Astonished...

Ezekiel 1:1
Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the
fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that
the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

then three chapters later....

Ezekiel 3:12-15
Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great
rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place. I heard also
the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the
noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. So the
spirit lifted me up, and took me away...then I came to them (people of
Israel) of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and
I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.

ezekiel saw God! actually he saw the pre-incarnated Christ! i never thought of what Jesus was like before He became a permanent human being, but ezekiel sees Him. he gets a revelation of the "mobile" throne room. read it for yourself...lol. he sees chariots, wheels, seas, fire, angels, creatures, winds and so many other things. it takes him an entire chapter to just talk about Jesus' escort service! then after it all, the revelation ends and he sits around ASTONISHED for SEVEN DAYS!!! (what!!!!)

when was the last time we (cause i'm talking to myself too) were astonished by ANYTHING for seven days? the best movie i've seen i talked about for a couple days, it blew my mind for a couple hours...but nothing i have seen has made me speechless for a week! Paul says (like Pastor Randy quoted) in ephesians 1:17 that God desires to give us a "spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." the visions/revelations that john, isaiah, ezekiel, moses (etc) had, God desires to give to us. it is a breath away. we were made to be fascinated by God. so what keeps ME from entering into that realm of divine vision? what is filling up my soul that i can't eat of the bread of revelation? what is keeping me from God fascinating me with Himself?

can you see ezekiel on the 2nd day, taking the whole day just pondering why the "chariot of God" needed "wheels" and then on day 3 wondering why there was a "wheel inside a wheel"? most of us would just brush right past it...but ezekiel knew that if it was on the chariot than God must of wanted it there and there was a reason...and it was a puzzle piece to understanding God better.

i pray that we all start thinking about God in a way that will leave us astonished for days and weeks on end.

just another thinker,
Matthew