominion;
his kingdom endures from generation to generation.

35 All the peoples of the earth
are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
or say to him: "What have you done?"

36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

Day 329 The Lord is There

Exekiel 47 & 48 God proportions the land. He ends up with gates surrounding Jerusalem named after the Israelite s. the gates are seen as entrances not as an exclusion technique. We can all enter into the city where the Lord is There!
As we come nearer to Christmas we see that God now came nearer and dwelt among us. He became one of us. We don't have to go to a special place, we can meet him where we are, for he dwells among us.

God has shown himself to come nearer and nearer to the people who despise and reject him, may I not be one of them today. Amen

Day 328 Gates and Doors

I have noticed while reading Ezekiel that the Temple and Kingdom of God is surrounded by "Gates". Jesus talks about being the gate, and its only when He speaks to the church of Laodicea that he encounters a shut door!

revealing isn't it?

Day 322 Putting Faith into Working Clothes

Ezek 33:30"As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, 'Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD.' 31 My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. 32 Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.

James 2 also drives home the message Faith without works is dead.

I read on the News this morning a woman in Somalia was stoned to death after giving birth to a still born. The Islamists who stoned her charged her with adultery....Not much has changed in 2000 years!
I was grateful that God had chosen to take the baby back to him, he couldn't change the choices of the people stoning.

Faith and works?, what can I do today that changes the direction of someones life for the good?

Day 312 The lesser of two evils

Ezekiel 16:1-63

The lesser of two evils is no less evil. verse 52.
When we choose the lesser evil in making a difficult or seemingly an impossible choice, the evil appears more "righteous" and that in itself compounds the evil and brings greater condemnation.

I hope I remember this when faced with those choices. Maybe "no action" is a righteous choice and is preferable if it legitimizes evil in any measure. It makes counteracting evil more tricky (for want of a better word!). But then again "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but are mighty to pull down strongholds".

Feel good ideology is not the answer to global problems of slavery, human trafficking and oppressive powers, domestic or governmental.

2 Corinthians 10:4
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

May we have the wisdom and courage to correctly apply scripture to our daily encounters. Amen.