TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
Ezekiel 44:1-45:12
1 Peter 1:1-12
Psalm 119:17-32
Proverbs 28:8-10
Ezekiel 44:4 — What did Ezekiel do when he encountered the glory of the LORD? He fell on his face! Some day we’ll see the glory of the LORD, and we’ll be in the presence of the One who died for us!
Ezekiel 44:9 — Ezekiel bears record of God’s immigration requirements. Notice the reference to “uncircumcised in heart.” Paul picks up on this in Romans 2:25-29 and goes back to Deuteronomy 30:6 where God promises to circumcise our heart so we can love the LORD wholeheartedly!
Ezekiel 44:31 — Notice the similarities between this chapter and Leviticus 22. God is reconsecrating the priesthood for a future responsibility!
Ezekiel 45:8 — God will reform the priesthood and the political princes in the future! All of these passages remind us that God is not done with Israel yet!
1 Peter 1:8 — Hilton Griswold, pianist for the Blackwood Brothers, performing “Joy Unspeakable and Full of Glory!”
1 Peter 1:11 — Notice that the prophets did not know what they were prophesying about! They studied what they said because they did not understand it! We now understand more than Ezekiel did! That is why we who have not seen Jesus (1 Peter 1:8) can rejoice with “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” We haven’t seen the wheel in a wheel or the visions of temples future. We haven’t seen Jesus in bodily form and, unlike Thomas, we haven’t put our fingers in his nail-scarred hands. But we love Him and believe Him and He gives us joy! Peter will talk later about this “more sure word of prophecy” (2 Peter 1:19).
Psalm 119:18 — As we approach His Word, let’s pray that God will open our eyes!
Psalm 119:27 — Notice throughout this passage the seeming conflict between the active Psalmist (“I have kept thy testimonies” – Psalm 119:22, “thy servant did meditate” – Psalm 119:23, “I have chosen the way of truth” – Psalm 119:30, and “I have stuck unto thy testimonies” – Psalm 119:31) with the dependent Psalmist (“Open thou mine eyes” – Psalm 119:18, “hide not thy commandments from me” – Psalm 119:19, “teach me thy statutes” – Psalm 119:26, and “make me to understand” – Psalm 119:27). How do we reconcile these two? Are we supposed to work? Are we to wait on God working in us?
Psalm 119:32 — This verse reconciles the conflict! God will change our heart so we can run. As Christians we have received the LORD (Colossians 2:6), so we are to walk in Him. We don’t have an excuse for not obeying God; He changed our heart and put His Spirit in us!
Proverbs 28:9 — God has given us His revelation. If we ignore it, He won’t hear our prayers.
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