Ezekiel 36: 22 “Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, on which you brought shame while you were scattered among the nations. 23 I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign LORD, then the nations will know that I am the LORD. 24 For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land. 25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. 28 “And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will cleanse you of your filthy behavior. I will give you good crops of grain, and I will send no more famines on the land. 30 I will give you great harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines. 31 Then you will remember your past sins and despise yourselves for all the detestable things you did. 32 But remember, says the Sovereign LORD, I am not doing this because you deserve it. O my people of Israel, you should be utterly ashamed of all you have done!
God restores us.. not because we deserve it.. but because of His great name being attached to us... He loves us.. not because we are good or have done anything worthy of the love He gives us.. just because of His own greatness...
I was thinking about the actions of another person yesterday.. and I was distraught.. thinking.. how can they hurt others like this yet consider themselves in relationship with Christ? yet I remember a time not that long ago that I was very much like that too.... God has changed me.. He has cleansed me of much of my filthy behavior.. yet even more remains.. as much as I try to look instead at how much I have changed.. still I am not worthy.. still I am a sinner saved by the grace of God loving me.. still I have a far way to go be be where God is taking me...
don't imagine this is condemnation... I am not at all saying that I feel as if God hates me or thinks I am hideous... actually it is exactly the opposite.. God loves me in spite of who I still am... He is still working on me and changing me... He has put His spirit in me.. my stony and hardened heart is gone..
the real point is.. when I look at someone else.. do I look at what they are doing right? or what they are doing wrong? and do I want to be judged the way that I am possibly judging them? surely I don't.. I still have a long way to go... my mouth alone could be harmful enough to send an unstable christian back to the old ways.. I need to be more cautious of the things I say.. even if I do think them.. that is not cause to say them.. someone said to me recently that every conversation is a "ministry moment" and that really opened my eyes.. we are not just talking to people.. we are ministering to them.. are we ministering life or death? are we judging someone else for the speck in their eye while we have a board in our own?
Father continue to change me... take over my mouth.. let me cease to speaking accusingly of anyone... anyone at all.. let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you... change me O Lord.. make me in your own image... thank you for hearing my prayer.. in Jesus name... amen.amen.amen.
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