Ezekiel 28:12-19 is not only a prophecy against the king of Tyre, who personified the arrogance of the city he ruled, (claiming divine status because of his self-perceived great wisdom and ability to understand mysterious secrets)…but it is also an oracle against the real instigator, Satan himself. Verse 12 takes us back to the beginning, “You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God.” At one time, Satan was a perfectly created being…faultless and with integrity, and living happily in the Garden of Eden…but then evil raised it pointy head, and with it Satan became puffed up with conceit.(I Timothy 3:6) “So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub…for your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.” (Ezekiel 28:16-17) Satan rebelled against God and lost, but has battled with Him ever since. And His battle extends to us also…not as some grotesque comical creature, but as a beguiling, crafty, and stunning angel of light.
Category: Daily Inspirational Devotional
“At this hour…we rest in the promises of our faithful God, knowing that His Words are truth and power. We rest in the doctrines of His Word, which are true comfort. We rest in the covenant of His grace, which is a haven of delight.” C. Spurgeon
I wish we could say that all the chaos, civil unrest, wars, and injustice across the globe was going to get better…but it’s not. And the future is as uncertain as it is scary. But in this quote of Theologian Charles Spurgeon, he wants us to go back to what we do know. Psalm 145:13 tells us that, “The Lord is faithful to all His promises.” And so we can rely on God’s steadfast promises and find refuge there. Next, Hebrews 1:3 tells us that, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word.” The Word of God is divinely authoritative, accurate, and honest…and God is always in control…thus we can rest in His Word as absolute truth. But we can also trust in God’s unchanging doctrines, principals, and teachings found in the Bible. Finally, we can depend on God’s unwavering grace…His unearned & unmerited favor guaranteed by His new Covenant. (Jeremiah 31:31-34, requoted in Hebrews 8:8-12)
I John 1:1 ” That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.”
When John wrote this, the Church was being infiltrated & overrun with false teachers that were denying the very fundamentals of Christianity such as Christ’s deity and His resurrection. (Much like we’re seeing now with the Progressive Movement of Churches) John wanted to make it clear…he had personally saw, heard, and touched the Son of God…not just some good man he had hung around with for three years. He was an eye witness to miracle after miracle…he had heard Jesus rebuke & demand evil spirits to leave tortured bodies…and he had enjoyed close fellowship & comradery, but most of all, John had watched Jesus die on the Cross only to rise from the dead. Yes, John had the credibility to be believed only a few could claim, and he wanted to remind the Church of it.
Habakkuk 2:18 ” Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.”
Human nature is stubbornly independent & autonomous. We take great pride in our self-reliance, self-sufficiency, and ability to go it alone. But this can become a very slippery slope when we’re trying to fill God’s shoes. That’s because, anytime we create anything, it’s man-made and flawed from the start. And when we put our confidence & trust in this man-made object, we open ourselves up for deception & falsehoods. Jeremiah 5:21 warned the people that in doing so they could become like the idols they served…blind & deaf…lacking wisdom and understanding. And in the New Testament Paul reminded the Church how idols had influenced and led them astray as nonbelievers. (I Corinthians 12:2) So idols of any kind are vain, empty, useless, and foolish.
Resurrection Sunday
His love is a thing of beauty, like a rose within our soul, that blesses as it comforts broken hearts and makes them whole.
Though love may seem so fragile, like a petal on the wind. His love is rooted in the Rock, whose strength will never end.
This early Easter morning, I urge you to take this gift of love, for it is unending and truly from above. For His tomb is now empty, just like you may find your heart, but Jesus can fill it with His love and your new life can start.
Mark 18:31 ” He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the Law, and that He must be killed and after three days rise again.”
Jesus had made it very plain from the beginning…He had predicted His death & resurrection not once, not twice, but three times to His disciples.( Matthew 16:21, Matthew 17:22, Matthew 20:17-19) And with each time He gave more details…and with each time the Disciples struggled to grasp what He truly meant. This day would find them hiding out from the public eye. Afraid that the Jewish Leaders would be so emboldened from the death of Jesus that they would come looking for them to execute also. So there they sat…shell-shocked from the last 24 hours as they watched in horror as their beloved Master was brutally beaten beyond recognition and nailed to a cross to die. And as time drug on that day, fear gave way to doubt as the shouts from the crowd still rang in their ears as they taunted Jesus to “Come down from the cross and save Yourself!” Oh, how they had secretly wished He would do just that, for they had seen Him raise others from the dead…but could Jesus do it for Himself? But fear & doubt had been plunged into hopelessness when Jesus uttered those last three words from the cross, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) For they could only believe that it was a cry of defeat rather than a shout of victory & completion. And so they waited…trying to hold out hope of the promised resurrection.
Luke 23:32 ” Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with Him to be executed.”
The two other men that were crucified that day with Jesus were convicted bandits, highway robbers, and thieves…found guilty of malicious and serious offenses against the public…and now were facing the consequences of their reprehensible acts. And as all three hung there waiting for death we see two very different responses from them. One thief kept hurling insults at Jesus…rejecting Him and the Gospel Message He represented. (Luke 23:39) But the other thief closely listened and watched Jesus on that Cross and made the decision to trust in Him as his Savior – uttering those faith filled words, “Remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.” (Luke 23:42) Even today there are still only two possible responses to Jesus…we can either reject or trust in Him. That’s because we are all sinners in need of a Savior, and it’s never too late to repent and accept the free gift of Salvation.
John 13:5 ” He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples feet, drying them with the towel that was around Him.”
We find Jesus in the Upper Room with His disciples as He ministers His selfless love…illustrated in this moving scene of Him performing the most menial of tasks…washing their feet. It was an object lesson, breaking all social norms, as Jesus willingly took on the role…modeling lowliness, meekness, and a life of surrender…of which they were obligated to follow. For Peter though, with all his impulsiveness, he objected vigorously, but Jesus reminds him in John 13:6-10 that bathing of the whole body symbolizes justification…a work accomplished by God for the Believer once and for all. While the washing of feet symbolized sanctification…an ongoing and ever increasing work of God performed for the Believer daily…a Spiritual cleansing & renewal of the heart to remain in fellowship with God.
Matthew 26:12 ” When she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial.”
This account is in all four Gospels with a few different details… but essentially the same premise. Jesus is at a home reclining at the table and eating dinner when a woman slips in, breaks a flask of nard, and pours it on Him. Those in the dining room with Jesus were shocked & dismayed at her reckless behavior of a year’s worth of salary. But Jesus commends her for her great sacrificial love and a giving up of everything…just as Jesus Himself would be doing in the next few days…His body broken & poured out for mankind as the ultimate sacrifice of love.
Matthew 7:28-29 ” When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at His teaching, because He taught as One Who had authority and not as their Teachers of the Law.”
Here Jesus is teaching in the Temple courts days before He will be crucified by the same crowds that will demand His execution. The people couldn’t put their finger on it, but there was something definitely different about the way Jesus taught. It wasn’t anything like the Scribes who were supposed to be skilled in explaining the Law and interpreting God’s Word for them. Rather, Jesus spoke as an expert in the Doctrine… teaching them in a manner that that clearly felt like He had been commissioned with the dominion, power, and right to speak of such things. His authoritative & authentic teaching even caught the Temple Officers off guard when they can back empty-handed and proclaimed in John 7:45-46, “No one ever spoke like this man!”
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