Ever feel as if you are in a furnace? Are anxiety, pressure, fear and guilt burning away at you? Look around, the Son of God is right there asking you to walk out with Him whole.

Daniel 3:24-25
Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”
“Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
Bible Gateway Link: Daniel 3:24-25 (NKJV)

There is a river with trees growing along the bank. Think of the river as Christ and the trees as Christians. Together we can feed and heal the world. Maybe Ezekiel had this in mind.

Ezekiel 47:12
Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
Bible Gateway link: Ezekiel 47:12 (NKJV)

This is the only God. I am most thankful to Him and for Him!

Psalm 135:5-7
For I know that the Lord is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps.
He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
who makes lightnings for the rain 
and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
Bible Gateway link: Psalm 135:5-7 (ESV)

Are there any wanderers in your life? Brought any back recently? My God, being a full-time Christian is hard, although it does have its rewards.

James 5:19-20

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Bible Gateway Link: James 5:19-20

Watch your mouth!

James 3:8-12
but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?
Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
Bible Gateway link: James 3:8-12 (ESV)

All we have to do is believe. Faith will grow. Increased faith pushes us to do something about it. Then the surge of peace that comes with authentic works increases faith and works and peace.

James 2:14-17
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Bible Gateway passage: James 2:14-17

It is remarkable how often my daily Bible passages are relevant to current news. The last two days these two passages were in my "1-Year Through the Bible" readings. Different Books different eras, same issue.

Psalm 129:5-6

Jerusalem Synagogue Attack  11-18-14
Kobi Gideon/Reuters

May all who hate Zion 
be put to shame and turned backward!
Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
which withers before it grows up,

Bible Gateway passage: Psalm 129:5-6 (ESV)

Masked Palestinians hold axes as they celebrate with others an attack on a Jerusalem synagogue.  Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/REUTERS

Ezekiel 28:25-26
“Thus says the Lord God: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob.
And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.”
Bible Gateway passage: Ezekiel 28:25-26 ESV

Having a crisis of faith? Hang in there. Just believe He exists and you will be rewarded.

Hebrews 11:6

Image: John Steven Fernandez via Flickr

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Bible Gateway link: Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)

In AA they say, "Don't give up right before the miracle happens." Hebrews quotes God's promise through Habakkuk, the Old Testament Prophet: the miracle is about to happen in "yet a little while." "Live by faith," persevere, do not shrink back.

Hebrews 10:36-39
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
For,“Yet a little while,
and the coming one will come and will not delay;
but my righteous one shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him.”
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Bible Gateway link: Hebrews 10:36-39 (ESV)

Here's Hebrews explaining Christ by quoting one of my favorite verses, Jeremiah 31:33-34. Check out my previous post from Ezekiel, the New dovetailing beautifully with the Old.

Hebrews 10:15-18
And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,

     “This is the covenant that I will make with them 
          after those days, declares the Lord:

Bible Gateway passage: Jeremiah 31:33-34 (ESV)

     I will put my laws on their hearts,
          and write them on their minds,”
then he adds,
     “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Bible Gateway Passage: Hebrews 10:15-18 (ESV)

There is still time. Read the Gospel for instructions.

Ezekiel 18:21-23

“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live.
Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?
Bible Gateway Passage Ezekiel 18:21-23

When I am exploring the content of someone's character, I look to the way that person treats the "little people." God wants us to have a servant's heart and to look to Him. Being a hotshot is not what He had in mind.

Psalm 123:1-4
To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant 
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till he has mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than enough 
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.
Bible Gateway link to Psalm 123:1-4 (ESV)

How simple is this? God speaks to his prophet Ezekiel and to us. Receive God's word in your heart. Hear Him.

Ezekiel 3:10

Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.
Bible Gateway Link: Ezekiel 3:10 (ESV)

Does God seem far away? Are you paying attention to the enemy in your world? He may be prevailing.

Lamentations 1:16
“For these things I weep;

My eye, my eye overflows with water;
Because the comforter, 
who should restore my life,
Is far from me.
My children are desolate
Because the enemy prevailed.”
Bible Gateway Link: Lamentations 1:16 (NKJV)