The Inside Man

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26 NIV

The above-titled movie (which I don’t recommend because of the language) depicts a cleverly designed bank heist where the robbers mix in so well with the hostages that when everyone exits the building no-one is sure who had been held captive and who were their captors. In life we often look around and think we know who’s walking right and who’s not; who’s sailing free and who’s in need of some serious saving, but is it really that clear cut?

Over a decade ago I joined a couple of teams that went into prisons and shared the Gospel with inmates. It was a powerful experience hearing the hearts of tough muscle-bound women as they shared how aware they were of their brokenness and how they felt more trapped inside their own destructive habits than the bars of the prison. They knew they had a heart problem and they knew they needed it fixed.

Outside the walls of a prison though, things can look very different. We tend to look at others and compare ourselves. “I’m not as bad as that!” or conversely, “I could never show that much self-control!” We come out better or worse depending on where we want to look. Truth is, we are all on a level playing field. We all have the same “heart condition” as the inmates. Broken. Selfish. In need of “heart-surgery”. In need of a “Heart-Surgeon”. Good thing we all have the same access to one.

Flow River Flow

Often Christians are expected to be critical, judgemental and fun-dampeners but this is a far cry from what God intended us to be in this world! We are carrying His life-giving Spirit around so the effect should be like the river mentioned in Ezekiel - refreshing, purifying, flourishing, nourishing and healing…

Flow river flow
Across the nations
Flood our lives
With every wave
Flow river flow
Throughout creation
Bring your life
Come on! Flow river flow!

I was lost but now I’m found
Your river flowed right to me
Your all-sufficient grace abounds
Your river’s flowing through me!

Flow river flow
Across the nations
Flood our lives
With every wave
Flow river flow
Throughout creation
Bring your life
Come on! Flow river flow!

He asked me, “Have you been watching, son of man?” Then he led me back along the riverbank. When I returned, I was surprised by the sight of many trees growing on both sides of the river. Then he said to me, “This river flows east through the desert into the valley of the Dead Sea. The waters of this stream will make the salty waters of the Dead Sea fresh and pure. There will be swarms of living things wherever the water of this river flows. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will become fresh. Life will flourish wherever this water flows. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow along both sides of the river. The leaves of these trees will never turn brown and fall, and there will always be fruit on their branches. There will be a new crop every month, for they are watered by the river flowing from the Temple. The fruit will be for food and the leaves for healing.” Ezekiel 47:6-9,12 NLT

Breath of Life

This morning I woke to find that a missing young man who I'd been praying for had met foul play. I don't know him personally, but through a friend's heart-felt cry I mourned with his family as though we'd been friends for life. I prayed and I prayed. And he died. But I believe in a God who restores and renews and I will continue to pray that He will breathe life into this family and that this tragedy will not be empty of meaning.

Reading through Ezekiel for some peace of mind, this poem emerged...

He said to me “Hey child of mine
These bones you see - your family line
They ache and cry, ‘Our hope is lost
We ourselves have been cut off!’
But you will speak, you’ll prophesy
Your words released to meet their cry
‘Our God has spoken, He will open
Graves, releasing what was broken.
Return to you all that was taken
Settle that which has been shaken.
Then you’ll know, you wont deny
The God whose presence shapes your life
His Spirit He will place in you
He’ll breathe afresh, restore, renew
And take you back to where you’ll find
That place of rest, that peace of mind.
Then you will know, you wont deny
The God whose presence shapes your life.’”

Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ” NKJV Ezekiel 37:11-14