Ezekiel 10:1-11:25, Hebrews 6:1-20, Psalms 105:16-36, Proverbs 27:1-2
Today is the 4th day of November welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we get ourselves moved into this brand-new month and continue putting one foot in front of the other, picking up where we left off and moving forward in the Scriptures. So, we are reading from the English Standard Version this week and we have moved into the book of Ezekiel. Today we will read Ezekiel chapters 10 and 11.
Commentary:
Okay. So, I have been listening to a lot of music that is old and actually this is kind of been going on for several years now. And it’s not I only listen old music, but it’s that I have found in the melodies of my childhood like all kinds of childhood memories are there attached to the songs. And, so, you know, I hear all the songs that I can kinda remember. I was just too little to really have favorite bands or favorite songs, but I can remember. And there was this song…I don’t remember the name of it…maybe looking for love. I don’t know, but it was like looking…I’m looking for love in all the wrong places, I’m looking for love in too many faces, and that’s about all I can remember from it. Like I can remember the melody but I won't…I won’t offer that. I can remember being just a little guy and my mom kind of explaining the song to me like…like you don’t ever look for love in the wrong places will you? Will…you won’t do that, will you? And of course, I said no and all of that. And, so, even that little piece of melody or piece of lyric that I can remember is attached to a memory of my mom trying to instruct her little…her little son in the way that he should go. And that sentiment is really found in what we read in the book of Proverbs today. And we had to verses. “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. Let another phrase you and not your own mouth, a stranger and not your own lips.” Now we probably have been around or even know well people to listen to the sentiment and that proverb. These are people who are not waiting for others to praise them. They go seeking it out and that materializes in all kinds of ways. They will insert themselves into every conversation that they can get themselves into and they will flip that conversation onto themselves in short order, right? So, you’re talking to a friend, you’re comparing parenting notes, you’re talking about your kids and before you know it you’re talking about their kids. And it’s not really just comparing notes. The whole thing was shifted. Regardless of the topic, they’re listening to what you have to say. Even if you’re pouring out your soul, they’re listening for the opportunity to dive in and begin to shift it. Even if it’s just, you know, I know how that feels, I remember this one time when… And that’s it. Whatever you’re going through is gone and now you’re here to hear them talk. They’re looking for love in all the wrong places because the person who attaches themselves to other people, only to get validated or affirmed or loved and they to shift everything onto themselves in some kind of weird conversational maneuver so that five minutes later you…you go wait a second, we were talking about a totally different thing. How is that this keep…keeps getting shifted back onto something that you’re going through? And so often comparison enters these kinds of conversations. You’re going through something. They’ve gone through it, but they’re killing it now. They’re doing awesome now. You should follow the pathways that they have taken to their bliss and superiority. And so often these things come from deep-seated places of actual insecurity, that just simply needs to be filled. We’re looking for love in all the wrong places. The proverb says, let another praise you and not your own mouth, a stranger and not your own lips. When we’re looking for love, affirmation, validation in all the wrong places, if it’s something that we have to conjure up, if we have to arrive in a place, set up the lights, figure out where we’re gonna shine the lights on that seat, sit in that seat, and shine all the light on ourselves we’re looking the wrong places. And the irony is that people like that. And we may be a person like that. So, like we may have some inner work to do for some outer examination to just see how our communication style actually is and how it lands on people. We all know people like this. We are all a person capable of this, the grandstanding, the conceit, the bragging. And the funny thing is, when you’re around a person like that you be kind, you can be tolerant, but you don’t usually…like you usually walk away feeling like…ehhh…like what was that? And when you’ve had to move through a session like that and you had this conversation and then this conversation got flipped and switched and them you know it and then you know it going into the next one. You start building up this idea of what’s gonna happen and you begin to avoid those kinds of situations. And, so, what the person actually needs, which is just to be seen or just to be heard, or just to be affirmed is being demanded and extracted from other people. And usually that’s not appreciated and so it becomes repellent. And, so, the very thing that the person is looking for is the very thing that they can’t get. After a while it runs its course and people begin to avoid. Usually what’s actually needed is trusted, deep, loyal, abiding relationships and friendships with people that have permission to speak into our lives frankly and that have given us permission to speak lovingly and frankly and honestly into their lives. That feels a lot more like being seen and actually validated or affirmed then demanding it of people through bragging or hijacking conversations. Let another praise you the proverb says, not to run mouth, a stranger and not your own lips. And If we have a habit of doing that we need to take some time and ask why. What are we looking for? What are we going for? What are we lacking? What are we missing here? What…what are we demanding? What are we trying to get from people? What is so important to us that we will draw all kinds of attention to ourselves and even become false and pretend to be somebody else to be seen. Like what is that about? It seems to me that we are ultimately looking for, ultimately, is to know that our Father sees us and that He loves us and that that is the original cornerstone, like that is the foundational building block to our very identity. And if we skip that foundational cornerstone then…well…then we don’t have a foundational cornerstone. And, so, we’re trying to fill in the gap in all kinds of ways, ways that ultimately push people away from us. So, let’s spend some time with this idea today given to us from the book of Proverbs. It’s like so many of the other things in the book of Proverbs. We can read them. We can understand them. But then we have to take some time for personal reflection and observe ourselves and pay attention to ourselves so that we can understand how to apply wisdom to ourselves. If we are looking for love in the wrong places, if we’re demanding it in the wrong ways, if we’re not able to see other people where they are and who they are and affirm them and love them then how is it that we think we can demand it back and that it be real? And if we don’t understand that we have a loving Father that is fathering us through this life and have a sense of affirmation of His smile upon us we can go searching for all kinds of things in all kinds of places that end up being the wrong places and spend a lifetime wandering in the wilderness when we were loved all along and could’ve reflected that love out into the world instead of demanding all of the light be upon us and all of the affirmation being poured into our brokenness. So often we find healing in our own lives by offering healing in other people’s lives. And so often it’s so easy, so often it’s just getting the attention off of ourselves and being present with another person. And, so, let’s give that some thought, maybe even practice a little bit and see what happens as we seek first the kingdom, seek first the chance to be an ambassador for Jesus in this world, by loving one another and seeing if we don’t, in fact reap what we sow.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, we invite You into that. We live in a culture that is very self-absorbed and that gets very validated. It really is all about us we are told and what we find in life is that really isn’t, that we find meaning in our interactions and in our genuine affection and love for one another. And, so, when we use people to affirm ourselves then that’s what we’re doing, using people, which is ultimately not giving us what we seek. Holy Spirit help us to love like You love and know that we are loved by You matter what. We pray this in the precious and mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
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