November 24

Ezekiel 47-48

The waters of the sea will be made fresh, and life will flourish wherever the river flows (47:9). Ezekiel’s vision of the river gradually deepening, providing food, healing, and making dead things productive sounds like the Gospel. Wherever the Gospel goes, it feeds, heals, and resurrects. Everything Jesus touches becomes productive. The deeper you get into the Gospel, the more live it gives.

1 Peter 2 (cont.)

Abstain from the desires of the flesh, which wage war against your soul (2:11). Remember, the soul houses emotions. Best I can tell, the world entices a deep emotional attachment to pleasure, which the Bible calls the lust of the flesh. In creation, the desire for good things increases survival, but desire can turn to lust, and lust is a problem. The more one seeks pleasure, the more pleasure they crave: more food, drink, clothing, sex; pleasuring oneself becomes the goal, and that goal pushes others away.

The nasty secret is that the spirit of the world uses pleasure to enslave us to more pleasure, and in so doing, it enriches itself. All that stuff we use to pleasure ourselves costs money and time. Soon all the money and time are spent on pleasure, and the world system loves to profit off the addicts it created.

The Spirit of God wants to fill you with God’s love. His Spirit in you creates a desire for more of Him. Whenever we seek Him, we find a more meaningful life.

Psalm 119:49-64

Remember Your word to Your servant, upon which You have given me hope. This is my comfort in affliction, that Your promise has given me life. Hope is that wonderful twinkling feeling that God’s promises are future realities, and faith is the assurance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1). Hope increases by knowing God’s word, and faith follows as God’s gift that puts our souls at rest (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Proverbs 28:12-13

He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy. Concealing truth often leads to a life where lies multiply like fungus under the surface. Sunlight kills the fungus, allowing mercy to prosper and life to take hold.