Read the Bible in a Year (09SEP19)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, September 9’s Bible reading is Ezekiel 31-33.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, September 10’s Bible reading is Ezekiel 34-36. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.

EZEKIEL MOMENT – (09SEP19) “When I tell righteous people that they will live, but then they sin, expecting their past righteousness to save them, then none of their righteous acts will be remembered. I will destroy them for their sins. And suppose I tell some wicked people that they will surely die, but then they turn from their sins and do what is just and right. For instance, they might give back a debtor’s security, return what they have stolen, and obey my life-giving laws, no longer doing what is evil. If they do this, then they will surely live and not die. None of their past sins will be brought up again, for they have done what is just and right, and they will surely live” (Ezekiel 13-16). The Lord was reestablishing Ezekiel’s call to be a watchman on the wall. He had been warning the people of Israel and the exiles regarding their sins. Somehow, the people must have been under the mindset that they were under God’s good graces regardless of the lifestyle that they lived due to their past good works. Well, the Lord was letting them know that this was not true. If a person who was once righteous turned away from their righteousness, it would be as if they had never been righteous at all. But if a person who was wicked turned away from their wickedness and made amends for what they had done, they would be regarded as righteous. Their past wickedness would not be remembered. There was no once saved always saved for Israel, and neither is it for the church today.

Jesus came to free us from the confines of sin and to help us get delivered from all of its traps. Nevertheless, we are not to think that God gives us a free pass to live in what Jesus came to free us from. The Bible says: “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13). We are no longer under the debt of sin as we once were before Christ came to die. He took on the debt and paid off our balance. Now, we are to use our freedom in the service of others for His kingdom. We now have life – eternal life. Those who choose to live contrary to the Lord are enslaved even though they have been fooled by the enemy to think that they are free. Let us not take on the chains of slavery but live righteously so that we may experience true freedom in Christ. Something to ponder….

QUESTION OF THE DAY - (09SEP19) Why do so many people want the things of God apart from being obedient to God? The Bible says: “Son of man, the scattered remnants of Israel living among the ruined cities keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he gained possession of the entire land. We are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’ So tell these people, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You eat meat with blood in it, you worship idols, and you murder the innocent. Do you really think the land should be yours? Murderers! Idolaters! Adulterers! Should the land belong to you?’” (Ezekiel 33:24-26).  Israel had rejected God, but they still thought that they deserved to be blessed and protected by Him. They did not want to honor Him, but they expected Him to honor them instead. They felt a sense of entitlement because they were the descendants of Abraham, but the Lord made them see that they were not entitled to anything when they disobeyed His decrees. They were to honor the covenant that He made with them; and then, He would continue to bless them. Unfortunately, this was not good enough for them, so they had to be stripped of everything before they came to the realization of who was the One and Only True God.

The Lord desires to bless His people, but with His blessings is His expectation of obedience. This is where a lot of prosperity teachers get it all wrong in their twisted gospel. They teach that people can name it and claim it without there being a change of the heart and total submission to God. The Lord has many ways of blessing His children, but how can we expect Him to shower us with blessings when we do not honor Him? Many people want to use God instead of being used by Him. The relationship is oftentimes one-sided with a give me attitude instead of having a humble heart. So, what does God expect from us? The Bible says: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). When we seek after God and place Him first in our lives, then whatever is in His will for us to have will be given to us. Let us be mindful to seek His face and not just His hand. Something to ponder….

EZEKIEL MOMENT – (09SEP19) “So my people come pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but they have no intention of doing what you say. Their mouths are full of lustful words, and their hearts seek only after money. You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don’t act on it! But when all these terrible things happen to them—as they certainly will—then they will know a prophet has been among them” (Ezekiel 33:31-33). Israel would come to Ezekiel to hear what he had to say, but they had no desire in their heart to turn from their wicked ways. They had become accustomed to the rebukes and pleas to repent, but these were just entertaining words to them. Sadly, they would only recognize the seriousness of their failure to act once the judgments came down. It would then be too late.

There are many Christians who attend yearly prophecy conferences, listen to various social media prophecy teachers and prophets, as well as attend church on a weekly basis to get the latest prophetic teachings. Some of these believers have become like prophecy junkies who only want a fix. Even though they know the warnings of God, they do not prepare, change their lives, nor warn others to repent. They hear the Lord’s beckoning and the judgments that will come to prideful nations, but they choose to ignore the warnings just as long as they can stay abreast at what’s coming. This, however, is not the type of behavior that the Lord wants His people to have. The Bible says: “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it” (James 1:22-25). The Apostle James was urging believers to not only be hearers but doers of the Word. If we hear, but do not put it to practice, we are wasting our time and the Lord is not pleased. How can the world see Jesus in us if we fail to put what we learn to practice? It is impossible to do so. Therefore, let us live a lifestyle of the Word so that others may see Christ shining through us. Something to ponder….