Ezekiel 44:4 “Then He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I fell on my face.”

GLORY

Have you ever truly experienced a “Glory Moment”? I mean, one of those moments when you knew only the presence of God could explain it? The air seemed electric! You could hardly catch your breath! Those moments are rare.

Ezekiel was having one of those moments in this verse. He was being shown a vision by the Lord (which starts back in chapter 40). The Lord explains everything to him about the Temple and its setup, and then here in chapter 44 God’s glory fills the Temple. Now notice, he’s been with the Lord the past four chapters, but not until God’s glory falls does Ezekiel fall. That impressed me. How about you?

TEACHING MOMENT

Our children are going to have all kinds of spiritual experiences in their lives. They will have many highs and lows. Summer camps are normally one of those highs. I recall last summer at our church’s Kidz Kamp one moment when, during our worship time, I observed these children, 4^th through 6^th graders, experiencing that. We were singing and all of a sudden you could feel the Holy Spirit. Now don’t get weird on me! I am not freaking out here. But it was one of those moments when I saw the kids truly worshipping. I felt kind of like Ezekiel. I didn’t, but I should have fallen on my face.

How do we help our children interpret those moments? How do we help them not start pursuing the experience instead of the glory? We teach them to stay in the Word and just pursue Jesus. Stay close to Him in prayer and study. When He chooses to bless us with one of those tender moments, we relish in it. But we don’t start a new denomination over it. We don’t stop all we are doing to stay in that moment.

When is the last time you had one of those pure moments of glory? You know it can happen anywhere. You don’t have to be in corporate worship. You could be in the middle of reading this devotion and BAM! You could be in your prayer time and all of a sudden the Lord lifts you to that special place. But you have to be ready and wiling. Remember, Ezekiel was with the Lord when he experienced it. That’s the key – stay close to Him.