Jim Gallagher

TODAY’S DAILY READING: Ezekiel 5-6 & 1 John 5
Old Testament: Ezekiel 6-  Achilles’ Heel

Ezekiel 6:11
“Thus says the Lord God: ‘Pound your fists and stamp your feet, and say, “Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! For they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”‘”

When I read of the fall of Judah I am…Read More

New Testament- 1 John 5- Pray

1 John 5:16
“If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.” … Read More

Ezekiel 5:1-3
“And you, son of man, take a sharp sword, take it as a barber’s razor, and pass it over your head and your beard; then take scales to weigh and divide the hair. You shall burn with fire one-third in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are finished; then you shall take one-third and strike around it with the sword, and one-third you shall scatter in the wind: I will draw out a sword after them. You shall also take a small number of them and bind them in the edge of your garment.”

Ezekiel’s message to Judah was not a new one. For years the prophets had been warning the people of the coming devastation upon Jerusalem if they did not turn back to God. The unique aspect of Ezekiel’s message was the way in which he declared it. In addition to traditional preaching, he used powerful visual aids. On this occasion he sharpened a sword, used it as a razor and shaved his head. Instead of sweeping up the hair and tossing it in with the rubbish, he divided it into three piles. Each of the piles were then used as props to help illustrate what would happen to the inhabitants of Jerusalem if they refused to surrender first to God and second to the Babylonian forces. The first pile of hair was burned while Ezekiel beat upon the second pile with his sword. These actions illustrated the fact that 2/3 of Jerusalem’s inhabitants would be killed in  battle against the Babylonia forces. Ezekiel then took the third and final pile and threw it up into the air allowing the wind to take it away. This pile was used to illustrate that those who do not die in battle will be taken captive and spread throughout the Babylonian empire where they will live as prisoners of war.

It is important to notice that while Ezekiel in no way changed the message he received from God he did alter the way it was delivered. It was so important to the prophet that the people understood what he was saying that he brought props into the pulpit but it was also important to Ezekiel that the message never change. There is great value in spending time reflecting upon creative ways to share the gospel with others or to instruct them in the ways of God. Those who minister to children will see huge returns when they wrap the messages of the Bible in packages that grab the attention of the children.

If you have attempted to share Christ with a colleague, family member or acquaintance only to find that the message seemed to fall on deaf ears perhaps it is time not to alter the message but to prayerfully consider if there is a better way to package the message so they are intrigued. It is pretty rare for a person to come to Christ the first time they hear the gospel. It is often a process. Sometimes that process can be aided by taking the time lovingly consider a more effective way to share with the.

Pastor Jim

TODAY’S DAILY READING: Ezekiel 3-4 and 1 John 4
Old Testament: Ezekiel 3 – Watchman

Ezekiel 3:17
“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me”

A watchman bore the responsibility of keeping an eye on the horizon, in ..Read More

Ezekiel 4- Visual Learner

Ezekiel 4:1
“You also, son of man, take a clay tablet and lay it before you, and portray on it a city, Jerusalem.”

Some people are visual learners. They seem to have a difficult time processing information audibly, but the moment they can see it, things become perfectly clear. Most of the pre-exilic prophets relayed the same message… Read More

New Testament: 1 John 4- Love

1 John 4:10-11
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

Love seems to be the most common… Read More

TODAY’S DAILY READING: Ezekiel 1-2 & 1 John 3
Old Testament: Ezekiel 1 – Attention-Getters

Ezekiel 1:28
“Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.”
…Read More

Ezekiel 2 – Rebel without a Cause

Ezekiel 2:8
“But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”

Ezekiel played a pivotal role in the history of Israel. His ministry took place during the seventy years of captivity. It was, no doubt, largely responsible for motivating the generation that…Read More

New Testament: 1 John 3 – The Rules

1 John 3:23
“And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.”

Jesus simplified all of the commandments into two: love God and love others. John, in like manner, states the requirements of God are both simple and straight forward. He writes, God is commanding…Read More

Lamentations 4:2
“The precious sons of Zion, Valuable as fine gold, How they are regarded as clay pots, The work of the hands of the potter!”

God places an infinite price tag upon mankind. This is evidenced in the price He paid to redeem us. Peter wrote that we were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold but with the precious (we might even say priceless) blood of Christ. At one time gold was the standard by which a country determined its worth, but it was never the standard the child of God should use. Our worth is not determined by our gifts, abilities, accomplishments or even how we are viewed by others. Instead our worth is determined by the price tag God places upon us and the fact that He was willing to send His own Son to pay our ransom.

That being said not every believer sees his or her true worth. In Jeremiah’s day the believer is described as being valued as gold and treated like clay. The same thing happens today. Jesus declared that His followers were the light and salt of the world. These are valuable commodities, yet Jesus also warned that his followers would be rejected, scorned, hated, persecuted, accused falsely and even killed. He said that times would arise when those who come against the believer will think they are doing God a favor. The true value of the church will be disregarded and those who matter so much to the health, blessing and success of society will be treated as though they were worthless.

But, we know it is not just the world the devalues the believer, it is often the believer themselves. Instead of seeing ourselves as precious, even priceless we treat ourselves as though we aren’t worth much. A friend of mine tells a story from his childhood where he and a group of friends wanted to play baseball.  They had gloves, bats and a place to play but were in need of a ball. He knew there was a ball displayed on a shelf in his home so he went and got it. What he did not realize is that it was signed by the the entire 1946 World Series winning cardinals. Something of great value was treated as though it had very little worth. Every time we give in to temptation we are devaluing ourselves. We are taking something that God designed for a higher purpose and treating it as though it is common.

Even in their lowest state, scattered among the remains of the rubble that was once the glorious city of Jerusalem, Israel was still precious in the eyes of God. The same is true of each of us. Don’t make the mistake of finding your worth in what you do or how others might treat you. If you have received Christ then you are a child of God and as such you are worth everything to God. After all He gave the life of His only Son to purchase you.

Pastor Jim

TODAY’S DAILY READING: Lamentations 4-5 & 1 John 2
Old Testament: Lamentations 5 – Turn Back Time

Lamentations 5:16-17
“The crown has fallen from our head.
Woe to us, for we have sinned!
Because of this our heart is faint;
Because of these things our eyes grow dim”
…Read More

New Testament: 1 John 2 – Sinless

1 John 2:1-2
“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
…Read More

Daily Reading: Lamentations 1-3 & 1 John1
Old Testament: Lamentations 1 – The Good Old Days

Lamentations 1:7
“In the days of her affliction and roaming, Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old.”

Lamentations is a book of mourning that has been compared to a funeral durge. Jeremiah…Read More

Lamentations 2 – For the Kids

Lamentations 2:19
“Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your young children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street.”

As Jeremiah looked out over the rubble that was once the city of Jerusalem, his eyes welled up with tears. A nation that was designed to honor and glorify the Lord, was now  …Read More

Lamentations 3 – Renewable Energy

Lamentations 3:22-23
“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”

Life is filled with things that run out. Many of us have had …Read More

New Testament: 1 John 1 – Walking in the Light

1 John 1:5
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”

Light is used to illustrate holiness. John is declaring that God is perfectly holy and without sin. This creates a problem, since we are all sinners. In this text, John explains how sinful people can have a relationship with a holy God. In the opening verses… Read More

Daily Reading: Jeremiah 51-52 & 2 Peter 3

Old Testament: Jeremiah 51 – Not Forsaken

Jeremiah 51:5
“For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God, the Lord of hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.”

As Jeremiah writes this, Jerusalem is smoldering in the rubble of its own destruction. Babylonian forces have taken the people captive, burned the city to the ground, and set up their own government to rule over Israel. … Read More

Jeremiah 52 – Get Out of Jail

Jeremiah 52:31
“Now it came to pass in the thirty- seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, that Evil-Merodach, King of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, King of Judah and…Read More

New Testament: 2 Peter – Longsuffering

2 Peter 3:9
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

Peter writes, as the day of the Lord approaches there will be…Read More

 

TODAY’S DAILY READING – Jeremiah 49-50 & 2 Peter 2
Old Testament: Jeremiah 49 – Excuses Excuses

Jeremiah 49:4
“Why do you boast in the valleys, Your flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? Who trusted in her treasures, saying, ‘Who will come against me?’”

Some things never change. The sun will always rise in the East and set in the West, water will always be wet, and a person in a backslidden state will always deceive themselves, about their…Read More.

Jeremiah 50 – Pardon the Preserved

Jeremiah 50:20
“‘In those days and in that time,’ says the Lord, The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none; And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; For I will pardon those whom I preserve.’”

One of the greatest benefits of being in a relationship with God is the forgiveness of sin. God explains that although we have….Read More

New Testament: 2 Peter 2 – In the Pig Pen

2 Peter 2:22
“But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.’”

A few years ago, I was in northern Ghana with a group of people from our church. Our purpose was to bring the Gospel to remote villages that had yet to be reached for Christ. Just as Paul developed a custom of going … Read More

Daily Reading: Jeremiah 47-48 & 2 Peter 1
Old Testament: Jeremiah 48 – Clean Me

Jeremiah 48:11
“Moab has been at ease from his youth; He has settled on his dregs, And has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, Nor has he gone into captivity. Therefore his taste remained in him, And his scent has not changed.”

Jeremiah is describing Read More

New Testament: 2 Peter 1 – Add to Your Faith

2 Peter 1:5-7
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”

Building a healthy relationship with…Read More