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Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Yesterday I left you contemplating a very important question, do you remember? Has your life and mine honored or profaned Almighty, Holy God and Jesus Christ?
The question is not original with me… it’s a question God led Ezekiel to write and ask the Jewish captives 2600 years ago, who were living scattered across the map of what we today call the ‘Middle East’. Hundreds of thousands of Jews lived in exile having been dragged away from Israel by invading armies over the previous more than 100 years!
Ezekiel was a courageous spokesman God had raised up several years before. He too was a captive living in Babylon surrounded by thousands of other Jewish exiles and regularly God gave Ezekiel important messages for those exiles. But Ezekiel’s messages are very pertinent to us, today as well.
Yesterday we saw God declared that the Israelites had defiled the land of Israel by their evil behavior including the shedding of innocent blood and the fabrication and worship of idols, thus God had allowed enemies to invade and decimate the land of Israel and take thousands of Israelites captive. (Ezek. 36:17-19) Furthermore, God declared the Jewish captives had profaned HIS Holy Name in the foreign countries to which God had brought them. (Ezek. 36:20,21)
So now God continued His message to Ezekiel: “Therefore say to the Israelites: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says, it is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of My Holy Name which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone.I will show the Holiness of My great Name… Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show Myself Holy through you before their eyes.” (Ezekiel 36:22,23)
Do we understand God’s concern for His reputation which is honored or profaned by the people who claim to be God’s people? So how does God show Himself as HOLY through His people, even if they are living in captivity far from their homeland?
That’s an important question isn’t it my friends, especially as we apply it to ourselves in our day, no matter where you live in the world. How is Almighty God recognized as a Majestic, Holy God when people watch your life and mine, if we claim to be God’s people? What attitudes, words, behaviors would be seen as God’s HOLINESS in us by those who observe our lives? Personalize it practically friends.
How is the Holiness of God displayed in our marriages or our parenting or our care for the elderly or widows or disabled or our health care or ethics in business or government functions or law enforcement or social justice or the education of our children and young people? Now we need to pause and deeply reflect on that question and consider every segment of the society in which you live?
Now flip the question over and ask it this way: How is evil or wickedness or decadence seen in our marriages or parenting or elderly care or failed health care systems or dishonest business practices or corrupt government or corrupt judicial system or dysfunctional education of our children and young people? Which do you see is more prevalent in your city, your society? WHY is that?
As I write this, I have just witnessed another hostage handover in Gaza. Masked gunmen, gaunt hostages, coffins, Red Cross vehicles, Israeli flags, Palestinian flags, weeping people, grateful family, so many angry, brokenhearted people. It’s simply stunning to watch such unrepentant evil on our screens broadcast from the land of the Bible, the very same place where many of the Bible events occurred so many years ago.
God’s harsh words through Ezekiel were intended to call the Israelites, Jews and all people of all generations to evaluate the reality of their personal and national reputations. From the days of Moses, God had declared He would raise up and lead one unique nation of people to be His Covenant people displaying to the world what a big difference it makes when a people live God honoring lives. Isaiah had written it this way: “They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor…” (Is. 61:3)
But Ezekiel’s message from God balanced God’s harsh criticism with God’s hopeful promise: “Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show Myself HOLY through you before their eyes. For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land… I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a tender heart. And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees…” (Ezekiel 36:23b-27)
Do you notice God is NOT calling His people to try harder to be good, God honoring people? Rather, God is declaring that HE will do the life transforming work deep within the character, the soul of people and He will place His Holy Spirit within them. It will then be God’s Spirit in God’s people, leading them to live God honoring lives. It will be nothing short of miraculous living!
Do you see my friends that is what Jesus Christ made possible by His sinless life, His atonement death, His victorious resurrection and His glorious return to heaven where Jesus sits in Sovereignty over all things, ready to accomplish this dramatic life transforming work in any person, anywhere in the world, at any time? (Heb. 7:25) It happens when a person finally realizes they have a deep-rooted sin problem which they cannot fix or change. (Romans 3:23)
They also acknowledge that Jesus is God the Son who became our atonement in His death and resurrection, and He alone has the power to rescue us from our sin bondage, deliver us from our sin condemnation and give us a new heart as the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us and leads us to live God honoring lives which display His Holiness!! (John 3:3-7) You and I can BE the living fulfillment of Ezekiel 36:26,27!!
Is this true of you my “Walking with Jesus” friends all over the world, Jew and Gentile? I urge you to take a moment right now and quietly meet with Jesus, asking Him to show you clearly IF and HOW this miracle is taking place in your life and again fully YIELD your life to Jesus, inviting His Holy Spirit to reign supreme in every aspect of your life!
And then worship with this prayerful song from GatherHouse, the anointed worship music of Charity Gayle and her husband Ryan Kennedy, and I’ll see you right back here tomorrow…
Today’s Scripture: Ezekiel 36:22-27.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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