“It shall be the prince’s duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feats, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.” Ezekiel 45:17
God says we need to get outside and enjoy this beautiful day!
After I finished my reading this morning, I whisked myself off to the kitchen to make myself a nice healthy breakfast next to cream-laden coffee. At the stroke of seven I flicked on the CD player and started up song eleven. Mandisa’s “Good Morning” blared through our house as I stood in waiting outside my children’s doors to pop my head in at them and sing at just the right line in the song.
I was not greeted with smiles.
I was greeted with groans of disapproval and dismay at the night being over and another day of school laying in wait for my children like a lion ready to pounce and devour. They may love school, but they do not love getting up for it.
As I bustled them along we magically managed to get both children bathed, dressed, fed, lunches packed and on the bus in THIRTY MINUTES! And I was practically strutting back into the house as they waved to me from the bus. Well, I pretend they wave back to me anyway, even if I can’t see them doing it. It’s too bad the “hate” school so much.
Yup. I was feeling like quite the awesome mom this morning. I was peppy and upbeat, kind and loving AND on time which is a hard one for me. I was walking tall and proud. (Can you hear the heavenly trumpets playing a victory song for me? Cause I’m pretty sure they did.)
I should have known.
I sat down at my desk full of vim and vigor from the successful send off this morning, ready to face another day of Preschool preparations and plans. As I started checking my calendar for the day and making some important phone calls, I found it. (bum bum BUM!)
Anna’s first homework assignment for first grade, and it WAS due Friday. It had gotten buried on my desk and I had completely forgotten about it.
POP! Mom confidence deflated in 0.2 seconds. Sigh… it was fun while it lasted…
You know, that feeling like you’re on top of the world and in charge and in control; and everything is handled. It feels great. But then something crosses your path that makes you feel about an inch tall, if you’re lucky. And you feel horrible for letting your family down.
Bad mom, bad!
You mentally strike yourself for not being perfect. Your record of mom success has been blemished and it will never be the same.
But what on earth makes us think that we should hold ourselves to that kind of standard anyway? I mean seriously, where do we get that drive to feel like we have to be perfect ALL the time otherwise we feel like a bad mom in need of punishment.
Who ever said that you were supposed to be perfect anyway?
And then I remembered it. The phrase I had underlined multiple times in my Bible this morning:
“without blemish” Ezekiel 43:23&25
Ezekiel was detailing the form of sacrifice that was acceptable to the LORD. Each time he said the phrase “without blemish” I underlined it, because it struck a chord in my heart. Jesus, so very unlike me, is the perfect sacrifice; He is without blemish or stain.
The Law requires perfection. Period. And while the Law is perfect in every possible way, WE AREN’T. We never have been and we never will be. We’re human, plain and simple and perfectly imperfect in every way. And that’s OK! You know why, because if we were perfect, then we wouldn’t need a perfect Savior.
If I were the perfect mom every second of every day then I would have no occasion to ask God to help me, to lead me, to say the things that my kids need to hear and do the things that my kids need for me to do.
My imperfections lead me to Jesus, the perfect sacrifice. In the Old Covenant when someone sinned and fell short of the glory of God they would choose the most perfect lamb from their flock and take it to the tabernacle to be sacrificed in order to justify them before our Perfect God.
Today when we sin and fall short of the glory of God, we need only to go to our Bible and hold out the perfect Lamb of God – Jesus.
He has justified us completely from all our sins for all time. He is the perfect sacrifice, offered up once and for all for the justification of one and all. Yes, even YOU.
No. ESPECIALLY YOU!
You have been justified by His Grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus! Don’t let your one failure ruin your otherwise perfect day! Pick yourself, dust yourself off, and keep moving forward.
I could let this one missed homework assignment haunt me for days with Mommy Guilt, but I’m not going to. While I may not be the Perfect Mom, I am the perfect mom for my kids. No amount of missed homework assignments can change that.
Thank God! Because I’m SURE there will be more!
Well my friends, today is another Derby Day! So I will not be writing in the reading, but instead I’d like for you to join in prayer with me for the derby.
Father God we come before You today and we thank You so much for the beautiful day that You’ve given us to spend outside with You and each other. Thank You Father God for the arena at the Indiana State Fair in which to perform and glorify You. We thank You for the ministry that You have given us to shine a light & we pray that we will do it to the best of our abilities. Lord I ask for special protective angels to come and stay at the State Fair today, especially over the drivers, over the audience, & over the officials. Lord I lift up the Bible table to you. I pray that you will have many many people walk past, see it, and stop to take Your word of life into their lives today. I pray that You touch their eyes to see You. That You would open their ears to hear You, that You would open their minds to understand Your Word and open their hearts to receive Your love for them today. I pray that You would show them Your love through us in wonderous ways today. And Lord, I pray selfishly that 7 x 70 will win the Derby.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
“behold, I am for you,” Ezekiel 35:9
I don’t know if you have noticed in the last few weeks, but God seems to say, “You shall know that I am the LORD”, a lot. And it seems to always come after He has said that He would do something. Take 35:4 for example. God has just pronounced desolation and waste over Mount Seir and then finished the pronouncement with “and you shall know that I am the LORD.”
Then again in 35:15, “As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so I will deal with you; you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”
I find it interesting to look at the subjects of this verse. Look carefully and you find two. There are the people to whom He is speaking, Mount Seir and all Edom. But then there are also, “they that will know that He is the LORD.” And according to this verse, who do you suppose this “they” is referring to? Israel of course; they’re the ones that Mount Seir and all Edom mocked. In this passage of prophecy God is proclaiming over the enemies of Israel, certain destruction. And that destruction of the enemies of Israel will prove to Israel and their enemies that He is Yahweh.
Every time that this phrase has been spoken by our creator in the past few weeks I have marveled at it. I will sit there and just stare at it for a few moments. You see, there’s this thing we call faith. It’s defined in Hebrews 11:1 as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith is where we read a promise that God makes in His word, like, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5) and then choosing to believe that it is the truth because our God Yahweh said it.
But then there’s this time that we come upon, where the Truth feels like it’s not the truth. Where the promise feels like it’s been forgotten. And doubt begins to creep in. We think: “God’s Word says that He is always with me, but it certainly doesn’t feel like He is with me right now. In fact it certainly feels like I’ve been forsaken and forgotten.” You have to know that that is how the Israelites felt at this point. They’ve been scattered from their homeland, their Promised Land. They’ve become the neighborhood laughing stock and everyone is talking and evil gossiping about them. They certainly don’t feel like Yahweh is with them let alone for them.
But He is. They are His people; He adores them, no matter how many stupid things they do. But more importantly than that, He is Yahweh, a God of His Word. He is the one that says “I have spoken and I will do it”. (Ezekiel 37:14)
Do you feel like you’ve been abandoned by God? Have you stood up for Him and are now getting persecuted for it? Are people saying things about you or your ministry that just simply aren’t true, but they sound good to itchy ears? Guess what. He is Yahweh. He has PROMISED never to leave you or forsake you, no matter how many stupid things you do. He is Yahweh, God of His Word. He has spoken and will do what He speaks, because He is Yahweh. He IS with YOU, He has not forsaken you, so fear not. While things may feel “fallen apart” at the moment, they aren’t. He sees what they’ve done to you. He has heard what they are saying about you. And He WILL defend you. He is for you and not against you. Fear not dear one, Yahweh LOVES YOU. And the time WILL come when everyone will see the favor of God Almighty resting on your shoulders like a laurel wreath of victory. Until then, hang tight, stand tall and firm in your faith that His word is Truth.
“If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” (Isaiah 7:9)
“I will feed them in justice” Ezekiel 34:16
He is a just God. He requires full payment for sin. As humans, when someone commits murder we scream for justice, that the killer be tried for his crimes and punished appropriately. The Bible’s form of justice is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life. According to the Bible, when someone commits murder, they too should pay the penalty and die for their crime.
Jesus paid it all. When a man walks out of a prison he has paid his sentence. Jesus walked back out of the prison of DEATH! The price has been paid in full to a just God.
He is just and justifier!
Jesus is the manna from heaven, food for the hungry and weak. He makes us lie down in green pastures, “good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.” Ezekiel 34:14
Our just God is the eternal mountain. Jesus, our justifier, is the rich pasture land on which we feast daily.
WE ARE FORGIVEN. PERIOD.
God and I thought it might be fun to send you on a little bit of a Word Search today. J I am praying that it speaks to you the way it spoke to me!
Enjoy!
2. John 1:1-5
6. John 14:30
7. John 16:33
9. Genesis 1:2
10. Ezekiel 31:4-9
11. Ephesians 5:26
12. Ezekiel 28:25
13. John 7:37-39
14. John 19:30
15. Acts 1:3-5
16. Acts 2:1-4
What did God speak to you through these verses? What Truth did you discover on our scavenger hunt through His Word? Write it down, treasure it in your heart, share it if He says it’s OK. I would LOVE to hear what mystery He revealed to you!
He also asked that I share this revelation with you:
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So, I’ve been trying to write something else for today’s post, but I can feel the Holy Spirit telling me that it’s just not the right thing. So, because He’s telling me IT’S the right thing to share with you today I’m going to share with you an excerpt from True Intimacy. 
It is, by far, one of my all time favorite pieces. It is liberating in it’s Truth and every woman should read it (in my humble opinion). I REALLY needed to hear this message and am constantly in need of being reminded of it. Maybe that’s why He’s having me share it with you today. J
You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the ruby, the topaz and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx and the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; and the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you, on the day that you were created they were prepared. Ezekiel 28:13
O
ne morning God gave me the following vision of a jewelry store. As I walked into the store the first thing I saw out on display was some costume jewelry. Out. Where anyone could look at it, touch it, or take it if, and whenever they wanted. This jewelry was not special, it was not expensive and it was definitely not something you would hand down to your children. This jewelry was not valuable. It would be pretty at first, nice to look at, but it would tarnish quickly, and could easily be replaced or thrown away.
As I continued into the store I came to some nicer jewelry. This kind of jewelry took up the majority of the store. It was still on display where anyone could see it, however, it was locked in a glass case where you had to ask permission from the jeweler to open the case and take the jewelry out before you could touch it. This jewelry was nicer and more expensive than the costume jewelry, however, pretty much anyone who walked into the store could ask to touch it and be granted permission. ANYONE could come and look. And stealing it would take a minimal amount of effort.
Finally I came to the priceless jewels; 4+ carat diamonds, huge and rare rubies and sapphires, and heirloom collector’s items. These were NOT on display. These priceless jewels were hidden, locked up in a safe with a combination that only the “high up” jewelers knew and only the special customers, that had enough money and intent, could see them let alone touch or buy them; and forget about stealing them, it would’ve been next to impossible. These items were SO special that they were NEVER advertised, they were never on display, they were a secret, because they were so precious.
Ladies, WE are that jewelry; our bodies. The way that we see ourselves and treat ourselves are the different levels of jewelry and display. How do you view yourself? Do you see yourself as the costume jewelry, cheap and disposable? Nice to look at but after a little while the niceness rubs off. Or, do you see yourself as the nicer jewelry? More expensive, the men have to ask permission to touch, but anyone can still look, because hey, you’re nice to look at? Or are you the priceless jewelry? Locked, hidden in a safe for the one and ONLY person who’s shown enough interest to have you and the ability to take good care of you. *Sniff* As I was just typing that, God said to me “I see them as the priceless jewelry, even if that’s not how they see themselves.” *Sniff* You. Are. So. Beautiful to Him! You are priceless, covered in priceless jewels set with gold! YOU! He is talking to YOU! YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! Start believing it for goodness sake!
For the longest time, as far back as I can remember anyway, I saw myself as the jewelry on display, not the costume jewelry, but not the priceless jewelry either. I’ve always been petite and for the most part relatively skinny and not too bad to look at if I say so myself. When my breasts started developing I, of course, wanted to show them off to the boys. I wore revealing clothing, not too revealing my parents wouldn’t let me, but once I was out of the house… well that was a different story. I was trying to attract the boys’ attention with my body, because honestly, I didn’t know any better way. I enjoyed their looks, they made me feel good and worth looking at. When I got married my necklines somehow dropped even lower than they were before! And even if the necklines weren’t low, they were loose so if I bent over to care for one of my children I was showing the goods off to anyone with eyes! Oh how God has opened my eyes to the folly of my ways. My body belongs to my husband and my husband alone! My breasts are for HIS eyes only. Before, when they were on “display” for everyone to see – not all of them mind you, but the cleavage and fleshy parts- they weren’t specifically for Christian’s eyes only. However, since God has led me to change my dressing habits and to cover things up more, my breasts are for my husband alone. Making them more special and “entertaining” for him. Think about it, when you know that your husband ONLY has eyes for you, how does that make you feel – pretty special and important right? Now put the shoe on the other foot, when your husband knows that your body is ONLY for his eyes and enjoyment, how do you think that would make him feel?
Do you know what the verse before our opening verse says? …You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. WOW! In the Garden of Eden, they were naked. And this verse is telling us that while in the garden and still naked they were PERFECT in beauty. The next verse tells us that not only were they perfect in beauty; every precious stone covered their bodies. In our natural state, naked, our bodies are perfect. Period.
God created you just the way that you are. I think Dawn McConnell said it best in “God’s Plan for Married Sex” when she said, “He chose your legs, your thighs, your dress size, eye color, hair type. You didn’t make you, God did.” We should be comfortable in what we look like and who we are as God created us, women. Have you noticed that subdivisions these days don’t have straight roads anymore? Do you know why that is? Curves are more pleasing to the eye than straight lines. One of the main characteristics of the woman’s body – is curves!
OK, I have a challenge for you today. It is something that you will probably read this and say “No way am I doing that!” But, that’s why I’m challenging you. I’m double dog daring you to do this! Write Psalm 139:14 down on a note card. Take it into your bathroom and stand in front of your mirror, full length if you’ve got one. Then start at the top of your head with your hair, and work your way down to your toes. Study your body and as you study it say to God “I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.” Then, I triple dog dare you to do the exact same thing naked! The effect is amazing, believe me! Through God’s amazing love and this exercise, I am in love with my body just the way that it is. I love the silver in my hair, because it’s proof of how I’m getting to grow older with my husband, who is already blissfully bald. I love the lines on my face, because they’re proof of years full of laughter and smiles. I love the way that my breasts sag, because it’s proof of all the time that I spent holding and nursing my infants, watching them grow and bonding with them. And I love the fact that my husband still loves my breasts and is still obsessed with them, I’m sure you can relate! I love the “pooch” of my belly and the gigantic scar under it, because they’re my Mommy badge of honor! I was blessed beyond measure to carry not one, but TWO babies in that belly, and some women never get to do that. My hands, oh my hands! The things that they’ve done! Both good and bad, but either way, it’s been my hands that have done it all from comforting my children to writing this book, to pleasing my husband. I love my legs and feet, and the fact that they have taken me everywhere I have ever gone. My body is amazing and full of “proofs” of a life filled with happiness, hard times and mistakes that I’ve survived and God has turned into “glittering rainbows”.
John Burroughs said: “How beautifully the leaves grow old. How full of light and color their last days.” Just like the leaves that God paints in the fall of their lives, we grow old beautifully (no matter what those pesky commercials tell us). Our lives can be full of light and color, but we have to allow “THE light” to shine through us like the opals, the jewels, the finished masterpieces that we really are.
Christian’s comments:
Y
up, God only made so many perfect heads, the rest he covered with hair. I was in college when I first started losing my hair. I would wear a hat all the time and try to hide it. When my forehead started getting further back, I started cutting my hair shorter and shorter. Then, on my thirtieth birthday, I shaved it with a razor for the first time. Tamar really liked it, and I never went back. I have embraced my baldness (my flaw) and it is now a part of me.
How many of you husbands were like me? In jr. high and high school, how many of you chased after the costume jewelry? Go ahead, raise your hands. No one is looking. When my hormones were raging, I went after a LOT of girls that fit into the costume jewelry category. Most of them would have “the goods” on display for anyone to see. I would chase after them because I was only after one thing and they seemed to be the easiest way to get it.
Luckily, God had other plans for me. Most of the girls wouldn’t even go out with me. I wasn’t enough of a “sure thing”. Whenever one would go out with me, we could never seem to hook up, no matter how hard I tried.
As I grew older, I started dating girls that fit in the nice jewelry category. And, surprise surprise, the relationships lasted longer and were more enjoyable. There was less pressure. I didn’t have to worry about the girls dumping me for more of a “sure thing”.
At last, halfway through my senior year, I found my priceless jewelry. My Tamar. Husbands don’t become distracted by the costume jewelry that you see day to day. Don’t even give it a second glance. Instead, concentrate on the priceless jewelry you already have.
On a side note: Husbands and wives please pay attention to what your daughters are wearing out in public. Seems like everywhere I go I see young girls wearing skimpy tank tops and short shorts. They are barely wearing more than bathing suits. And don’t get me started on those! Please teach them some modesty. They don’t seem to understand the attention they are getting from wearing the skimpy clothes is not the attention they want. They aren’t just attracting the attention of the boys their age, but from dangerous people that really want to do them harm. Please help your daughters to not become pieces of costume jewelry. Please teach them to respect themselves. Help them to see that they are priceless jewels.
“They have made no distinction between the holy and the common,” Ezekiel 22:26
I love the way that the translation of this verse defines holy. According to this verse, and many others, for something to be holy then it is uncommon. Now, that’s not to say that things that are holy are not plentiful. Oil is plentiful, but anointing oil is holy because it has been set aside for a special purpose.
While I have many tools in my kitchen that have the ability to peel and mince garlic, I only have one garlic press. And that garlic press was made for that one specific purpose of peeling and mincing garlic. It wasn’t created to do anything else. It doesn’t slice tomatoes, it doesn’t peel apples, it just minces garlic. Period. On the other hand, if I were so inclined I could use my garlic press to mash potatoes, very slowly. Or I could use it to squeeze juice from grapes, if I realllly wanted to. And it would do a fine job at both of those things, but those jobs aren’t what the garlic press was made to do. It was made to mince garlic.
That is the definition of holy. While the holy thing may be able to perform several tasks, it was created for one or maybe two specific tasks. And while other things may be able to do what it does, not all of them were created to perform that specific function.
There is a distinction that has been made between my garlic press and my other kitchen tools. There’s a distinction because there’s a difference between them. My garlic press may be able to perform the tasks of other tools but not as well. Likewise, the other tools may be able to press garlic but not as well as my garlic press.
My point is this; YOU were made to perform a specific function. You have been proclaimed holy to the LORD. He has set you aside to perform a certain task because He CREATED YOU to be able to do that task better than anyone else around. There is only ONE you. And while others may be able to do what you were created to do, NO ONE can do it as well as you can. And while you can perform the steps required to do what someone else was meant to do, you can’t do it as well as they can.
You were created for a purpose. God doesn’t make mistakes, He makes miracles. He doesn’t have accidents, so you can’t be one. He is GOD, your creator. And no matter what the commercials, or other people, or even the mirror says, you have been fearfully and wonderfully made for a reason. And the reason for which you were created, the task you were created to perform, you will be able to perform it PERFECTLY according to HIS plan. Even if you don’t think you’re doing the job you were created to do, you are.
Judas was created for a purpose. No, it wasn’t a pretty purpose, but look at the benefit WE all reaped from his actions! Joseph’s brothers were created for a purpose. While their jealousy was murderous and vile, it served a purpose in the grand scheme of things. What they planned for evil, God planned for good. (Genesis 50:15-21) Their jealousy led Joseph to Egypt, saving an entire nation filled with lives. It also led to the Hebrew nation moving to Egypt where they were enslaved and subsequently delivered in the most miraculous way possible. Imagine that. If Joseph’s brothers hadn’t sold him to the Ishmaelites the Red Sea might never had been parted. And honestly, what a loss that would have been for all of us.
Sure. We’ve all made mistakes in life, done horrible things that have hurt people dreadfully. Does that mean that it is then impossible for us to fulfill our calling in life? Well, here’s a thought, what if that IS our calling in life? We’re so quick to judge the actions of Judas, yet where would WE be if he hadn’t given Jesus that kiss of death? Honestly I shudder at the thought.
Am I saying that we should all go out there and do despicable acts just for the fun of it? NO! OF COURSE NOT! But what I am saying is that just because we have done despicable acts doesn’t make us unforgiveable. In fact, it puts us in the perfect place to receive God’s Grace!
I can’t tell you how many times people have said despicable things to me that have wounded me deeply. Yet looking back, it was those very wounds that created the perfect environment for me to grow and strengthen my faith and relationship with Christ making me who I am today and preparing me for the tasks ahead. My heart may be covered in scars, but those scars are part of who I am. Without them I just wouldn’t be the same person I am today. And while I would have loved to avoid all those injuries to my pride and my humility, if I hadn’t gone through those painful moments I might not be where I need to be right now. And that thought scares me.
Once upon a time I heard Joseph Prince say that you wouldn’t hit a baby for not being able to walk, yet we judge and condemn people for not living the Christian life perfectly. You wouldn’t yell at a boy for not having a mustache yet, but we jump all over people for not doing the Christian things we think they should be doing already.
And the really sad part is, for the longest time I thought that’s what God did too. Because, that’s what His people do. But God doesn’t do that at all.
One day I was talking to God about growing in the faith and the things that Joseph Prince had said and you know what the Holy Spirit told me? He said, “Do you have to work to grow taller?”
“No.”
“Does a tree have to try hard to grow?”
“No.”
“Does a flower have to read a lot of books to grow and bloom?”
“No.”
“Then why do you think you have to try hard and work to grow in faith? You grow because I do all the work for you. I create the proper environment for you to grow, in order for you to become precisely what I made you to be.”
Sometimes we need water or food, other times we need pruned and fertilized. Just because the pruning hurts doesn’t mean it isn’t from God or that it’s not good for us. Just because we got “dumped on” doesn’t mean that it won’t be a great environment for us to grow. God knows what is best for us and even if we don’t understand what He’s doing we can trust that it’s going to be good FOR us and others in the end.
I can guarantee you that the cross didn’t feel good at the time, but just look at the good it’s doing now! Jesus endured one day of pain for an eternity of benefits. Whatever pain that’s going on in your life, He will help you get through it and on the other side you will see that it will have worked out in some way for your good. Trust Him; He knows what He’s doing. Things seemed to work out pretty well for Jesus, so they should work out for you too don’t you think?
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.” Romans 8:28-30
“For You formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance, in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139:13-16
“I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.” Ezekiel 20:37
Today is a day of praise! No matter what is going on in life, cancer, debt, drought, death, we STILL have SO MUCH to praise Him for. Praise Him for the hope that has been offered to us through Christ. Praise Him for the abundant life that has been made possible to you right here and now. You have been given an indestructible life, not even death can kill you! And THAT my friend is worth praising Him. Jesus loves YOU. He died for you and you have been redeemed, that is worth at least a song or two!
Think about Rahab. She risked her life and sheltered the Hebrew spies and that was brave and full of faith. In return they told her,
“Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.” Joshua 2:18-20
My friends, Rahab’s house was IN the wall of Jericho!!! (Joshua2:15) Those spies, when they told her to stay in her house, didn’t know that the wall was going to fall down. Can you imagine what her family went through? The walls crumbled around their heads, yet her house stood strong and tall amid the falling rubble and clouds of dust. They had to have been terrified.
Do you feel like your house is crumbling down around your ears? Is there a ferocious battle raging just outside your door? Fear not Beloved, God is with you and He is for you and He will never abandon you! Praise Him today. He is worthy. He is faithful. He is GOOD. You will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!
Hallelujah Cover with Kari Jobe, Jamie Grace, Dara Maclean, Blanca and Nirva
Beautiful by Kari Jobe -Listen carefully to the lyrics on this one!
Healer by Kari Jobe
I Love You by James Veatch
Redeemed by Big Daddy Weave
Forgiveness by Matthew West
Need You Now (How many times) by Plumb
Carry Me by Josh Wilson
Stronger by Mandisa
Forgiven by Sanctus Real
Yahweh by Desperation Band
Overcomer by Mandisa
“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel 18:29
Oh my friends! If I had a thousand years to type and you had a thousand years to read I don’t know that we still would be able to hash out the things that God is pouring out on me right now! I feel like I’m standing on the edge of an ocean of revelation with the waves lapping at my ankles, just scanning the endless horizon of possibilities and His amazing Grace.
His word each morning has just been so filled with revelation that I’m getting completely overwhelmed with just where to start. It’s all so amazing and wonderful and I want to share ALL of it with you!
I am so excited about the message hidden in chapter 18 that I feel like there was extra caffeine in my coffee this morning! I am literally bouncing off the walls and I can hardly hold still. It is, by far, the best of all messages. It is the Good News of the gospel! And I pray that you listen carefully to it today.
For the longest time I lived my life thinking that I had to keep track of my sins. I thought that every time I sinned God was up on His throne angrily frowning at me. I mean, after all, He is a just God right? I had sinned and according to today’s reading, “The soul who sins shall die”. (Ezekiel 18:20) Thankfully, God has shone His marvelous light on His truth; the truth I was forgetting.
These are OLD covenant terms and conditions, and I’m living in a NEW covenant era!
Do you remember those paint with water coloring books? They were the ones that had the paint already on the page and all you needed was water and a brush and those plain white pages would come to life with a rage of color. It was like magic. Reading the old covenant is like that. It has little dried dots of Jesus’ blood hidden between each of the words, and all it takes is a little Living water and the brush of the Holy Spirit to breathe Truth and Life into those dry bones. And what’s really awesome about that is that when you read today’s reading through the blood of Jesus, the message that comes through IS marvelous!
The house of Israel was saying that, “The way of the Lord is not just”. (Ezekiel 18:25) And honestly that’s what all my sin-tracking was. As long as I was focusing on my sins, my motives, my actions were screaming “the Lord is not just”! The way I was living and treating myself was an old covenant way of life. I believed that I needed to be punished for my sins, because I was the one who had committed them. By believing this and acting in this manner I was denying the entire message of the gospel:
22a“For there is no distinction; 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24AND ARE JUSTIFIED by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. 26It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:22-26
How many times have you heard the verse “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”? Probably hundreds right? Yet while it is an entire verse, it ISN’T an entire sentence! You know, I never knew that until I read it for myself. That’s when the Holy Teacher showed me His Truth. I want you to SEE what I’m talking about here because it is critical. There is such a tremendous, life changing truth in this passage and I don’t want you to miss it.
The sentence starts in the middle of verse 22, “For there is no distinction,”: we are all the same. But then the sentence doesn’t stop there, it pauses for a breath and then continues the thought,
23“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”:
“sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned – for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.” (Romans 5:12-13)
Yes, because we were born of flesh from the line of Adam we are born sinners. We ourselves hadn’t done anything on our own to be counted as sinners, yet we were counted as such nonetheless. We are all sinners. BREATH. It’s a comma not period.
24“and are justified by His grace as a gift,”: AND. It’s a conjunction! “And” is a joining word, it connects the things that come before it to the thoughts that come after it!!! The fact that we all start life as sinners is NOT the end of our story, it’s just the beginning! There is an “and”, a connector, there’s MORE! And the more is MARVELOUS! While we all are sinners, we are also ALL JUSTFIED by His grace as a gift! Satan loves when we stop at the sin verse and leave out the justified verse. He doesn’t want us to know that we ARE JUSTFIED. Because when we know that, well, there’s no stopping us. Just this morning, he has tried every which way to keep me from sharing this message with you because he KNOWS what it will do for you; it will set you free! You have been justified by His grace as a GIFT!
Romans 5:15-21 says, “the free gift [justification] is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
When you give someone a gift at Christmas what is your hope? Do you hope that they will like the gift? Do you hope that they will use and enjoy the gift? Or do you hope that they will hate it and give it away or return it unused? You want them to LOVE the gift don’t you? You want them to love the gift and USE it all the time. That’s when you know that a gift has been received, when the person you gave it to uses it because they love it.
God is just.
He is a just God and when sin abounds He requires punishment for that sin.
God is justifier.
Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more! God loves this world and everything in it so much that He gave His one and only Son (Jesus) on the cross to be punished for OUR sin – all of them. Just as God “passed over the former sins” He has also passed over the sins that were yet to come, ours, all of them. With the first Adam, we ourselves hadn’t done anything on our own to be counted as sinners, yet we were counted as such nonetheless. The same is true with the second Adam, the NEW beginning, the NEW covenant, our NEW creator. We ourselves can’t do anything on our own to be counted as righteous, yet when we choose Jesus and become born again, we are counted as such nonetheless.
Before choosing Jesus, we are sinners. And it doesn’t matter how many good things we do, we are still sinners. After choosing Jesus, we are MADE righteous, and it doesn’t matter how many bad things we do, we’re still righteous. The key, is remembering that
“for our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with Him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” (2Corinthians 5:21-6:1)
Once upon a time I prayed and asked God to help me better understand what was so amazing about Grace, because I just didn’t “get it”. He took me on the adventure of a lifetime! I became extraordinarily legalistic, to the point where I spent the majority of my day asking God to forgive me for one thing or another and it was horrible. I hated myself. I hated that I just couldn’t do everything right. I couldn’t follow His Law to the letter no matter how hard I tried. I kept telling myself, “I have the Spirit of Jesus living inside me I should be able to live like Jesus!” But the harder I tried the more I failed. I was miserable. There is a reason the Disciples called it the ministry of death, because it almost killed me.
But then God introduced me to Joseph Prince. He preaches Jesus and Grace alone. For months I would watch his sermons and struggled with what they contained. I wanted to believe that God’s grace is as radical as Joseph was telling me that it is, but it was just too unbelievable! Forgiven for ALL my sins? All of them, even the ones I haven’t committed yet? How can that be? And don’t I have to ask Him for forgiveness for every single one of them, otherwise they’re not forgiven, right? It was just too radical, too much, too good to be true. To believe that all my sins were wiped away the moment I chose Jesus, even the ones I hadn’t committed yet, it was just too much for me to believe that God could be that good; that His grace could cover me that completely – yeah right.
And then a beautiful little pink polka dot kitty walked into my life and I will never be the same again! God used my daughter Anna, whose name means Grace – “coincidentally”, to teach me that His grace really is that radical. His grace really is that good and it really does cover me that completely!
Oh how I wish I could go on and on! The impact that this truth has had on my life, well, it’s made me NEW! J And I pray that it will for you too. May the blessings of God be so heavy upon your heart that you can’t miss hearing them and feeling them with every breath that you take. This is not the end my friend, it is only the beginning! May God’s radical Grace flood your entire being today and every day from this day on! In Jesus’ name!
AMEN!
“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to HIS ways, declares the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel 18:29
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