I’ve loved some time in Ezekiel! This book is full of God’s plan to cause exterior law to become interior truth in His Own. Why did God give the law if He knew people couldn’t keep it? Perhaps His great mercy was showing us our religious inability -a drought of desire for our Creator. Only new life (not dead law) could draw us to Him! BEHOLD-the glorious verb of announcement -is a word meant to startle us. It precedes power. “BEHOLD, I AM FOR YOU” He knew He would offer a spiritual exchange program. We hand Him our granite ritual-trusting ways & He gives us soft hearts that beat because His divine Blood flows through them! #GreatExchange #BEHOLD #DeathToLife #Ezekiel #HeisFORyou
Should I have Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter? (For those over 35!)
Bad : It can turn into a silly & sometimes harmful schoolyard comparison game. For women, this is a consistent challenge to remember our identity and not float along with what the virtual world defines as beauty.Â
2. Good: The impact of a believer goes everywhere faster than you can say “post”! There are those who are not interested in attending church but will read through your post about your faith.
Bad: Like any ministry, you can’t weigh your worth by your “likes”. The minute this occurs, you battle exalting self and minimizing impact! Ask God to keep your heart focused on being His vessel and not a media pseudo-celebrity .
3. Good: Social media can bring color into lives, open minds to new ideas, & foster the sense of being “with” others.
Bad: Like any gift, we can forget the Giver. Though virtually active “with” people on line , we stay unfulfilled if our relationships with God and people are not cherished.Â
4. Good: In a world of pain, it can be a welcome balm to our souls. A Â “pushing pause” on our struggles.
Bad: It can cause us to check out of reality & relationships & move quickly to addiction. Social media (maybe all media?) addiction is real and is for all of us a serious problem. I have to discipline  myself and put my phone in another room for a couple hours at a time. Make time with friends a time of putting phones in a central location so you can enjoy your people!Â
Bottom Line: Many of us “older” believers tend to toss out the baby with the bathwater. We are legalistic in our pride or “not being with the world”. On the other hand, many “younger” friends can become so saturated with the tech world, they truly cannot live without it.
Persecuted Church
Tomorrow, we get to go to church publicly. We are allowed to choose where we worship. We will open Bibles without fear of imprisonment. We will sing-loudly-without fear. We will wear our cross necklaces, rings, & t-shirts that identify us as Christians. STOP & THINK OF OUR FREEDOM. Now, may we get on our knees & pray for those who publicly & privately that suffer for the Gospel in ways we can’t imagine. Pray for them to have enough to eat, for jobs to care for their families, for homes to live in, for their health, their strength, their marriages, their children and for their freedom to worship God. There is more worldwide Christian persecution now than ever before in history. May we pray faithfully for our brothers & sisters, give to ministries that help them, and stand with them as they endure for the Name Above Every Name. #persecutedchurch #persecutedChristians #church #faith#pray#voiceofthemartyrs #heroes #realcelebrities #heroines