TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Ezekiel 8–11; Revelation 4 One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible‑in‑a‑year podcast with 20‑minute Scripture readings, Christ‑centered devotion, and guided...
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One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible‑in‑a‑year podcast with 20‑minute Scripture readings, Christ‑centered devotion, and guided prayer.This daily Bible reading and devotional invites you to live as a citizen of Jesus’ kingdom, reconciled, renewed, and deeply loved.
TODAY'S EPISODE:
Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible! On this August 30th episode, Hunter guides us through Ezekiel 8–11 and Revelation 4.
In Ezekiel, the prophet is given a troubling vision of what is happening within the temple in Jerusalem. The place intended for the worship of God has become filled with idolatry, corruption, and hidden practices. Ezekiel witnesses the glory of God departing from the temple as the people continue to place other things at the center of their lives.
Yet even in the midst of judgment and exile, God offers a promise of restoration. He promises to gather his scattered people, give them an undivided heart, and place a new spirit within them. Hearts of stone will be replaced with tender and responsive hearts.
Then, in Revelation 4, John is invited through an open door into the throne room of heaven. There he sees the true center of all reality. Around the throne are living beings, elders, flashes of lightning, and ceaseless worship. Everything is ordered around the One who sits upon the throne.
Today’s devotion invites us to see what heaven sees. Christ is at the center of all things. When our lives become centered on lesser things, they drift toward confusion, anxiety, and disorder. But when Christ takes his rightful place at the center of our hearts, our priorities, and our affections, life begins to align with what is ultimately true.
TODAY'S DEVOTION:
He is at the center.
Do you see it?
The vision given to John in Revelation places the throne of God at the very heart of heaven. Everything surrounds it. The living beings, the elders, the sea of glass, and the great chorus of worship are all arranged around the One who sits upon the throne.
At the center of what is, what has been, and what will forever be is God.
The problem is that we often lack the eyes to see what is truly real.
We live off-center.
Our lives begin to orbit around lesser things. We place our work, possessions, fears, ambitions, relationships, politics, pain, or need for approval at the center. These things may be important, but they were never intended to bear the weight of becoming the center of our lives.
When something other than Christ occupies the center, everything begins to feel disordered.
We become anxious.
We become confused.
We lose our sense of proportion and purpose.
Ezekiel sees this happening in the temple. The place that had been set apart for the worship of God had become crowded with idols. The people continued to participate in religious activity, but their hearts had moved far away.
Other things had taken the center.
But John is shown another vision.
He sees heaven as it truly is. Everything is properly ordered around the throne. Worship breaks out because all of creation recognizes the One at the center.
The living beings are covered with eyes. They see what is real. They see God in his beauty, holiness, goodness, and glory. Because they see, they worship.
John writes his vision so that we might see too.
Christ is at the center.
He is the center of creation.
He is the center of history.
He is the center of salvation.
He is the center of the life that God is restoring within us.
We do not make Christ the center by our effort or devotion. He already is the center. Our invitation is to awaken to what is true and allow our lives to become aligned with that reality.
When Christ is at the center of our hearts, affections, and priorities, worship begins to arise here and now.
Life starts to find its proper order.
Our fears no longer occupy the throne.
Our failures no longer define us.
Our ambitions no longer control us.
Our circumstances no longer determine whether God is near.
Christ is at the center, and we begin to participate in the joy, strength, and purpose of his life.
Ezekiel also gives us a promise. God will gather his people and give them an undivided heart. He will remove their stony and stubborn hearts and give them tender, responsive hearts.
That is what we need.
We need hearts that are no longer divided among a thousand competing centers. We need hearts made tender and whole by the Spirit, hearts that are able to see Jesus and respond to his love.
So today, may God give us eyes to see.
May we see Christ at the center of all things.
May our lives become aligned with heaven’s true focus.
And may worship break out in our hearts, our homes, our relationships, and everything we do.
That’s the prayer I have for my own soul. That’s the prayer I have for my family, for my wife, my daughters, and my son. And that’s the prayer I have for you.
May it be so.
TODAY'S PRAYERS:
Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.
Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
And now Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. And where there is sadness, Joy. Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life. Amen
And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray...
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ. Amen.
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