The Hand of the Lord

 We are told in John's gospel that God is Spirit. Therefore, He doesn't have a physical body. However, He can and does manifest His glory in different ways, so that we can see Him on His throne in heaven. Ezekiel and others in the Bible saw the Lord's glory, His presence, and they described it to us the best they could with human words. In the case of Ezekiel we are told that the word of the Lord came directly to Ezekiel when he was by the Chebar Canal in Babylon during the exile. (Ezekiel 1:3) When God gave His word to the priest Ezekiel, he became a prophet who spoke forth God's words to the people. The Bible also tells us that the Lord's hand was on Him there. That doesn't mean a literal, physical hand of God was placed on the prophet, since God doesn't have hands. So just what does that mean? We need to know. 

We are all influenced by physical touch. When we get a pat on the shoulder, we know there is a connection between us the other person. A hug is an expression of love and care. God designed us that way, so we need physical touch to be healthy. However, even more important than physical touch is spiritual touch by God. I pray we can all remember the first time we felt God's presence and we heard God's voice speaking His words directly to us. That is life changing. That is what happened to me when I surrendered to Jesus as my Lord and Savior at age 14. After that, God gave me a clear call to the ministry, and I followed that call. I surrendered to His leadership and have served in the local church. It was and is such a blessing. However, I can't do it alone. It is only by God's love and power that I can minister to others. Therefore, God has placed His hand upon me to assure me of His presence, His power, and His direction, as I trust Him. When I preach and teach, His hand is upon me to strength and guide me. It is a constant awareness of His closeness. That is my experience, but it should be the experience of every believer who surrenders to the Lord to do the ministry He gifted us and prepared us to do for Him. We should feel His spiritual hand on us and minister to others with the blessed assurance that He is with us all the way.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Ezekiel 2-5.