Friday, April 16, 2010

Ezekiel 5

5 comments:

Jude said...

v14-15 "I will make you ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, int he sight of all who pass by. You will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and an object of horrorto the nations around you when I inflict punishmenton you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke. I the Lord have spoken. "

I tend to dwell on the mercies of the Lord, on His great love and forgiveness and righteousness but today I am choosing to hear his anger, his wrath. it scares the pants off me, shocks me, horrifies me...but it is good to remember that we are not playing a game and that it matters to God because sin destroys lives and that is NOT in God's plan for any of our lives.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harms you, plans to give you hope and a future. " Jer 29:11

Unknown said...

God is angry. He is disciplining and He is ANGRY. The wrath of a Father who won't put up with no guff is a frightening but at the same time it really shakes a child and makes them evaluate, is this really how I want to go on? Do I want to allow my sin to alienate me from my family and all that is good? Sobering and eye opening. It makes my own recent moments in the woodhouse seem very gentle even though they left me feeling very raw and emotional and stripped bare in their own way. But oh how thankful to experience that gentler discipline that speaks hard truths, that hurt precisely because they are true, but not to have experienced this kind of wrath!

It makes my heart just ache for the reality of where a stubborn spirit can lead us. What did I read about stubborn lately? Oh , yes, here it is;

Stubborness: "One who is often reproved, yet remains stubborn, will suddely be broken beyond healing" says the writer of Proverbs. Stubborness is the pride that causes us to shun correction. It renders us unable to stop defending ourselves. When someone points out an error or flaw, we evade or deny or blame someone else. (This is difficult to penetrate. Defensive people rarely thank us for pointing out their defensiveness)."

John Ortberg, Appropriate Smallness.

Oh, what a challenge God has set before me of late!

Unknown said...

>>and that it matters to God because sin destroys lives and that is NOT in God's plan for any of our lives. <<

YES. This has been a resounding message for me this past year. God doesn't want us to obey just for the sake of obedience. He wants us to obey for OUR OWN GOOD. So simple, but so important. I can get so caught up in the rules that I forget about the REASONS. That God wants us to obey because He wants us to experience the joy and freedom of a life that dies to sin. NOt becaus He just wants to rail on about how sinful we are. But because He wants better for us.

Denise said...

"Have you ever seen someone try to discipline a child by saying, "If you do that one more time..."? If the parent doesn't follow through, the child learns not to listen. Empty threats backfire. God was going to punish the Israelites for thier blatant sins, and he wanted them to know that he would do what he said. The people learned the hard way that God always follows through on his word. Too many people ignore God's warning, treating them as empty threats. Don't make the mistake of thinking God doesn't really mean what he says."

Mac an Rothaich said...

The parental comparison is so true. My man and I have a rule that we have to have a list of options for punishment before we start to warn or count to three or such things. It is a security too if you think about it! If you are going down the destructive path he is gonna step in and deal with you thus aid you no matter how easy it would be to just let it go. So many of us parents find it very very difficult so I see this role of Gods no small example of his love and devotion to us!