Day of Praise

Th, 01/08/15, "Day of Praise"

God wants to build up everyone more than any of us could ever imagine. Everyone. Even the king of Egypt, as the following passage from Ezekiel 31:1-9 attests.

Unfortunately, the king of Egypt chooses to do his own thing (he sins), instead of surrendering to the more wonderful thing that God wants to do. The consequence is that everything comes crashing down around the king of Egypt.

Why we choose the lesser (doing our own thing), instead of believing and receiving the greater (God's thing for us), is a mystery that reminds us of the power of sin.

Jesus Christ alone can overcome our sin. Jesus alone can make brand new our will and our mind and our heart so that we can receive God's amazing blessings.

Surrender to the Holy Spirit, and trust Jesus to the point of following Him, learning from Him, and obeying Him. Blessings beyond measure will be seen.

So here's the beautiful passage from Ezekiel 31:1-9 of what God wanted to do for the king of Egypt and wants to do for you and me. May it inspire you to trust God today and always.

Ezekiel 31:1-18 - (New International Version 1984 (NIV 1984) A Cedar in Lebanon)

1 In the eleventh year, in the third month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 "Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes:

"'Who can be compared with you in majesty?
3 Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon,
with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest;
it towered on high,
its top above the thick foliage.
4 The waters nourished it,
deep springs made it grow tall;
their streams flowed
all around its base
and sent their channels
to all the trees of the field.
5 So it towered higher
than all the trees of the field;
its boughs increased
and its branches grew long,
spreading because of abundant waters.
6 All the birds of the air
nested in its boughs,
all the beasts of the field
gave birth under its branches;
all the great nations
lived in its shade.
7 It was majestic in beauty,
with its spreading boughs,
for its roots went down
to abundant waters.
8 The cedars in the garden of God
could not rival it,
nor could the pine trees
equal its boughs,
nor could the plane trees
compare with its branches—
no tree in the garden of God
could match its beauty.
9 I made it beautiful
with abundant branches,
the envy of all the trees of Eden
in the garden of God."

Praise God!

Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson