And ye shall know that I am the Lord

I’ve been sick with a cold for the past two days. Yesterday was the worst. I got out of bed only as long as it took to take a Thera-flu and get back to bed. Later in the day I started feeling somewhat better and decided to read. I chose the book of Ezekiel; I liked the sound of his name at the moment.

God comes to Ezekiel and chooses him to prophesy to the nation, about what is to come.

God makes it plain so there is no mistake as to why all this will be happening.
Rebellion; not only among the people, but among the priest and elders of the synagogues is why sickness, hunger, wars, and pestilence are slowly eroding away at the country. The end of all this was to be enslavement.

Rebellion: Not only were some of the priests and elders taking the matters of God into their own hands. Making decisions themselves without consulting God and waiting on his answers, but the people “in the chambers of his imagery” (meaning in their own minds) were saying
“The Lord seeth us not: the Lord hath forsaken the earth. EZ. 8:12
In other words, God doesn’t care, I am left to myself to do what I feel is right.
They were in a sense, passing the buck; putting the blame for any sin they might commit onto God.

The word of God teaches that mankind making decisions solely on his/her own generally makes a mess of things. The consequences of those decisions that do not include God will result, in the long run, to troubles. Sometimes seen immediately, sometimes years later, but always seen.

God tells Ezekiel in essence that the people have chosen to go their own way; therefore he will let them deal with the problems they have created for themselves.
“and ye shall know that I am the Lord” This phrase follows each time God tells the consequences of their rebellion. BUT, he gives a promise. He makes a way, a provision for those who truly look to him and follow His commands.

In chapter 9 he calls the man from beside the altar, dressed in white linen carrying the ink horn. This man he commands to go through the people and place a mark on the foreheads of those who ‘cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst’. Those who are grieved for the sins that have been committed are set apart. This is the remnant from chapter 6 verse 8.

The man clothed in white linen is the man in the book of Revelation. He will write your name in the Lamb’s book of life as well.
Many of our leaders are telling us that there is no God. ("God does not see") They have taken things into their own hands are running our nation the way they think it should go. God has left us to the consequences of our sin.
BUT God gives you a promise:
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. II Chronicles 7:14
This promise is to each person;therefore the conditions must be met individually by each person who is grieved with the abominations that are happening around them, just as in Ezekiel's day.

Are you tired of rebelling; of trying to do things your way? Are you grieved for your nation? God has written an entire book to let you know how to travel through this world safely. Humble yourself.Read the Bible. Pray, and seek his face, talk to the Creator of the universe. Turn from your wicked ways and  trust Him to guide you in His way. If each of us does, then he will heal our land.

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet

For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.

 Proverbs 6:23

Not too many people can see in the dark. Although some can see pretty well, I have seen others who couldn’t see anything in the dark. But one thing is certain: trying to do something without the proper light always makes the job harder to do; there are more chances of making mistakes.

The more light you have when doing a job, the easier it is to get the job done. When your light is limited it is much harder to tell, even after you have finished the job, whether or not it is done correctly.

King Solomon is letting you know in this verse that God’s truth acts like a light on your path of life. With that Light, the light of God’s word, you will be able to stay on the right path. There is less chance of falling, or going the wrong way.

Not to say that you will never make another mistake. There is the human factor to remember here as well. Meditating or thinking intently on the path and the word are called for as well as staying in the light.

Thinking will make walking that path a lot easier; the same as thinking about what you are doing when you are working in a lighted area will make the job go faster and smoother.

God supplies the Light and leads you in the right path; man/woman must supply the thoughtfulness to travel it well.

The source of married strength

For those of you who are married or thinking of marriage, this is for you. the Bible gives a lot of scripture dealing with relationships between friends, enemies and married couples. If you have never did a study on these, it is never too early to start or too late for that matter.

My husband and I have been married for many years. We are an example of the proverbial 'opposites attract' theory. I was thinking about this the other day and I realized something that I had suspicioned before but never actually admitted to myself. He makes me stop and think. I am the type who comes up with plans for all sorts of things. Usually unless he is around to make me stop and think about exactly how I am going to to make this scheme happen I'll get about halfway and realize that I need to go back and re-think this thing.

He doesn't laugh at my schemes, or treat them with sarcasm, he takes them unconditionally. He doesn't immediately agree or disagree, but he never knocks the wind out of my sails. He just begins to listen, knodding his head occasionally. He's the thinker of the couple. He is the type of person who can take something apart, no matter how complicated and figure out what's wrong with it. Then given the right tools can fix and assemble it. It is a gift. One that I admittedly do not have.

 I am the risk taker, he is the steadying hand that makes the risk work. The two of us make one good person. Have you ever heard someone say that refering to their marriage? If you have, then you can know that this is what God intended marriage to be.  Genesis 2:24 says that a man and his wife shall be one flesh.

But let me take that one step further and say that those 'two as one' can never be truely complete unless each one separately has become one with Christ. When each of these 'two as one' have the mind of Christ, then they are truely complete. They are one mind as well as one flesh as the Bible describes. I think of this when I read the verses in Ecclesiates 9 through 12. But here I will quote just the 12th verse.
"And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken"

A two-fold cord is stronger than  one cord alone, but when you intertwine the third cord, then you have true strength. Have you the cord of Christ in your marriage?

A Clean Heart

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

Psalm 51:10

This verse is my husbands' favorite. The verse is  part of a conversation King David had with God after Nathan the prophet pointed out David's sin with Bathsheba. You can find the entire story in  2 Samuel chapter 11 and 12. There in chapter 12 of 2 Samuel is something that to me, is a mystery, but is common to all people:  It wasn't that King David did not know that the adulterous affair with Bathsheba, and the murder of her husband were sins--he knew it. The mystery to me is that somehow or other he had been able to justify what he had done in his own mind--that is until God sent Nathan to confront him with the truth in a way that he could not deny. At that time,Holy Spirit conviction struck David's heart, it was broken. There was no more justifcation for his sin. No more was he able to "make it right in his own mind." David went straight to God.

Just what was David confessing here? We know of the adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah, but there was something else here. Back up to Psalm 51:4. David admits:

"Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight:"

He was confessing that he had also sinned against a holy, sovereign God. The One who had created him and by that very act of creation had the right to rule in his life.

The sin of justifying his sinful actions at the expense of God's sovereign right to rule in his life weighed David's heart down. He had once again put himself over God. This was why he begged God to create in him a clean  heart. He did not want this heart that always put itself above God; but he understood that only God could change it. Only God could scrub it clean of all unrighteousness and make it clean again.

You and I have the same problem King David had. We need cleansing from our sin. I'm not saying we need to be saved again. David knew, and we can know as well, that salvation is a one time transaction and it last forever. It is those sins after salvation that we commit and then try to justify: the ones that break our fellowship with a holy God, and steal our joy.The human part of us says,

"It's not that bad, others have done worse" or "I'll be extra good tomarrow":  I could leave a line blank and you could fill it in with your excuses for justifying your sin. You know what they are.

But just as David learned here, we must learn that justifying sin IS a sin! 

So what can we do? We must talk to God daily, and with a godly sorrow. What is godly sorrow? When we as David (2 Samuel 12:13), realize we have sinned against God. 

We repent of that sin, ask him,as The Creator, to take our dirty heart and create us a new, clean one. That is godly sorrow. You can also find an explaination and example in 2 Corinthians 7. 

When we come in this manner, God as a loving father, in his grace and understanding is willing to create us a clean heart.

Jesus died so that you could come for that cleansing; so that you could have that clean heart and the joy of God's salvation that comes with it daily. Don't throw away such a wonderful gift: the opportunity to live everyday with a clean heart and restored fellowship with your heavenly Father. This is one of the many blessings being a child of the true and living God offers everyone who comes to the God of the Bible. No other god, or system of belief in the past or future can promise you that: but not only does the God of the Bible promise it, He delivers it! To Him be the glory. Amen