So Ezekiel is living in captivity. And God is not sending him out to make proclamations as often as he used to... but it would seem that leaders of the people are continuing to seek him out for a word from God. And Ezekiel wrote... Now some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them? Ezekiel 14:1-3 NKJV But up until this time, Ezekiel, and many prophets before had been proclaiming the evils of all the altars and idols that were built upon high places and even within the house of God. But these men, God says are not frequenting the idols built by human hands. These men are the sort that follow all the outward pressures that Good Men "should." These me look to be the righteous sort. But God looks deeper within. And their idols have been set up and built high upon the altars of their hearts. They are no longer bowing just to outward pressures. They have each set their heart and mind, their thoughts, imaginations, and daily distractions, on these idols within. And this, God cannot stand. For the heart was created to only be enthroned and satisfied by Him. For once we take something created sanctioned, destined, purposed for God to fulfill and fully satisfy... and we try to change it or fill it with something earthly, human made or less than divine... it will simply fall apart. And those pieces lying underfoot will certainly be the parts of our life that we will not only stumble over, but most likely have great difficulty piecing back together. And our sensitivity toward God will also begin to wane in the crumbling. Our ability to see and hear from Him will begin to subside... until we stand around questioning... wondering why He never shows up anymore. When actually it had more to do with us... than the Almighty God who is eternally all knowing, everywhere, all the time, So this He spoke to them... Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations. For anyone... who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to inquire of Me... I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel 14:6-8 But please, notice God was still giving a chance, by giving a choice. First He asked for repentance... the opportunity to turn around. Then His request turns to stress the order we choose to place these things into our heart. For we do not have a random God. No, He is a God of order. That is why the sun rises and sets daily. That is why the seasons cycle as they do. Thst is why ice melts to water, boils to steam, and condenses to water again. We we have balance and order in this universe with stars held in the sky because He ordered it that way. So let us then also understand that just as man has interfered with the early melting of glaciers due to pollution of this atmosphere, causing unseasonal changes. We we too can negatively affect the melting of our hearts due to pollution causung unseasonal changes in our relationship with the eternal God. God is wanting to give us His best... always. But in order for Him to give us His best, He asks that we follow the order of His request. We need to prioritize Him in our life. What DO we put first? For anyone... who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to inquire of Me... I will set My face against that man. These men did not put God first and He could see that. For God sees directly into the heart. What do WE put first? It seems like an easy question, but in actuality, it is quite difficult. We can start out with pure motives, but can then get tangled with pride and conflict over caring too much what others think, or even over thinking the priorities. This, for certain, takes much prayer and stillness. Something that our current culture, with it's craving for constant stimulation of social media, technology, and light... is lacking. Take some time today. Get away from the computer, that screen in your pocket. Sit still some place, literally.., and pray. Really pray. Ask God to show you the real priorities of your heart. And then just listen. This, to be certain should be the more important part of the prayer. Listening. Word of God train me today... To take an honest assessment of the worship of my heart. To listen when You tell me how to change, to place You first.
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January 2019
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