Ezekiel Ministry – Devotions

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs 3:5-6 Every year God gives me a scripture to start off my year. Last year was Habakkuk 3:1, “I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected.” Last year was a year of correction. God corrected a lot of my wrong thinking and He corrected me on my call to the ministry. I believe this year is going to be a year that we must learn to trust in God. I believe that we need to prepare for the times that are coming. Many people are preparing for hard times by bodily and materially concerns. I do not believe that this is God’s plan for hard times. We need to be preparing spiritually for the times that are coming. We need to be learning to trust in God with our entire heart. Those who right now are setting their hearts and minds to seek God with all of their being, saturating their hearts and minds with His Word and cleaving to Jesus Christ more and more. They are safer and more protected than those who have stored away a year’s supply of food. God is going to bring us through the fire so that we will come out on the other side stronger than when we went in. In Daniel we see the King putting Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo in the blazing furnace; then turning the heat up as high as possible. They came out of the fire not even smelling of smoke. This was because they […]

“Then Asa cried out to the Lord his God, “O Lord, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O Lord, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!” 2 Chronicles 14:11 Asa was a king in Judah and he led God’s people to a miraculous victory over Ethiopia’s million man army. Afterward he testified it was God’s presence that scattered the enemy. God told Asa the secret of getting and maintaining the presence of God in his life. “Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded, and he went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle. “Listen to me, Asa!” he shouted. “Listen, all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you.” (2 Chronicles 15:1-2) When God’s presence is missing, everything is out of kilter, with no law, guidance or righteous teaching. Every one becomes a law unto himself; doing what is right in his own sight. This is what we see in our nation today. We have asked the presence of God to leave. If God’s presence is not with us, we see everything out of order. There is no peace and no rest. God promised that if we abide in Him He will give us His rest. “For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said, “In my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest,’ even though […]

“Our ancestors trusted in you, and you rescued them. They cried out to you and were saved. They trusted in you and were never disgraced. “Psalm 22:4-5 I do believe that America is on its last call. God has warned us many times and we have only told God to leave. I don’t believe that God is going to let America go on down the road we are on. He is going to withhold His blessing and we are going to be judged for our actions. I do believe there is hope. There may not be hope for America as a whole, but God will protect and provide for His people. There is a message of hope in these times that we live in. If we are going to have hope, we need the presence of God in our lives. We need to realize that without God we can do nothing, without trust in God we can do nothing. The Old Testament is full of examples of the wonderful blessings that come because of God’s presence. The story of Moses was one of those examples.  “If it is true that you look favorably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor. And remember that this nation is your very own people.” The Lord replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.” Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place.” (Exodus 33:13-15) This should be our prayer just as Moses said, ‘Lord, help me to fully understand your ways and trust in all that you do.” Most of the times we don’t trust God because we don’t understand that God’s […]

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 3:20-22 I believe that what Jesus said to these churches in Revelation is what He is saying to our churches today. Let review what Jesus said, Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7) – the church that had forsaken its first love (2:4). Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11) – the church that would suffer persecution (2:10). Pergamum (Revelation 2:12-17) – the church that needed to repent (2:16).Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29) – the church that had a false prophetess (2:20).  Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6) – the church that had fallen asleep (3:2). Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13) – the church that had endured patiently (3:10). Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22) – the church with the lukewarm faith (3:16). The letters to the seven churches was God giving to us so that we might examine our lives and our ministries. Judgment is going to come to this world, but it first begins at God’s house. “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17) In these letters we find encouragement as well as rebuke. May God help us to hear what the Spirit is saying today to the churches and to us as individuals.

“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” Revelation  3:15-16 The city of Laodicea boasted great resources, but had a poor water supply. Ancient sources state that it was full of sediment and excavation of the city’s terra cotta pipes reveal thick lime deposits, which suggest heavy contamination. Because Laodicea had to pipe in its water, it grew lukewarm by the time its arrival. The point of lukewarm water is simply that it is disgusting, in contrast to the more useful hot or cold water. The people of this church could well understand what Jesus was telling them. The church felt that they were rich and had it all together, but Jesus did not share their belief. He knew that they were not on fire for Him. You cannot serve God and the world at the same time; you must make a choice. You either chose to serve God or the world. You cannot sit on the fence. So many Christian today go to church on Sunday and act so much like they are serving God; then on Monday morning they are back in the world serving the world. They do not have a Christian World View. In the Christian life, there are three spiritual temperatures, a burning heart, on fire for God, a cold heart, and a lukewarm heart. The lukewarm heart is comfortable, complacent, and does not realize its needs. If the church was cold, at least you would feel it. Being lukewarm is having no feeling. If you are not burdened for our nation and what is going on, you may be lukewarm. Today’s Bible Reading: Revelation […]

“I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me.” Revelation 3:8 The church in Philadelphia is the only church that was really obeying God and following Jesus Christ. This was a great word from Jesus about this church. We all want Jesus to say this about us. God has opened a door that no one will shut. When God opens doors, we must obey and go through these doors or we are in danger of the rebuke of God. All God really wants from us is obedience. He wants us to listen to His instructions and follow them. Just like this church they had little strength, but they were faithful. We need to learn from them that we can do anything that God tells us, even if we don’t have the strength. We don’t walk with God with our strength, but we have the strength of God in our life. “This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.” (1Corinthians 1:25) When God called me back into the ministry, I told Him that I could not do what He wanted. I was too weak and I had failed at everything I tried for God. God agreed with me and told me that I failed because I tried to work in my strength not His. We must realize that without God we can do nothing. At times I still slip back into using my own strength not His. Jesus promised that He was going to be with them and that He was going to have a pillar erected for them in […]

“Write this letter to the anger of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: “I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead.” Revelation 3:1 The church at Sardis was a dead church. The Holy Spirit had left the church. This is a problem with many of our churches today. They are just going through the motions. The message to Sardis is a warning to all great churches that are living on past glory. Spiritual ministries often go through four stages, a man, a movement, a machine, and then a monument. Sardis was at the monument stage, but there was still hope. There are no words of commendation or any doctrine problems. There just was no life in the church. Satan had quit attacking the church. Why waste his time attacking something that is no threat to his plan. We think that Satan is in the bars and the places where sin is, but Satan has these people. Satan is in the churches stirring up conflict. This church would have been better off if they were facing opposition or persecution. We know that we are on the right path for God when the path is no longer easy. Just like the city of Sardis the church was living in its glory days. The unsaved in Sardis saw the church as a respectable group of people who were neither dangerous nor desirable. They were decent people with a dying witness and a decaying ministry. We need to wake up before it is too late! Wake up, be watchful, repent! Then we will have revival. Today’s Bible Reading: Revelation 3:1-6, Romans 13:11-14

“I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things. “But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols.” Revelation 2:19-20 As we look at these churches in Revelation, we see them all doing some good things, just not everything that Jesus wanted them to do. The one theme that is in the churches so far is the theme that they look good from the outside. They put on the best show in town. Their building is the best looking building in town. They give to the poor and support missionaries. What could be wrong with this? They had sin in their church and they did nothing about that sin. They allowed Jezebel to teach a false doctrine. They allowed her to lead others away from God. Thyatira was a military town as well as a commercial center with many trade guilds. Wherever guilds were found, idolatry and immorality were the greatest enemies of the church. The trade guilds were where you could make connections for your business. This was fine, but the problem was most of these guilds were part of the sexual immorality and eating food that was sacrificed to idols. When the people did not belong to these guilds, they could not find work. It all comes back to are we part of the world or part of the kingdom of God? I know we all need to work if we are going to eat, but how much do we trust God to supply our needs. God will supply […]

“But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.” Revelation 2:14-15 This is the second church that Jesus tells them that He hates Nicolaitans. Just what is Nicolaitans?  Modern Nicolaitanism dresses itself in the guise of inclusivity. Rather than living separately from the world, those who espouse this view reason, “Since everyone is right and no one wrong both spiritually and morally, why should there be a need for separation?” Leading denominational churches have taken the position that the time has come to help lesbians and homosexuals blend into the church community and lead “holy” lives along with other church members. This sentiment mirrors the teaching of the Nicolaitans of the First Century, for these modern-day church leaders promote a message that will make them more acceptable with the multitude instead of one that will put them in opposition with the expectations of modern society. Jesus tells us that we have to come apart from the world, because we are not part of the world. “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” (John 17:15-16) The church at Pergamum was told to repent. It had fallen prey to a cult called Nicolaitians. Jesus told them if they resisted this temptation they would receive blessings. If they continued to follow this doctrine, He would come with a sword and judgment. The Bible […]

“Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Revelation 2:10 The church at Smyrna was persecuted for their faith. This is why Jesus emphasized His death and resurrection as He opened His message. No matter what experience God’s people may have Jesus can identify with them. The church was not having an easy time of it. They were being persecuted because they refused to compromise and say “Caesar is Lord”. Smyrna was an important center of the Roman imperial cult and anyone refusing to acknowledge Caesar as Lord would have been excluded from the guilds. This would mean unemployment and poverty. The word used for poverty in these verses means abject poverty possessing absolutely nothing. Jesus tells them that they were rich. How in the world could they be rich when they had no job? They were not rich in the things of the world but in the things of God. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21) They lived for eternal values that would never change; riches that could never be taken away. This church may not have enjoyed the approval of men, but they had the approval of God. Jesus tells them that He was in control of everything, because He knew the plans of God. […]