OK...I was reading Ezekiel Chapter 2 and Chapter 3....And it starts off with God calling Ezikiel to Israel and and tell them to change their wicked and stubborn ways....Now, with that in itself, we see that Israel is God's chosen ones, the apple of his eye....Israel represents the Church (not neccessarily a church, but even a person)....and yet, they're doing wrong and not pleasing Him....OK, now Ezekiel represents the speakers through which God is talking to Israel...Letting them know that what ever they're doin ain't right, he is seperate from the Church...not neccessarily by membership, but by beliefs/doctrines/thoughts/etc...And in not being a part of them in their doings, he is considered as rebellious, against them, and jsut looked down upon.....now notice that God has called them stubborn and wicked....
First wicked...."Wicked" is synonamous with "Evil"...and what is Evil is not of God....Now that in mind...As we learn from Ecclesiastes 3, quite simply, There is a time and a place for everything...We go to church to WORSHIP Him, however as we look around, little time is placed upon socializing, politics, even FASHION, and much others....My friend Tolisha said something a while ago while we were at a rehearsal at church...My other friend Harrison was portraying Jesus, and she was a modern-day church goer, but because he was standing and she was sitting...she couldn't see Harrison and shouted, "My hat's too big...I can't see Jesus!"...And sad enough, that's the case MANY times...
Let's look at the word "stubborn" now...When one is stubborn they won't change their ways (hence their hostility to the speakers call for change)...One can then say that they are caught up in tradition....If you look at I Corinthians 13:11, it says When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought like a child, I understood as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things...Jesus is basically alluding to the fact taht certain things were set up in the past for a certain thing in the past, but as time progresses, new thigns come, and new things are set up, and there is no need for those "toys" of the past....So to hold strong to tradition and make it precedence over the move of God...that is definately, supremely, adn ultimately not the way to go......
Ok...now, stay with me, remember that Ezekiel is sent to tell Israel to change....OK...now, God has given us the this thing called "Free Will"...that is, he allows us to decide for OURSELVES the things we wish to do...BUT there are consequences for the wrong choices we make knowingly....Romans 6:23 states that the "wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord"....So the choice Ezekiel has to make is obvious...Go tell them or Don't say a word....Flashforward to chapter 3 and verses 18-19, He lays it down real simple....Either he goes and speaks (where they die if the warning isn't heeded) or he can NOT go (and the sinner will still die, but their blood is now on his hand as well)....Tuff choice huh?...I mean, what would posess one to NOT obey God is some baffling stuff at times, but when you think about it, it's been tried before....look at the ever famous story of Jonah and the Whale....Homeboy heard God tell him to go talk 2 the peple in Nineveh and tell them that their doings just ain't right....But nah, he figures he can hide from God, not do what He asked, and ALL would be good, right?...Wrong; God sends a storm to rock Jonah's boat (the one he stowed away in) and the crew throws him into the sea(since he's causing all this trouble with God), a big whale comes up to swallow him up....To make a long story short...the whale spews out on a shore and he ended up gettin to Nineveh anyway and preaching to them...SO you see, you can disobey God if you want, but He gonna get his way anyhow....Just depends if you like punishment or not......
Well...Readin a little bit farther, in Ezekiel 3:4-7, God is telling him that the people he is going to speak teh SAME language as he does...God's word spoken in Ezekiel's language is therefore spoken in Israel's language....Therefore they KNOW and UNDERSTAND the word as Ezekiel speaks to them....just because they are the Church, does not mean that all is well by that title of "Church", so they are not neccessarily LIVING it 'cause they KNOW it....You can look at it 2 ways...1)even the Devil knows the Scripture (very well, too)...2) many times they take for granted what has been intilled in them for so long.....God even says the same thing, in verse 6, when he says that if Ezekiel was sent to someone of a different language, representing someone who does not know the Word or God, they would have SURELY listened because they can appreciate what is being said....It's like living in New York City, the residence think of it as where they live, nothing more.....But tourists, those who haven't grown up in the City, come with eagerness and happiness to see the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Madison Square Garden, etc......
Now this here is for those of you who might be those "Ezekiel"s who see, through God (or even just through straight Gospel knowledge and common sense), that a change is needed and/or a move from God is gonna come through....
He is YHVH (meaning Jehovah or Yahweh) Yireh The Lord Who Sees ....Not only does He see everything that we do, and don't do, but He even sees waht it is that we NEED....he prepares us for what it is that we are about to tackle and supplies us everything that meets what the job entails....He will never give us anything more than what He knows we can't bear.....In Ezekiel 2:8-3:2, you see that He actually GIVES the words to be spoken to Ezekiel...Very little thought going on his part, all he has to do is do and Godd takes care of teh rest...God is our PREPARATION....He is Elohay Kol HaNechamah God of All Comfort ....2 Corinthians 1:3 says...Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God....That in itself basically says it all....He is comfort...You goin through some tough time, He's only a word away....Talk to Him, bring your troubles to Him, trust in Him....He's far better than any late-nite pig-out session with a gallon of ice cream and your favorite movie/show...Though it's nice to talk to your friends and all, they'll give you some comfort, but only God can make it better....He is Comfort, nothing less and only everything more....In Ezekiel 2:6, He lays it down straight, don't fear, in his case, what they say....They are all rebellious, doing wrong (besically, they don't have any right to say anything about him, and if they do then it's not of value)....God is our COMFORT......He is El Shaddai God All Sufficient ....He eases our hearts and erases worry (Matthew 6:25-34, 7:11)....He makes everything all right...There's not much more you can say...In Ezekiel 3:3, when God gives him the Word to be spoken, he says that it was as sweet as honey in his mouth...So not only is the Word for those who need it (Israel) but the speaker as well....Therefore we can say tehy are both dancing in the Lord, adn don't forget that "it takes two to tango"...so BOTH the speaker and receiver get edification....It's straight forward....God is SATISFCTION.....
OK...Now...Here's my favorite part that I was talkin about last time (where I had a saying for God's help)...OK...So we have established that He is our Preparation, our Comfort, our Satisfaction....I'ma walk you through this now, stay with me.....If it is of the World, then it is said to be secular....
So when the World is getting you down, or you getting a little TOO far down in the World...Let's just call that "Another case of Bad Secular"...And if that's teh case, what you need is Spirit PCS (Preparation Comfort Satisfaction)...Yes that's right, not "Sprint", but Spirit PCS....You see, though Sprint PCS makes calling easier....it's Spirit PCS that makes LIVING easier.....
Amen.