KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Sunday, August 28, 2016
Chapters: Ezekiel 9-12
Message: The Mark Of Christ
Hello My Friend,
Mark, To stamp; to impress; to make a visible impression, figure or indenture; as, to mark a sheep with a brand. True Christians, those who have received Christ as their Saviour, are marked, branded, they have a stamp of the blood of Christ on them, which distinguishes them from everyone else who says they are a Christian. Being a Christian or Jew has never about obedience, it has always been about fearing God, and through that comes obedience.
“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.” – Romans 8:3-5.
Obedience, To comply with the commands, orders, or instructions of a superior. We all have a superior, and those who think they do not think again, your addictions, habits, jobs, lifestyles are your superior. Who is the Superior of every saved soul? God. When you belong to God, He expects certain things, the most important is your faithfulness. As God continues giving Ezekiel visions of what is going on in Jerusalem while he is in Babylon, he sees something interesting, the glory of God (Spirit) descending out of his throne and a man clothed in linen.
“And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.” – Ezekiel 9:3-6.
“and begin at my sanctuary.” Judgment always starts at the house of God, so all those fake churches, claiming Christ and yet full of lost souls have a huge awakening coming to them. And who will be their judge? Jesus Christ Himself. As Ezekiel watches this cloud of light emerge from it’s throne and up through the house, something else is revealed to him, the creature he saw at the beginning of his visions.
“Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD’S glory. Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims. And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD’S house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims. Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.” – Ezekiel 10:4,18-21.
“and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD’S glory.” Did you ever see the sun shining through a mountain of clouds? It is as though God Himself is coming through, it always gives me hope that no matter where I go God’s light still shines. People who reject Christ, and those who are trusting in their religion to save them will be just like this temple, they will see His Light descend and lose Him forever. How sad is it that thousands of people die each year not knowing or accepting Christ because the were too blind to see Him.
“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” – I John 1:5-8.
Knowing that so many people, even loved ones, are in hell because they never got to even hear the Gospel can be heartbreaking. While we cannot do anything about them, we can do something to help those who are alive right now, we must tell all we know about Christ, even if we are scared and worry that they will reject us, they must know about Him before it is too late. As Ezekiel sees all this taking place, he gets on his knees and starts begging God to tell him if this will be the end of Israel. Ezekiel got a pleasant surprise.
“Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.” – Ezekiel 11:17-21.
“and I will put a new spirit within you;” God is not speaking about the tribes of Israel here, but all the saved souls that will come together, both Jew and Gentile, and dwell with Him as one. The second a person receives Christ, they become born again, meaning, God puts His Spirit in them, and it is that mark that Jesus will look for the millisecond we die to determine whether or not we will be with Him in heaven. Grace by faith we are saved, not of our works, but the works we do after we are saved are what defines us and lets it be known to the world that we are marked by the blood of Christ.
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.” – Titus 3:5-8.
God tells Ezekiel to be ready for the destruction of Babylon, He sends a message to the people to assure them that all these predictions will be accomplished very shortly, and will not be prolonged, no matter how much they convinced themselves that it would be.
“For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD. Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord GOD.” – Ezekiel 12:25-28.
“but the word which I have spoken shall be done,” It is scary to see all the things taking place in the world today, people are being killed left and right by everything from storms to crazy people. As Christians all we can do is wonder if Jesus will be coming any day now, but He will not until the very last soul to receive Him is saved. All we can do is be ready ourselves, that includes being the example that Jesus needs us to be to show the world the need for Him, and to warn those being deceived of the coming judgment. We do not know when Jesus will return so it’s best that we who are saved eat our bread with quaking and drink our water with trembling and carefulness also.
“Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” – Revelation 3:2,3.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.” – Ezekiel 9:11.
Today’s Prayer: God, Any day, any hour, and second even, You could decide that You have prolonged things enough, and You are done here. Any second we could hear the trumpets sounding off that Jesus is returning, and all who are His will be raptured out of this place to safety while we await our new dwelling place in His Kingdom. Lord, lead us and guide us, prepare us, and make us ready for that day, let us not get deceived by the world or be ashamed to tell the truth to them. Put Your hedge of protection around us as things get worse, and let us be the examples You need us to be to bring others to Your Son before He returns. In Jesus’ name, aAmen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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