Clear messages
It’s windy and rainy here on the prairie and I am trying to get a soup started for the crock pot and get ready so just a quick thought and then I must hurry scurry…
The passage for our morning bite of Ezekiel today was from Chapter 2 verses 1 through 7.
In a nutshell, God is telling Ezekiel the clear cut direction He is giving.
Wow.
Don’t we all ask for that on a regular basis?
“Lord, just tell me what you want me to do. Skywrite it for me. Make it so clear I can’t miss it.”
I am giving you my version of the mission Ezekiel was given.
Go to My people and deliver the words of My message that I am going to speak through you. I will give you exactly what you need to say and you just say it. Oh, and by the way. The people I am sending you to, they are rebellious and stubborn and have turned their backs on Me. They are rude and inconsiderate and blind as bats. I am basically sending you into the least receptive and welcoming audience on planet earth. But don’t worry. Don’t let it get you down. They probably won’t listen to you and they will most likely make fun of you. But if and when that happens, you have not failed. The success of your mission is not based on their response, but on your obedience.
So let that sink in to your soul today.
Still want God to tell you exactly what He wants you to do?
Even if?
Each of us has an area of influence today.
It may expand to social media and an unknown audience or it may be a set of preschoolers fighting over a toy.
We may be in a board room or ringing up a sale for a customer.
The words God gives us may be for the strangers we rub elbows with in an airport or the lives we fear for around our dining room table.
If you are a believer in the salvation of Jesus Christ through His death and resurrection, you have been given a commission.
And as believers and followers of a Risen Savior, we are to go and share the Gospel from the streets of our own neighborhoods to the ends of the earth.
The success of the mission will not rest on the response of others but on our obedience.
Are you all in?
Father, I read your word to Ezekiel and I am thrilled by the grand story of Your plan of salvation. I cheer for Ezekiel and I admire his strength and courage to obey you. And then I turn to the reality of the world I live in and I shrink back because everything in me wants to be liked and accepted. I run from conflict and I take personally every hint of rejection. Renew my heart and spirit to be bold. Teach me to share the truth in love and not fear. Give me Kingdom eyes to see that You stand in my place and I am simply Your ambassador. Help me to love Your approval more than that of any group of people. I know that when I am speaking Your words, only sin and pride will be offended. Your words are always attended with extravagant measures of grace and mercy and love. If I bring my words under the authority of Your Word, true hearts who long to draw closer to You will respond with repentance that leads to salvation. Help me to trust Your heart more than my own.
I ask in Jesus’ Name <3