Ezekiel 1-2  The prophet, Ezekiel, had been taken into exile to Babylon.  It was there, by a river, that he received his "calling" as God's prophet.. a dramatic and unusual call, for sure. 

Ezekiel tells us that after 5 years of exile he had a vision.  In this vision, he saw "the heavens" open up before him. The first thing he describes is the great lights.. fire flashing, glowing figures, bright lights.. and more fire.  Then, in the midst of this light and fire, he sees the four "living beings".  Ezekiel describes these beings in great detail.. unlike anything we have ever seen.. but similar to what Isaiah and Daniel had once witnessed.. and like John saw on the island of Patmos.

What Ezekiel sees next is what is even more amazing, for he sees the crystal sea and the throne above it.. and the glorious appearance of the Lord.. "Then I noticed.. there was a radiance around Him..."  At this vision, Ezekiel falls on his face in worship. 

The Lord speaks to Ezekiel, calling him "the son of man" and fills him with the Spirit. "Then He said to me, 'Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people, who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.' " 

Ezekiel is given a mission to speak to the "stubborn and obstinate" people.  He needed to know that his mission did not depend on whether or not the people listened.. but whether or not he spoke what God gave him to speak. "But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not." 

Ezekiel was given God's words in a most unusual way.. he was given a scroll and commanded to open his mouth and eat it. We are told that the scroll was "written on the front and back; and written on it were lamentations, mourning, and woe." 

Father, what do You want to say to me... to us.. today through this Word?   I hear You reminding us of Your greatness.. far above what we know or can even imagine.. of how utterly transcendent and holy You are.. and yet, You willingly interact with us.. calling us to be Your people and to share Your message.  I also hear You telling us that we must speak what You give us.. Your words of Life.. even to those who are rebellious and stubborn.. and who may or may not listen.  I hear You say, that the words that we share are not all happiness and joy.. but "laminations and mourning and woe... " May we grasp what You are telling us through Your word today.. Your overwhelming greatness.. Your commission to speak the word You give us.. and Your command to speak to those who may not listen because of their rebellious and stubborn hearts.  Come and fill us Spirit of the Living God.. and use us to share the words of life.. without fear, without hesitation, and with full obedience.  We pray this in the Name of our radiant and powerful Lord and King, Jesus Christ. Amen. 

 II Corinthians 13 Paul has some final words for the church...

"Every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses"..  is a vital principle for the way of dealing with each other... It is the way of justice and truthfulness. The goal is not condemnation.. the goal is restoring and  building up each other in Jesus. 

"Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!" It is much easier to condemn another person.. than it is to condemn yourself sometimes.   Jesus taught that we need to take the logs out of our own eyes before we examine the speck in someone else's eye.  Paul seems to be teaching the same principle... and he was including himself in this.. " but I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.."  Paul and his fellow workers can stand up under the scrutiny of these brothers because they stand on the truth.. "For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth." 

Paul's prayer is that the church would be "made complete".  that they would be fully restored and built up in faith and in surrender to the authority of the Lord.  "Finally brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you." 

We can do no better than this.. to treat others with such love and grace.. to carefully examine ourselves and our motives.. to build up each other in faith and truth.. to restore those who have slipped or fallen.. to rejoice with those who are restored.. to find completion and unity and peace in the power of Christ. 

Father, let Your will be done.. Your kingdom come.. and Your Name be hallowed.. lead us in righteousness, fill us with spiritual and physical bread.. with forgiveness and love for one another. We ask these things in the name of Jesus. amen. 

 II Corinthians 12  Paul talks about the highest and the lowest places in his spiritual walk. The highest point being a vision or experience that was beyond his understanding.. for he didn't know whether it was a physical or spiritual visit in "Paradise".  What he did know was that he heard "inexpressible words which a man is not permitted to speak."  

In contrast, Paul's lowest point was "a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him"... which he felt was allowed by God to keep him "from exalting" himself.  Paul prayed for deliverance from this "thorn", but received only the marvelous words.. " My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." 

This is the amazing thing about our God, isn't it, that He does even more in us at our lowest points than at our highest!  Paul testifies, " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me." 

It is the example, not only of Paul's testimony, but of the Lord Jesus too.  As we have been reminded so often this Christmas season.. Jesus "emptied Himself"... stepped down from His heavenly throne.. and became a man.. born in a stable.. the most humble of births.. Then He came to "His own".. and they did not see Who He was.. but rejected Him, accused Him, abused Him.. and nailed Him to a cross.  It was at His "weakest" point that He was most powerful.. conquering sin, death, and hell!

Paul's experiences of "insults.. distresses.. persecutions.. difficulties.. for Christ's sake.." revealed the power of Christ in him.. "for when I am weak, then I am strong." 

Paul would not come to the church in Corinth as others had come.. he would not come as one in a powerful position.. even though he could have.. as "a true apostle".  But, he would come as a father who felt "responsible" for his children.  He wanted to build them up... he wanted to find them faithful to Jesus.  He was afraid to find "strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances.. impurity, immorality.. and sensuality." ( v20-21)  He would come to them.. in hope that the words that he had written to them would bring the sinners to repentance and the church to completion in Christ. 

Father, we confess our weaknesses and rejoice in Your all sufficient grace. May the power of Christ be found in us.. for we so desire to be found faithful and true.. made righteous in Him.  We pray that we will be built up.. together in our churches.. so that in times of trouble and distress.. the power of Christ will all that will be seen.  Oh Lord, may we be sincere in faith, repenting of those things that cause strife and tempers.. slander or gossip. May we keep filled with Your Spirit, walking in truth..no matter if we are experiencing the mountaintops or the valleys in this life. Jesus, we are Yours.. have Your way in us we pray.. Amen. 

 II Corinthians 11  You can hear Paul's heart in this letter to the church.. his burden for them to stay true to the gospel and not be led astray by the false teachers.. especially those who came in the name of Jesus, but preached lies..  Paul compared himself to these false teachers.. but prefaced it by saying that he would not "boast beyond" what the Lord had "apportioned" to him. 

Paul was jealous for the believers.. he wanted them to stay faithful to the true Christ.. in "simplicity and purity of devotion.."  He wanted them to know that he, himself, would not take advantage of them as the false teachers did.  He would not ask them for wages.. he would not expect them to provide for him.. instead, he relied on those who gave willingly to help him on his way. 

Paul did not want to boast in anything.. he considered it "foolishness".. but he needed them to understand that he knew what he was talking about.. his background and his experiences testified of his own devotion to Christ.. through being beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, imprisoned, and more.. he remained faithful to Christ, and he wanted them to do the same.  He was willing to be weak. .he was willing to be humble... and he was willing to sacrifice himself, for the sake of the true gospel.  They would not find that true of those who did not really know Jesus Christ as their Lord. 

A question I read from a devotional yesterday struck me.. and seems to fit this study.. " Who is Jesus to you?"  I have been thinking of this since early this morning.. fitting for Christmas day.. I think.  Maybe those of you who read this will ponder it too... there are infinite answers to that question, but let me share a few:

Jesus is my Savior.  He is my Master.  He is my Friend. He is my Comforter. He is my King.  Jesus is my Healer and my Helper.  Jesus is my Light and my Life.  Jesus is my constant Companion and my favorite place of Refuge.  Jesus knows me, loves me, and holds me close.  Jesus is my hope and the reason that I celebrate Christmas!

I hope you all have a Blessed Christmas and maybe you can ask yourself this question too.. Who is Jesus to you?

Father, thank You for the incredible gift of Jesus Christ, the Lord.. a child born, a Son given, a Savior who made a way for us to come home to You. All glory and honor and praise to You. Amen!

 II Corinthians 10 Paul desires to imitate Christ.. in meekness and gentleness.. as he ministers to the church, but he doesn't want them to underestimate his authority as God's servant.. the one who actually brought the gospel to them in the first place. He is bold when necessary.. desiring the best for every believer. 

Paul takes a courageous stance against those who are criticizing and defaming him.. He calls it a "war".. not "according to the flesh".  Spiritual warfare..  His weapon is  "divinely powerful". .. for the "destruction of fortresses".  As he wrote to the Ephesians.. "for our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." ( Eph. 6:12)  

"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ... " 

Speculations.. imaginations, computations, and human reasoning.  Lofty things.. pretensions.. arrogant, prideful ideas and thoughts... These are destroyed by the diligent and intentional action of turning every thought over to Christ Jesus.  What a powerful prayer and practice.  

Father, we live in a world where imaginations and speculations are more than prevalent.. they seem to rule over so much of our every day lives.. through the airways.. in the heart of finance and government.. Arrogant and prideful thinking is everywhere we look.  Help us, Mighty God, to turn our every thought to Jesus, the One who holds all things together.  Cloth us withYour truth, Your righteousness,  Your salvation, Your  peace, and the Word.. the sword of Your Spirit.. and teach us to pray and pray and pray some more.. Let Your divine power destroy the fortresses.. the rulers, the powers, the darkness.. and all wickedness!  Let Your Kingdom come!  In Jesus' name we pray, Amen!

 II Corinthians 9 Paul did not want the church in Corinth to be embarrassed or to embarrass him by not being prepared with the promised gift.. "a bountiful gift".  He reminds them of this principle, "he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.." 

Paul teaches us some more truths about giving.. 

v7  We are to purpose in our hearts what to give.. "not grudgingly or under compulsion."  We have a God who loves it when we give cheerfully!

v8 We have a God who "is able to make all grace abound" to us.. that we will have sufficient and will be able to help others out of our "abundance ". 

v10  We have a God who Himself has supplied "seed for the sower and bread for food..."  He is the One who will "supply and multiply  [our] seed for sowing and increase the harvest of [our] righteousness." 

v11  When we give.. we are the ones "enriched in everything for all liberality which through us is producing thanksgiving to God." 

v12 God is glorified by the gracious act of giving liberally. 

v15 "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" 

Father in heaven, all we have been given is from Your Hands and we are so thankful. Thank You for giving us the opportunity to give liberally out of the abundance that You have supplied. I am mindful that we have, here in this country, so much.. having seen the great need in other countries in Africa and other places. May we give liberally.. cheerfully.. bountifully. Multiply the gifts that we are able to offer.. whether little or much.. that others would know Your grace that abounds and give You thanks. Be glorified Lord Jesus! Amen. 

 II Corinthians 8  In this chapter Paul addresses giving... in particular a gift that that the church had pledged to give to the "saints".. to the church in Jerusalem which was in great need.  Paul wanted to let them know that Titus and others would be coming to them to collect what they had gathered, adding it to what the churches in Macedonia had given, and he wanted them to be ready. 

The churches of Macedonia were commended because they had given out of their "deep poverty".. "with liberality"..  and "according to their ability".  They had given themselves  "first.. to the Lord" and "to us by the will of God."  This was a great example to the Corinthian church as well as to us. 

Paul calls this a "gracious work" that he desired to see them complete.. "in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you.. "  Earnestness and sincere love.. along with "readiness" are the best motivations to giving.  As Paul explains.. giving out of  "abundance" to supply the "want" of others is a way of bringing "equality".  At other times they could find themselves in need and may receive from those that they had once helped.  It is a precious opportunity of blessing for the gift givers and those who receive.. bringing them into fellowship with one another on a deeper level. 

Paul also gave instructions about those who would be coming to receive and take the gifts to Jerusalem.  He chose men that he knew well and in whom he had "great confidence."  Men found to be diligent and honorable. 

As we think about this passage, may we think about our own "gracious" works.. are we giving ourselves "first to the Lord"?  Are we giving with earnestness and sincere love?  Do we have a desire to give, but not the follow through?  Are we giving out of our abundance and according to our abilities?  Are we giving in a way that shows the proof of our love.. to God and to those in need?  Are we careful to give through honorable and diligent men or organizations?

Father, we desire to be Your faithful servants in every way.. including in our giving.  We are inspired by those in Macedonia and in Corinth.. that gave out of their own poverty to those in even greater need.  Help us to be more determined.. more earnest.. more ready.. and more gracious in giving.  Let our hearts be sincere in love for Your servants in need.. and help us to be gracious and faithful givers.. as we first give ourselves fully to You.  In Jesus' name we pray.. Amen.