God’s Measure for Success – Ezekiel 3:17-21

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God's Measure for Success - Ezekiel 3:17-21

“Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately. If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths. If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me. If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. But if you warn righteous people not to sin and they listen to you and do not sin, they will live, and you will have saved yourself, too” (Ezekiel 3:17-21, NLT).

God commissioned Ezekiel to conduct a twofold prophetic ministry–warn the wicked to repent and warn the righteous not to sin. Ezekiel was called to be both an evangelist and a pastor.

God told Ezekiel that he was appointed to be a “watchman for Israel.” The watchman was a lookout for the community and was responsible for providing advance warning of approaching enemies so that the people could take refuge in time.

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In Training for Eternity – Hebrews 12:1-2

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“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”

The Hebrews writer uses the metaphor of running a race to describe the life of faith.

Referring to the many examples of faith the writer identified in the previous chapter, he now advances the discussion to the matter of faithfulness–faith that endures.

Runners wear light clothing because any extra weight hinders them when they compete. Sin can “weigh” a person down who is running the race of life. But the Hebrews writer tells us how to shed the weight of sin from our life of faith: stay focused on Jesus.

Jesus is like a racing champion because He has already lived, died, and been resurrected. He sets the pace for the race we are running.

When we do, He sends us a personal trainer for our faith, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit trains us by perfecting our faith so that we will finish the race.

This life is a training ground for eternity. When you keep your focus on Jesus, then God can train and discipline you in a way that strengthens your endurance and makes you more like Him.

“But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way” (Hebrews 12:10-11, NLT).

Faith-Confidently Looking Forward – Hebrews 11:8-10

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“Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.”Hebrews 11:8-10

In Hebrews 11, the “faith” chapter, the Hebrews writer defines faith and provides several biblical examples.

One outstanding example of faith the Hebrews writer describes is Abraham. The Hebrews writer reminds us how Abraham left his native land in obedience to God’s calling and went to Canaan where the nation of Israel was ultimately settled.

While Abraham traveled the full extent of the “promised” land, he never settled in one of the Canaanite cities but lived as a nomadic herdsman. Abraham’s son, Isaac, and grandson, Jacob, both lived the same way.

Since Abraham was promised the land of Canaan by God but never possessed it, the Hebrew writer says Isaac and Jacob inherited the promise of the land (vs. 9). Of course, we know that Abraham’s descendants never actually possessed the land of Canaan until after being a slave nation of Egypt for hundreds of years.

So what do we learn about faith from Abraham’s example? Faith is a confidence based on: (1) hope–confidence in a promise that has a future fulfillment, and (2) obedience–confident action in response to what God has made known.

Faith gives life purpose and meaning because faith allows us to live our lives confidently looking forward to what God has promised us in Christ regardless of present circumstances or events.

Two Secrets for a Happy Life – Philippians 4:6,12-13

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happinessIn the book of Philippians the Apostle Paul shares several secrets for a happy and fulfilling Christian life. Two such secrets for happiness are found in Chapter 4.

The first secret for a happy life is to overcome worry: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything” (vs. 6). The way to stop worrying is to start praying. Instead of worrying about it, pray about it.

And if you pray about everything, then there’s not anything left to worry about! Worry can’t reside where prayer abides!

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How To Know You Are Saved – Ephesians 1:13-14

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“And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.” It is the dispensing of the Spirit to believers that is the mark of incorporation into the redeemed community of God. This promise of the Father, the gift of the Holy Spirit, is the distinguishing feature of your salvation (see Luke 24:24, John 14:16, Acts 2:33). It is what identifies you as belonging to Christ–a Christian. The Spirit is your spiritual ID and membership card. The indwelling Holy Spirit makes the creative and redemptive work of God personal to us as God’s people both individually and collectively. The indwelling Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us the eternal life He promised us through the sacrifice of His Son. Our understanding and experience of God, however, often centers on God as Father and God as Son and not so much on God as Holy Spirit. But God is best known from a trinitarian perspective—God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The role of the Holy Spirit in identifying us with Christ as God’s sons and daughters and bringing the presence of God into our lives is often not as well understood or experienced by Christians as is the creative work of the Father or the redemptive work of the Son. Yet, it is the active presence of the Holy Spirit in your life that affirms you are saved! Your eternal life begins when God gives you the Holy Spirit. “And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).

A Kingdom of Priests – Exodus 19:5-6

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“Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.” Two months after the Isrealites left Egypt they arrived at Mt. Sinai. Moses climbed the mountain and received special instructions from the Lord to prepare the people of Israel to make a covenant with God. The covenant at Sinai called Israel to absolute loyalty to Him as their God and to a lifestyle that reflected His nature and His will through obedience to His law. While the Sinai covenant was good, it was incapable of enabling the Israelites to follow its commands. It is not until God graciously bestowed His Spirit that human beings were able to obey God’s commands. By the sacrifice of Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit, God now makes it possible for us to be empowered by His Spirit to obey and fulfill His covenant plans for us to be His holy nation–like a kingdom where everyone is a priest. When you have His Spirit dwelling in you, then God has made you one of His special treasures and you can have a personal, priestly relationship with Him.

In the Good Ole Days of the Church – Acts 4:24,31

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“When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God…After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.” Peter and John were taken into custody by the Temple guard and thrown into jail for healing a man at the Temple. Then they were taken to a hearing before the council of elders, which included the high priest and the priestly family. Peter and John testified before the council how and why the man was healed. Predictably, the council didn’t like their explanation and ordered them to quit teaching and preaching (and healing) in the name of Jesus. Peter and John’s response to the council’s order was predictable as well: “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard” (vs. 19-20). Peter and John were released by the council and went back to the other believers to report what had happened. The believers reacted to this persecution from the Jewish religious leaders by praying for God’s empowerment to help them accomplish His plans and purposes according to His Word in the Scriptures: “You spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying, Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah. In fact, this has happened here in this very city….And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (vs. 25-27, 29-30 quoting Psalm 2:1-2). In today’s church we would address persecution by devising a program or ministry. But the apostolic church didn’t form a persecution support group or organize a persecution outreach ministry. Back in those days they just prayed for God’s help. They prayed for God to help them confront the threat of persecution by empowering them to keep on preaching and healing in the name of Jesus. They prayed vehemently and with unity and they kept on praying until God answered them. They prayed until they were filled with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit and, thus, enabled to preach the gospel with boldness and miraculous signs. Oh, how I long for the good ole days of the church!

Doing What God is Doing – Genesis 41:16

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“It is beyond my power to do this, Joseph replied. But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.” Pharaoh had two dreams and no one could interpret them for him. Pharaoh’s cupbearer remembered about Joseph interpreting his dream when they were in prison together and told Pharaoh. Pharaoh had Joseph brought to him and asked if he could interpret his dreams. Joseph recognized that God had given Pharaoh the dreams for a purpose. Therefore, God could tell what Pharaoh’s dreams meant and Joseph was confident that God would do so to accomplish His will. Joseph was so filled with the Spirit and wisdom of God that it was apparent to Pharaoh and his officials: “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?” (vs. 38). Because Joseph was full of God’s Spirit, he recognized that God was at work and he joined with God in what he was doing. We each have God’s Spirit in us and like Joseph, by the unction of the Spirit, we should be able to recognize what God is doing within and around our lives and we should join with Him by exercising the gifts and talents He has given to each of us. “So Jesus explained, I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does” (John 5:19).

A Prelude to Future Glory – Psalm 16:8-11

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“I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” These verses are referenced by Peter in his sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:25-28) and Paul in a sermon in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13:35). In both cases the apostles were applying the reference to the resurrection of Jesus. We can anticipate living in the presence and pleasures of God forever because the resurrected Messiah gives us hope and assurance for our own resurrection: “Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back” (I Corinthians 15:22-23). It’s interesting that Peter quotes these verses on the day of Pentecost when the powerful presence of God was experienced by the disciples when the Holy Spirit came upon them. The presence of God in our lives by the Holy Spirit links our present life with resurrection and future life: “And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us” (Romans 8:23). The indwelling Holy Spirit, the presence of God with us, is but a prelude to a future glorious life where we live fully in God’s presence in resurrection bodies and we will enjoy the pleasures of living with God forever!

The Coming Kingdom – Matthew 15:30-31

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“A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all. The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again!” Jesus returned to a predominantly Gentile area and performed many miracles. Though Jesus was sent primarily for Israel’s sake, His coming inaugurated the Kingdom of God and also the beginning of Gentile salvation. These healings were evidence that the Kingdom of God had broken into history through Jesus’ ministry and that it was available and accessible to everyone. The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom that has come and is coming. Jesus came to this world not only to die for our sins, but also to teach us how to live in this present and future Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is a spiritual nation that is active in this world now to prepare its citizens for a heavenly Kingdom that is to come. As a citizen of God’s Kingdom, what you do today and everyday in this world, in this present life, in this Kingdom that has come, is preparation for eternal life in God’s Coming Kingdom.