Daily Radio Bible - September 13th, 21

Babylon is man's best attempt at making a world and a life apart from God. Babylon is a picture of society under the delusion, of separation from God. And in this land of lies and separation, violence and self indulgence, there's a shepherd, who's walking the streets, in this story is the prophet Ezekiel. But he's not the only one. Paul was once one of these shepherds from God. And when he walked through the great city of Athens, he was asked to explain himself and his message. And so he said, This is my own translation, I can see that you've bought into this lie that God is far from us, that he needs to be bargained with, or cajoled to either leave us alone, or to give us what we want.

But I want you to know that this is not true. God is not far from anyone. In fact, this god that you've distanced yourself from, is the very God in whom you live and move, and have you being.  God is not separate from you, he is here, and he wants you to turn from all the many lies, that leads you into a life that fails to thrive, a life that leads to violence and injustice, a life with no hope. Turn from these lies, and turn to the God who is right with you right now. The God who is not distant, the God who has embraced you in his life, the God revealed to us in Christ Jesus. When this begins to happen, when men and women, boys and girls begin to discover their true place of origin, and their true identity in God, things begin to change. When we discover that we are truly loved, when this begins to happen, and all through the book of Acts, we see that it is beginning,  when the lies are dismantled, systems will begin to crumble exploitive, economic systems, unjust legal systems dehumanizing social systems, they will all begin to crumble. Ezekiel sees it and he cries out,  Your life, your society, your systems, they'll never be the same. They are going to be wiped away. And in the place of these lies  will come God's truth and his kingdom, a kingdom of righteousness and justice, a kingdom of love.

The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And that is coming. Until that time, Christ's the shepherd is walking among us. He's making his way through all the Babylons of this earth. And he's opening eyes to see that he is Emmanuel.  He is with us. And he's binding up the wounds of all the sheep. And he's leading them to peaceful streams and in the ways of peace. There is a shepherd walking through the streets of Babylon even today. He's gathering up people who are once intoxicated by the lie of Babylon. But now they hear a different voice. They hear a shepherd calling them and they're following him into life. And the prayer of my own heart today is that I will hear his voice well. That I will follow that I'll participate with him in a life of righteousness, justice, in His Kingdom of love. That's the prayer that I have for my family for my wife and my daughters and my son. And that's a prayer that I have for you. May it be so

You are loved!