Standing In Awe - What Can We Say!!

I was so overwhelmed by the magnitude and detail in Ezekiel 1.  How can one imagine the magnificent creatures described in the vision Ezekiel saw.  God and his Angels.  Jesus at the Throne.  A Rainbow significantly representing Gods covenant.  I wanted to paint this, what would it look like to you? Awesome.  

God will speak to us, when we stand ready to do what he commands us.  He will work in us through the Holy Spirit.  I don't ask God to fill me with the Holy Spirit enough.  I want to please God, but is my will hardened at times...do I really want the Holy Spirit to transform the way I work with coworkers, with my wife, with my children.....I mean...does that mean I dont have free will when I invite the Holy Spirit in?  What would a day look like constantly allowing God to work through us...to change us...to alter the world, our relationships, to set aside selfishness and wants/desires of worldly things.  

Dont get me wrong, God wants us to enjoy life, and the beauty around us.  Its just he wants to be with us, within us, part of us.......Let me ask you this, will you commit to including him in your life?  

Ezekiel 3:1 " And he said to me, Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat"

...."So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey".

Prayer: Lord, I am amazed by the visions that Ezekiel witnessed.  Lord, I cant imagine the intangible.  I am so thankful that I beleive in you and have faith.  I praise you.  I lift you up.  I want the Holy Spirit alongside my meetings at work.  I am a sinner, and I repent Lord of my bitterness towards some people in my life.  Please help me grow and mature.  Again, I give thanks to your plan in my life, and know that you are indeed Holy and good, growing my spirituality and disciplining me when necessary.  You are my Father.   I yearn for your scrolls (passages in the Bible) to taste as sweet as honey and I become more fervent than ever for your word.

This Weeks Bible Reading Plan

Mon Nov 10, Ezekiel 1-4
Tues Nov 11, Ezekiel 5-9
Wed Nov 12, Ezekiel 10-13
Thu Nov 13, Ezekiel 14-16
Frid Nov 14, Ezekiel 17-19

Have A Great Week!!!

Cant Forget Lamentations!!!

I was a little behind this last week.  It was a long week with a drained body.  A cold hit me hard and lasted Thursday through Sunday night.  Even as I type now, I am coughing...but encouraged that if I get to bed by 11pm tonight,  I will have a near 7.5 hrs of sleep! Hallelujah!

First, I am very excited to say, my wife and I have been married 4 years! What a blessing! 

Lamentations is interesting.  I don't know the whole picture, but we are roughly reading passages written in 586 BC.   My favorite verses:

Lamentation 3:25 " The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him"

Lamentation 3:27 " It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young"

Lamentation 3:39 " Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins"

I read a comment on a CNN post the other day about Christians and something to do with the California Prop 8 passage, and how Christians/Mormons (the Mormon church funded $20Million in ads,etc) should be ashamed of themselves.  A blogger wrote "How can you be for this, it prevents gay couples from being married"...another blogger wrote "one word...BIBLE",  well that previous blogger wrote back "  $%#^ (it was actually a bad word) the bible...it is worthless trash....etc etc etc".....

I was shocked....sad...and I saw more comments from many more bloggers also proclaiming their hate for Christians and the Bible.

My friends, it is going to become more difficult to live as a Christian in this country.  We are going to be targetted and we will be tested.  We must have faith and hope that our God has a marvelous plan.  We must seek him.  One of these verses also reminded me how important it is as a father to be the spiritual leader in the home and instill the proper love for Christ in my children.  Am I doing that?  

PRAISE: Thank you Lord for such a beautiful loving and God seeking WIFE! I am so happy to be married to Suzi.....She is the cheese to my macaroni...(I took that line from the movie Juno).

PRAYER: I pray that parenting time with Ethan increase.  Erika (Ethans mom) has been adamant that Ethan not spend more time with us.  It has been 3 years since we last increased time, and we have asked her many times to go to mediation, counseling, etc.  She basically told me that I need to talk to my lawyer if I wanted any more time.  I pray that the Lord will help soften Erika's heart and see the yearning of Ethan to spend more time with his brother and with his Dad (me).  I also pray that God can help me be patient and still shine the light during conflict and disagreement.

Jeremiah 30

Wow.  There is so much I can talk about in Jeremiah 30.  The words of the Lord are very strong and are caring.  He goes from talking about how he will save those who are his servants to talking about bringing down the hammer on those who sin without caring.  The talk about saving people from bonds is very fitting considering what has gone on this week.  Although I understand that the death of my grandfather was something that was sort of going to happen, it still feels like there is this cloud hanging over me.  With this being the first death in the family that I can remember, it's also very sobering.  Nothing like death to put things in perspective.  The second half of this section seems to be a wake up call.  Not to say that I am sinning in a flagrant manner, but there are some aspects of my life that I think I have let too much of the world in and not enough God.  My time is one area to work on. Giving it freely to God.  I think I have it down in the area of service, but I think times of meditation and quiet would really help me grow deeper in my relationship with God.

Ben