344 - "Monument of the Power of Divine Grace" Daniel 4-6; 2 John

                                                   

Leave the stump, bound with a band of iron and bronze. Daniel 4:15 Metaphorically speaking, the band of iron represented afflictions. There was hope that the stump might shoot forth back into life. That was my story a decade ago. Beth Moore shared this verse with me. It was a deep glimmer of hope in a very dark abysmal of a time. A verse about King Nebuchadnezzar who was a "monument of the power of Divine grace, and of the riches of Divine mercy." M.Henry He recovered from his madness. Recovered from his pride of forgetting God. "Whatever affliction God is pleased to lay upon us, may we have cause to bear it patiently, and to be thankful that he continues the use of our reason, and the peace of our consciences." M.Henry. The shoot sprang forth---that's me. 

I felt like I was about gone in 2006 January. The irons of affliction had done me in.

That summer, I started to sprout. 

Little by Little.

I came alive.

And that tree grew back again.

And I can now give shade to others once more. 

PHOTO:  Outside my window in Des Moines. Strong like steel. The Mighty One.

343 - "Turn or Burn" Daniel 1-3; 1John 4

                             

Ashpenaz went looking for skilled youth with a spotless record in Israel. You never know when you are living life when a knock may come on your door. Am I being faithful in the things I know, I do, I have. And Daniel makes history, not a show-stopper but a surrendered soul. May we be found faithful where we are.  

And here's a quote for all times, all moments: Dear King, we have no need to answer you in this matter of worshipping your gods with a little "g." Throw us in the lion's den. "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand." Determined---they will not serve or worship the king's gods with a little "g." Daniel 3:18.  

"And the hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them." Daniel 3:27. Blessed by the God of these 3 men.  And what this God did for these 3 servants made an indelible mark on all who watched, on all who hear 2,000 years later.  Isaiah 43:2 is true:  When you pass through the waters, God will be with you.  When you go through the fire, you will not be burned.  A metaphor of grace.  You will be taken care of.

Oh Father, When we read these beautiful stories of surrender and calm in the midst of horror, help us to walk in Your Ways, not the show-stopping celebrity world in which we live.  Whatever men may do to us, may we know You are with us.

PHOTO:  The sunset tonight.  Pondering what it means to really be alive.  To not miss the Grace of God in the midst of suffering.  To find His Presence there, here.

342 - "See God and The More Low We Lie In Our Own Eyes" Ezekiel 45-48; 1 John 3

 

Oh! Ezekiel! We will meet you one day. We'll worship together with You this God you so adore. "I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord. And I fell on my face. And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning all the statutes of the temple of the Lord and all its laws." Ezekiel 44:4

And here we go again. Overcome with awe! "The humblest posture of adoration and the expression of a holy awe." (M.Henry). Facedown. "The more we see of the glory of God the more low we shall lie in our own eyes." (M.Henry). And that thought explains to me how in the midst of my living life and being gravely offended, even this day, that I may make my ambition to find the glory of God and desire to live low in my own eyes. It's been a harrowing of a day and I really cannot share it with anyone, so I'll give it over to my God Who deeply cares. My roots have been twisted and turned.

And God charges Ezekiel to take extra care to observe with his eyes. A very careful observant learner. Ezek 45:5. Matthew Henry states a beautiful "In acquainting ourselves with divine things, we must not aim so much at an abstract speculation of the things themselves as at finding the plain appointed way of communion with those things, that we may go in and out and find pasture." Oh that we find pasture. Great peace have those who love the law.

Oh Father, help us find a deeper peace than we know.  May we find the appointed way this day that we may seek peace in all our comings and goings.  

PHOTO:  Pasture in the Hill Country.  Father, help us find a gripping peace that won't let go of us.

341 - "What Causes You to Fall on Your Face" Ezekiel 43; 1 John 2

                                                   

"And I fell on my face." Ezekiel 43:3.  What causes me to fall on my face?  I can think of times:  cancer, betrayal, loss, grave disappointment, depression.  Seems like it is when something happens to me rather than what stirs within me.  Ezekiel saw a vision concerning what God would do to the people of the city---destroy them.  And the immense glimpse of suffering and shame overwhelmed Ezekiel with sorrow.  And he fell.  Facedown.

God, cause us to be a people who deeply care about the depravity and destruction we see in our own time and towns.  The quote from Buechner comes to mind:  may our calling meet the world's great needs.  Give us bigger hearts that beat to be givers not takers in this world of woe.

Ezekiel 43:4  - "The Spirit put me on my feet and led me to...the Bright Glory of God."  Do I think I have to pull myself together and stand up in hard times?  God will put me on my feet again. 

Ezekiel 43:9 HE will move in forever. 

Ezekiel 43:27 "I'll accept you with pleasure, with delight.  Decree of your God, your Master!"  Unbelievable that God accepts me with pleasure and delight.  So many memories this day of people who have not delighted in me.  But!  Overriding Presence of the One for Whom I know takes pleasure in me.  It's a liminal place where you sense the Presence of our God.  It's the place of what is seen and Who is  Unseen.  On my feet in midst of overwhelming pain sensing the Presence of God that no man can create!

Awestruck!  With my hand over my mouth!
PHOTO:  Beautiful sunrise here in Galveston.  May we all fall on our faces before the One Who holds the oceans at bay and the sunrise so grand.  

340 - "From Dry Bones to a Genuine Life" Ezekiel 41-42; I John 1

God, cause us to be a people who deeply care about the depravity and destruction we see in our own time and towns.  The quote from Buechner comes to mind:  may our calling meet the world's great needs.  Give us bigger hearts that beat to be givers not takers in this world of woe.

"The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."  Frederick Buechner counted up 70 times that God explains in Ezekiel that He does all that He does for one purpose:  that we will know that "I Am the Lord."   This third vision of Ezekiel reveals a brand new rebuilt temple, brand new hearts who love God more than being loved.  God is the ultimate Greater Good not our families; not our jobs; not our ministry. 

"In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city—on that very day the hand of the Lord was on me and he took me there." Ezek 42:1.  From dry bones to a genuine life where He writes our story.  And we know the very moment when He says His Hand is on me.

DEAR GOD, PLEASE CHANGE ME IN THESE 10,000 MOMENTS OF MY LIFE WHERE I FACE DECISIONS AND CAN GO ONE WAY OR THE OTHER TO SERVE YOU OR SERVE IDOLS.  You have brought us from lifeless to so alive.  You hovered over our darkness and turned it into light.  And this very moment, may we know deeply that Your Hand is holding us tight. 

PHOTO:  Beautiful sunrise here in Galveston.  May we all fall on our faces before the One Who holds the oceans at bay and the sunrise so grand.

339 - "Humbly Search Concerning Your Suffering" Ezekiel 40; 2 Peter 3

Ezekiel 40:1 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me to the city." There is no mistake of the exact moment when he knew that God brought Him to that place. And our God has brought us to the place we sit this day. Dare we trust Him for more as we lift up open broken hands to His.  

This vision goes until the end of the book.  It's so hard to understand but we trust when we get to those rough patches, don't we?  Matthew Henry put it this way:  "Humbly search concerning it, get as far as we can into it and as much as we can out of it, and, when we despair of satisfaction in every difficulty we meet with, bless God that our salvation does not depend upon it, but that things necessary are plain enough, and wait till God shall reveal even this unto us." 

COME BOLDLY:  Timeless Prayers
Father, may we be bold and courageous like Ezekiel, while humble and repentant.  May Your Good Hand be on all of our lives, no matter what.

PHOTO:  Walking Galveston beach. Pondering how God's Hand is on our lives. Such mystery. 

338 - "The Hound of Heaven Pursues" Ezekiel 39; 2 Peter 2

     

And the Word of God came again to Ezekiel. I don't know that I've ever noticed how many prophecies came to this holy man who maintained justice and rightness before God.

And the Hound of Heaven pursues once again and forever.  Them and us.

Ezekiel 39:25 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name."

613 commands they had to obey.  How could they even remember them all.  No one could live them out every day.  Impossible.  The Jewish system and all its rules.  From 10 Commandments to over 600.  And God is moving to redeem.  Christ came.

Christ's invitation:  Come to Me.  Doesn't matter if it's just one rule.  Always breaking one.  Oh, that we live attached to the One Who can do something about all this weariness and woe.

Father, we are touched deeply by Ezekiel and his holy living and preaching and loving and prophesying.  You truly are the Hound of Heaven.  And You will never ever let us go.  Help us to know this day Your Holy Fire and Desire for each one of us.  You are jealous for me---as the song says.  May we sing it today!

PHOTO:  The Hound of Heaven comes.  From the days of Jerusalem to the days of hill country, He 

337 - "The Shining of the Word Darted Into Your Mind" Ezekiel 35-36; 2 Peter 1

 These apostles just did not "hear" about what was happening.  They were eyewitnesses "of the majesty." 2 Peter 1:16. They all had read the Old Testament, the sure word of what was to come.  So, what are we to do>. Search the Scriptures.  Believe the truth of this sure word of prophecy. Cast your heart into the doctrine.  Regulate your thoughts and conversation.  Use the Scripture as a light to dispel the darkness in your world which is upon the face of the whole earth.  The Word is a Lamp to your feet.  Acknowledge your own darkness.  When the light of Scripture is "darted" into the mind, the Day-Star arises with light in your soul. Just like the daybreak advancing and spreading and diffusing itself through the whole soul. If we walk wise, it is because of the shining of the Word of God in my heart.  That's what you are are supposed to do...your duty...search the Scriptures and let the light rise in your heart by the assistance of the Holy Spirit.  

Is your hope gone?
"Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live."
Ezekiel 37.  Verse 9 and Verse 11 on 9/11.

To someone who is dabbling in lost hope, there are no adequate words to tell you what you don't know.  There are deeper issues.  We are not alive.  Oh, that we may live today and always.  Oh! That we would celebrate the Grace alive in each of us today.  And not focus on what needs to change; what needs to improve; what is so terribly wrong.  May the joy and hope of our hearts be the unending Grace abounding toward each of us as we face our loss, our lifelessness, and our lack of love. 

We are Israel.  Come, Lord Jesus, and wake us all up. 

DEAR GOD, PLEASE CHANGE ME IN MY LACKLUSTRE 10,000 MOMENTS OF TRYING TOO HARD TO IMPROVE TO BE SOMEBODY.  May we truly celebrate this day Your Grace so Amazing, so Unheard of, so Glorious. 

Photo:  My girls. Circa November 2022 in Kansas City. May the Light of the Word rise in your hearts. 

336 - "They Want To Hear Smooth Things" Ezekiel 32-34, I Peter 5

Ezekiel was made a watchman over the country.  Ezekiel 33:7  .  Whether the response was positive or negative, Ezekiel went to serve.  For whom do I carry the burdens of this life?  These prophecies are to be chanted.  So that they may know that He is God.  This is Ezekiel's calling.  To warn sinners about imminent danger. 

"It becomes us to weep and tremble for those who will not weep and tremble for themselves."  Matthew Henry. mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain." Ezek 33:30.

Men care more about the temporary than the eternal when they overlook settling their sins with God. 

One commentary talked about how they set watchmen to guard their houses but not their hearts.  When their happiness or misery is at stake, Matthew Henry says:  "they are offended if ministers obey God and give faithful warnings; they would rather perish listening to smooth things." 

"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."
Ezekiel 33:30-33

All that happens any normal week of our lives---the cutting, the distractions, the heart piercing words flung your way. Cast them His way---the gracious providence of God. I Peter 5:5. Our Sovereign Savior. And He will order all events to convince you of his tender care for you and what happened. Because He cares for you so. Because good will come from it. Reassign every event to His Gracious determination, the Divine counsel.  Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

The God of all grace who has called you to His eternal glory will restore you and make you strong. If any still feel the stress of bittersweet Thanksgiving gone awry, stand firm in the true grace. I Peter 5:12. It is yours.  

PHOTO:  Watchmen.Taken in Israel.

335 - "Who Are You Like In Your Greatness?" Ezekiel 30-31, I Peter 4

You will know that I am the Lord! 
How many times did God make that statement?
God is always seeking, always beckoning, always calling. 
And how long do we go without acknowledging this day that He is Lord!

God speaks to Ezekiel, once again.  Prophesy!
And how many times has God initiated a Word with Ezekiel?
I wonder if Ezekiel ever wavered, ever wondered? He is just like us. Always returning.

And God says to Ezekiel.
Ask this of Pharaoh:
"Who are you like in your greatness?" Ezekiel 31:2
What a telling question.
There is One Who asks the questions we must answer.
It is He.  The Lord. 
Be prepared to answer the good questions, the right ones.
To Whom else shall we go?  John 6:66

Dear Father, Do we remind You of Yourself?  Or are we so full of our own selves and our own plans that we cannot see out.  Fill us with Yourself.  Draw us in.  Draw us up. I Peter 4:1-2 says to "think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way." I lost a $600 opportunity 11/12/23 at 8am because I did not speak up fast enough.  I have been beating myself up---why? I wanted to have it my way and walk off with the $600.  God is weaning me.  

PHOTO:  A fisheye of Washington state.  Wondering about this greatness thing.  God has put in our hearts a measure of success.  May we never live for greatness but only for Him.  To God be the glory, the greatness. 

334 - "Keep Your Lamps Burning" Ezekiel 27-29, I Peter 3

"Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor." Ezek 28:17

In this celebrity society of ours.

We hallow looks and lavish lifestyles.

It's the very thing that can turn us away.

How arrogant to think we want success stories.

If we could just do it over again.

But our hearts are proud.

And we'd become proud again.

May we walk humbly this day before our God. the lamps burning for the Lord.
God led them there by Light.
God is there.
He is alive.
The Temple recognizes the God who is there.
We are The Temple today.
What God said is still alive.
And I am still here.
Eternal flames burn bright to say
Our God is Alive in me.
And He leads me out every single day.
Keep your lamps burning bright.

Exodus 27:21 -  From evening to morning, it's a lasting ordinance for the generations to come---keep the lamps burning before the Lord.  What does that mean for a one-year-old Ezekiel?

333 - "Set Your Face" Ezekiel 25-26, 1 Peter 2

                            

Oh Ezekiel, Son of man,
set your face and prophesy.
Ezekiel 25:1

Tell them:
Hear the word of the Sovereign Lord.
The people have desecrated the things of God.
They have clapped their hands/ stomped their feet
with malice in their hearts. But they will receive from God
what is due. 

Open our ears to hear the Sovereign Word today.  

May we be found faithful right where we type our stories.

PHOTO: The sky tonight. Set my face like a flint to walk in your ways. 

332 - Ezekiel 24; I Peter 1

"The word of the Lord came to me:  “Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down.  Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.” So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded."  Ezekiel 24: 16-18

Ezekiel has prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem.  Ezekiel "assured them that there was no hope at all of the preventing of the trouble; here he assures them that they should not have the ease of weeping for it.  The sign by which this was represented to them was a sign that cost the prophet very dear."  He lost his wife.  The desire of his eyes which means in the Hebrew:  the comfort of human life came from this good relationship.  "Ezekiel found a prudent tender yoke-fellow, that shared with him in his griefs and cares, to be a happy companion in his captivity."  Matthew Henry

"Behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke."  Desire of the eyes in the Hebrew:  you do not find any other person more grateful.  A stroke in the Hebrew:  No one is "exempted" from the stroke, we just do not know when it may come and take the desire of our eyes.  Let us take care to love the desire of our eyes that they not become the sorrow of our hearts by our own small hearts.  For one day, the stroke will come and produce sorrow.  I Cor 7:29-30 - Live as though you have no wife.  God will do what He wills with His own---may we live open-handed.

Mourning for your wife who is taken with a stroke is so sad.  O God!  Help us to face what you allow, what you bring, what you leave.  Strengthen us for the work that You have for us.  Thank you for the story of this courageous prophet, grasped by You, engaged in Your Will.  May we treat holy the desire of our eyes.

PHOTO:  Ezekiel lived in a desert with the "desire of his eyes."  So alone in a world of revelers.  And he found such a beautiful relationship until the "stroke."  And with that one swift sudden stroke, she was gone.  What a price this prophet paid!

331 - Ezekiel 22-23, John 4

These verses are so real, so hard, so true.  God gives us over to ourselves if we do not surrender.  May we bow before the Mighty One in humble honor, adoration, and love.

 “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust." Ezekiel 23:28. 

We all deal with arrogance.

Father, forgive us!  May we turn our eyes to You.  Revive us in your ways.

My Dear Ones,

God is looking for people to stand in the gap.  

Stand in the gap for what is right, what is good, what will last.

"I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one." Ezekiel 22:30

Praying for you to stand in the gap in the things that matter for Eternity!

PHOTO: Bridge over troubled waters. Troubles come to all but our arrogance creates so much more trouble. 

330 - "A Severe Mercy" Ezekiel 20-21; James 3

There you will remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done. You will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for My Name’s Sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices, you people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

Ezekiel 20:24

Oh! To know that my God deals with me not according to my evil ways but calls me by name.  I am His Name's Sake. 

 In the seventh year, the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, some of the leaders of Israel came to ask for guidance from God. The Master said:  Have you come to ask me questions? As sure as I am the living God, I'll not put up with questions from you.  God did say:  Get rid of all the vile things that you've become addicted to.  Don't make yourselves filthy with the Egyptian no-god idols.  I alone am God, your God.  But they held on to the no-gods of Egypt as if for dear life and said: We're going to worship gods we can make and control." 

No Lists!  "See My Glory, this time, not in Holy Wrath but in Merciful Love, Severe Mercy, Radical Dependence.

PHOTO:  Between the mountaintops and the valleys where we live every single day.  There.  Present.  Alive.  Known.  Accountable.  Repentant.  Alive.  Grasped.  Surrendered.  Between the mountaintops and valleys.  Every single day.  Present. 

329 - "God Overrules Every Event" Ezekiel 18-19, James 2

When we stand before the Lord, we will give account for our sins.  Our souls will die if we keep on sinning and do not repent.  ;"Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine." Ezekiel 18:4

"The Lord overrules every event for the eternal good of believers. All souls are in the hand of the great Creator: he will deal with them in justice or mercy; nor will any perish for the sins of another, who is not in some sense worthy of death for his own."  Matthew Henry

Our times are in His Hands.  All our days; All our ways.  Consider what you are doing----not to do penance--- for His Finished Work is complete.  

May we see through the filter of Truth what it means to walk in Truth.  Strengthen us in the inner man that we walk by faith not by what we see.  

PHOTO:  Whether we live in Ezekiel's day or the generation in this Dallas photo, God remains the same.  His finished work covers all our sins.  So what will I do with this besetting sin?  Will I wrestle well and lean hard on the One Who holds our souls.

328 "You Trusted in Your Beauty" Ezekiel 15-17

Again, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel. Ezek 16:1. And I weep as I read this story of a faithful prophet sent to a people who do not want to hear these words.  I wonder what Ezekiel wrestled with as he shared God's Words with obstinant followers. Those with walls built high. Walls that were not crumbling. For they trusted in their strengths.

You are entering a world of communication that your parents never knew.  What will you hear your world saying about you?  I've learned one piece that shapes my thinking:  It's not what happens to you in life but what you do with it.  Life bombards all of us with messages about what truly is beautiful and just how do you find it?  Trust in no plan, no man, no wand, no stand, no ball, no call.  And watch for those days when you trust your beauty.

"But you trusted in your beauty." Ezekiel 16:15.  And it became a disaster to them.
“But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his. Ezek 16:15. Vaulted Chambers. Only letting in what we want to. What are the things this day that we trust in? The beauty of success; the beauty of accomplishment; the beauty of independence.  

And the smallest most beautiful word: yet.

Yet, I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant...That you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.” Ezek 16: 59, 63.

May they remember You this day.  May we all remember what You have saved us from.  May we remember the depths from where we have come.  Break down these walls we've built.  No more vaulted chambers.  Thank you for melting our hearts like wax.

PHOTO:  A beautiful sunrise in Oklahoma.  Thinking about this man of God who went back again and again to give them the Words of God.  Not dismayed by their responses.  Not confounded by their faces.  Not deterred by their lack of change.  Not swayed by the popular vote.

327 - "Even Walls Crumble" Ezekiel 13-14; James 1

Walls crumble.
Lives crumble.
May we live under the mercy of a strong and mighty God Who offers us stability without walls.

Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?” Ezekiel 13:10

DEAR GOD, PLEASE CHANGE ME WHEN MY WALLS CRUMBLE TODAY.  Help me to find You because I am weak not because I am strong.  And when the walls tumble down today, may I be found standing tall.  Psalm 3:3

Fan the Flame of our Faith.

All we can deal with is our own hearts.

Ezekiel 14:14 ~ Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves,”  Noah could only focus on his family, his sin.  He could not save the whole world.  Same with Daniel and Job.  Only Christ can rescue us and save us from ourselves, from this world.  All three of these men were rescued, delivered, and held by a very Good God while their world crumbled around them and they could do little to save people. 

Noah - A guilty world drowned.  They didn't listen to his words.
Daniel - Raised up only a few in his country.  They didn't buy into his prayers.
Job - Lost 10 children; his reputation; all his friends; his position. 
They couldn't save their communities, their children, their contemporaries. 

Ezekiel knew Daniel well.
Daniel was in his 14th year of captivity when these words were written.
"The holiness of any man can only avail for himself."  John Gill
So let go of your control over your children, your community, your co-workers.

PRAYER FROM PSALMS
God, You wrote:  "You make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers.  O God, let the Wind of Your Holy Spirit blow over our unholy lives and make them come alive.  Blow away the chaff that does not matter---those things we take too lightly---those times we live for here not Eternity.  May Your Fire fan the flame of our faith.

PHOTO: And the walls come down. 

326 - "The Veil is Thin" Ezekiel 11-12;

‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign Lord.’” Ezekiel 12:28.  Every jot.  Every tittle.  Yes.  It will be fulfilled.  May we take care of our business here on earth with blinders on. "There is but a step between us and an awful eternity; therefore it concerns us to get ready for a future state."

This is about eternity and how I will live there.  Don't let me miss out on what You have for me here, there.  says that His Hand will not be on the prophets, the people who mislead, saying "Peace," when there is no peace for those who disobey.  Those who build walls and live behind them.  But walls crumble.  Ezekiel 13: 9-11.

"There was no prosperity designed for them," none whatsoever.  These people were in war with the Chaldeans.  Yet, the prophets promised what they could not.  The prophets gave a false hope that the war would end in their peace and all will be well.  "They seduced God's people; they put a cheat upon them, led them into mistakes, and drew them aside out of that way of repentance and reformation which the other prophets were endeavoring to bring them into." Matthew Henry

Repentance and Reformation.  The message holds true for today.  I hear people in ministry saying that we have to go soft on people.  Don't scare them away from God.  What is the gospel truth?  I think the prophet in our day who speaks the gospel truth is not the one who will get the bookings.  The prophets who tickle the ears and tell their people:  Here.  Here are the steps to follow and life will all work out for you.  Where are the people calling us to repentance and reformation?

Hopes of peace, not help up by the Word of God, cheat our friends from facing what is in their soul. Ezekiel 13:10. The false prophets seduced the people. The prophets whitewashed the greatness of their sin. “Peace” to all. The prophets threw around their and covered over the weaknesses with “untampered mortar” that will fade and flake and disintegrate under the next storm. Peace sounds better than troubles. And this, you can live behind whitewashed walls.

PHOTO:  It's a 100-year-old stagecoach stop that harbored both deceivers and deceived, truth tellers alike.  Do we speak the truth to those whom we provide a safe harbor?

325 - "Undivided and Unattached Hearts" Ezekiel 9-10

                           

Look at the beautiful words God gave Ezekiel.
God Gospel promises to give us all a new heart and a new spirit. Ezekiel 11:19.
Matthew Henry says it this way: God puts a new spirit within us, a temper of mind agreeable to the new circumstances into which God, in His Providence, will bring us. 
Undivided hearts.  Unattached hearts.  Unbelievable.

Ezekiel 10:1 - The Temple was filled with the Presence of God.

Ezekiel 12:1 - God's Message came to me: "Son of man, you're living with a bunch of rebellious people. They have eyes but don't see a thing, they have ears but don't hear a thing.

God's Message: 'You'll eat your meals shaking in your boots and drink your water in terror because your land is going to be stripped bare as punishment for the brutality rampant in it. ... Then you'll realize that I am God.'" 
  
Time's about up.  ""Your hand has been over your eyes.  It belongs over your mouth." 66 LL.  I stand silenced before a holy God for 4 reasons seen in the Vision that I read about in 66 LL:

1. The idol of Jealousy - desire to feel loved, to enjoy good relationships, to be affirmed, to see yourself as worthy of respect and entitled to a pleasant life.  These desires become your idol of jealousy when they rule your life.

2.  The idol of Appreciation - when you, in the secret place of your heart, want something more than My Pleasure, the power of your flesh is turned loose.

3.  The idol of Self-interest -  when self obsession sinks its way into my conversations.  When you value anything above Me, when self interest rules your life, you feel only your desires for what is available in this world:  good health, warm relationships, fulfilling work and you assume it is my job to satisfy those desires.  

4.  The idol of false hope.  exchanging true hope for false hope when you turn from Me to enjoy the smug satisfaction of superiority.

Do I mourn at the failure of my spouse to love me well or the failure of my ministry to affirm my gifts and calling or the failure of my friends to appreciate me----do I mourn that MORE than I mourn distance from God?

PHOTO: Walking next to a golf course in McKinney pondering these words.

324 - ""God Pulled Me By the Hair of My Head" Ezekiel 8; Hebrews 13

                 .  

God stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God. Ezekiel 8:3.  God beheld his servant, the precious Ezekiel.  Before the elders.  And he brought this glorious friend to Jerusalem in spirit.  That he might show this holy man what sin looked like to Him.  Oh!  That we may see our own sin this day. Make me more aware of what lurks within and without.  Turn my darkness into light.  2 Samuel 22:29.

Startling Note: Beth Moore came up to me at a conference and said: God has pulled you by the hair of your head out of your church and moved you on. She really knew very little of the story.

PHOTO:  Between the mountaintops and the valleys where we live every single day.  There.  Present.  Alive.  Known.  Accountable.  Repentant.  Alive.  Grasped.  Surrendered.  Between the mountaintops and valleys.  Every single day.  Present wherever God has yanked you from.

323 - "Struggle in Confusion and Wait in Hope" Ezekiel 5-7

                              

Ezekiel 5:7 God, the Master, says:   You've been more headstrong and willful than any of the nations around you.  ...  I'm going to do something to you that I've never done before and will never do again: turn families into cannibals—parents eating children, children eating parents! ...  . Then you'll know that I was serious about this that I'm a jealous God and not to be trifled with.  Epidemic disease, unrestrained murder, death—and I will have sent it! I, God, have spoken." 

Ezekiel 6:8  Every place where you've lived, the towns will be torn down and the pagan shrines demolished. Corpses everywhere you look! Then you'll know that I am God. ... This is what God, the Master, says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, yell out, "No, no, no!" because of all the evil obscenities rife in Israel. They're going to be killed, dying of hunger, dying of disease—death everywhere you look.  Because I am angry, furiously angry. They'll realize that I am God...

Ezekiel 7:2 The end of business as usual for everyone. It's all over. I'll make you pay and you'll realize that I am God.' It is I, God, Who have hit you. 

Ezekiel 8: 1 In the sixth year, in the sixth month and the fifth day, while I was sitting at home meeting with the leaders of Judah, it happened that the hand of my Master, God, gripped me.  HE said: "They can shout all they want, but I'm not listening."

So, am I listening to God where I am this day?  I wonder what is happening in the Unseen World of our United States of America?  The Unseen World of the Brandon household?    If we could really see and listen, we would be filled with such hope and courage.  But, this is frightening.  The people of Ezekiel's day never realized that God was God.  God made them pay.  We must ask every question that comes to mind as we read the horror of what God did to make these people cannibals.  So what is God's response?  I hit them with this terror for not listening to Me.  What will He do to our family and friends this day who choose not to follow Him?  All I know is that we must first look within and pay whatever price to follow Him and tremble before a Holy God and learn so much more to wait in our emptiness for His Plan A.  "Only those who struggle in confusion and wait in hope will be strengthened to struggle well and to wait with confidence."  66 LL.  Isaiah 30:15.

This is what the Sovereign Lord says.  Ezekiel 5:5.
He wants each of us to know that He is God.
And that life is not found in the multitude of opinion, people, things.
Not found in the strength of a man; nor in the power to do spiritually good.

Regeneration is the will of God, not the will of man.

God quickens dead hearts. 

God enlightens dark places.
By His Spirit.  By His Word.
This is what the Sovereign Lord says.

PHOTO: Snapped in Israel, where God wanted them to know that He is God. 

322 - "I Have Made You a Watchman" Ezekiel 3-4; Hebrews 12

Dear Ezekiel and All,

Thirtieth Year,
Fourth Month.
Fifth Day.

Ezekiel knew the exact moment and place he saw the Almighty God. It's a vision he will never forget. 

A vision that changed his ministry, changed his life. 

At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: Ezekiel 3:16 

The word of the Lord came to me... I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them the Word. 

No greater thing we can do for our friends. 

So, let God stand you up.

So, let God speak His Words.

PHOTO:  Ezekiel at Britt & Taylor's wedding. November 2019

321 - “Stand on Your Two Feet” Ezekiel 1-2; Hebrews 12

 

And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” Ezekiel 2:1.

This verse God spoke to me when I was at the absolute lowest point of my life.  Not exactly the spot I would go to.  Precisely what God did.  I stood and His Power entered into me and set me on my feet.  Ezek 2:2.  I stood cause I purposed in my heart to go with God in the midst of harrowing circumstances.  It is never about how strong we are.  It is always about how strong HE IS in each of us.  

So, don't be afraid.  Tell that to yourself.  Mean it.  "Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are rebellious..."  Ezek 2:7.  Speak my words to them anyway.  They will not be willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to God.  Ezek 2:7.

Oh Father, may Your Hand be strong upon each of us.  Ezekiel 2:14. 

Make us a watchman for our family and our ministry.

320 - “Restore Us To Yourself” Lamentations 5

 

Restore us to Yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored.  Lam 5:21. 
I sit in a funk, despondent in my present circumstances.  And since I am the only one talking to myself tonight, it's hard to know if I have fully repented or keep taking it back?  You see, this is about how others are responding to me---and it shouldn't be.  May we all find a deeper trust, an abandoned surrender.

 "Is any afflicted? Let him pray; and let him in prayer pour out his complaint to God. The people of God do so here; they complain not of evils feared, but of evils felt." Matthew Henry.  And that touches something in me.  May I look at what is happening and then gaze at God's Pardoning Mercy, God's Sanctifying Grace, and God's Kind Hand of Providence.  We owe everything in our lives today to His Mercy.  Under the Mercy.  And we are attached to the Giver of Grace.  Under the Grace.  Identified with the Giver of All.   Restore us this day, O God.

COME BOLDLY:  Timeless Prayers
Dear Father, the Giver of Grace.  We need Your touch this day.  May we come to You with our woes and not to any man.  Restore unto me the joy of my salvation in this despondent day.  

PHOTO:  Rock Springs.  The no-filter view from my balcony as I stand in a rough patch and cry out to the Giver of Grace.

319 - “Walled In” Lamentations 3-4; Hebrews 11

                             

How lonely sits the city that was once full of people!
A city like a widow.  Now like a forced laborer.
All her lovers have dealt treacherously with her. 
No one comes to the feasts anymore.

Jeremiah shares in the afflictions of Israel.
"I am the man who has seen affliction
because of the rod of His Wrath.
He has driven me and made me walk in darkness & not in light."
Walled In.  Shut Out.
Lam 3:1-2

"I well remember my afflictions and my soul is downcast within me.
But T.h.i.s. I call to my mind, therefore I have Hope. 
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed.
His Compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, 'The Lord is My Portion;
therefore, I will wait for Him.
The Lord is good to those whose Hope is in Him,
to the one who seeks Him;
it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young."
Lam 3:20-27

All I can say is Amen.  Here is a guy who has hit rock bottom.
Yet, look what he calls to his mind. 
Oh God, right where I sit this very day,
May I, May we all call to mind Your Great Love and Compassion. 

And wherever I sit this day in hopeless thoughts, help me call to mind Lam 3:20-27 --- your Great Love and Compassion.  Brand new for me this day.  Thank you so much, O God.

PHOTO: The Quarries Lake. A pastoral stretch of land dripping with Quarry rocks. A good place I have waited quietly many a day over 15 years on the campus. 

318 - “The Worst is Never the Worst” Lamentations 1-2; Hebrews 9-10

 

Lamentations 1:1 - How empty the city, once teeming with people...1:8 - Jerusalem, who outsinned the whole world is an outcast.  1:9 - She played fast and lose with life; she never considered tomorrow.  1:16 She weeps buckets of tears and not one person cares for her soul.  What are her tears for?  What are my tears for this evening as I sit at a Starbucks contemplating my future?  Are they for myself?  If so, I will think no one cares for my soul.  It's just not true because of Lamentations 3. 2:19 - Get up each watch night and pour out your heart face-to-face with the Master.  Lift up your hands.  Lift up your head.

God poured on the trouble and hard times.  He locked me up in deep darkness.   He's got me cornered.  BUT, there's one other thing I am remembering that gives me a grip on hope:  God's loyal love couldn't have run out, His merciful love couldn't have dried up. They're created new every morning.  How great your faithfulness! I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over).  He's all I've got left. God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It's a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God. It's a good thing when you're young to stick it out through the hard times. When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face. The "worst" is never the worst.  Why? Because the Master won't ever walk out and fail to return. God's got my back.     

PHOTO:  I couldn't sleep the last few weeks of my pregnancy with Britt. Probably out of fright. Whatever. It was the worst---but never the last worst. God was merciful and gave me this baby to hold all my days. I couldn't love him more. He meant the world to me. It was a token of God's love waiting 7 years for this most precious moment to arrive. I never got over it. I never got over Britt. I never got over God.

317 - “What’s Happened and Why” Jeremiah 48-50; 7-8

 

Jeremiah 48:7 "You trusted in thick walls and big money, but it won't help you now."   "Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you will be taken captive."

Jeremiah 48:14 "How can you say , 'We are warriors, men valiant in battle?' "  You're fighting the wrong battle.  Defiantly Arrogant.

Jeremiah 48:18 "The destroyer of Moab will wreck your safe, secure houses."  Stand on the roadside and ask:  "What's happened.  And why?"

What things do we really trust in?  What keeps you awake at 2am?  Do I think I am being valiant?  Am I in the right battle?  Am I asking the right questions?  Am I in the right place?  I may be right, but it may be coming from the wrong place.  Wreck us for good, dear God.  Expose where our trust is in our good deeds, our deep pocketsIf you trust in your deeds & riches,

You'll be taken captive with your priests and princes.
Jeremiah 48:7.
God never intended for us to find life
in our Past Achievements or flaunting
our Past Deeds of Prowess. 
Moab relied on what they had accomplished.

316 - "Full End" Jeremiah 46-47; Hebrews 5-6

Full End.

"Line up the Shield and Buckler,
Draw Near for Battle."
Every single day.

God will make a full end of this world and its people.
God will not make a full end of His Followers.  Jer 46:28

John Eldridge speaks of the ascending metaphors as we journey in our relationship with God.
Clay.
Sheep.
Servants.
Children,
Friends.
Lovers.

Jeremiah knew his God as the lover of his soul. 
He faced such ridicule and rejection, suffering and separation.
Yet, he pushed through the world to live apart, set apart.
He was not only in God's House, he was His Friend, His Lover.
He lived with a heart of obedience and mission.
May we follow the footsteps of those who have gone before us and have paid a price to be His.

315 - "Do Not Seek Great Things For Yourself" Jeremiah 43-45; Hebrews 3-4

 

God will make my mountains come down low and my valleys raise up in order that I may know Him better.  Isaiah 40:4  May HE glorify Himself.  

He is not lowering my mountains to make life better for me.  It could get a whole lot worse than it is.  In Jeremiah 45:5, God's Message to Baruch:  
"Things are going to get worse before they get better."  Do not seek great things for yourself.  God is the One adding sorrow to my pain.  Don't sit around planning how you can make a huge impact.  Baruch says that God is piling on the pain.  His Plan will not be thwarted.

Meanwhile back to Jeremiah 43, the army officers call Jeremiah a "liar."  And Jeremiah responds in Jer 44:7  "This is the Message of God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: 'So why are you ruining your lives by amputating yourselves from life, leaving yourselves isolated, unconnected?  

Is God speaking to our lives today?  How are we isolating ourselves from others in the name of religion?  How are we disconnected from our husbands, our children, our friends?

PHOTO:

PHOTO:  Live the life God has given you in the Supernova.  A glorious world to live in. It's not about seeking great things. It's all about living in the here and now. Great Things.  Photo Cred:  Flickr Commons

314 - "Are We Obeying the Message of God" JeremIah 40-42; Hebrews 1-2

 

Jeremiah 42: 1 The army officers asked Jeremiah to pray that his God would tell them the way that they should go and what they should do...and they said that God counted on them to do it!  In Jeremiah 42:15, Jeremiah warns them not to determine in their hearts to go where it is safe and peaceful and make that their home---Egypt---the very thing you fear will catch up with them and track them down in Egypt.  But they wouldn't listen!  Let's go back to Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 31:1 - "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots, and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or seek help from the LORD."  The people didn't obey a single word of God's Message through Jeremiah.  Fast forward to today.  Are we obeying the Message of God from our modern-day prophets and preachers?  Are we looking to the Holy One?  Whom did you go to today for help?  I walked beyond the uber expanse of skies this day with a moon and sun tucked behind a veil, and I asked for help from the Holy One in the midst of my current challenges.  Expose my foolish heart of determining what is the safest place for me to pursue while wild lions, so to speak, hunt me down.  My God is My Shelter.  My God is My Refuge.  My God is My Strength.  My God is My Help.  

And it is the Word of God that is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edges sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow.  It is the Word that judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart not people. Hebrews 4:12

PHOTO:  Ezekiel. May you love the sound of His Voice and obey His Message all your days. We absolutely love the sound of your voice.

313 "Trust Through The Injustice That Has Been Done" Jeremiah 37-39

Matthew Henry calls Jeremiah a lion with regard to God's cause; a lamb with regard to his own cause.  

God's providential Cause:  King Zedekiah will be handed over to Babylon.  So, where are your prophets now who said that you would not.

Jeremiah's emotional Cause:  Please do not send me back to the prison hole lest I die.  The King listened.  And that prison opportunity became a pasture for freedom and bread and life.  We may not get the answers we want today.  Will we trust through the injustice of what has been done to us.  Let God take care of it.

There is suffering in the room.
In my room.
In your room.
Therefore.
Fix your eyes on
The Master of the House.
The Glorious One Who
has built all things.
  The Apostle.
Who worked miracles then.
Who works miracles now.
Consider Him in your suffering and stead.

312 "Make Me Stand" Jeremiah 35-36; Titus 2-3

Start with me.

Here is Jeremiah, unjustly thrown into jail, again. So hard to believe. Yet, so surrendered to his God. It's okay. What stirs within this giant of the faith? What secret thoughts drive him to depend?
And what beautiful God intervenes when it's too much in the house of Jonathan. God knows our name. God knows our frame. God knows our flame.

Jeremiah 35:19 - the house of the Rechabites shall never lack a man to stand before God. Oh, it is what I long for my house more than anything. God says to the Rechabites: "Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, therefore...you shall never lack a man to stand."

God is emptying me of myself...enjoying ministry success more than my relationship with God.  May it never be.  When ministry is taken away, what does it do to my desires?  Do I have to have ministry success to be happy in life?  Is that what will bring me joy?  Absolutely not.  And no one can take away my relationship with my LORD.  This prophet, Jeremiah, enjoyed his relationship with God way more than any ministry success.  No clanging cymbal here.  Willing to be a voice.  Willing to be jailed.  Willing to be emptied.  Willing to speak the truth in love.  

Jeremiah 36:10  Baruch took the scroll to the Temple and read out publicly the words of Jeremiah. The response of the government officials:  You and Jeremiah need to go into hiding.  Jer 36:23 With startling arrogance, the King read a portion of the scroll and would cut it off with his pocketknife and toss it into the fire, followed by reading a little more than tossing the scroll again into the flames until it was extinguished.   Jer 36:24 The King and his officials never showed "the slightest twinge of conscience."  What a scary face.  What a scary place.  

You know, you've never seen your face before.  Listen to those He has placed directly in your path.  Let them read your face and listen to the truth.  What is chaff is blown away.  Does my face show the slightest twinge of conscience?

PHOTO:  So taken by this beautiful sunset.  So longing for those I love to find a deeper trust.  So wanting it to start with me.  All I can deal with is my own stuff.

311 - "God Has Set Things Right For Us" Jeremiah 32-34

 "I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from Me." This promise! God will never stop doing good to me. It' just not my definition of "good." He changes my heart, my definition, to His. And that's good. We were never born to be in charge of our lives. Born to worship the One Who created us.  Jeremiah 32:40

God answers Jeremiah's prayer. What was in that prayer that was not from a good place in Jeremiah's heart? God says: Yes, "I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?" The city was a provocation from the day it was built---they followed idols not a Living God. Turned their backs on God. Again and again. God is going to give the city into the hands of the king of Babylon. Yet, God will bring them back to the land, too. "I will give them one heart that they may fear me always, for their own good and for the good of their children...I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them with all My heart and with all My soul. Jeremiah 32:41. He brings disaster; then, He brings good. A Promise. 

Beside myself reading this passage.  Jeremiah buys a piece of property from jail!  This piece of ground signifies hope.  There is a new day coming!  Houses.  Fields.  Vineyards.  Gardens.  They are coming back!  And Matthew Henry wisely writes:  "It is good to manage even our worldly affairs in faith; to do common business with reference to the Providence and Promise of God." I had a scary accident recently, hydroplaning my SUV across three lanes of busy interstate traffic at noon on a rainy day. I missed all the cars. Every time I tell the story, I feel that I need to reference my existence to God. 

Jeremiah sighs in praise to the God he worships and adores:  "Ah LORD, Thous has made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee."  Jeremiah 32:17.  And there it is right there.  A man in prison, unjustly.  And I complained incessantly this year because Worker's Comp never allowed me to visit a doctor for the minor trauma I suffered on my face.  Great in counsel; mighty in work; Thine Eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men.  Jer 32:19.  What more do I really need to lay life on His lap?

And God's beautiful response to this beautiful Jeremiah! "Call unto Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, which you know not!"  Even in jail!  Jer 33:3.

WHERE SHALL THE WORD BE FOUND, WHERE WILL THE WORD RESOUND?  NOT HERE, THERE IS NOT ENOUGH SILENCE - T. S. Eliot 

Still locked up in jail, Jeremiah is given a second Word from God in Jer 33:3.  In the silence of a prison cell, Jeremiah listens and God speaks: "Call to Me and I will answer you.  I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.  I want to give thorough renovations, working a true healing inside and out, so that your motto is 'God has set things right for us.' "  My prayer for you:  Be silent, o my soul, that I may hear God's Message to me this day.  Wonder what God is saying to you?  Can you still your heart to silence?

PHOTO:  I stood next to this solo tree hovering over the Pacific Ocean wondering about God's Power.  What mystery.  May we believe deep down where it counts that your outstretched arm is headed our way, on our behalf.

310 - "I Have A Hole In My Heart" Jeremiah 28-31; Titus 1

 Two people have told me in my lifetime that I have a hole in my heart.

I still to this day wonder what they saw in me, in my words. Was it deep sadness and grief? Both were counselors.  When I read Jeremiah 30:12, I wonder:  "Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing.  There is no one to plead your cause...your allies have forgotten about you."  They forgot about Joseph both in his demise and then again in his glory.  Why cry for a pain with no cure?  God promises in Jer 30:21: "I will bring you near and you will come close to Me.  You will be my people and I will be your God.  In a world with so many religions, so many directions, that's it---He became my God.  See, the storm of the Lord, a driving wind swirling down on heads of those who oppose me.  A fierce God will not stop until He fully accomplishes the purposes of His Heart.  In days to come, you will understand this.  Jeremiah 30:23-24. You found favor in the wilderness.  "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.  I will build you up again.  Again!  And I will remember no more and never forget you, as long as this sun above gives light and the moon and stars are fixed by night and the seas are stirred up to roar----that's how long. Forever.

Am I more serious about finding God and wanting Him more than anything else?  In Jeremiah 28, Jeremiah told prophet Hananiah that God never sent him.  "You've talked the country into believing a pack of lies!"   You claim to be sent...I'll send you right off the face of the earth.  God did.   Jeremiah 29: 9 - 11 talks about a bunch of liars preaching lies and claiming God sent them.  "I never sent them."  God's Decree!  This is God's word on the subject.  "As soon as Babylon's 70 years are up, I'll show up and take care of you and bring you back home.  I know what I'm doing.  I have it all planned out---plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.  When you call on Me, when you come and pray to Me, I'll listen.  When you come looking for Me, you'll find Me.  Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed."  God's Decreee:  "I'll turn things around for you."  His definition of good is different than mine.  Consciousness of sin can draw me closer to God.  The nearness of God is my good not things on this earth making it a good life.  

"I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from Me." This promise! God will never stop doing good to me. It' just not my definition of "good." He changes my heart, my definition, to His. And that's good. We were never born to be in charge of our lives. Born to worship the One Who created us.    Jeremiah 32:40

PHOTO:  A Grandmother's love for her first grandchild ever. God knows the plans He has for you, Ezekiel. To turn things around for you. For His Glory. You have to find Him and want Him and I pray always that you want Him more than anything else in life. I love you so much. You will never know how much.

 "I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from Me." This promise! God will never stop doing good to me. It' just not my definition of "good." He changes my heart, my definition, to His. And that's good. We were never born to be in charge of our lives. Born to worship the One Who created us.  Jeremiah 32:40

God answers Jeremiah's prayer. What was in that prayer that was not from a good place in Jeremiah's heart? God says: Yes, "I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?" The city was a provocation from the day it was built---they followed idols not a Living God. Turned their backs on God. Again and again. God is going to give the city into the hands of the king of Babylon. Yet, God will bring them back to the land, too. "I will give them one heart that they may fear me always, for their own good and for the good of their children...I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them with all My heart and with all My soul. Jeremiah 32:41. He brings disaster; then, He brings good. A Promise. 

Beside myself reading this passage.  Jeremiah buys a piece of property from jail!  This piece of ground signifies hope.  There is a new day coming!  Houses.  Fields.  Vineyards.  Gardens.  They are coming back!  And Matthew Henry wisely writes:  "It is good to manage even our worldly affairs in faith; to do common business with reference to the Providence and Promise of God." I had a scary accident recently, hydroplaning my SUV across three lanes of busy interstate traffic at noon on a rainy day. I missed all the cars. Every time I tell the story, I feel that I need to reference my existence to God. 

Jeremiah sighs in praise to the God he worships and adores:  "Ah LORD, Thous has made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee."  Jeremiah 32:17.  And there it is right there.  A man in prison, unjustly.  And I complained incessantly this year because Worker's Comp never allowed me to visit a doctor for the minor trauma I suffered on my face.  Great in counsel; mighty in work; Thine Eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men.  Jer 32:19.  What more do I really need to lay life on His lap?

And God's beautiful response to this beautiful Jeremiah! "Call unto Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, which you know not!"  Even in jail!  Jer 33:3.

WHERE SHALL THE WORD BE FOUND, WHERE WILL THE WORD RESOUND?  NOT HERE, THERE IS NOT ENOUGH SILENCE - T. S. Eliot 

Still locked up in jail, Jeremiah is given a second Word from God in Jer 33:3.  In the silence of a prison cell, Jeremiah listens and God speaks: "Call to Me and I will answer you.  I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.  I want to give thorough renovations, working a true healing inside and out, so that your motto is 'God has set things right for us.' "  My prayer for you:  Be silent, o my soul, that I may hear God's Message to me this day.  Wonder what God is saying to you?  Can you still your heart to silence?

PHOTO:  I stood next to this solo tree hovering over the Pacific Ocean wondering about God's Power.  What mystery.  May we believe deep down where it counts that your outstretched arm is headed our way, on our behalf.

309 - "The Gospel Doesn't Come From Keyboards" Jeremiah 25-27; 2 Timothy 4

I

And, he didn't mince his mission.  

Jeremiah set his face like a flint.

Belted out every word of prophesy.

And the officials of Judah respond:

“This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”  Jeremiah 26:9.

Jeremiah knew.

Sent by the Lord God Himself.

So, mend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of God.

And it is the same for us this day.

I hear a Gospel of what God can do for us coming from keyboards of words and songs.

We must announce what God requires of us.  Repentance.  Surrender.  Dependence.  Trust.

And He will be to you the God of boundless love wrapping Himself around your story.

But on the terms of the Potter, not the clay.

Jeremiah received a sentence of death and still proclaimed:

"But as for me, behold, I am in your hands." Jer 26:14.

Because He knew that underneath were the arms of a Strong Loving Present God,

Who was accomplishing His Purposes through the rending of hearts not garments. 

PHOTO:  It's the ceiling of a place I visit in Austin that boasts the most visitors. The Capitol building. The acoustics are phenom.  And I can't imagine the trumpets and trinkets and singers and sound that raised the roof in Glory!  And that's what we will have for the rest of our lives~