This morning I have been thinking, again, of the prayers of King Jehoshaphat when he spoke of going to the temple of God during times of great distress, famine, or pestilence. This blog entry of 2008 continues along that same vein. It matters not where we have been driven because of our disobedience or lack of faith; God will, for the sake of His Name, gather us up, wash us and make us clean to serve His purposes; not ours.
Whom He has called He will refine. Those who are His from the foundation of the world will be purified; even as gold and silver are refined. It is not an easy process but very necessary to achieve His purposes, not ours. As we go through the fires He will be glorified and we will be purified. He will not allow anything to remove us from the palm of His hands. Christ said those whom the Father has given Him are His; He will lose none.
As Jeremiah said, it is because of His great mercies that we are not consumed; He remembers that we are but dust. His Spirit will quicken us and bring His word to remembrance as we go through His processes. His Word is truth; it existed before the foundation stone of this planet was laid.
Never forget, as the mountains are round about Jerusalem - so the LORD is round about His people. Those who believe in Christ are of the seed of Abraham; these promises are ours because of our belief in Messiah. We are one with natural Israel; grafted into the vine.
May we bear much fruit in the closing days of this age of Grace.
Have a wonderful Sabbath thinking upon Him. jrp (07.31.2010)
EZEKIEL 36 - HE WILL!
Read this passage in the context of God’s dealings with Israel, this is who it was written to. Put in into context of those who believe that the church has replaced Israel; A belief that in error. This passage shows the ways of God and His dealings with those who say they are His. What idols have I set up before God?
“Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land they defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.”
“Therefore, I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land because they had defiled it with their idols.”
“Also, I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them.”
“When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, “These are the people of the LORD; yet they have come out of His land.”
“But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.”
“Therefore, say to the house of Israel, “Thus says the LORD God, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. And I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD,” declares the LORD God “when I prove Myself Holy among you in their sight.”
“For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
“And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statues, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. And you will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.”
“Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, that you may not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations.”
“Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. I am not doing this for your sake, declares the LORD, let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!”
Thus says the LORD God, “ On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. And the desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passed by. And they will say, “This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate, and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited. “
"Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the LORD, have spoken and will do it.”
"Thus says the Lord God, ”This also will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them; I will increase the men like a flock. Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”
When troubles come into my life my first reaction should be to examine, immediately, my relationship with God. If it is an attack from the enemy, He will give strength to go through the difficulty successfully, if it is God, He will show me and repentance should be immediate.
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