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I’m sharing this here with you from my time of personal devotions with my Lord Jesus Christ, for your encouragement. Sue Love
Ezekiel 2:1-5 ESV
Now, we don’t have to be a prophet to speak the words of God, for if we believe in Jesus Christ with genuine faith in him, we have the words of God in written form which all of us can read and share. And we have the word of God living within us in the person of the Holy Spirit. And he will teach us all things, and he will instruct us in the ways of the Lord, and he will counsel and correct and nudge us to do what is right and to not do wrong, and he will encourage and strengthen us in our walks of faith.
As followers of Jesus Christ we are his representatives on this earth. We are his servants and messengers. So all of us should be speaking the word of God to the people, and we should all be exhorting one another daily so that none of us are hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. And we should be speaking the truth in love one to the other so that we are not led astray by false doctrines and so we grow the maturity in our faith in Jesus Christ.
And this may mean speaking to people who profess faith in Jesus Christ but who are still addicted to habitually sinning against God, who are living in deliberate rebellion against the Lord, and who are stubbornly holding on to their sinful practices and who will not let go of them. Although they may put on a show of righteousness on the outside they are secretly sinning against the Lord, and although some of them may pretend to listen, many are not listening but they are stopping up their ears and they are refusing to hear.
But we are not responsible for whether people listen or they refuse to hear. Our job is to just share with them the truth. We may have no idea who is listening and who is not, and that’s okay. Our job is just to obey the Lord in getting the truth out and in saying what the Lord gives us to say, which needs to be the truth and nothing contradicting the truth of the gospel, which means no half-truths, and no diluted and altered gospels to appeal to human flesh and to tickle itching ears.
[1 Pet 2:9; Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13]
Ezekiel 2:6-7 ESV
What are the main words the Lord wants us to speak to the people? The gospel of our salvation, right? And what is the gospel? It is that Jesus Christ, God the Son, was crucified on a cross according to the will of God that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us. And he shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so we will honor God with our bodies.
By God-given faith in Jesus Christ we are, thus, crucified with Christ in death to sin and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Our old self is crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we will no longer be enslaved to sin but to God and to righteousness. Therefore, we are to not let sin reign in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions, for sin is to have no more dominion over us.
We are to walk no longer according to the flesh but now according to the Spirit of God. For if we live according to the flesh we will die in our sins. But if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the body, then we will live with Christ for eternity. For God’s grace, which brings salvation, instructs us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus said if we would come after him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him.
[1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15,21; 1 Co 6:19-20; Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24; Lu 9:23-26; Tit 2:11-14; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 2:8-10]
Ezekiel 2:8-10 ESV
Many people professing faith in Jesus Christ are making up their own gospel to suit their own lifestyles. They want to continue in their sin while still having the promise of heaven when they die, so they create a god and a gospel that will permit all of that. Most of them will begin with the foundation of the true gospel but then they will insert their lies inside and they will take out what they don’t like. They teach Scriptures outside their context and they twist them to say what they want them to say.
Many of them aren’t even using the Scriptures anymore but they are just talking from their own heads and people are listening to them because they are reputable in the Christian community and/or they are famous preachers and/or book authors. So what they end up teaching is pure evil for they are convincing their adherents that they can make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ which will guarantee them heaven when they die but that they can continue living in deliberate and habitual sin against God.
But the Scriptures teach that if we live in sin we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God no matter what we professed with our lips. If we are walking in deliberate and habitual sin and we have not truly repented of our sins and we are not walking in obedience to our Lord nor in his righteousness, and if this is what we continue in, we will not inherit eternal life with God, but the fires of hell are what await us, instead. So, please take this to heart.
[Lu 9:23-26; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 1:28-32; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:3-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:26-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Jn 15:1-11; Rev. 2-3; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Matt 7:21-23]
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
Ezekiel 2:1-5 ESV
And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
Now, we don’t have to be a prophet to speak the words of God, for if we believe in Jesus Christ with genuine faith in him, we have the words of God in written form which all of us can read and share. And we have the word of God living within us in the person of the Holy Spirit. And he will teach us all things, and he will instruct us in the ways of the Lord, and he will counsel and correct and nudge us to do what is right and to not do wrong, and he will encourage and strengthen us in our walks of faith.
As followers of Jesus Christ we are his representatives on this earth. We are his servants and messengers. So all of us should be speaking the word of God to the people, and we should all be exhorting one another daily so that none of us are hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. And we should be speaking the truth in love one to the other so that we are not led astray by false doctrines and so we grow the maturity in our faith in Jesus Christ.
And this may mean speaking to people who profess faith in Jesus Christ but who are still addicted to habitually sinning against God, who are living in deliberate rebellion against the Lord, and who are stubbornly holding on to their sinful practices and who will not let go of them. Although they may put on a show of righteousness on the outside they are secretly sinning against the Lord, and although some of them may pretend to listen, many are not listening but they are stopping up their ears and they are refusing to hear.
But we are not responsible for whether people listen or they refuse to hear. Our job is to just share with them the truth. We may have no idea who is listening and who is not, and that’s okay. Our job is just to obey the Lord in getting the truth out and in saying what the Lord gives us to say, which needs to be the truth and nothing contradicting the truth of the gospel, which means no half-truths, and no diluted and altered gospels to appeal to human flesh and to tickle itching ears.
[1 Pet 2:9; Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13]
Ezekiel 2:6-7 ESV
“And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.”
What are the main words the Lord wants us to speak to the people? The gospel of our salvation, right? And what is the gospel? It is that Jesus Christ, God the Son, was crucified on a cross according to the will of God that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us. And he shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so we will honor God with our bodies.
By God-given faith in Jesus Christ we are, thus, crucified with Christ in death to sin and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Our old self is crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we will no longer be enslaved to sin but to God and to righteousness. Therefore, we are to not let sin reign in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions, for sin is to have no more dominion over us.
We are to walk no longer according to the flesh but now according to the Spirit of God. For if we live according to the flesh we will die in our sins. But if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the body, then we will live with Christ for eternity. For God’s grace, which brings salvation, instructs us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus said if we would come after him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him.
[1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15,21; 1 Co 6:19-20; Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24; Lu 9:23-26; Tit 2:11-14; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 2:8-10]
Ezekiel 2:8-10 ESV
“But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.”
Many people professing faith in Jesus Christ are making up their own gospel to suit their own lifestyles. They want to continue in their sin while still having the promise of heaven when they die, so they create a god and a gospel that will permit all of that. Most of them will begin with the foundation of the true gospel but then they will insert their lies inside and they will take out what they don’t like. They teach Scriptures outside their context and they twist them to say what they want them to say.
Many of them aren’t even using the Scriptures anymore but they are just talking from their own heads and people are listening to them because they are reputable in the Christian community and/or they are famous preachers and/or book authors. So what they end up teaching is pure evil for they are convincing their adherents that they can make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ which will guarantee them heaven when they die but that they can continue living in deliberate and habitual sin against God.
But the Scriptures teach that if we live in sin we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God no matter what we professed with our lips. If we are walking in deliberate and habitual sin and we have not truly repented of our sins and we are not walking in obedience to our Lord nor in his righteousness, and if this is what we continue in, we will not inherit eternal life with God, but the fires of hell are what await us, instead. So, please take this to heart.
[Lu 9:23-26; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 1:28-32; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:3-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:26-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Jn 15:1-11; Rev. 2-3; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Matt 7:21-23]
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
