November 15

Ezekiel 31-32

The egos of powerful people are often their undoing. They see themselves through carnival mirrors bent to contort their images. God sees things as they really are. You consider yourself a lion among the nations, but you are like a monster in the seas. You thrash about in your rivers, churning the waters with your feet and muddying the streams (32:2).

Stay out of the mud. God is sovereign, and those He chooses live as His children enjoying royal rights and responsibilities. Or one may live in the mud.

Hebrews 12 (cont.)

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many (12:15). Today’s passage reminds us that there are two parts to forgiveness. First is the act of forgiving the person. Second, is the act of cleansing the memory of whatever they did that needed to be forgiven. Many people will say the former, but not deal with the latter. That’s like pulling the heads off the weeds in the garden and leaving the roots. Weed roots grow weeds!

When one forgives but holds onto the offense, that’s bitterness, which is poisonous. Every time they think of that person, they’re not thinking how to pray for them. They’re feeling the offense and getting all worked up. Forgive, and dig out the roots of bitterness before the poison kills the whole garden.

Psalm 113-114

Who is like the LORD our God, the One enthroned on high? (113:5). Nobody! Hallelujah!

Proverbs 27:18-20

As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the true man. You can change the attitude of your heart, and your behavior will follow. When you decide to know God, and turn to Him for help, the ugly desires of your heart will start to show. Each one, whether it’s lust of the flesh, greed, contentiousness, or boasting, they all have to be put to death.

Hunger for God helps identify our heart’s attitudes, and the Holy Spirit can change them quickly. You have to cooperate, of course, and your face will show the difference. Selfishness turns to caring, deception to honesty, pride to humility, contentiousness to reconciliation. You decide what directs your heart and who you become.