TO LIVE AGAIN

Ezek. 37:4-6 Then he said to me, “Speak to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look! I am going to breathe into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’ ”  NLT

       I don’t know about you, but I would have loved to have been a witness to this event.  God told Ezekiel to speak to a bunch of dry bones!  I have spoken to a bunch of people like that over the years.  People do dry up spiritually.  There are some churches today who have been spiritually dry for a long time.  It doesn’t usually happen overnight.  It happens when the Word of God ceases to be the life food for the soul.  It happens when the church stops praying together for one another and others.  It happens when the church becomes more of a social gathering than a worship gathering.  Regardless of how it happens, people and churches dry up spiritually.

      The message God told Ezekiel to preach was THE WORD OF GOD.  It is the only remedy for dried up souls.  The Word of God is alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb. 4:12).  It pierces deep into the soul and roots out sinful deeds and thoughts.  It gives hope to the dried up soul.  When God speaks, exciting things begin to happen!  The Lord’s message was that He was going to breathe life into the dead bones and give them life.  He can, because He is the source of all life.

       The Lord goes on to declare that not only would the bones be given life, they would be given an abundant life.  They would be clothed with flesh, muscles and skin.  This reminds us that there is so much more to life than just life; there is an abundance!  God provides all that we need to have life and so much more.   He equips us with all we need to live and serve Him.  We are not given life to stand around or to sit and vegetate.  We are blessed to know that He is Lord of life and to live to honor and serve Him.

      Has your soul dried up?  Do you need a fresh breath of God on you?  Get alone with the Lord and ask Him to breathe into you some fresh air.  Ask Him to take away from you all those things that have caused you to dry up.  Take all the time you need to sit down and read God’s Word and meditate on it.  Take all the time you need to pray until you know the Lord has touched you and breathed into you new life.

      Make a vow to the Lord today to let Him change you so that you might live again the abundant life He came to give you.

A NEW HEART

Ezek. 36:26-27  “And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you.  I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart.  And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.”

      When Jesus enters the soul of man, things begin to happen.  There are a lot of different things that He does within us besides forgiving us of our sins.  The first thing that He does is He gives us a heart transplant. 

      The Lord gives us a new heart.  He does this because the old heart, the heart of sin, is hard as a rock and cannot accept the things of God.  A heart full of sin cannot obey God.  It cannot long for the things of God.  It cannot hear God when He speaks.  It has no desire for the things God provides. 

      When we live in Christ, the way we were gives way to a new life.  We desire to please God instead of ourselves.  We desire to hear from God so that we will know how to please Him and what we must do in order to obey Him.  We develop a hunger for the Word of God because we know it is God’s voice speaking through it.  We desire to be with God so we seize opportunities we have to have fellowship with Him. 

      You cannot have saving faith without having a new heart.  God transforms us.  We are constantly changing into a holy people.  Christ becomes the influencer of all we do.  We live for Him and follow Him wherever He may lead us.  There is an insatiable longing in the heart of the redeemed for Jesus now and for all of eternity.

        When Christ lives in us, we cannot do what we used to do, nor do we want to.  We cannot use the language we once did, nor can we think about sin in the same way.  With our new heart, all we are changes; we become a people after God’s own heart.

FOUND SHEEP

Ezek. 34:11-12  For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.”

      Isn’t that great news? The Lord searches for His lost sheep and never gives up until He finds them. He knows where to look and will find them. Some sheep are hard to find because they wander a long ways off. They pay no attention to where they are going and get so lost that they can’t find their way home and have to helplessly wait, hoping that they will be found. Some are so lost that they don’t even recognize the dangerous position they have put themselves into.

      Some sheep seemingly are so lost they don’t want to be found. They continue to wander around aimlessly hoping to find something to satisfy them. They will feast on the leftovers not even understanding that the Lord wants to lead them into the lush and green pastures He has prepared for them.

      Lost sheep are defenseless against those who would prey on them and often find themselves getting hurt and killed. They have no one to come to their aid and have no hope of surviving on their own.

       Jesus knows all about the lost state of His own. He loves dearly all of us and will not stop searching for those who are His; He knows us by name. He spares no effort to find us and lead us home. He longs to take His lost sheep home to clean them up, heal their wounds, and put them into the flock where they belong. He wants to be their provider and protector. He wants to lead them safely home to heaven.

        If you have wandered away from God, stop and listen.  He is calling your name.  He wants to spare you from the dangers that lurk all around you.  He wants to bring you under His loving and protective care.  Listen to Him now while you still can hear Him and be saved and safe.

PASTORS, BE WARNED!

PASTORS, BE WARNED!

Ezek. 34:1-2 Then this message came to me from the LORD, “Son of man prophecy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: Destruction is certain for you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep?” NLT

       This devotional today is about pastors and for pastors.  In the Scriptures pastors are often depicted as being shepherds, overseers of the people entrusted to them.  This passage is a stern warning for pastors.  God is warning those who are overseers who look out for themselves at the expense of their people.  These are people who feed off of people instead of feeding people.  God declares very clearly that their destruction is certain.

       If you have a pastor who is not taking care of his people, you must do something about it.  If you are not being fed, you are starving your soul to death.  Your pastor has the responsibility to lead you into the Word where your soul can be fed.  Only as you are continuously fed the Word are you able to feast and grow.  Your pastor must constantly feed and challenge you on so that you don’t get lazy or satisfied with where you are at.  Your pastor must stand guard over your soul so that any potential danger can be addressed before you are harmed. 

       A pastor who is not feeding his people is not fit to serve as a pastor.  It is a grave sin for a pastor to take advantage of people or use them for personal gain.  Anyone who would be more concerned about themselves and their personal comforts than they are about the needs of the people they serve will feel God’s wrath.  Pastors should always feed their people.

      Dear friend, hold your pastor accountable, but when you do, hold yourself accountable as well.  No matter how well your pastor may be feeding you, you have to do your part.  You must take what is being offered to you, chew on it, and swallow it before it can do you any good.  You must be careful what you feast on and avoid those things which are bad for your spiritual health.  You must be discerning and feast on what you need.  What you need today may be different than what you need tomorrow.  Listen to the Spirit of God and chew on what you need and not just what you want. 

       Don’t rely just on what your pastor may offer you.  A once-a-week feeding binge will not meet your spiritual needs.  You must be taking care of your soul daily.  Your pastor can only do so much for you.  Pray much for your pastor.  If your pastor is feeding your soul, support, encourage, and thank your pastor often.  If he isn’t, pray much for him.  If he doesn’t change, find another pastor who will feed you.

BE WARNED!

Ezek. 34:1-2 Then this message came to me from the LORD, “Son of man prophecy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: Destruction is certain for you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep?”  NLT

       This is a message that should be engraved on every pastor’s heart.  There is grave danger for those whom God calls to shepherd His people when they fail to properly take care of their flock.  There are so many so-called leaders in the church who are more concerned about themselves and their personal gain instead of the welfare of the church family.

        I believe with all my heart that God will be very harsh on them come Judgment Day.  There is no mercy for those who abuse others for their own gain.  There is no mercy for those who abuse the gifts of God given for the sake of others for personal gain.  There is no mercy for those who seek the affections of man instead of the affections of God.  There is no mercy for those who don’t respect their calling before God to minister to the spiritual needs of others.  There is no mercy for those who would seek to be shepherds on their own without the blessing and calling of God.

      What is true for leaders in the church is true for all of us.  We must always strive to be servants of God in all we do.  We are not to live for ourselves and ignore the needs of others.  It is so easy to live unto ourselves and neglect others.  The Lord makes it very clear that if we love Him, we will love others.  We cannot love the Lord and not love others.  If you find that you have very little concern for others, you need to bow before the Lord and ask Him to change you.  You need to confess your self-centeredness and ask Him to revive within you a genuine love for others.  You need to take advantage of the opportunities the Lord gives to you daily to show compassion for others, both inside and outside your home.

       Destruction is certain for all who don’t take an invested interest in others and minister as they can to their needs.  We are in the feeding business.  God gives us His love and gifts us to share with others.  God will not honor those who hoard their salvation.  In fact, He will reject them as His own.  You cannot be a child of God and not impact the world for Christ.  If we are not salt and light in the world, we are not living in Christ.

WHAT YOU DO MATTERS

WHAT YOU DO MATTERS

Ezek. 33:17-20 “Your people are saying, ˜The Lord is not just,’ but it is they who are not just. For again I say, when righteous people turn to evil, they will die. But if wicked people turn from their wickedness and do what is just and right, they will live. O people of Israel, you are saying, ‘The Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to your deeds.”  NLT

      Our problem with justice is that we don’t see the awfulness of sin like we should.  We don’t see how sin wreaks havoc on the soul like God does.  We don’t see how much God actually hates it because of what it does to us.  Because God loves us and desires a pure relationship with us, he hates sin.  He doesn’t want to see anyone miss out on heaven, but He knows most will because of sin.  Justice is God’s response to sin.  Sin must be punished.

       God gives us a way out of sin.  We can have a relationship with God through Christ.  God has made a way for us to live and not die.  He has given us the freedom to choose what kind of life we live.  If we choose to live in Christ, we will be saved from hell.  If we decide to reject God’s way and live in sin, we will not go to heaven when we die. 

       God knows how we are living and the choices we make.  He will execute perfect justice on every soul.  There will be no one who will be able to avoid God on Judgment Day.  He will judge us based on how we live before Him.  How we live will carry more weight than what we claim to believe.  Profession without practice is worth nothing.  He who lives in Christ will surely live.

         If we are living in the righteousness of Christ, Christ will reward us according to what our faith deserves.  If we are not living in Christ, God will judge us according to what our sin deserves.  It is strictly up to us whether we will spend eternity in heaven or hell.  How we live reflects the choice we make.

SINS OF THE RIGHTEOUS

Ezek. 33:17-20 “Your people are saying, ‘The LORD is not just,’ but it is they who are not just. For again I say, when righteous people turn from their wickedness and do what is just and right, they will live. O people of Israel, you are saying, ‘The LORD is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to your deeds.”  NLT

       Look carefully so you don’t miss what the Lord is saying here. He says when RIGHTEOUS people turn from their wicked ways. There is no other conclusion you can draw from this. Not only can righteous people fall into sin and live in it, many do. Don’t get the idea that the righteousness of Christ will automatically keep you from sinning. Jesus does not take away from us our freedom of choice. To do what is just and right before God is a decision we must make and remake continuously in our lives. If we don’t choose to obey God, we are choosing to disobey Him. The only way we are going to not sin against God is to choose to not sin.

      What happens when righteous people choose to not turn from their sin? The implication of today’s text seems to suggest they will die in their sins. Does that mean they will no longer be considered by God to be righteous and acceptable to Him? All that He says here is that He will judge each one according to his deeds. The Lord’s judgments are just and right and He will make no mistakes on Judgment Day.

       Live righteously and you won’t have to be concerned about what is going to happen on Judgment Day.  Mess with sin and you will answer to God for it.  God knows our hearts and our motives and will judge fairly our souls.