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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Thursday, 21 September 2023:
Ezekiel 22:6 — Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood.
The more power the ungodly acquire, the more they can hurt and destroy. How well can you be trusted with more wealth and influence? When you can be faithful with little, you can be trusted with more.
Ezekiel 22:7 – Father and mother are treated with contempt in you.
An ungodly nation loses respect for parents and the elderly.
Ezekiel 22:11 – One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife….
Nations on the path to judgment are characterized by rampant adultery and promiscuity.
Ezekiel 22:12 – In you they take bribes….
Ungodly nations on the path to judgment have corrupt governments that thwart justice.
Ezekiel 22:12 – … but me you have forgotten.
To sin is to forget God, at least in the moment. If God is at the forefront of your mind, sin won’t be.
Ezekiel 22:13 – Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made.
Ungodly nations on the path to face God’s judgment have dishonest business leaders.
Ezekiel 22:18-22 – Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are dross of silver. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the LORD; I have poured out my wrath upon you.
Sin makes a people useless to God, and God destroys what is useless.
Ezekiel 22:26 — Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common.
God judges the church that neglects the holiness of God.
Ezekiel 22:26-28 – Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, “Thus says the Lord God,” when the Lord has not spoken.
Nations on the path to face God’s judgment have unfaithful religious leaders and political leaders that make light of the sins of the nation, act as if they are hearing from God when they aren’t, and take advantage of people for their own selfish desires.
Ezekiel 22:30 – And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.
One faithful godly leader can make a big difference, but is there one?
From Henry T. Blackaby – “God looks for those whose hearts are prepared to be intercessors before Him. Intercessors have hearts in tune with God’s heart. They are so acutely aware of what is at stake, for their land, that they will stay before God as long as necessary in order to obtain God’s answer. That is why you do not volunteer to be an intercessor. God enlists you.
Why do we not intercede as we should? Perhaps we are afraid to put God to the test. We worry that God might not answer our prayers. Yet God promises that if we ask, we will receive (Matt. 7:7). We may fail to intercede because we believe the busyness of our everyday lives is more effective than prayer. Jesus warned that apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). Without being intimately acquainted with God and His will, all of our labors are futile. Perhaps we fail to intercede because we misunderstand the heart of God. Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem as He interceded for it (Matt. 23:37). If we truly have God’s love within us, we will feel compelled to plead with God on behalf of those who face His imminent judgment.
Intercession is a lonely business. There may be many days or even years when there appear to be few results for your labor. Yet intercessors can be the only ones standing between a family and God’s judgment, or between an individual or nation and God’s wrath.”
Hebrews 6:1-6 — Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
The Bible says, “without faith it is impossible to please [God]: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” In faith, we must truly believe in grace (salvation and sanctification as a free gift from God, enabled by Him and not by us) while we diligently seek Him with complete confidence in His perfect, unending, unchanging, everlasting love for us, despite ourselves (Romans 8:31-39). If we believe in grace, we will walk in the freedom of grace with confidence, peace and joy, and we will naturally produce the fruit of love and good works, which are labors of love (not pride or fear), as we abide in God’s love. We will produce much fruit as we cultivate and harvest in love, but we won’t struggle to create artificial, man-made fruit which any farmer knows is impossible.
Hebrews 6 could be speaking to two audiences: the legalists, who have turned away from grace and have returned to the futile pursuit of self-righteousness through adherence to the law and rules in an attempt to earn salvation and to produce sanctification from their own merit; and/or the apostates who have acknowledged grace, have experienced grace but have continued to live in willful disobedience, trampling on the Gospel and the blood of Christ. Both groups sat in church and participated in church activities but were dishonoring God, working against the Gospel in their lives and the lives of others, and were lacking the fullness of joy that comes by faith in the sufficiency of grace through faith in Jesus.
Faith calls us to grow in love while placing all our confidence on God’s love, understanding that both our salvation and our sanctification rest securely in the power of God rather than in our own power. We are not yet perfected in love, but as we abide in God’s love, we remain confident in His acceptance despite our imperfection while we continue to strive for perfection. We trust that He is working all things together (even our failures) for good in our lives to conform us to the image of His Son, Jesus; and we rest in confidence, awaiting the Day of His final restoration when He will make all things new – “And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.” (Hebrews 6:15)
“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:19-20) Let grace be the anchor of your soul, and don’t quench the Spirit by failing to enter the inner place behind the curtain with Christ because you somehow feel you haven’t “earned” the right or because you feel free to remain on the others side. Remain in the presence of God because He loves you just as you are and wants you to experience Him to the fullest. While in His presence, give Him the honor He deserves.
Hebrews 6:10-12 — God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Hebrews 6 speaks of an expectation of fruitfulness in the lives of the truly saved. Paul warns not to be lazy in obeying God. Rather than being “sluggish” in our new lives for Christ, Paul encourages us to be “imitators” of those who have modeled holiness and Christ-like character before us. Who within your church models the type of life you would desire to imitate? If someone were to poll your church congregation, your place of employment, or your community, how many people would pick you as their model for Christ-like character, the person they would most desire to imitate? God warns against being lazy or complacent in your faith, as you just read in Isaiah 32:10-14.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 21 September 2023: Today, practice the presence of God.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 