Ezekiel 45:13-48:35

The River of Healing

In my vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing east from beneath the door of the Temple and passing to the right of the altar on its south side. ² The man brought me outside the wall through the north gateway and led me around to the eastern entrance. There I could see the water flowing out through the south side of the east gateway.

³ Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for 1,750 feet^[m] and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles. ⁴ He measured off another 1,750 feet and led me across again. This time the water was up to my knees. After another 1,750 feet, it was up to my waist. ⁵ Then he measured another 1,750 feet, and the river was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through.

– Ezekiel 47:1-5

This morning went fairly to plan, we all got up and dressed and ready for work and school. Sean drove off to work, then Gabe trotted off to the bus stop, and just as I was helping Anna get her shoes on to head out to catch her bus there was a knock at the door.

It was 7:30am on a school day, people don’t come to our house at that hour of the day, I was bewildered to say the least! I looked up from my crouched position over Anna’s shoelaces to see the top of a familiarly bald head pressed against the glass of our front door with a backdrop of the uniform shirt material I see every day. My head raced to figure out what on earth Sean could have forgotten this time, his lunch, his glasses, his name? (He jokes that he would forget it if it wasn’t sewn onto his shirt.) I opened the door fully prepared to ask him what he’d forgotten, except when I opened it he didn’t stand up but only grunted, “it hurts” as he struggled to pick his feet high enough to step through the threshold of the house. With my smile suddenly in my shoes and my heart in my stomach I peppered him with questions, “what’s wrong?” “What hurts?” “What can I do?” And he could only answer with strangled, “My back”, “nothing”, “uuuugggghhhh…..”

My head reeled as I looked at the clock, “Five minutes. Five minutes until the bus gets here” I told myself while tugging at my own shoelaces, “One thing at a time”. I gave Anna a once over with my eyes and then led her out to the bus stop in the corner of our yard. Those four minutes ticked away excruciatingly slowly. My husband was writhing in pain just a few yards away and there I stood making small talk with the neighbors over the children’s heads. “One thing at a time”.

Another glance at the clock as I walked back into the house told me I had less than ten minutes to get to work on time, yet there lay Sean on our bed in more pain than I’ve ever seen him in before in our fourteen years of marriage – and there was nothing I could do. There was no explanation of his pain, nothing he had lifted or moved that had caused this stabbing. It just happened as he was driving to work causing him to stop driving, turn around and come back home. Which I might add has only happened twice in these fourteen years of marriage, one of which being today. To say I was terrified would barely cover it. His sudden reappearance at our doorstep this morning rocked me to my core. I didn’t know what to do, how to help, how to make him better. I felt so helpless, scared and…. well SCARED. This is my rock. He’s the one who lifts the heavy things, not me. He’s the strong one in this relationship. And yet there he was as weak as I’d ever seen him and I simply didn’t know what to do. “One thing at a time”.

I scurried around the house finding the Advil and the glass for water, the heating pad and anything else I could think of to get him, I prayed. Not words so much, as soul groans deeper than words. Those sounds from deep within that make no human sense and yet spirits understand them completely. All day, I prayed from that place of no words, no sound really, only heart-felt pleas of mercy and assistance for someone I love to feel better and to not be in pain anymore.

^“26 the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. ²⁷ And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers^[l] in harmony with God’s own will. ²⁸ And we know that God causes everything to work together^[m] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. ²⁹ For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn^[n] among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love

³¹ What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
³² Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? ³³ Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. ³⁴ Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

³⁵ Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? ³⁶ (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”^[o]) ³⁷ No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[p] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:26-39

Ezekiel stepped into THE River of Life. He waded to his ankles, then his knees, then to his waist until finally the River was simply too deep to walk in anymore… but it was the perfect depth for swimming.

Sit there and soak that picture into your brain. Imagine yourself dipping your toes into the refreshing waters of the River of Life and wading in up to your waist. Where are you today? Are you splashing on the shore line, swimming in the deep, or somewhere in the middle? Are you feeling dry and thirsty or wet and just trying to keep your head above water? Either way – you’re IN the River. Let it sweep you away with its current of Love. Let the water of His Grace lap at your toes and fingertips and curl around your body like silk only softer and more tender.

If God is for us, WHO can be against us? NOTHING can separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus, nothing! If you can’t pray because you’re simply too close to the situation, that’s OK! He has given us a River of Life that will flow from our bellies and it intercedes on our behalf with groans TOO DEEP for words. Stop trying to put things into words and simply let your heart do all the talking for you. He knows your heart. He knows your words before they’re ever on your tongue. He knows, because He cares for you; so make sure to remember that you CAN cast all your cares upon Him. He has broad shoulders; He can handle them so you don’t need to.

Update on Sean:

After an hour long massage from my FAVORITE massage therapist, Diane Lawson, Sean is feeling MUCH better now. We’re pretty sure it was all the coughing he’s been doing, since he’s been battling a cold, that made his muscles spasm so dramatically. So if you feel like praying, we could all use some healing prayers sent our direction.

Also, I would greatly appreciate your prayers for my friend Tammy and her family. Her mom has been in the hospital for about a week or so now with severe heart issues. She had surgery, recovered and was doing fairly well, but continued having trouble breathing. Then today she went into A-fib, while still at the hospital AND while her doctor just happened to still be in the building – coincidence, I doubt it, praise God! They moved her to the ICU and that’s the last update I’ve gotten on them so far tonight. So to say that their family is under a lot of stress at the moment would be an understatement! Tammy is someone who has prayed for you, probably more than I have even. So for you to return that favor on her behalf would be much appreciated.

Ezekiel 42:1-45:12

“When the priests leave the sanctuary, they must first take off the clothes they wore while ministering, because these clothes are holy.” Ezekiel 42:14

I read today’s Word of the Day right after I had gotten off work and had changed out of my all black work clothes and into something more… colorful. So when Ezekiel mentions twice that the priests had to change their clothes after doing their duty in the temple I definitely took notice. It made me feel a little bit more satisfied with the work that I do at Dollar General. It’s certainly not glamorous by any stretch of the imagination. I usually come home covered in a layer of dust and sweat from running around that store like a chicken with my head cut off. And yet day in and day out I see the same faces, and sell them the same bottles of milk and bags of donuts for breakfast. I’ve created relationships with them, not deep relationships by any means, but I recognize them when they come in and I’m genuinely happy to see them. Most of them are nameless friends that simply share that one part of their day with me. And yet that’s still something isn’t it?

I may just be the smiling cashier at the Dollar General to them. But they’re so much more than that to me. They’re not faces in a crowd, they’re people, souls with needs and dreams. They’re people I consider friends, even though I don’t know all their names. Over the last seven years of living in Sheridan I’ve made a lot of friendships of all varying degrees. But there is one thing I’ve learned about your friends, you love them. (Right Kelly?)

A friend isn’t just someone you hang out with or talk to; a friend is someone who is a part of your life. They’re someone who makes you light up inside when they walk in the door, before they ever say a word. Sometimes a friend is someone who gets on your nerves from time to time and you just need a break once in a while because you’ve spent too much time together lately, or they said something that hurt your feelings. There are all kinds of friends, the ones who are ALWAYS there when you need them in a pinch, the ones who can ALWAYS make you laugh when you’re low, the ones who are the BEST listeners, you know what I mean.

I have several online friends that I’ve never met in person, but I love them very much. They’re my sisters! Now because of work, I have a lot of friends that live in the same town that I do, we’re often at the same place at the same time often and usually share a laugh when we get together – most of them I don’t even know their names – and yet I still light up inside when I see them walking through my door because I love them.

You all in DEFINITELY in my friends I’ve never met category. You’re the people I talk to every day. How many people do you have in your life that you talk to every day and you don’t like them? You guys are my friends that ALWAYS listen, you never complain and you rarely annoy me. 😉 You, very often, keep me going when I’m down. You force me to pull my thoughts together and to do the thing that brings me around to where I’m supposed to be. You are amazingly dear to me, you have NO idea. Well, actually, maybe you do. Maybe you feel the same way about me. 😀 I’ve heard through the grapevine that at least a couple of you rely on receiving these emails just as heavily as I rely on sending them. 😀 We’re a good team, you and me, 696 posts into this I think we may have hit our stride. We should keep this up. 😉

Ezekiel 39:1-41:26

“This gateway also had a stairway of seven steps leading up to it, and an entry room at the inner end, and palm tree decorations along the dividing walls.” Ezekiel 40:26

In Chapters 40 and 41 you’ll find a description of the temple that God showed Ezekiel. In these chapters you will read many many measurements and exact dimensions for the temple, but as I was reading one thing stood out. In several places it mentions a specific decoration. Nowhere in the rest of all the details of this particular temple (in today’s reading at least) is there any other mention of any of the decorations, just this one. Palm trees.

By the time I got to the third or fourth mention of these palm tree decorations I couldn’t take it anymore and I stopped reading and prayed, “Lord, what’s the deal with the palm trees? Why mention them?”

“It’s an oasis. My Temple is to be an oasis in the wilderness; a place to find shade and rest, comfort and resources. The palm tree provides food and often lets travelers know where they might find water. Are you an oasis? I live in you, you are My Temple. Are you an oasis for those around you? Are you a breath of fresh air for the weary? Can those in the wilderness find shade and rest under your branches? You are blessed in order to be a blessing, follow My lead and go be a blessing to someone today My Beloved one. ;)”

Ezekiel 35:1-38:23

“I will put My temple among them forever.” Ezekiel 37:26

Last school year saw some struggles with our then First Grader now Second Grader so to say that some prayer has taken place would be an understatement! And yet what does God do to S.how M.e H.ow M.uch I. L.ove Y.ou? As we pull up to the school for back school night we saw this:

Yup. That would be a RAINBOW over her school! The day before this He had me speak over her that this would be the year of her breakthrough. Hallelujah!

A heart in my cheeseburger pie leftovers at work.

Walking our (now) middle schooler to the bus stop on the first day of school.

This one’s a little hard to see but there’s a heart drawn into the dust on the back of this vehicle that I got stuck behind on my way to work on the first day of school. I REALLY needed this one.

What a week of God’s LOVE!

Ezekiel 32:9-34:31

“When I have broken their chains of slavery and rescued them then they will know that I am the LORD.” Ezekiel 34:27

Oh LORD,

Help me get rid of this Mommy Guilt! Those kids mean SO MUCH to me. I mean, they are my own flesh and blood after all. And yet I struggle so much between being their mom and being their slave. Now that I’ve been working outside the home I feel like I’ve been ignoring them. Even if I’m not! Lord, I’ve seen it a hundred times from all the mom’s that I’ve worked with as a daycare provider over the years. They allow their guilt of being away from their kids control their decisions and let their kids call the shots because they feel like they owe their children something because they weren’t home with them. And I’ve done the same thing! I let my children take charge over me because I wanted them to feel like I love them. But teaching 101 taught me that the #1 thing children crave is boundaries because the boundaries make them feel safe. Like a fence around a play yard, boundaries keep danger out and the fun in.

Yet here I’ve been all summer so wracked by my own Mommy Guilt that I allowed my children to become my idols. (Along with many other things.) And yet Your hold on me has been strong. Like the Good Father You are – my Father – You’ve told me, “no” on MULTIPLE occasions for multiple reasons – ALL for my good. You have held strong to the boundaries You set up around me and continued to push me down from them when I’ve tried to climb over them. Again and again and again… I’ve continued thinking that the grass was greener over the fence but what I didn’t realize was that while it may have been greener it was Astroturf – not food! Like wax fruit, it is beautiful to the eye, but not nutritional in the least. While it would have filled my belly it wouldn’t have done me any good. Unlike the green pasture of Truth I currently reside in that feeds my soul and keeps me at peace. This is the grass You planted, the pasture You created specifically for ME. Who am I to try and find anything better than a life specifically created for the unique individual You created me to be?

You closed a door in my life, and I’ve spent months staring at it and beating on it begging to go back through it instead of simply turning around and exploring this NEW place You’ve brought me to; a place that is perfectly seasoned for my growth, health and security. YOU did that for me. And all I’ve done is whine that You did it to me. Lord, I’ve been so self-centered and ungrateful. I’m so sorry. I’ve completely lost sight of the Truth that no matter what is happening around me, You are for me and not against me. You – like the GREAT parent that You are – are not willing to allow me to settle for the second-best things that I choose for myself, but rather You help me to hold out for THE best that You hand-picked just for me. 😀

Because You love me.

You love me enough to tell me, “no” when the time’s not right and “YES!” when it’s perfect for my good.

You are my good. Lord, You are the best thing for me! You and nothing else. You Lord, I want more of You in this new place You’ve brought me to. I want to see You around every corner. I want to hear You in every tree and blade of grass. Lord, help me to recognize Your face as it smiles to me in new ways here in this new phase of my life. Lord, thank You for prying my fingers away from those worn out broken shards of the past so that I could fully embrace this new future, bright and clean. Thank You for the gift of the feel of a pen in my grasp and paper under my hand. Thank You for that gratifying pen-scratch that precedes the keys that tap out a symphony of Grace day by day.

Thank You for using the ink on pages to flow and cleanse souls and clear away the mud caked on our eyes from the childish fits we’ve thrown. Thank You for putting up with the rebellious child in all of us and naming us, “Favored in the Sight of the LORD”. I certainly DON’T deserve it. Yet You do it all the same. Jesus didn’t deserve my punishment for this rebellion, and yet He took it all the same; because He loves me.

Thank You for sending Him on my behalf!

Ezekiel 28:25-32:8

“…they will know that I am the LORD their God.” Ezekiel 28:26

“Then Israel will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.” Ezekiel 29:16

“Then they will know that I am the LORD.” Ezekiel 29:21

“…and they will know that I am the LORD.” Ezekiel 30:19

“Then they will know that I am the LORD.” Ezekiel 30:26

Over and over and over throughout Ezekiel this has been the refrain:

“I, the LORD, will do _____ and then they (or you) will know that I am the LORD.”

Notice that it’s NOT:

“When they do _____, they will finally know that I am the LORD.”

Or

“When they say _____, they will know that I am the LORD.”

It’s always God saying “I will”. Apparently, our recognizing Him as LORD hinges on us seeing HIM doing something. And yet so often we’re so apt to think that what’s going on in our lives hinges on something we’re doing.

But we’re not God.

We’re not even a god. We’re human flesh and bone, fashioned in the image of God and chosen to be Children of God – the Bride of Christ, His hands and feet.

We are weak defenseless sheep who can’t fend off predators, find our way out of trouble, nor prepare green pastures to graze in. We need a shepherd, The Good Shepherd, to guide us in the way we should go with His staff. And to protect us from all harm with His rod. And to lead us in path’s of righteousness for His name’s sake.

We need Him to make us lie down in green pastures and to lead us by still waters; still water – because the rapidly moving kind scares us too much to drink from it freely. We need for Him to anoint our heads with oil so that the flies will stay away from our eyes and nose where they like to infest and lay their eggs. Yes, even though we may walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death we can fear no evil because our God has promised never to leave us or forsake us. He is always by our side.

“Yes, I the LORD, the Good Shepherd, will do these things; not because you asked and not even because you needed them (which you do), but simply because I said I would. And it will be through My tender care that you will know that I am the LORD your God.”

Ezekiel 25:12-28:24

OK, for the first time since I can remember I have not read yet today. I woke up this morning hacking and coughing and trying to throw up my lungs (which I happen to be trying again at the moment). I put my sweet little kiddos on the bus for the first time this school year and then whisked myself away to work; where I croaked at the customers to have a good day. (All the coughing caused my voice to cry, “Uncle” run away.) About halfway through my shift it was just myself and another manager. I was running the register and she was in charge of unloading the truck. Things were not going well with the unloading of the truck and several phone calls had been made to our store manager already when a LARGE cart FULL of cases of bottled water was rolled over her foot breaking two of her toes and one of her foot bones. Needless to say, her day ended a little differently than she had planned.

I ended up staying an hour late to cover a little bit of the rest of her shift and then headed home to be there when they got off the bus. Except when I was walking up the path to the house, the door opened! Gabe had beat me home! L I started making our traditional no bake cookies for the first after school snack. With Anna home and homework & cookies finished I scooped them up into the car and we headed off to the CVS minute clinic where I found out I have a sinus infection – awesome.

We came home, ate the Doritos Locos tacos we picked up from Taco Bell on the way home, got the kids ready for bed, and now here I am without having read the Word of the Day, hacking up a lung and SOOOO ready for bed and I still haven’t written anything yet either. So what do I do? Meh, I write about the crazy day that kept me from reading and writing about that reading! J

I said all that to say this; I would REALLY appreciate your prayers for Mikki and myself.

Ezekiel 22:17-25:11

“The time has come, and I won’t hold back. I will not change My mind,” Ezekiel 24:14

Today is the last day of summer vacation so I’m taking the day off of writing. 😉 I’ll see you again tomorrow.