Friday – Prophets

Reading – Ezekiel 16-18

Highlight Verse:

““Nevertheless, this man of Israel’s royal family rebelled against Babylon, sending ambassadors to Egypt to request a great army and many horses. Can Israel break her sworn treaties like that and get away with it?”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭17‬:‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

God did something unique with Babylon.

Babylon never fully embraced the God of Israel.

Sure, there were incidents during the time of Daniel where faith seemed to flare up but they didn’t amount to much.

But God still used Babylon to restart the faith of the Israelites.

God still does stuff like that today.

Music is one of those ways.

I’ve been seeing videos on YouTube lately by Christians criticizing the Christian music industry for not presenting a pure Gospel with every song.

I agree that there are problems within the Christian music industry, but I’ve never considered it to be a source of theology but of wholesome entertainment.

I’ve been encouraged to action through the lyrics of many of those songs.

But here’s the kicker – I have also been encouraged to action by songs by people who have nothing to do with the Christian faith.

While I certainly don’t want to emulate their lifestyles, I will accept their lyrics when they agree with the principles in the Bible.

Just like God used the Babylonians to preserve the faith,

He can use all facets of His creation to further His kingdom – even those He created who don’t believe in Him.

How has God used unexpected sources to move you to deeper faith in Him?
What influences to you believe you need to avoid to keep your faith strong?

My answers – The Michael Jackson song Man in the Mirror comes to mind as encouraging me to start changing the world by changing me – of course, I see it in the context of faith in Jesus.
As far as what I avoid (or at least should avoid) would be anything that degrades my faith by encouraging me to think of myself or others before God (as in over prioritized romance).