November, 2013

A sacrifice is an act of giving up something you value for the sake of something that is more important or valuable. This is like Abraham who was willing to sacrifice his only son Isaac because he wanted to be obedient to God, Gen.22:1-12 or like God sacrificing His only Son Jesus Christ so He could have power over sin and death and be glorified. The prophets also sacrificed a lot. Ezekiel ate cakes baked with cow’s dung while lying on his side for over a year to bear the iniquity of Israel and Judah. (Ezekiel 4).

There are also some other types of sacrifices as follows:-

1) The sacrifice of praise – Heb.13:15, “By Him (Jesus Christ) therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name”. Also Ps.116:17, “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord”.

2) The sacrifice of joy – James 1:2, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptation”. Ps.27:6, “And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord”.

3) The sacrifice of thanksgiving – Ps.100:4, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him and bless His name”.

Anything that we have in our lives that we are unwilling to give up, has great value to us. If they are good things, then by all means hang on to them but if they are bad we must endeavour to get rid of them. Whatever the sin, if we love it enough we will keep it but if we hate it enough we will get rid of it. Having made up our minds to give it up, then it becomes easier to get rid of. After we have given up or gotten rid of a particular sin, it becomes a sacrifice and we get more of God.

It was after the woman in 1Kings 17:12-16 obediently sacrificed her last meal to Elijah, that the miracles started happening in her cupboard. So a sacrifice is when we dare to defy the devil to find joy, praise and thanksgiving to give to God in spite of what our circumstances are saying to us.

Bruce, 12-11-13.

WHILE WE ARE STILL ALIVE, ALL THE PAIN, STRESS AND EMOTIONAL AFFLICTIONS, STILL DOES AFFECT US……………. THOU WE DIE DAILY.

Ezekiel 3:14 states, “So the Spirit lifted me (Ezekiel) up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; BUT THE HAND OF THE LORD WAS STRONG UPON ME”. The Spirit of God physically lifted Ezekiel up and took him to the river Chebar where God’s people were being held captive. Ezekiel sat with them seven days, at the end of which God spoke to him the following:- (1) that He had made him a watchman unto the house of Israel, and (2) that He will speak to him and Ezekiel is to warn the people on His behalf. So whether you are watching over a church, people, a city or a country, you need to speak up about what you have seen or heard that has gone wrong, because that is exactly what God wants. The river Chebar represents both a place of captivity and a place where God will speak to you.

Essentially, God wants us to warn the wicked, to warn sinners, to warn His people (Christians) who have turned from righteousness before we pronounce His destruction or cursings upon them. Please spend some time and read Ezekiel 3:18-21. Verse 18 begins “When I (God) say unto the wicked, Thou shall surely die; and thou (Ezekiel) givest him not warning…..”, and it goes on to say that God will hold us responsible when the man dies in his iniquity and was not warned. If however, the man dies in his iniquity and was warned, God will not hold us accountable (verse 19).

Verses 20-21 of Ezekiel 3 suggest that when a righteous man (Pastor, Priest, Prophet or any person of God ) turns from his righteousness and this is seen by the watchman and he says nothing to warn the person, then the persons righteousness shall not be remembered when he dies and the watchman shall be held accountable. If the person is warned however, then the watchman will not be held accountable at the person’s death.

There are too many church leaders out there who consider themselves beyond reproach or rebuke so they have not and probably will not return to righteousness in spite of repeated warnings. God will ultimately consider them reprobates and in the end say to them depart from me, I know you not.

I will summarize Ezekiel chapter 4 on how God used Ezekiel tremendously as a sign to Israel and Judah, and although it must have been extremely difficult, Ezekiel obediently acceded to his Master.

1. God told Ezekiel to take a tile (large flat stone) and to build a miniature (small) version of the city of Jerusalem. He was then to lay siege against it (attack it). This included building a fort against it, casting a mount against it, camping against it, setting battering rams against it, taking an iron pan and setting it between the miniature Jerusalem and himself. All this was to be done as a sign to the house of Israel (in full view of them). This was like a dress rehearsal.
2. God told Ezekiel to bear the iniquity of Israel and Judah as a sign to them. So he was made to lie on his left side 390 days for the 390 years of iniquity for the house of Israel. He then had to lie 40 days on his right side for the 40 years of iniquity of Judah. Ezekiel had to suffer a day for each year of iniquity of both Israel and Judah.
3. Ezekiel then had to besiege Jerusalem by facing it with his arm uncovered while prophesying against it. For the amount of days during which he lay the siege, he could not move from side to side as God had banded him in one position.
4. During the 390 days that he would lie on his side for Israel’s iniquity, he would eat specific amounts of cake baked with cow’s dung and drink specific amounts of water as a sign of how polluted and scarce the food would be while they were among the Gentiles. All this happened because of disobedience, stubborness, idol worshipping, wickedness, rebelliousness, etc. These are some serious precepts of God.

If we believe that God exists without seeing Him, then why should we continue to restrict Him. We use our wisdom to reason God out, not being able to believe for an instant that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and is also God! There are those who have simplified God by saying Jesus is God full stop because they cannot comprehend the varied awesomeness of God. So what of Rev. 21:22 or St.Mark 13:32?

God has made it possible for us to be promoted to the highest levels in his kingdom but how do we attain this? The answer is that we all have to qualify by doing His will. Most persons are just interested in saving their own souls, but rather than that being the end, giving your life to God should just be the beginning. Jesus Christ laid it out to his disciples in St.John 14:12, when He told them that greater works they would do than He did while on earth and in St.John 20:23, Jesus told them that they could remit (forgive) the sins of persons. In Romans 8:17 the Apostle Paul tells us that if we suffer with Christ we could become joint heirs with Him.

Isaiah 54 speaks of a woman called by God when she was forsaken, refused, grieved in the spirit and who suffered much affliction and was not comforted. Isaiah 54:17 shows the authority and the heritage that God accords His servants. Isaiah 58 shows that if we do the will of God, which includes fasting for the correct things, we are then treated royally by God.

Simeon who God saw as qualified because of the life he lived, could not die until he saw baby Jesus in the temple and bless God for him. Anna the prophetess who served God with fastings and prayers in the temple, was seen fit and proper by God to give thanks to Him for Jesus Christ in the temple. We must be encouraged therefore to strive for the highest position in God, being joint heirs with Jesus Christ.