Be Encouraged Today!

I’m sitting here studying the book of Ezekiel, and I see a parallel—a mirror—of Judah and Jerusalem of old, and how America, and rather the Church, is looking like Judah and Jerusalem of old. It breaks my heart, because they were God’s people, and we are God’s people. We have been grafted into the Vine, and yet we did not learn the lesson that was taught and given to us in the book of Ezekiel. When we rebel, when we go against God’s way, when we set up idols in our hearts, we must remember this is not God’s way. We must do things God’s way. We cannot do things our own way. We think we are on the path that leads to the Father—Jesus and Him crucified—but we are not looking to Him and what was accomplished at the Cross of Calvary for us. We cannot look like the world. Yet the Church today has adopted many things from the world and has tried to bring them into the Church—just like Judah and Jerusalem tried to look like, act like, and do things like the nations around them. They b...

In Ezekiel 14, the elders of Israel came to Ezekiel asking for prayer, but they had set up idols in their hearts. An idol of the heart can be anything we put before God—anything that takes precedence over, or replaces, our loyalty and devotion to Him. In our minds, we often think God is first—but is He really? Sometimes we have idols set up in our hearts without even realizing it. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal if you have any idols in your heart as you examine yourself. Sidebar: A Personal Example I love to work out. Years ago, I heard the Holy Spirit say, “It’s easy for you to miss praying or reading the Word of God—you say you’ll do it later, and sometimes later never comes—but you don’t miss your workouts.” Ouch—hallelujah! It hurt my feelings a little, but it was true. So, I started getting up early to study, read, and go on my prayer walks. My workouts had become an idol of the heart in my life. Working out is good, but as a child of God, I shouldn’t have placed ...