August 29, 2026 Devo

August 29th, 2026

Powerful Words from the Prophets
“On July 31 of my thirtieth year, while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity. (The LORD gave this message to Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest, beside the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians, and he felt the hand of the LORD take hold of him.)” – Ezekiel 1:1-3 (NLT)
“They Need HIM”

“The work of God requires the strength of God.” You might want to commit that statement to memory. It’ll save you a lot of frustration, failure, and heartache. I know it sounds like a simple truth, but it’s truly quite profound. And it’s one that we frequently forget.
Take another look at our passage today. Ezekiel, probably in his very first year of being a priest, has these visions of God. That can be a pretty overwhelming event for a new guy. God is giving him a glimpse of what’s coming. He’s giving him a look at the incredible future he has ahead of him. It would have been very easy for Ezekiel to get caught up in it all and say, “God picked ME!!” He wouldn’t have been wrong about that, but he could have easily missed the point. It wasn’t about who got picked. It was about The One doing the picking!
Let me point out a couple of things. First of all, Ezekiel’s name. It means “God strengthens.” Camp on that a second. Ezekiel’s name didn’t mean, “This guy’s a Strong Man.” It was a name pointing to God. As it should. Second, take a look at the last line of our passage. “And he felt the hand of the LORD take hold of him.” This reflects where Ezekiel’s strength, insight, and success come from. They come from the Lord. Just like Joseph, Moses, David, Gideon, and every other person before him whom God used, Ezekiel’s ability to accomplish God's work will have to come from God's strength.
It’s the same for us. Sometimes God gives us visions of what He wants to do through us. Sometimes God calls us to certain places, to certain people, and to certain ministries to serve Him. Sometimes God opens doors and opportunities that absolutely blow our minds. But we always have to keep in mind that God doesn’t call us to these things because of who WE are. He calls us because of who HE is. These people, these ministries, these opportunities don’t need us. They need Him. The day we forget that, we’re dead in the water. That’s God’s Word for you today.