Category: Ezekiel-BibleTrekToday
True disciples
Scripture reading for November 2nd: Ezekiel 22-24, Psalm 134, John 8
Key Scriptures: John 8:31-36 “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly Truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.””
According to Jesus, true disciples abide in His Word. To abide means rest securely in Jesus Word, which is Truth. Knowing truth is the only way we can have faith. Faith comes from hearing Jesus’ Words and allowing them to abide in our hearts. Actions and good works will flow from Jesus’ Word. Real freedom is knowing and doing God’s will. Slavery is being bound by selfish lust and sin. Today we can choose freedom–forever! It is found in Jesus Christ, God’s Son Who is the Word made flesh.
Psalm 134:1-2 “Come bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands in the Holy Place and bless the Lord!”
Faith confession and prayer: I bless and honor You, Jesus my Lord, for the freedom of knowing and doing Your will. I will take in the Word of God and allow it to abide in me and produce good fruit, standing in the gap for Your will and freedom for a lost world.
Ezekiel 22:30 “And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.”
Willing to do His will!
Scripture reading for October 30th: Ezekiel 19-21, Psalm 84, John 7
Key Scriptures: John 7:14-17 “About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this Man has learning, when He has never studied?” So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not Mine, but His Who sent Me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on My own authority.”
The Jews hated Jesus because they were jealous of the crowds that He drew and they were also confounded by His teaching with authority. Jesus knew their plot to kill Him, yet He went up to the temple during the Feast of Tabernacles and began teaching in the temple. They asked Him where He got His great learning and Jesus said it came from the One who sent Him. He then stated that anyone who really wanted to do God’s will, not just know it, would know that His teaching was from God. Our choice of obedience determines our ability to understand.
Psalm 84:12 “O Lord of Hosts, how blessed is the one who trusts in You!”
Faith confession and prayer: Lord Jesus, I want to know and obey Your will. Often my flesh is weak, forgive me Lord, and fill me with Your Holy Spirit and power to obey and share Your Word.
Ezekiel 20:33-34 “”As I live, declares the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and will wrath poured out I will be King over you. I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out.””
Turning back?
Scripture reading for October 29th: Ezekiel 16-18, John 6
Key Scriptures: John 6:66-71 “After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray Him.”
Jesus had just given His disciples and followers a strong teaching declaring that He was the “Bread of Life” and that His followers would eat His “flesh” and drink His “blood”. He was not advocating cannibalism, but close communion with Him spiritually. At this, many disciples turned away. Jesus asked the “Twelve” about their commitment. It wasn’t that Jesus did not already know their decision. He was well aware that Judas was not a believer but a son of the devil. Because He loved him, Jesus was seeking to draw him to saving faith so that he would not be lost. He did not chase down those who had turned back, however.
Faith confession and prayer: Lord Jesus, You alone have the Words of Life! I trust in You and desire to never turn back. Continue to draw me to You and guide me with Your Word to live out Your truth and share it with others.
Ezekiel 18:21 “But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all My statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.”
Amen! Amen!
Scripture reading for October 28th: Ezekiel 13-15, Psalm 136, John 5
Key Scriptures: John 5:24-27 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My Word and believes Him Who has sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.”
Jesus spoke the truth plainly to those accusing Him of breaking the Sabbath by healing and calling God His Father. He claimed equality with the Father in having eternal life in His own Person. He also claimed authority to execute judgment, something reserved for God alone. Hearing Jesus and believing the Father Who sent Him results in escape from judgment (death), and entry into life eternal. Jesus emphasized these truths by double-stating “Truly, truly!” He speaks these truths today to us afresh! Amen! Amen!
Psalm 136:1 “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, and His steadfast love endures forever.”
Faith confession and prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God, sent by the Father as Savior of all who will believe. Thank You for Your good gift of Eternal Life and Your steadfast love for ever and ever! I repent of my sins and rest in Your promise.
Ezekiel 14:6 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.”
Personal Revelation
Scripture reading for October 27th: Ezekiel 10-12, Psalm 83, John 4
Key Scriptures: John 4:39-42 “Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His Word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
Preachers share the Gospel message and tell of their personal testimony of how Jesus Christ saved them, bringing them to repentance of their sins and faith that He is the Son of God. Those who hear may believe as a result of the testimony, but this won’t necessarily save them. They must press in to know Jesus for themselves and also have a personal testimony. Hearsay won’t save us. We must know for ourselves that Jesus is indeed the Son of God!
Psalm 83:1 “O God, do not keep silence; do not hold Your peace or be still, O God!”
Faith confession and prayer: Lord, thank You that You did not remain silent, but spoke to the woman at the well and to the Samaritans personally revealing Who You are. Lord, bring personal revelation of Jesus Christ each time I share my testimony of Your saving grace!
Ezekiel 11:19-20 “And I will give them one heart, and a new Spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My rules and obey them. And they shall be My people and I will be their God.”
Saving the world!
Scripture reading for October 26th: Ezekiel 7-9, John 3
Key Scriptures: John 3:14-18 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God.”
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and reveal the Father God’s love for all mankind. Jesus showed Nicodemus through the Old Testament story of Moses and the serpent on the pole how God would lift up His Son in the crucifixion. As the Israelites were healed by looking at the bronze serpent image on the pole lifted above the camp, so all mankind would be saved and given eternal life by looking to Jesus, Who was made sin for us and died on the cross in our place. God’s amazing love is revealed to all who will humbly look and believe.
Faith confession and prayer: Lord God and Jesus, I thank You both for Your amazing love and the gift of eternal life. You alone are my precious possession, not silver or gold. Empower me today to share this great news with all in my path.
Ezekiel 7:19 “They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity.”
Zeal for God’s House!
Scripture reading for October 23rd: Ezekiel 4-6, Psalm 82, John 2
Key Scriptures: John 2:13-17 “The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple He found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And He poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And He told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make My Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house will consume Me.””
Jesus had just come into His ministry and was visiting the temple during Passover. As He entered, He found money-changers and marketers selling temple sacrifices to visiting pilgrims. He made a whip of cords and drove out these merchandisers and demanded that they not profane His Father’s house. Jesus had a zealous passionate love for His Father and those coming to find Him in His house! We are now “His house!” Jesus is just as zealous now that His House not be defiled and be welcoming to the lost and those seeking Him.
Psalm 82:3-4 “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
Faith confession and prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for Your zeal for Your Father’s House. I have offered my body as Your House here on earth. Cleanse it as You see fit, in grace and mercy, not in Your anger. May I fulfill Your plans and purposes to reach the lost and hurting.
Ezekiel 5:13 “”Thus shall My anger spend itself, and I will vent My fury upon them and satisfy Myself. And they shall know that I am the Lord–that I have spoken in My jealousy–when I spend My fury upon them.””
Full of grace and truth!
Scripture reading for October 22nd: Ezekiel 1-3, John 1
Key Scriptures: John 1:14-18 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness about Him, and cried out, (“This was He of whom I said, ‘He Who comes after me ranks before me, because He was before me.'”) For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, Who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known.”
John the beloved disciple, wrote his gospel towards the end of his life. He was the youngest of the disciples and one of the closest to Jesus’ heart. He was assigned the duty of caring for Jesus’ mother by Him. John honored Jesus as the only Son of the Father God, and the Word of God made flesh. John portrayed Jesus Christ as ‘full of grace and truth’, making known the Father’s heart of love and mercy. John had received this grace and truth, and wrote to pass it on to us and the generations that have followed and will come.
Faith confession and prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for revealing the Father’s heart of grace and truth to us through Your life and John’s written Word. Fill me with Your fullness that I might share with others Your amazing grace and truth.
Ezekiel 3:16-17 “And at the end of seven days, the Word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a Word from My mouth, you shall give them warning from Me.”
Describing the Indescribable One!
Scripture reading for November 29th: Ezekiel 45-48, Revelation 1
Key Scriptures: Revelation 1:12-16 “Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands One like a Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of His head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full strength.”
Jesus Christ appeared in a vision to John while he was worshiping on the Lord’s day while in prison on the Isle of Patmos. John’s response was to fall down as a dead man at the sight of such glory and majesty. He at one time had put his head on Jesus’ chest while they reclined at the last Passover. Here John attempts to describe the resurrected and glorified Jesus with the best metaphors he can come up with. How do you describe the Indescribable?
Ezekiel 48:35 “The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord Is There.”
Prayer: Lord, I look forward to seeing Jesus and living in the eternal city, the New Jerusalem, known by the Name: The Lord Is There.”