Pressing On In His Footsteps

Ezekiel 1:25-28 (MSG). And then, as they stood with folded wings, there was a voice from above the dome over their heads. Above the dome there was something that looked like a throne, sky-blue like a sapphire, with a humanlike figure towering above the throne. From what I could see, from the waist up he looked like burnished bronze and from the waist down like a blazing fire. Brightness everywhere! The way a rainbow springs out of the sky on a rainy day—that’s what it was like. It turned out to be the Glory of God!

Observation

Wings with hands under them, wheels full of eyes, fire and lightning all around – these are the only words, the only description, that Ezekiel can use to try to explain the Glory of God to those who have not experienced personally or seen it with their own eyes. Our analytical minds struggle to picture it. We want to “see” what he describes, to put it all in perspective, to make it fit into our box of understanding.  This is so human of us, so much a part of how we assimilate our experiences and deal with the world around us.  We want to know where we are going or, at least, know what is coming along the way so we can plan ahead and be prepared to face and overcome any unknowns. 

Ezekiel is doing his best, but his descriptions are confusing, and they leave us unsatisfied, without a clear picture, because the glory of God is indescribable, unfathomable, one of those “you had to be there” experiences that cannot be shared with words.  As a prophet, Ezekiel was asked to be a sacrifice, a spectacle, a watchman on the wall, one who warns of coming danger, the red alert for those who might wake up to see, to hear, to heed and return to God.  God asked him to be a spectacle, to stand up and oppose the king, to put his life at risk. Perhaps he was given this unforgettable, indescribable, overwhelming experience to erase all his questions, objections and doubts about being faithful and committed to do whatever lay ahead that his God asked of him.

Impact on Me

It is truly impossible to convey the full impact of a miracle or other supernatural experience to someone who was not there and did not share in the experience.  I have tried unsuccessfully.  In 2005, I was privileged to experience God’s glorious presence and miraculous power as He took two groups of wounded people and merged them to create a beautiful community of seasoned saints ready and willing to serve.  For all who experienced this miracle, the pathway was long, rocky and difficult leading up to the crossroads where suddenly and spectacularly the miracle became evident, the destination sure, the outcome visible and tangible.  Like Ezekiel’s experience, it was a time when we let this overwhelming Glory of God invade our lives, turning seeming impossibilities into realities. This experience displayed God’s majesty, power, glory, grace, timeliness, timelessness and “eyes on me” in ways that are indescribable.

Miracles of this sort – if we remember to celebrate and live in them – also help us to erase our objections and questions when it comes to choosing to obey God in difficult times. On my side of this journey to the crossroads, there were plenty of opportunities to stop, turn around or choose side trips of reacting according to my flesh rather than moving forward by responding according to God’s word.  I learned the pain and humiliation of turning the other cheek and praying for and walking in forgiveness toward my enemy.  Jesus was faithful to walk with me and, when I wandered, gently but firmly lead me back to the right path, urging me to look down the road ahead and humbly follow Him. 

As I stood at the crossroads of the miracle on that first day, I recognized that the trip had changed me, grown me, strengthened me, clarified my purpose, weeded out judgment replacing it with seeds of mercy. I became truly grateful for my Savior Who made the transition possible. I learned that, when I trust Him more than my human nature, the troubles and difficulties of the current moment will always be working His will and purpose in me, strengthening me, preparing me, equipping me.  I have stopped trying to make God fit into my box, my expectations, my plans, and strive to let Him be in charge of where I am, what I do, and how much benefit He will gain from the price He asks me to pay.

Devotion

Lord Most High, Almighty God, Father, Savior, Lover of my soul, I worship and adore You.  You are the One Who loves me and will lead me with the same everlasting love when I obey or disobey, when I praise or whine, when I wander off or follow closely.  I remember when You brought two groups out of deep darkness and turmoil into Your glorious light.  Even though we thought all was lost, You were leading us straight to Your presence, Your glory, Your crossroads bathed in Your light.  Let me never forget to celebrate and live in the knowledge that Your glory is available on the journey as I walk out my calling to fulfill my part in Your eternal plan.  Romans 8:28 Phillips Moreover we know that to those who love God, who are called according to his plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good.  In Jesus’ name, make it so.

Romans 2:28-29 (Phillips)  I have come to the conclusion that a true Jew is not the man who is merely a Jew outwardly, and a real circumcision is not just a matter of the body.  The true Jew is one who belongs to God in heart, a man whose circumcision is not just an outward physical affair but is a God-made sign upon the heart and soul, and results in a life lived not for the approval of man, but for the approval of God.

Romans 12:1-2 (Phillips)  With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.

Observation

The charge in Romans 2 has not changed and applies to anyone who considers him or herself a child of God today.  We can’t be Christian in name only, acting pious in the company of other Christians, but no different than the world around unbelievers.  We shame God and make a mockery of the Gospel if we do.  Out of the abundance of the heart, each mouth will speak but his/her words must reflect how each one acts.  Having our words and deeds match matters.  As Jesus warned the pious-only-in-public religious leaders of His time, every careless (false, deceptive) word will come back to haunt you  (Matt 12:34-37 MSG).         

So, looking good is not good enough.  We have to be molded in righteousness by the hand of God Himself.  “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within…”.  Our actions and words need to flow from a heart and soul handcrafted and fired by God, imprinted with the very fingerprints of God Himself.   That inward circumcision, a sign of commitment and belonging to God, needs to be evident in the way we live our lives and be reflected in our deeds, consistently everywhere and always.  This includes the transparency and submission of repentance for when we fail, letting our humanity lead us into temptation and sin.

Impact on Me

This openness and submission to living in the safety of His Presence is the true worship Paul was speaking of in Romans 12.  The ache of his heart is that we will commit “as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him.”  Worship is meant to be 24/7, arising from the assurance of the permanence of my adoption, motivated by my heart of gratitude, not driven by duty, tradition, or what others will think of me.  It should not be something I feel I owe but rather a precious gift I recognize that I am privileged and honored to be able to give.  True worship will flow from a mind remolded into the mind of Christ. 

The King of Kings has His eyes on me (and you).  It is almost unfathomable to really embrace that He sees each of us as an individual person, a precious child.  I find it hard to fathom that the Creator of the universe would even know my name, much less die for me.  He owes me nothing.  I am at fault for my predicament, my circumstances.  He could have left me unredeemed, but chose to reclaim me.  He did the same for you!  Those who are circumcised of the heart live a life of true worship, and their circumcision is evident to all.

Devotion

Lord God, Almighty, Omniscient, yet still the Father of Mercy, and our Savior, I offer the gift of my worship.  Forgive me for the times I fail, when my fear or pride distracts me from putting Your plan, Your will and purpose, first in my life.  I want to walk in the footsteps You place before me, wandering neither to the left or right of Your pathway of righteousness.  Keep Your hand on me to draw me back to Your side when I am tempted to stray.  I pray this all in Jesus’ name.  Make it so.

Psalm 149:1-4 ESV Praise the Lord!  Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise in the assembly of the godly!  ² Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!  ³ Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!  ⁴ For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; He adorns the humble with salvation.

Psalm 42:10-11 NIVSing to the Lord a new song, His praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them.  ¹¹ Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice.  Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the mountaintops.

Observation

When we first surrender and embrace the sacrifice Jesus made for us, a new song rises like the water from an artesian well.  An artesian well is one that brings deep water to the surface without the help of a pump because the water is under pressure in an aquifer (a deep reservoir).  Jesus replaces the old sin-filled reservoir with His new life-giving water. To me, this is like that first experience of the release of all the sin, guilt, fear, and sorrow that held us captive.   A new song of praise, joy and freedom gush from the aquifer of the new Spirit of Christ in us.  Our expectations about this new life and what it will be like soar like the water gushing up from the artesian well. 

It is then that the Enemy comes and begins his work of stealing, killing and destroying.  He whispers to us, “If God is so good, how do you explain this (pain, death, sickness, the ravages of war, and so on)?”  “If God is so good, why doesn’t He stop all of this suffering and make your life easy and painless?  See, He doesn’t really care about you!”  “Do you really think that a holy God would forgive and adopt YOU after all that you have done?”  Satan will do all he can to get us to silence the new song and blame God for all the evil that Satan perpetrates upon humankind – and he is very good at deceiving us.   If he can’t get us to blame God for the evil, he will get us to become angry at God for not preventing it.  Satan is sly and skillful at deception.

Impact on Me

So, these verses are about the new song that we receive when we embrace salvation and begin the redemption process.  It is a song of joy, praise and the new life we receive.  It is a song for all circumstances – good and bad. The temptation when difficulty arises is to revisit my old life song of sin, shame, sorrow and defeat – a song written when I lived outside of the unforced rhythms of grace, hope and faith provided by a life in Christ.  I remind myself that Jesus told His disciples, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NIV).

So, Jesus never promised me that following and serving Him would be easy.  He said to take up my cross, to turn the other cheek, to love my enemies, to forgive 70×7, to go the extra mile, to wash other’s feet, to love as He loves (1 Cor 13) – all the while singing my new song of salvation.  He wants me to sing this new song while humbling myself and becoming a sacrifice to bring about His will and purpose in my life. The only way this is possible is that He also promised to go with me, to never leave or forsake me, to provide me faithfully with the Holy Spirit as teacher, comforter, strengthener, advocate, protector and so much more.

Devotion

Lord Jesus, I rejoice in You, the One True God, Almighty, Eternal, Who loved me so much that You sacrificed Yourself to redeem me and fill me with a new song full of grace, love, redemption and peace.  It is remarkable that You want me to be part of Your work here on Earth. I want to be an artesian well of Your joy, peace, love and power so that others will find salvation, healing and deliverance because they meet You in me.    When difficult circumstances arise, may I run to You as my shelter and strength all the while singing that new song You have placed in my soul.  Let me never grow tired of singing Your praise.  “Praise the Lord!  Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise in the assembly of the godly!”  Make it so, in Jesus’ name.

Psalm 91:1-2 ESV  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  ² I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Psalm 91:1-2 NLT  ¹ Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  ² This I declare about the Lord:  He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
He is my God, and I trust him.

Observation

There are four names of God in these two verses, names that express His nature, His persons, His purpose, His love and care for us.  I was stopped in my reading by how the author of the psalm packed so much of who God is in so few words.

Most High is “El Elyon”.  This translates as the Supreme Authority in the universe, the Creator of all and ruler of all.

Almighty is “El Shaddai”.  This tells us He is the all-sufficient, Ever-faithful One Who is generous in His provision and has a nurturing nature.

Lord is “Jehovah, Yahweh, YHWH, I AM, Adonai”.  This is God’s primary and personal name in our Bible.  This name (Yahweh) was considered too holy to utter or write, so Adonai was often used when speaking and YHWH in writing to refer to the One True God.  This name means self- existent, eternal, everlasting, all-powerful, the God Who delivered in Exodus.

Finally, God is “Elohim”.  Elohim can be used to refer to many types of authority from judges to angels to other gods.  So, Elohim here indicates which God the author has chosen to worship and serve – the Most High, Almighty, Jehovah.  When it appears as El-Elohim (God above all other gods), it means the One True God Who redeems and dwells among His people.

Impact on Me

For me, Psalm 91 has always been a place to go for comfort, a place where I feel safe, a place where I remember that my God is with me and for me regardless of what I am feeling or facing.   I spoke these verses over my mentally ill father at his funeral because he finally found peace from fear, accusation and the confusion which dogged his life.  This psalm is a promise of my God’s care and concern for me (and you) in all of life’s joys, sorrows, challenges and failures.

It will be even more so now. When I shelter in the shadow under His wings, I will remember Who the Most High, Almighty, Eternal, Redeeming God is that I have chosen to worship, adore and serve.  He is the God above any other god that we humans can devise – power, status, wealth, performance or any other false god.  “He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I trust him.”

Devotion

Lord Most High, Almighty God, the One True God, I choose to worship and serve You alone.  Under Your wings I am safe and secure.  In Your shadow I find relief from the heat and stress of life.  Let me never take for granted Who You truly are and that You chose – when I didn’t deserve it – to provide for me redemption and everything else that follows.  Search my heart for any altars constructed to idols/false gods of which I am not aware.  You alone are my God and I trust You.  In Jesus’ name I pray.

Hebrews 12: 1-3 Phillips Surrounded then as we are by these serried ranks of witnesses, let us strip off everything that hinders us, as well as the sin which dogs our feet, and let us run the race that we have to run with patience, our eyes fixed on Jesus the source and the goal of our faith. For he himself endured a cross and thought nothing of its shame because of the joy he knew would follow his suffering; and he is now seated at the right hand of God’s throne. Think constantly of him enduring all that sinful men could say against him and you will not lose your purpose or your courage.

Hebrews 12:1-3 MSG Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Observation

Living for Christ is a long-distance journey because it is life long.  There are times when the scenery and road are pleasant, just enough breeze to cool you off and the pace not too fast.  Then there are times that challenge you from a little to the max, when you are making your way through difficult paths, fraught with hazards, and weather heating up (the “litany of hostility”).  It is enduring through these difficult times that builds strength and endurance in our faith, in our ability to finish “this race we are in.” 

However, we are not required to just run and finish the race, but to run and finish as Jesus did.  That is the challenge.  Jesus returned mercy and grace for judgment, washed the feet of His betrayer, loved the Pharisees enough to tell them the awful truth, publicly broke Sabbath rules that did not reflect the heart and purpose of His Father, and so much more – regardless of the personal cost to Him (“he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever”).  Like Jesus, we are asked to keep our eyes on the finish, the goal, rather than what we may have to endure along the  way.

Impact on Me

There have been both phases of this race in my life – the one showered with blessings, grace and peace (breezing along with the Holy Spirit’s breeze) and those that seemed like an Iron Man through sucking mud (wondering if God has taken His eyes off me).  I have had people cheering me on and those who assured me I would never make it through.  I have lost dear friends who wanted to split a church, encouraged pastors who felt too wounded to continue, endured false accusations by others in leadership with me at church, learned to worship God regardless of the circumstances and people who wanted to steal my joy in worship and serving, and so much more. 

“Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever.”  In all the phases of my race of this Christian life, I was not perfect, but I did find the Holy Spirit running with me to build the muscle and endurance of my faith no matter what circumstance would try to be the next rock in the road or uphill battle.  I repented often and found grace in my transparency and surrender.  I took comfort in the fact that Jesus realizes the battles I faced because He became human and understands my soul’s struggle between choosing to react according to my flesh rather than responding according to His Spirit within me. “Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in.”

Devotion

Lord God, You are the author and finisher of our faith, the One Who is with us and for us through every phase of the race, the One Who became a man to know our innermost workings and then die for us to pay the ultimate price we could never pay.  I have slipped up, stumbled and even fell along the way, but You have been faithful to pick me up and encourage me on toward the finish.  I am forever grateful.  Help me to remember what Jesus endured when I am being accused, condemned and persecuted so I will not lose track of how to run this life race as Jesus did.  “Think constantly of him enduring all that sinful men could say against him and you will not lose your purpose or your courage.”  In Jesus’ name, I pray.