Show Up & Show Out
This is the season of March Madness with the games of the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament. It’s crazy trying to predict how others will perform in this arena. There are often some little know teams that pull a big upset because they brought their “A game” and really played well. There are often a certain player who plays way above their normal ability and they become quite the game changer. If a really good player brings his very best, his play might be described as “he showed up and showed out”!
The Lord has just punished His people and He’s about to restore them. He doesn’t do things “half-way”. He tells Ezekiel to share with them what is about to happen. Check this out…
22 ‘Therefore say to the Israelites, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: it is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.
24 ‘“For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. (Ezekiel 36:22-28 NIV)
When the Lord comes on the scene, He is a GAME CHANGER! His Presence brings Power to change lives. He changes perspective. He brings a whole toolbox of restoration. He not only brings them from among the nations where they kept captive, He cleans them up from the inside out. He puts a new heart and a His Spirit inside – another big GAMECHANGER. The Lord really showed up and showed out. He completely changed the situation for His people and their neighbors and captives could not help but notice His great Power and His amazing Authority. I want to always be on His side and I always want His Presence in me!
Pressing On!
Dwayne