Send the Right Leader for this Nation

[S] Ezekiel 14:14 -- 14 even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves," declares the Lord GOD.

[O] Subsequent verses explains further about how these three righteous men would not even save their family in this land corrupted against God.  I thought Noah's days were bad enough and yet he saved his family members, so the landscape has worsened to the max by this time of Ezekiel.  This is more of a reflection but I wonder where our current landscape compares to it although it could not be an apples-to-apples comparison I won't be surprised if we're not far (or exceeding) from it.

[A] As the US Presidential election is coming up soon and we're hearing about a lot of promises from the candidates for the future of this nation, I am going to pray that despite their religious faith, God would move their hearts to do some housecleaning so this nation would draw closer to His ways of living.  I will also take more ownership of studying their values and visions to cast my carefully discerned vote in November.

[P] Dear Father, please save this nation from the ugliness depicted in this passage.  Please set the right leader who will carry the people of this great nation to do great things for You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Clean the House Before Renewing

[S] Ezekiel 11:18-20 --
18 When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it.19 And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.

[O] When God restores the Israelites back to their land, the sequence of actions were: 1) cleansing of the land; 2) God gives a new heart & new spirit; 3) people walk His statutes; 4) keep His ordinances and do them.  Then the relation between God and His people will be restored completely.

[A] What areas in my life do I need to cleanse?  Before asking for a new heart, I must take time and effort to  do some housecleaning in and around my life.  Then ask God to renew my heart for Him.

[P] Dear Father, please grant me the wisdom and energy to cleanse my life to clean up all detestable things as the first step of renewing my relationship with You.  Please replace my heart of stone with Your heart of flesh.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Attributes of a Pillar

[S] Revelations 3:11-12 --
11 I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.

[O] Con artists are those good at deceiving others to believe a lie as truth.  The message to the church of Philadelphia is to not fall for these con artists who tries to take away the crown of the church.  Those who sustains the truth and not lose it the lies will become the pillar in the temple of God and will bear His name.

[A] God sets me in positions of this world so instead of trying to vie for a better or higher positions of this world I need to first follow His principles and He will place me in the most appropriate place in His temple.  How I long to be the pillar of His temple but unless I have forged my spirit to be hardened up against the lies of this world, I cannot be used as a pillar.  So, continue to hold fast to His word daily so I would inch up in me the true principles of God.

[P] Dear Father, I commit to abide by Your principles so that I won't fall for the con artists of this world.  Please shower down Your Holy Spirit to counsel and guide me every day.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Both Transparent and Reflective

[S] Ezekiel 1:28 --
28 As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.

[O] Every time I see the rainbow on a rainy day in front of a gray backdrop, a rush of awesome sensation run through my mind because of its beauty as well as the precious moment I happened to witness (and they don't stay around too long).  This verse tells me that it's just a quick preview of how wonderful the glory of the Lord will be revealed when He returns.

[A] I am envisioning God's glory radiating out like the beautiful rainbow from our lives.  In fact, that is how my life should be led while on this earth.  I am not sure whether I need to be transparent or reflect His glory to bring for the rainbow-like glory but I guess it's a little bit of both just like how the water molecules -- both transparent and reflective of the sun light -- display the rainbow.

[P] Dear Father, make me part of Your beautiful rainbow for this world which is dark and gloomy.  May Your glory bring together the people so they would get to know the wonderful plans You have for them.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Answer Me Quickly

[S] Psalm 143:7-8 --
7 Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails;
Do not hide Your face from me,
Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.

8 Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning;
For I trust in You;
Teach me the way in which I should walk;
For to You I lift up my soul.

[O] Life is like a thirsty person looking for water to quench it, and until found the desperation is like the author of this psalm where unless he hears God answering his call his spirit will fail.  Every morning he desires to hear God's voice so he may build up his trust in God for the rest of the day.  With all that he desires to praise God through his soul.

[A] I am currently crying out to God for a specific direction in my life and I am in accord with this psalmist about praying to God to "answer me quickly" and do not hide Your face from me.  I want to continue to put my trust in Him who will answer in His timing.  I want to treasure each morning to hear His voice.

[P] Dear Father, I don't want my life to be deflating but inflating with Your hope and rejoicing despite a sense of being stuck.  I would like to be immersed in Your countenance each morning so that I will lift up my soul to You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

In the Hand of God

[S] Jeremiah 50:3 --
3 For a nation has come up against her out of the north; it will make her land an object of horror, and there will be no inhabitant in it. Both man and beast have wandered off, they have gone away!

[O] The invincible Babylon's days are marked according to God and as always He kept His promise on that.  God gives and He takes away.  No matter how much we like to believe that what we do can make a difference in this world, it is in the hand of God.

[A] Especially when my own accomplishments seem to do well, I must not let it go to my head but let my heart rejoice God's graceful provision for my life and give Him all the credit.

[P] Dear Father, You have blessed me so much and I would like to thank You for all that.  I also ask that what you will provide for me is already written in Your book and as I spend each in Your presence may my heart gain more trust in You so I would not turn to the ways of this world but to Your ways only.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Best to Avoid God's Freedom

[S] Jeremiah 34:17 (NIV) --
17 "Therefore this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. So I now proclaim 'freedom' for you, declares the Lord—'freedom' to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth.

[O] Freedom is something we all desire.  No one likes to be constrained under some boundaries all the time.  However, freedom either has to be available equally to everyone or it will not work.  For example if only one of the two people exercise his freedom then it's really not freedom but an abuse such as the incident that took place this morning in Empire State Building in NYC where a gunman took the lives of many.  He exercised his "freedom" while others helplessly became his victims.  If we proclaim our own freedom, then let God exercise His own freedom to let us fall by our enemies (or be subject to our own sin).  The picture is pretty clear that we are the losers.  So, that's not a good option to take.

[A] The other "good" option is to be subjected to His covenant which is His law wrapped around His love and grace so that I will be protected from His "freedom" to zap me for who I am.  I am sensing that this is a message for someone I know but I no name comes to mind now so I need to pray for His guidance to deliver this message.  Additionally, I must daily approach His throne to be wrapped around this grace as I live each day.

[P] Dear Father, Your grace overwhelms me again today and may my heart be large enough to take it all in so that my life will blossom with Your amazing grace.  Please reveal in me whom I should share this message of hope and future.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Stuck in Baby-lon

[S] Jeremiah 29:10-11 (NIV) --
10 This is what the Lord says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

[O] God has a specific plan for my life and even though I may seem to be spending eternity in "Babylon" He will take me out of that place into prosperity, hope and future.  When I feel like I'm stuck in Babylon one of the first thing that goes out the door is hope of living for future but that's exactly what God promises here.

[A] I've been feeling like I'm stuck at my current job as my Babylon (nothing bad, just too busy to take up a lot of my time away from family and ministry).  I'm going to rid of my thinking like that but to trust in His plans for my life with prosperity, hope and future!

[P] Dear Father, Your plans are always higher than mine and please don't let me forget about that so my daily life will be founded in that firm foundation of trust in You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Praising Before Harvesting

[S] Psalm 67:5-6 --
5 Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
6 The earth has yielded its produce;
God, our God, blesses us.
(NIV) 6 The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.

[O] I feel that I am conditioned to treat praising God as an activity of worship only but I was reminded from other passages how praising was used to lead God's victorious battles (almost like a cheering as God is fighting for us).  And in this passage the praising is even used as a conduit to channel His blessings.  Sure I want to receive His blessings but how my narrow mind was so stuck on finding out how I can receive that as if there is some 12-steps to receiving His blessings.

[A] One area of blessings I have been requesting was for my life to yield God's fruits and yet my life did not reflect much of praising God for what He is and will bless in my life.  I need to correct that and increase my faith by praising Him more and more, literally by singing songs while playing my guitar.

[P] Dear Father, may my life be a pleasing praise to You by lifting up Your wonderful name.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

God of Furthermore Grace

[S] Jeremiah 26:24 (NIV) --
Furthermore, Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, and so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.

[O] Jeremiah had a real tough time conveying the message of God as he ran into oppositions around every turn, many times risking his life.  However the "furthermore" God always seem to cover for him just like in this passage to look out for His spokesperson (Jer. 15:19).

[A] Whenever I am faced with difficult situations, I should be more concerned about how pure my motives are before God than trying to find a way out for myself because He will not leave me behind but to "furthermore" reach out to me to pull me into His bosom.  I must not forget this promise of God as life's challenges knock on my door.

[P] Dear Father, Your furthermore grace is where I need to anchor my faith and to draw strength from. My ways and strength alone is so limited and yet forgive me for leaning on them so proudly at many times.  Grant me the faith like Jeremiah to carry out Your purposes despite the very hostile circumstances he had to endure through.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Spiritual Housecleaning and Youth Revival

[S] 2 Chronicles 34:3 --
For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images.

[O] At the age of sixteen, King Josiah began to practice his conviction toward God and essentially brought a spiritual revival in his land under his rule.  Removing the distractions of the enemy was the first step and after that as we read in subsequent verses, God sends him a clear message of His wrath toward His run-away people to which Josiah humbly repents and seeks for God grace.  God accepts and grants him peace.  I can see that Josiah's housecleaning was the right preparation for being right with God when he heard God's message.  This passage is also an inspiration for me as a high school Sunday School teacher because God can work His mighty plans through the youths He had entrusted me with.

[A] God is speaking to me all the time.  So it's not the question of whether God is speaking to me or not but whether I have eliminated the distractions in my life so I may clearly hear His message for me.  I need to start identifying the traps enemy has put in and around my life so that I can remove them in order to prepare myself of hearing God's message for me now.

[P] Dear Father, please identify in my life the areas I need to do some housecleaning in because just like Josiah, I want to hear Your message for me clearly in order to be accepted by You under Your grace.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Much More than Words

[S] John 5:39-40 --
39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

[O] A fair warning against focusing on the wrong purpose when doing my devotions.  The words out of the Bible alone is not where I tap into the real source of strength and power of God.  These words are merely the pointers and guidance for me to navigate myself to the real source.  If I am unwilling to come to the source that these words reference, then I have totally missed the boat.

[A] I need to search for "God" in my time of devotion not just being satisfied with reading the words.

[P] Dear Father, please reveal in my heart who You are from the Scriptures I read.  I want to not just stop by reading the words alone but want to encounter You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Don't Get Hooked

[S] 2 Chronicles 33:11 --
11 Therefore the LORD brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.
(NIV)  So the lord brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.

[O] When Manasseh rejected God's message, he was humiliated by putting a hook in his nose and led away to Babylon.  He later repents and God restores him back to Jerusalem.

[A] If I can only learn without experiencing consequences (of my bad decisions) I would enjoy my life more and spend more of my time to do God's will.  In order to do that, I must gain God's messages for me so I may obey them each time I discern them.

[P] Dear Father, more so than the fact that I don't want to be humiliated by not following God's will for me, I really want to please You by obeying Your words for my life.  Please reveal them deep in my heart so that I will walk the path You desire for me.  I am praying right now about what that path is for me at this juncture.  Please give me the discernment through Your word.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.