Trusting God in the Dry Seasons By Laura Baily

Trusting God in the Dry Seasons
By Laura Baily

“Then he said to me: ‘Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.”’” Ezekiel 37:11 (NIV)

Navigating the church’s halls with the giggles of rambunctious toddlers as my guide, I eagerly approached my daughter’s classroom. Peering in, she caught my eye — “Momma! I am dry bones; look at me come alive!”

Music blared, and small limbs flailed in every direction as they sang, “Ezekiel cried them dry bones. Ezekiel cried them dry bones. Ezekiel cried them dry bones. Oh, hear the words of the Lord!” We parents joined our tots in singing and dancing.

As I tucked my daughter into bed that night, I thanked her for inviting me to be a part of her Sunday school lesson. And I confessed my momma’s heart had been heavy, but her invitation to sing and dance had lifted my spirits. With sleepy eyelids, she whispered: “When life is hard, we can trust in God.” 

Downstairs, I found myself humming the words to the song from earlier in the day. The lyrics transported me back to my youth as I recalled the Bible story of the prophet Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones where God commanded the dead bones to join together and come alive. Infatuated with the supernatural, physical nature of the bones in that story, the spiritual lesson about God’s character had eluded me.

I’d missed the point back then, and even now, years later, I still sang this children’s chorus without understanding its powerful message. What was the big deal about these dry bones? I asked myself.

Settling into the worn spot on the sofa, I resisted the urge to watch my favorite TV show and reluctantly opened my Bible to this story in Ezekiel. My heart took pause when my eyes landed on our key verse: “Then he said to me: ‘Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off”’” (Ezekiel 37:11).

After suffering defeat from their enemies, the Israelites were enslaved and in exile, dead in their faith and lacking hope in God's promise to restore their nation. They’d abandoned the Lord, and they no longer trusted the covenant promises God made to their forefathers to send a Redeemer, to deliver them from captivity and resettle them in their own land. Spiritually, they were a dead people; much like the valley of dried-up bones, their hearts withered.

As I reflected, I silently criticized the Israelites. How could they forget God’s promises and His faithful provision for their ancestors yet again? Was their faith really that shallow?

While I was mentally berating these people, I felt that all-too-familiar twinge of conviction in my own parched heart, realizing that I, too, was often without hope.

The Lord had planted a seed of promise in my heart, yet nothing seemed to be growing. Frustrated, I scrawled in my journal, “God, have You forgotten me?” His answer came as a resounding, “No, I am not bound by time or place."

God gave this vision to Ezekiel because His enslaved and exiled children, though wayward and rebellious, desperately needed assurance that God keeps His promises — in this case, He would restore and resettle them when they repented and returned to Him:

“I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD” (Ezekiel 37:14, NIV).

Yet, even knowing His faithfulness, all too frequently, I barter with God.

As long as He provides without delay, disruption or discomfort, I generally trust and obey Him. Unsurprisingly, I continually shift my focus off God, and like the Israelites in Ezekiel's time, I live in constant distraction (exile). No wonder my soul feels dry, dead and in desperate need of spiritual renewal.

Ezekiel’s message offers both a warning and a hope. How blessed we are that no matter how often we sin or how far away we stray, our long-suffering Lord remains faithful and true.

However, God’s righteousness commands our obedience; His justice also commands consequences which the Israelites were experiencing. Just like God instructed the Israelites, let’s repent from our sins and return to the Lord, tuning our hearts and minds to hear the Word of the Lord so we, too, can come alive again.

Heavenly Father, help me to trust in Your sovereignty, submitting myself daily to Your will. Forgive my sins, and enliven me with a clean heart full of hope and joy. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Deuteronomy 7:6, “For you are a people holy to the LORD God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the far of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.” (NIV)

Christmas Memories

Christmas Memories

Dr. Charles Stanley

Luke 2:1-20

The first Christmas I remember was when I was three years old. My aunts and uncles came to visit, and when they opened the trunk of the car, I discovered that it was full of presents—and all of them were for me! I’m sure you, too, can recall memories from past Christmases, whether good or bad. There’s just something about that day that sticks in our minds.

You can be sure that all of the people who experienced the first Christmas never forgot it. Joseph remembered the weight of responsibility on his shoulders as he cared for Mary during their journey and searched for a place where she could give birth. And we can imagine that the shepherds often replayed in their minds the scene of glorious angels and the sight of the newborn Messiah. But Scripture mentions only one who “treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart” (v. 19). Mary had carried this baby in her womb for nine months, but now she saw what no one else had ever seen—the face of God!

What was it like to see deity displayed in the body of a newborn baby? Though we can never see what Mary saw, we can each remember when we first recognized our Savior—the moment we realized He died for us.

This Christmas, take time to remember when you first met Jesus. What was going on in your life? How did you feel after accepting His offer of forgiveness? How has your life changed since that day? Now imagine what it will be like when you finally see Him face to face in heaven.

A Revealed Savior

A Revealed Savior
by Katherine Britton

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:13

I wish I could ask the Magi what it was like after they returned to their homeland. After watching the skies for years, journeying for weeks, and seeing Jesus with their own eyes, how did they return to the life they once knew? Did they ever hear about the rest of Jesus's life? Did they realize the Jew who was killed on the tree was the same child to whom they offered gifts befitting a king? Did they understand that his birth was a precursor to a far greater event? 

We don't know much with certainty about these men. They brought three gifts—gold, incense, and myrrh—but there may have been dozens of Magi who went on that journey. These wise men were certainly Gentiles, probably from Persia. They acted as something close to astrologer-priests in their homeland, we think, marking the movements of the heavens to find out its impact on man. Judging by their gifts and their titles, their status and wealth came close to royalty. 

Now consider what we definitely know about them: these Magi considered it worth their time, efforts, riches, and worship to come worship at a Bethlehem house. 

"When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh." - Matthew 2:10-11

These pagans searched for the Messiah as no one else did. Their adventure is an extraordinary tale of God's grace mixed with man's hunger, as they followed the star God set up in the heavens with single-minded devotion. They were on a search for God, who had given them the signs to find him. I think these men, who knew so much less than I do about the Messiah, sought him harder than I ever have.

Consider Matthew Henry's commentary on what transpired:

"They might have said, ‘If such a prince be born, we shall hear of him shortly in our own country, and it will be time enough then to pay our homage to him.' But so impatient were they to be better acquainted with him, that they took a long journey on purpose to enquire after him. Note, Those who truly desire to know Christ, and find him, will not regard pains or perils in seeking after him."

Personally, I don't think the Magi were ever the same after their encounter in the Bethlehem house. They invested themselves to finding the King of the Jews, and he revealed himself to them. I think all other stars must have paled in comparison.

Intersection of Faith & Life: Like the psalmist sings, the "heavens declare the glory of God" (Psalms 8) to each one of us. Those signs are God calling us to seek him with our whole heart, so he can reveal himself to us more and more. This Christmas season, I want to follow the Magi's example. I want to find the mystery of the Gospel so incredible that I pursue it with all my heart, and all my strength, and all my soul. I pray this mystery captivates your heart this Christmas!

Video Bible Lesson - The Christmas Tree by Unknown

The Christmas Tree 

by Unknown

1/2 Hour of God’s Power with Scott Ralls

12/24/19

#Jesus, #Christian, #Bible, #Salvation, #Heaven, #God, #HolySpirit

When God Interrupts Your Plans

When God Interrupts Your Plans
by Lynette Kittle

“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.”— Matthew 1:18

Have you ever had God interrupt your plans? Not just small ones but big ones, like whom you’ll marry, where you’ll live, work, or go to school?

Maybe at the time you recognized it was God’s hand in your life, intervening and changing your situation? Or possibly when it was taking place, you didn’t have a clue.

Mary the mother of Jesus was living a quiet life engaged to Joseph, when God interrupted her plans by sending the angel Gabriel to deliver a message to her (Luke 1:26-27).

“The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you!” (Luke 1:28)

It seemed like such a wonderful kind of message, yet Luke 1:29 describes her reaction, “Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.”

Mary was deeply concerned, “But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end’” (Luke 1:30-33).

Sill Mary asked how this could be since she was a virgin, to which, “The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:36).

His words removed her doubt and revealed her heart as she answered, “’I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.’ Then the angel left her” (Luke 1:38).

How does your heart respond when God interrupts your plans with a life-shaking event?

At first, like Mary, do you also feel greatly troubled? As she questioned God at how these things could possibly occur in her life, do you question Him, too? Do you, as Mary did, need reassurance of His presence in the midst of it?

If so, God reassures you in Isaiah 41:13, “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”

If you’re plans have been disrupted, instead of turning to fear, choose to trust God, believing He will help you.