Daniel 1:1-2:23; 1 Peter 3:8-4:6; Psalm 119:65-80; Proverbs 28:14 What do your friends and neighbors associate you with? Do they know your favorite sports teams, political commitments, and favorite restaurants? What about the God you have given your allegiance to? Our ultimate desire in life should be that everyone associates us with Christ.Daniel and his friends were exiled to Babylon but chose t...  Read More

Ezekiel 47:1-48:35; 1 Peter 2:11-3:7; Psalm 119:49-64; Proverbs 28:12-13 Where do you look for life? Where do you turn for peace, joy, and satisfaction? When you are feeling down where do you turn for happiness? There is an unending series of options in our culture where we can turn, but only one place that will provide what we are looking for, God.Ezekiel describes a stream of water that flows fr...  Read More

Ezekiel 45:13-46:24; 1 Peter 1:13-2:10; Psalm 119:33-48; Proverbs 28:11 When we gather on Sunday mornings to worship, it is meant to be an encouragement and catalyst to a life of worship. This hour once a week is meant to teach us how to live as a worshiper through the rest of the week.God calls the nation in Ezekiel to come and worship him through animal sacrifices in the temple. This still futur...  Read More

Ezekiel 44:1-45:12; 1 Peter 1:1-12; Psalm 119:17-32; Proverbs 28:8-10 What do you pay attention to? You may be fixated on the news, sports scores, or the weather channel, but we all pay too much attention to things that are meaningless and insignificant. God calls us to pay more attention to him than anything in the world.God calls Ezekiel in 44:5 to “look carefully, listen closely, and give atten...  Read More

Ezekiel 42:1-43:27; James 5:1-20; Psalm 119:1-16; Proverbs 28:6-7 What does a blessed life look like? We often think that rich people are blessed, and poor people are not. Yet true blessing is not found in wealth or material possessions but in our connection to God.Ezekiel describes the greatest blessing we have as experiencing the presence of God. The temple was intended to be a place where human...  Read More

Ezekiel 40:28-41:26; James 4:1-17; Psalm 118:19-29; Proverbs 28:3-5 In the final paragraph of today’s reading from James, we can picture a businessman standing over a map—pointing out a spot to his associates:  Here is where the Romans are developing a new community.  We need to invest quickly in trade and land speculation.We’ll make a fortune in the first year.  But then James breaks in:There is ...  Read More

Ezekiel 39:1-40:27; James 2:18-3:18; Psalm 118:1-18; Proverbs 28:2 A critical skill in reading the Bible is correlation. Correlation is what allows us to take the pieces of the Bible and put them together into one seamless puzzle. Since all of the Bible is true and God-breathed, it never contradicts itself and all fits together. In Ezekiel, we read about the destruction of the armies of Gog and Ma...  Read More

Ezekiel 37:1-38:23; James 1:19-2:17; Psalm 117:1-2; Proverbs 28:1 When have you felt deep despair? Is there a time when you didn’t feel like you could go on? A time when you felt like throwing in the towel.Ezekiel is given a picture of a seemingly hopeless Israel. The nation is pictured as a pile of dead bones, and it seems there is no future for the nation. Then God tells him to prophesy over the...  Read More

Ezekiel 35:1-36:38; James 1:1-18; Psalm 116:1-19; Proverbs 27:23-27 There are some passages in the Bible that cause us to scratch our heads; they are difficult to understand. And other verses, while clear in meaning, can be even much more difficult to act on. For example, James 1:2 tells us to "consider it pure joy … whenever you face trials of many kinds." The meaning of the command is clear, but...  Read More

Ezekiel 33:1-34:31; Hebrews 13:1-25; Psalm 115:1-18; Proverbs 27:21-22 John Maxwell says that a leader is someone who “knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way” and every one of us is called to be a leader. The only question is whether we are leading effectively or not.Ezekiel uses two images to describe leadership. He first describes leaders as watchmen who see what is coming and share this...  Read More

Ezekiel 31:1-32:32; Hebrews 12:14-29; Psalm 113:1-114:8; Proverbs 27:18-20 Water, like a mirror, reflects our physical image.  And, in the second proverb at the end of our reading, we’re told that our life—our behavior—also reflects our hearts (27:19).  The simplicity of this proverb could take us in one of two directions.  It could be that my behavior reveals my heart to myself.  When we take an ...  Read More

Ezekiel 29:1-30:26l; Hebrews 11:32-12:13; Psalm 112:1-10; Proverbs 27:17 Christianity is personal but not private. When we enter into a relationship with Christ we also enter into a relationship with his family. Hebrews 11 has described the community of faith that we are a part of, and chapter 12 describes what difference this community should make in our lives. Notice even those who have followed...  Read More