When Israel sinned, God sent judgment, promising “They will cut off your nose and ears.” Ouch. Result? “So I will put an end to your indecency and sexual immorality.” Ezekiel 23:27 If we can’t stop our sins, God can stop them with His judgment. After all, if you were disfigured by the loss of bothContinue reading “Pray: ‘I Am Willing to Be Made Willing!’ Ezekiel 23:27”
Author Archives: Steven Wales
No “Take-Backs.” Ezekiel 20:32.
As children, we have all experienced a friend giving us something, then snatching it back. Even as adults, we sometimes open Christmas presents only to be suddenly told the gift had the wrong name on it and was intended for someone else. When you give, it is important to “count the cost,” to do theContinue reading “No “Take-Backs.” Ezekiel 20:32.”
YOU REAP YOUR OWN HARVEST. Ezekiel 18:2-20, 31-32.
Farm kids live off their daddy’s harvest: the children eat what the parents plant. But as they grow, children take on more responsibilities and begin to reap their own harvest. This is a picture of our lives. God spoke to Ezekiel about one of Israel’s popular sayings: “The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’sContinue reading “YOU REAP YOUR OWN HARVEST. Ezekiel 18:2-20, 31-32.”
SAINTS AND SINNERS: WHO IS THE ULTIMATE? Ezekiel 14:13-16.
Adolf Hitler is the go-to guy. He is everyone’s “favorite.” We keep the name ‘Hitler’ in our back pocket as an example of the worst person who ever lived. His name comes up this way in conversations every day: “Well, if you had Hitler on the one side and Ghandi on the other—” “My EnglishContinue reading “SAINTS AND SINNERS: WHO IS THE ULTIMATE? Ezekiel 14:13-16.”
WHEN GOD REDEEMS YOU AND MAKES YOU BEAUTIFUL, DON’T FORGET WHERE YOU COME FROM. Ezekiel 16:4-14.
For some of us, humility is as simple as remembering how your life began. I remember being the hyperactive misfit who could not behave and in some classrooms was ostracized by both teachers and students. No matter what I might achieve in life, I will never forget where I came from—and I will not forgetContinue reading “WHEN GOD REDEEMS YOU AND MAKES YOU BEAUTIFUL, DON’T FORGET WHERE YOU COME FROM. Ezekiel 16:4-14.”
LUST = IDOLATRY. Ezekiel 16.
Over the years, I have heard several news reports about babies that have been found in dumpsters. Someone taking out the trash lifts the heavy lid and hears the muffled cry of a baby. Can you imagine that? The babies were adopted and went on to have good lives—but what an origin story! Imagine knowingContinue reading “LUST = IDOLATRY. Ezekiel 16.”
JOE’S CANCER STICKS. Ezekiel 11:19-20; Colossians 2:6.
Joe attended the college department at FBC. I was working at another church, but kept running into Joe at FBC events I was able to attend—Bible studies on unusual days of the week, scavenger hunts on Saturday nights, etc. Joe and I became friends. One night the two of us went on “visitation” together, drivingContinue reading “JOE’S CANCER STICKS. Ezekiel 11:19-20; Colossians 2:6.”
STREET THEATER 3: Runaway Scrape. Ezekiel 11:19-20; 12:2-5, 10-13.
Trump gets Covid-19 one month before the election. Coincidence or sign from God? I don’t know. But in November of 2020, EVERYONE was talking about it! If it had happened in ancient Israel, people would have SCRUTINIZED this thing with a jeweler’s loop trying to figure out what it means. People in pre-enlightenment cultures consideredContinue reading “STREET THEATER 3: Runaway Scrape. Ezekiel 11:19-20; 12:2-5, 10-13.”
THE FROG IN THE POT, Part Two.
Have you memorized your favorite temperature setting? Do you find yourself adjusting the thermostat over and over, all day long? Do you run the heat at night and the air conditioner the very next day—every day? Some people are more sensitive to temperature changes than others. Some notice the slightest deviation, while others—like the proverbialContinue reading “THE FROG IN THE POT, Part Two.”
THE FROG IN THE POT, Part One.
I mentioned the “frog in the pot story” recently. Al Gore once told the story this way: “If a frog jumps into a pot of boiling water, it jumps right out again because it senses the danger. But if the very same frog jumps into a pot of lukewarm water that is slowly brought toContinue reading “THE FROG IN THE POT, Part One.”
Household Words: 