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Accountability Window: Mar. 29-31
March 24, Sunday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Standing in Awe — Yesterday’s reading about being only associated with holiness extends to today’s reading, describing those who “honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me” (v. 13). I am sometimes guilty of that when I sing familiar songs in a worship service and find my mind wandering. That is not intentional worship. Even worse are those who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?” (v. 15). Their hearts are not only far from God, but they are dismissing Him, trying to stay undisturbed in their sinful ways. God’s plan for reversing this situation was to “again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder” (v. 14). Those wonders came through Jesus when “the deaf … hear … the blind … see … and the poor … exult in the Holy One” (vv. 18-19). When the Jews see that, “they will sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One … and will stand in awe of the God of Israel” (v. 23). Thousands of spiritually hungry Jews followed Jesus, and after His Ascension, many thousands of repentant Jews, and then Gentiles, discovered the miraculous indwelling and empowering of the Holy Spirit. The next time you worship at church, please be thinking about your need to “stand in awe” during worship.
I Stand in Awe of You – YouTube
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March 25, Monday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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The Effects of the Spirit — We looked at this passage earlier when introducing one of the names of the Holy Spirit: “The Spirit of the Lord GOD.” At that time, however, we did not consider the effects that resulted when the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus during His ministry on earth. Jesus confirmed in Nazareth’s synagogue that He was the main subject of this passage by quoting verses 1-2 and then concluding, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). Why did the Holy Spirit come upon Jesus? The stated effects were “to bring good news … bind up the brokenhearted … proclaim liberty … opening [spiritual] prison[s] … proclaim … the LORD’s favor … to comfort,” and to give wonderful gifts to redeemed mankind for reconstructing ruins of failed systems (vv. 3-4). We are still in that long period of time as we watch the effects of the Holy Spirit working in individual lives and collectively in the Church. The good news is still being proclaimed to people who are trapped in sinful habits and situations. Needy people are being cared for and comforted by individual Christians and church organizations. The Holy Spirit is working through us to continue the work that Jesus started on earth, until the last one is saved and Jesus returns. After that, “the day of vengeance of our God” (v. 3) will be unleashed on all those who defiantly rebelled and resisted the wooing of the Spirit in their hearts and minds. While there is still time, we believers must continue to do the work Jesus has called us to do and the Holy Spirit empowers us to do.
Work, for the Night Is Coming – YouTube
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March 26 Tuesday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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The Spirit of Rest — Three times the Holy Spirit is mentioned in this passage, all in a historical context. First, the Holy Spirit was given to the people of Israel when Moses said that God “brought them up out of the sea” (v. 11a), referring to the miracle at the Red Sea. Yahweh “put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit” (v. 11b). He was their Immanuel (“God with us”) and their Savior (v. 8), and the Spirit led them through the waters and the wilderness. Today, the Holy Spirit is not only in our midst by influencing and leading the Church of Christ, but He indwells each believer. Second, after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness because of their sin, “the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest” (v. 14), bringing them into the Promised Land. That is a picture of the spiritual rest the Holy Spirit gives to those today who are freed from the heartache of sin’s bondage and brought into the family of God. The Spirit is our rest. Third, Israel’s occupation of the Promised Land was filled with periodic times of rebellion against the God who saved them, “But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit” (v. 10). This shows one personal characteristic of the Holy Spirit, i.e., He can be grieved. Later, we will see that Paul warned us about this in the form of a command: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30). The Spirit is not only with us, He dwells within us and gives us eternal, spiritual rest.
Near to the Heart of God – YouTube
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March 27, Wednesday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Following Obediently — We move on in today’s reading to the prophet and priest, Ezekiel, who shared in the Jewish exile in Babylon. The visions given to him were fantastic, and he seemed to be constantly struggling to find words to describe what he saw. The vision in the first chapter introduced the arrival of the throne of God (cf. v. 26). The four living creatures he saw and described are later identified as cherubim (10:20). Like the cherubim over the ark of the covenant, these had wings that touched each other. Like the four living creatures in John’s later vision (Rev. 4:7), they had the same four faces of a human, lion, ox, and an eagle. The main reason for our reading about Ezekiel’s vision today, however, involves the gyroscopic wheels that contained “the spirit” (vv. 20-21). What was this spirit? The Christian Standard Bible capitalizes “Spirit,” and other translations indicate that form in a footnote, including the ESV. It does seem to be divine, and if so, it is the Holy Spirit. Notice that this Spirit was in control over the four living creatures. Twice it is said, “Wherever the spirit would go [wanted to go], they went” (vv. 12, 20). That is a picture of the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives today. He wants to lead us where He wants us to go. His desire is for us to follow His directions willingly and obediently, and the most rewarding life we could have comes from going where He wants us to go.
I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go – YouTube
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March 28, Thursday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Strengthened to Go — There are several unusual things revealed in this passage. The first is Ezekiel’s title. God calls him, “son of man,” 93 times in this book, the same title Jesus used of Himself 82 times in the New Testament. Only one other person was addressed that way in the Bible, Daniel, and it was only one time (Daniel 8:17). This unusual title shows that the prophet Ezekiel was very special to God. The second unusual feature is that God summarized Israel’s spiritual condition by repeating this statement three times: “for they are a rebellious house” (vv. 5-7). He was working with an unruly crowd. Third, it is said that the Holy Spirit “entered into” Ezekiel (v. 2), rather than the more frequent visit of the Spirit “upon” someone in the OT. The purpose of this encounter with the Spirit was apparently to give strength to Ezekiel. In the last verse of the previous chapter, when Ezekiel said that he saw “the likeness of the glory of the LORD, … I fell on my face” (1:28). The next verse says that the divine voice from the throne said, “Son of man, stand on your feet…” (2:1), but Ezekiel was apparently not able to obey that command until the Holy Spirit “entered … and set me on my feet.” It was then that the prophet received God’s commission for service: “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel…” (v. 3). He was made to stand so that he could go to work! The Holy Spirit also works in our lives today to give us strength to tackle whatever tasks the Father gives to us. That is what happened at the commissioning of the missionaries sent from Antioch to the Gentiles: “…the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’” (Acts 13:2).
I couldn’t find a video for this hymn, “Spirit of Power, and Truth, and Love.”
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March 29, Friday————————–ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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The Moving Spirit — We have the identical statement here about the Holy Spirit’s strengthening action that we saw in yesterday’s reading: “…the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet” (3:24; cf. 2:2). The strength Ezekiel needed this time was for a period of being bound by cords and temporarily unable to speak (3:25). The Spirit was eventually going to bring him out of that difficulty, but His purpose here was to sustain him through the trial. The Holy Spirit has a way of strengthening us for whatever difficult situation we must face. The other action of the Spirit in today’s passage involves some kind of transportation: “Then the Spirit lifted me up … The Spirit lifted me up and took me away…” (vv. 12, 14). This may have been a virtual transportation as part of his vision so that, while “the glory of the LORD” was leaving, Ezekiel was also being taken away in the vision. On the other hand, Ezekiel could have been describing a literal transportation from one location to another. We will see later that this is what happened to Philip after his encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:39). Even today, the Holy Spirit has a way of putting us in the right place at the right time, perhaps to experience something significant, to learn an important lesson, or to bring warning or encouragement to someone in need. We should be learning how to be more sensitive to the Spirit’s working in our lives and circumstances. The question that will challenge us is this: Was that my own imaginative idea or was it the Spirit speaking to me? Experience will help to teach us when it is the Holy Spirit’s voice.
I’m Gonna Sing When the Spirit Says Sing – YouTube
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March 30, Saturday——————ACCOUNTABILITY REMINDER
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Family of Freedom — What response would you receive if you asked 10 people on the street today, “What is the Holy Land?” Almost all of them would say, “Israel.” Just about everyone knows the location of the Holy Land because it has been much in the news for years. Strangely, however, the two passages we read today are the only two places where the term “holy land” appears in the Old Testament. It is interesting that both passages are set in times of Israel’s release from bondage. In the historical Psalm 78, the context of our reading was their deliverance after being slaves for 400 years in Egypt. In Zechariah, the context was at the end of Israel’s 70-year exile in Babylon. The call was to go home to the land God called “holy.” It was holy because God had chosen it to be the home for His people, and it was holy because God’s presence would be there in a special way. A significant extension is seen in Zechariah 2:11, in that “many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people.” That looked ahead to what Jesus would begin, the forming of the Church. Essentially all of us Gentiles are benefiting from that extension, being included in the family of God, the family of freed people. God said this should be our response: “Sing and rejoice … for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD” (v. 10).
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of today, but did not report yesterday, please click here to leave your
email address or let me know at accbibleread@gmail.com.
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