God's Word For Every Day

God takes sin very seriously. He sends his judgment upon sin. The unleashing of His fury turns the sinful nation into a wasteland (Ezekiel 5:13-14). When we read of such things, we wonder, “Is there any hope?” When we are reading so much about sin and judgment, we must not lose sight of the love of God. In love, He calls men and women to return to Him. In Ezekiel 6, we have a message concerning divine judgment. Note the emphasis - “you (they) will know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 6:7,13-14). If we are to appreciate the greatness of God’s salvation, we must see the greatness of our sin and the greatness of the judgment from which we are delivered through God’s mighty work of salvation. “The end is coming” - We read these words five times in Ezekiel 7:1-6. These are words of judgment. Ezekiel 6 ends with the words, “Then they will know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 7:27). In His judgment, the Lord is known as the holy God. If the people refuse to return to the Lord, the...

Ezekiel 5:1-6:14 ‘Because you have defiled My sanctuary... I Myself will withdraw My favour’ (Ezekiel 5:11). To those who despise Your Word and treat the place of prayer with contempt, Jesus still speaks His Word of judgment: ‘My House will be called a House of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves’ (Matthew 21:13). Lord, You’re warning us: ‘You have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Return to Me and change the way you think and act. If you don’t change, I will come to you and remove your lamp from its place’ (Revelation 2:4-5). When, Lord, You remove Your blessing, there is nothing left but ‘a desolate waste’ (Ezekiel 6:14). Help us to make sure that we don’t become like Samson - ‘“I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.”He did not know that the Lord had left him’ (Judges 16:20). Ezekiel 7:1-8:18 ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel: The end!’ (Ezekiel 7:2). Why, Lord...

" As He spoke to me, the Spirit entered me, stood me on my feet, and I heard Him speaking to me" (Ezekiel 2:2). If we are to stand in Christ, we need both the Spirit and the Word - not the Spirit without the Word, not the Word without the Spirit.

Ezekiel 14:1-15:8 ‘Some of the elders of Israel came to’ Ezekiel. He spoke the Word of the Lord to them: ‘Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!’ (Ezekiel 14:1,8). This, Lord, may not have been what they wanted to hear. It was what You wanted them to hear. They did not want to hear this, but they needed to hear it. Lord, You were warning them what would happen if they did not make a real return to You: ‘I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful’ (Ezekiel 15:8). Your Word demands a response. What will our response be? Will we say, ‘We don’t want the Lord “to reign over us”’ (Luke 19:14)? Will we be, like Peter, who ‘took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him...’ (Matthew 16:22)? Help us, Lord, not to be like those who dismiss Your Word with arrogant pride. Help us to listen to Your Word - and be changed by Your Word. Ezekiel 16:1-34 Without Christ, we are naked and dirty. He covers our nakedness and washes away o...

Ezekiel 29:1-21 Lord, in Your dealings with Egypt, we see both Your wrath - ‘Egypt will become a desolate wasteland’ - and Your mercy - ‘At the end of forty years... I will restore the fortunes of Egypt’ (Ezekiel 29:9,13-14). Your wrath is Your response to Egypt’s pride - ‘Because you said, “The Nile is mine; I made it”, therefore I am against you’ (Ezekiel 29:9-10). In Your merciful restoration, You place Your restraint on Egypt’s pride - ‘It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and will never again exalt itself above the other nations’ (Ezekiel 29:15). Lord, we come to You as sinners. We confess our sins, praying, ‘In wrath, remember mercy.’ You save us by ‘Your mercy.’ Your way of salvation - ‘through Jesus Christ our Saviour’ - is a constant rebuke to our pride: ‘This is not your own doing. It is the gift of God’ (Habakkuk 3:2; Titus 3:4-6; Ephesians 2:8). Ezekiel 30:1-26 ‘The day of the Lord is near... A sword will come against Egypt... The day of Egypt’s d...

"The river of God is filled with water" (Psalm 65:9). What a superabundance of blessing there is in the river of God! We read more about the river of God in Ezekiel 47. We read about the amazing increase of God's blessing - " The water came up to my ankles ... The water came up to my knees .. . The water came up to my waist ... the water had risen so much that it became a river which I couldn’t cross. The river was too deep to cross except by swimming" (Ezekiel 47:3-5). When God gave this vision to Ezekiel, He asked him, "Son of man, do you see this?" (Ezekiel 47:6). This is the question that the Lord puts to each one of us: 'Do you see what I'm showing you?' What happens when we're learning to swim in the river of God? -   " Wherever the river flows, there will be many fish and animals. The river will make the water in the Dead Sea fresh. Wherever the river flows, it will bring life" (Ezekiel 47:9). We read abo...

Ezekiel 27:1-36 ‘Your wealth... will sink into the heart of the sea on the day of your shipwreck’ (Ezekiel 27:27). Teach us, Lord, that we will sink if we don’t ‘keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.’ Help us not to allow ourselves to get weighed down. Keep us from becoming ‘entangled’ in the world’s way of living. Help us to ‘throw off everything that hinders’ our spiritual growth. We thank You, Lord, that Jesus is ‘the sure and strong Anchor for our lives.’ He will keep us from sinking. Teach us to look to Him and learn from Him: ‘Do not lay up treasures on earth... Lay up treasures in heaven’ (Hebrews 12:1-2; 6:19; 2 Timothy 2:4; Matthew 6:19-20). ‘Will your anchor hold in the storms of life...? We have an Anchor that keeps the soul, steadfast and sure while the billows roll, fastened to the Rock which cannot move, grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love!’ (Church Hymnary, 412). Ezekiel 28:1-26 ‘You were on the holy mount of God... You were blameless in your ways....

Ezekiel 11:1-12:16 Lord, You speak to us about our sin - ‘Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people’ - and Your salvation - ‘I will... put a new spirit in them...’ (Ezekiel 12:2; Ezekiel 11:19-20). Show us, Lord, that we must receive’ with humility, the bad news concerning our sin - ‘The wages of sin is death’ - before we can receive, with gladness, the Good News concerning Your salvation - ‘The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 6:23). You want each of us to be saved: ‘The Lord... does not want anyone to perish; He wants everyone to turn away from their sins’ (2 Peter 3:9). To those who refuse to be saved, dismissing the bad news concerning their sin and closing their hearts to the Good News concerning Your salvation, You speak Your Word or warning: ‘...I will punish them for what they have done’ (Ezekiel 11:21).   Ezekiel 12:17-13:23 ‘Hear the Word of the Lord!’ (Ezekiel 13:2). Lord, Your Word warns us: ‘The tim...

In Ezekiel 26, we find an awesome Word of judgment, spoken against the city of Tyre. The Word, spoken by God through His prophet, is uncompromising - “Tyre, you famous city, you have been destroyed” (Ezekiel 26:17). The effect of Tyre’s fall is described: “Your defeat will make the people, who live by the coast, tremble. Your end will terrify the islands in the sea” (Ezekiel 26:18). This is the fear of the Lord. We become aware that it’s a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The Gospel tells us about the hands that were nailed to the Cross for us, so that we might pass from judgment to salvation, through faith in Jesus Christ. This is a continuation of the Word of judgment, which began in Ezekiel 26. How final are the words at the end of Ezekiel 27: “You have come to a terrible end, and you will never exist again” (Ezekiel 27:36). This is the bad news concerning all of us. We are sinners. We are under God’s judgment. Our only hope is the God of gra...

Ezekiel 37:1-14 God calls us to speak His Word. First, we must receive His Gospel. We must see ourselves as sinners. We must see Jesus as our Saviour. The Word of the Lord is to be encouraging, challenging and life-changing. We will not always be on the mountain-top. Often, we will be down in the valley. We will need to be lifted up by the Lord. As we move from the world of the Bible to the world of today, we must ask the question, “Can these bones live?” (Ezekiel 37:3), and we must listen to God’s answer to this question. Humanly speaking, the answer is “No.” God gives us a different answer. He says, “Yes.” God’s answer is given by grace. It is to be spoken in faith. It is the answer that comes to us when the Spirit of the Lord is at work in us (Ezekiel 37:1). It is the answer that comes from revelation. It is the answer that leads to revival.

" ... so will I seek out My sheep ... on a cloudy and dark day" ( Ezekiel 34:12 ). Our life on earth is " a cloudy and dark day." Left to ourselves, we always lose our way. We cannot find our way back on to the way of the Lord without the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus does not leave us to stumble around on a "cloudy and dark day." He has come "to seek and to save the lost" ( Luke 19:10 ). He is "the Light of the world" ( John 8:12 ). His Light is still shining brightly. The darkness can't put it out ( John 1:5 ). We look to Jesus, and we see beyond "the cloudy and dark day." We look to Him, and we say, "The Lord is my light and my salvation" ( Psalm 27:1 ).

Samaria and Jerusalem behaved like prostitutes. In graphic language, the sin of turning from the Lord is compared to sexual immorality. Why does God expose their sin with such plainness of speech? He wants to show them the full extent of their rebellion, so that they may see the folly of continuing in sin and may be moved to return to the Lord - “Then they will know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 23:49). In Ezekiel 24, we learn about God’s holiness and His love. If we are to appreciate the wonderful love God has for sinners, we need to become more deeply aware of the awesome holiness of God’s hatred of sin. We look at our sin. We look at God’s holiness. We learn about ourselves. We see how far we have fallen short of God’s glory. We learn about God. We come to know that He is the Lord. Deeply aware of God’s holiness and our own sin, we are led, by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures, to see Jesus, crucified for us. We hear about God’s holiness. This is the Word of Hi...

Ezekiel 17:1-24 To those who adopt a ‘rebellious’ attitude to You, Lord, You speak Your Word of warning - They shall ‘not escape’ Your judgment (Ezekiel 17:12,18). For those who abandon this attitude of rebellion, there is a way of salvation. We thank You, Lord, for the words of prophecy which looks forward to the coming of the Messiah, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ . We thank You for Your promise: ‘I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it’(Ezekiel 17:22-24). We thank You that You have fulfilled Your promise. You have sent Your Son to be our Saviour (Matthew1:22-23). We now await the fulfilment of prophecy concerning Christ’s Return: ‘I will come gain’’, This same Jesus... will come back.’, ‘The Lord Himself will come down from heaven.’We thank You that Jesus has given us His promise - “I am coming soon.’We hear His promise, and we say, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’ (John 14:3; Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 22:20). Ezekiel 18:1-32 ‘The soul that sins shall d...

"Your wounds are as deep as the sea. Who can heal you?" (Ezekiel 2:13). There's only one answer to this question - the Lord. Other people can help us - if they point away from themselves to the Lord, if they say to us, 'You need more than the help I can give to you. You need Jesus.'

Ezekiel 45:1-25 We read, Lord, about 'the sin offerings, cereal offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel’ (Ezekiel 45:17). We thank You that all of this points forward to the single Sacrifice for sin made by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: ‘Christ died for sins once for all, the Righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God’ (1 Peter 3:18). ‘We have been forgiven and made clean through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all’ (Hebrews 10:10). Teach us to look beyond the many sacrifices to the one Sacrifice: ‘Christ has offered one Sacrifice for sins, an offering that is effective for ever.’ Teach us to rejoice in our Saviour: ‘He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through Him’ (Hebrews 10:12; 7:25). Ezekiel 46:1-24 We read, Lord, about the ‘offering’ of ‘a lamb without defect.’ This was to happen ‘morning by morning’ (Ezekiel 46:13). From these offerings , we look on...

Ezekiel 38:1-23 We read, Lord, of Your judgment upon ‘Gog from the land of Magog’: ‘When Gog attacks the land of Israel, My hot anger will be aroused... I will execute judgment upon him...’ (Ezekiel 38:1,18,22). The names ‘Gog and Magog’ are also found in Revelation 20:7-10. There, we read of rebellion against You, Lord - ‘They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people...’ We read of Your judgment - ‘Fire came down from heaven and consumed them’. In this divine judgment upon ‘Gog and Magog’, we see Your final triumph over ‘Satan’: ‘The devil who had deceived Gog and Magog was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur’ to be ‘tormented day and night for ever and ever’. ‘Hallelujah! Our Lord God Almighty reigns’ (Revelation 19:6). Ezekiel 39:1-29 We read, Lord, about Gog's defeat. Teach us to look beyond this to Satan’s final defeat (Ezekiel 39:1-6; Revelation 20:10). We look ahead to Your final victory over Satan. While we’re...

Ezekiel 32:1-32 ‘Pride goes before destruction’ (Proverbs 16:18). ‘Pharaoh, king of Egypt’ was arrogant and ruthless: ‘You are like a lion among the nations;you are like a monster in the seas, thrashing about in your streams, churning the water with your feet and muddying the streams’ (Ezekiel 32:2). Soon, it would be ‘the day of his downfall’: ‘The sword of Babylon will come against you... Pharaoh and all his hordes will be killed by the sword’ (Ezekiel 10-11,32). Teach us. Lord, not to be like the rich fool - ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry’. He couldn’t have been more wrong! - You said to him, ‘You fool! I will demand your life from you tonight!' Help us, Lord to hear and heed Your Word of warning: 'This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards God’ (Luke 12:19-21). Ezekiel 33:1-33 Ezekiel was to be ‘a watchman for the house of Israel’: ‘whenev...

“Visions from God” (Ezekiel 1:1); “The power of the Lord came over Ezekiel” (Ezekiel 1:3); “A bright light” (Ezekiel 1:27); “A rainbow in the clouds” , “The Lord’s glory”, “Bowed down”, “I heard someone speaking” (Ezekiel 1:28). In these phrases, we have some suggestion of the kind of lines we must follow, as we think about the various elements of divine revelation. In true ministry, there is both the Word of God and the Spirit of God. God’s Word is spoken to us in the power of the Spirit, so that we might speak His Word in the power of the Spirit (Ezekiel 2:1-4). Ezekiel is described as “a watchman over the people of Israel.” He was to speak the word of warning (Ezekiel 3:17). This is the kind of preaching which calls its hearers back from the wages of sin - death. The hearers are called to “change their wicked ways in order to save their lives” (Ezekiel 3:18).

Ezekiel 38:1-39:29; James 4:1-17; Proverbs 28:7-17 God’s Word speaks of His judgment upon sin (Ezekiel 39:23-24). It also speaks of His great salvation from sin (Ezekiel 39:25-29). “Scripture says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble'” (James 4:6). God’s Word speaks of the choice placed before man – obedience or disobedience, blessing or judgment (Proverbs 28:13-14). From my One Year Bible

Ezekiel 32:1-33:20; James 1:1-27; Psalm 127:1-5 God’s Word must be spoken as a Word which calls for response. The prophet is to “warn the wicked man to turn from his ways” (Ezekiel 33:9). He is to declare that “the Sovereign Lord … takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.” The prophet is to say, “Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel” (Ezekiel 33:11). If God’s Word is to be received as a Word of salvation, it must be “humbly accepted.” We must “not merely listen to the Word.” We are to “do what it says” (James 1:21-22). Our “house” must be built on the Lord (Psalm 127:1). This is the way of wisdom, the way of building on the Rock, which is God Himself. When the storms of life become very testing, those who have built their lives upon the Lord will not collapse – “They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate” (Psalm 127:5). God’s Word promises blessing ...