THE BOILING POT
Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 24-25
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
This large boiling pot of beans is at the Mully Children’s Family in Ndalani Kenya. Through the years, much support has been given by our 100 Huntley Street viewers for the thousands of children cared for by Charles and Esther Mulli. This pot represents blessing, but Ezekiel’s pot in today’s reading represents judgment.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: Ezekiel 24:14
“I, the Lord, have spoken it;
It shall come to pass, and I will do it;
I will not hold back,
Nor will I spare,
Nor will I relent;
According to your ways
And according to your deeds
They will judge you,”
Says the Lord God.
Ezekiel 24 has three illustrations which provide a picture of judgment. (1) The cooking pot. (2) The loss of Ezekiel’s wife. (3) Ezekiel has not spoken for some time, and now he speaks again. The reason for all this is found in verses 24b and 27b…that “you shall know that I am the Lord God!” Ezekiel’s knowledge of the future siege of Jerusalem (24:2) constitutes a confirmation of his genuine, God given, prophetic gift. Our key verse points to the fact that judgment is “according to your ways…your deeds, they will judge you!” The Judge on the bench simply recognizes facts and passes sentence accordingly. The people are their own worst enemy, bringing judgment upon themselves. It’s not God’s fault!
Ezekiel 25 points out that Israel is not alone in the destruction they’ve brought on themselves. Neighbouring countries also suffer the consequences of their sins.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I repent of my sin, and according to Your promise You forgive me (1 John 1:5-10, Psalm 51:1-4). I pray that I will turn 180 degrees away from sin. I realize that while I’m forgiven, sin still has its consequences in my life, my family, and my community. I cry out for purity of heart, mind and deeds. I do so in the Name of the only Person who never sinned, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I’ve just watched the movie, Son of God. The scene of Peter’s sin in denying that he even knew Jesus was so powerful. The producers may have been easy on Peter because, while the Scriptures say Peter “began to curse and swear,” I don’t think I heard the cursing and swearing (read Matthew 26:69-75). The events of Jesus’ life were there with great strength, even though the order of those events may have been changed somewhat. A movie producer must be given the leeway to cover the material as he or she (Mark Burnett and Roma Downey) see fit (for a 100 Huntley Street interview with this amazing husband and wife team, click here).
There’s also a new movie out on the resurrection of Christ called “RISEN.” Click here for info and trailers.
Yours in support of powerful visuals, as well as words, which, like Ezekiel’s word pictures (a boiling pot), convey “Truth!”,
David
Son of God was a very good and moving movie.It did much to grow my faith:I felt like I was there.Pray for Jerusalem and Ukraine.
I was a baby Christian when I wrote this poem.God bless
Our Father
Oh God our Father you love us so,
We are blind and can not know
Just how great and kind you are,
You do not love us from afar.
We turn our backs and still you care;
We close our eyes but you are there,
But it’s You we rely on
To lead us on back to Zion.
We hurt you daily by endless sin
But still your light guides us in.
You could not know how weak we are
So you sent us Jesus to bear our scars.
We are a mixture of sin and praise,
But still you lift our spirits to raise
The love that you see in us still,
A desire to follow your holy will.
G W (Bill) Marshall /Oct 10,2011
Thanks, Bill, for the poem. And thank You, Lord God, for the great and unending love You have for all people. Thank You for all the workers You have been sending out throughout all generations, the ones who bring Your Word so people can hear and know Your forgiveness and love for themselves. Open the doors for Your Word to go out, fill each one of Your children with Your Holy Spirit, and open people’s hearts to welcome the King, in Jesus’s great name, amen
And a message about prophets (servants) from Matthew 21:
“Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop. But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.
“Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’
“But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.
“When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?”
The religious leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.”
Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures?
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
and it is wonderful to see.’
I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”
When the leading priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, who considered Jesus to be a prophet.
Thank you for posting this poem. I really liked it. God bless .
For the 6th day from the “Prayer Map of Canada”
1. Pray for a more effective witness by the Church in every Canadian community. (Deuteronomy 4: 6-7, Matthew 5: 13-16, Acts 1:8)
2. Pray for British Columbia.
-Pray for the leaders of the province, That God’s Spirit would influence them to act justly, serve with integrity and honour high moral standards. (1 Timothy 2 :1-4)
-Pray for the churches of the province, that they would be lighthouses beaming forth the illuminating truth of God’s Word.
We are responsible to “go into all the word (our world) and preach the gospel”. At this time, many churches are closed or limited in numbers allowed in, and vaccine/masking requirements are required. I am thankful for many opportunities to see Christian programming on TV and social media. Praying that many will have a hunger to understand the times of stress we are in to seek Truth. May God open our/their understanding to really KNOW Him. Praying for God’s guidance & blessings to mightily help those in the Ukraine and any others suffering from the Russian invasion In Jesus Name, I pray. Amen
P.S. I saw Roma Downy @ Crossroads. I think she may have been there more than one time. I saw her being dropped off alone at the front entrance of Crossroads in Burlington as I was arriving for work. Lovely lady.