Tuesday, July 10, 2018

He Will Cleanse You

Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

Ezekiel 36:25

The love of God is made evident in today’s passage taken from the prophetic book of Ezekiel… This verse comes at a time in point where the Israelites have been scattered throughout the country and word has been seen through the lips of Ezekiel to inform them that their restoration back to their own respective land and to God has been assured… Throughout the ups and downs that you experience in this life, through all the twist and turns that you endure, remember that you will be restored and reclaimed in and through the exaltation of the Lord… We don’t’ know how to handle success and the Lord knows that often times we become defiant and disobedient when we experience a small measure of it… This is and was the case with the children of God; they had become disobedient to His commands after dwelling in their Promise Land; despite the corrective measures that God had to use, He informs them that they will return to prominence… There are things that are taking place in your life not to harm or to defile you, but actually to take you back to your place of prominence in the Lord…God desires to exalt you so that you can exalt Him… The message for today is that God has a plan, He has a purpose and there is a method to the madness… You may not understand everything at the present time and there are some things which simply are not meant for you to understand; however, the reality is that in abiding in His will you will be victorious… The things written of in this chapter speak to the actions that the Lord Himself will take in dealing with His people… This is why He says in the 24th verse of this chapter, For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.” God has the ability to reach you wherever you are… No matter how far you have fallen, no matter how many mistakes you have made or even the depth or severity of your actions, we are reminded through the prophet Ezekiel that we are never out of the masters reach… This passage is written to the House of Israel at a time of bondage and despair… The warning was that disaster would come; captivity was immanent, but God wanted them to know that there was light at the end of the tunnel… The House of Israel would be renewed… 

Likewise today, know that even in your current situation, even in your current circumstance, even in your current hardship, you house will be renewed… God will “sprinkle clean water upon you…” Water represents life in the Bible; God will give you a clean slate, a new life, a new direction, a new path and a new vision… He will wipe the pain and tears of yesterday from you eyes and clothe you in his goodness and mercy… We must remember this fact today, the fact is that we enter this world as sinners and if we are not cleansed by the “clean water” of God we will leave the same way… Ezekiel reminds us today that without God we are filthy rags that will never be clean… In order to be cleansed the first step one must take is to know that you are in fact dirty… We must come to the realization that we all have fallen short of the glory of God, we all have made mistake and we all have been guilty of sin… God cannot cleanse us until we realize that we are in need of cleansing… Ezekiel tells us that we will be cleansed from all filthiness, and idols… Whatever is in your life that has defiled you as a person, whatever is in your life that has taken your focus and attention off God shall be removed… We can become filthy by giving in to peer pressure; we can become filthy by hanging out with the wrong kind of people… Idols are gods, statues or icons that we worship; there are many things in our lives that can become “gods” in our lives and rob us of walking according to the only true and wise God’s calling… Some of the idols that we face come in the form of relationships, fame, and fortune or even work… We strive to be so much that we allow whatever we want to be to overshadow the will and authority of our Lord and Savior… Ezekiel’s call today is for us to understand the errors of our ways, accept the mistakes we have made and turn to God to be cleansed…The word says, “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you…” Placing the emphasis on the “then” tells me that two things have to happen… The first is that we must come to recognize who God is and what it is that we need to do in order to develop a (n) intimate relationship with Him… The second thing is that we must embrace the consequences of our actions knowing that “God disciplines those He loves…” Stop allowing your current situations to destroy your relationship with God and stop acting as if you are perfect… We must go through and achieve these two important pieces if we want to truly be cleansed… 

There are steps in this cleansing process, there is a clear define direction that we must take in order to receive this clean water… God desires to cleanse you, He desires to give you a new lease on life, He desires to right the ship that you are on and plant your feet on solid ground…. It was up to the people of Israel to turn to the Lord, the choice is yours today to turn your life over to the Lord… This clean water cast all your cares away, this clean water gives you the ability to smile in the face of adversity, this clean water makes it possible to laugh during the rain, this clean water removes all doubt and gives you the chance to be called heirs to the promise of God… God says through Ezekiel “will I cleanse you…” It doesn’t matter how far you have fallen, it doesn’t matter how many mistakes you have made, it doesn’t matter how many bad choices you have made, it doesn’t matter how many temptations you have given in too, it doesn’t matter what your current standing is… God says that if you realize the filth that has cluttered your life, if you realize the idols that have eased God out, if you realize that you are headed down the wrong path you can still be cleansed and made whole… The Israelites were in bondage and suffering, yet God says I can still cleanse you… You may be in bondage right now, you may be suffering right now, you may be hurting right now, but there is still hope for you, there is still a future for you… Turn your life over to God and allow Him to pour out His spirit (clean water) upon you that will give you a new sense of direction, a new purpose and a new outlook that will help you reach the heights of prosperity that only God can take you too…

ALL FOR HIS GLORY!

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