Ezekiel 18:21-23 (KJV) The Witness’ Motivator

Ezekiel 18:21-23(KJV)
But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

What a hopeful passage. These words offer light to those whose past is filled with sin and darkness. Regardless how badly they have behaved, if they repent, if they turn, none of those transgressions will be mentioned again. 

This is the motivator for the soul winner, the witness, the missionary and the preacher. What if the sinner should repent? They would be as if they had never been so wicked. And the soul winner has evidence that it is so; he is such a one. He was wicked but, by the grace of God, was turned. 

The reason for this promise is plainly stated. God has no pleasure in the judgment of the wicked. His delight would be their salvation. 

On the other hand, there is the one who had done well but now is turned to wickedness. None of their good works will count for them. Their end is evidence that their goodness was never the result of the working of God in them. 

The preacher must not urge such a person to keep pretending righteousness. Rather he must preach to him the same message as to the first. If he turns, if he repents, God will forget his wickedness. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4500 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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Ezekiel 18:21-23 (KJV) The Witness’ Motivator

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Ezekiel 16:15 (KJV) Not Satisfied With God

Ezekiel 16:15 (KJV)
But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

The verses previous speak of the beauty God had given Jerusalem. 

• He had cleansed her
• He had anointed her
• He had clothed her
• He had provided her with His own jewels
• He had made her known

But God said she trusted in her own beauty. She had a plan of her own. She had a taste different than that of the Lord’s. She decked herself with other jewels, clothed herself in other garments and chosen for herself her own friends. 

I am afraid something similar is happening among the believers today. We are not now satisfied with those blessings God has given us:

• Solid preaching 
• A church of baptized believers
• The Great Commission

Etc

We want more. Our tastes have developed so that we require ear tickling teachers, larger assemblies, and lighter expectations. We’ve begun to dress ourselves, and there are those who seem attracted by our garments. But they aren’t the same kinds of Christians. The beauty of the modern church movement attracts false professions. They have, perhaps, larger congregations, but with much less heart for God. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4500 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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My author Page for Kindle/Amazon
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Ezekiel 16:15 (KJV) Not Satisfied With God

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Ezekiel 14:3 (KJV) Nothing But God

Ezekiel 14:3 (KJV)
Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?

Concerning idols, 1 Corinthians 8:4 (KJV) says,
As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol isnothing in the world, and that there isnone other God but one. 

The fact is that an idol is nothing. It is wood, or stone, or gold and silver. 

• It cannot speak. 
• It cannot move. 
• It cannot do anything for its worshippers either good or bad. 

But here is the problem with idols, and the danger that must be avoided at all costs, the idol is actually set up in the heart. The thing is just a stumblingblock to look upon, but idol is in the heart. This is why the idol separates the worshipers from God.[1]It’s a matter of the heart. They have placed this thing before God in their heart. 

This gives us some clue as to when it is appropriate for the Christian to eat the meat referenced in 1 Corinthians. The honest believer has nothing between himself and the Lord. The meat is merely a necessity of the body. On the other hand, the worshiper’s heart is turned toward the idol. The meat is a tool he uses to express his devotion to it. 

Matthew 22:37 (KJV)
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Let nothing but God in your heart. 

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[1]Ezekiel 14:4-5 (KJV)
Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4500 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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My author Page for Kindle/Amazon
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Ezekiel 14:3 (KJV) Nothing But God

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Ezekiel 12:26-28 (KJV) It’s Time

Ezekiel 12:26-28 (KJV)
Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off.
Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord GOD.

Did you notice? In this case the house of Israel did not deny the truth of the prophet’s message or dismiss it outright. They verbally acknowledged his message. But then they said, “…he prophesied of the times that are far off.” They had effectively dismissed the message and removed any personal application of the message by placing it into the distant future. 

This is a problem every Christian can become party to. In Fundamental Baptist Churches our pews are packed with mostly professing believers. Few in those pews would make an outright denial of anything in the Word or those things our preachers proclaim. What we are prone to do, especially when it applies to future things, is to place them into the distant future. We know them to be true, but we have convinced ourselves they won’t happen any time soon. Thus, we remove from ourselves the obligation to act upon them:

• Laying up treasures in heaven
• Dedicating ourselves to His service
• Witnessing to some lost friend
• Repenting of that sin that easily besets us 

Sure, we know we need to do these, but we reason we have time. 

God’s message to us is this, “Therefore … there shall none of my words be prolonged any more …”

It’s time to make a reckoning with God. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4500 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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My author Page for Kindle/Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/author/marvinmckenzie

Ezekiel 12:26-28 (KJV) It’s Time

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Ezekiel 11:16 (KJV) He Is There

Ezekiel 11:16 (KJV)
Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.

There is nothing little about God. Yet here He promises to be “a little sanctuary” in the countries the children of God find themselves.

Little in the sense of perspective 
The sun is gigantic compared to the earth. Yet, because we are so much nearer to the earth, we see the sun as this tiny speck and the earth as all encompassing. Still, as little as the sun may appear, we know better and we rejoice in every little bit of it we get.

Little in the sense of availability 
Some things are so huge they can only be had in the one place. Other things often become more meaningful to us because they are portable. We have them wherever we need them. 

This world so surrounds us that there are times when it appears much bigger than God. We see it more, hear it more, sense it more. This is in no way to mean that the things of this world are bigger, more impactful more powerful than God. He is our life and breath and very being. Every evidence of God is a reason of rejoicing. 

And God, who is of infinite proportions, bigger than the created universe and immeasurable beyond that, is still so available that, in the bleakest of circumstances, in the tiniest of rooms, in the smallest of gatherings, He is there. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4500 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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My author Page for Kindle/Amazon
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Ezekiel 11:16 (KJV) He Is There

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Ezekiel 8:1 (KJV) God Showed Up

Ezekiel 8:1 (KJV)
And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.

Amazingly, it was at a precise moment, when the elders of Judah were at Ezekiel’s house, that God spoke to Ezekiel, and to the elders present. I note these points:

It was at a precise time
Why were the elders there at that moment? Did they have some indication that God would speak just then? Was it their habit to show up at the prophet’s house at specific times? We do not know. 

It was at a precise place 
God spoke to Ezekiel at other places, the River Chebar, for instance. But, knowing that Ezekiel was a priest as well as a prophet, it seems significant to me that the elders chose to gather at his house and God chose to speak there. 

The elders had gathered and sat there
Could they be representative of the people in general? This is the case of the twenty and four elders in the book of the Revelation. The fact that they were sitting indicates waiting. Perhaps in expectation. 

God showed up there
At his house, just when this crowd had gathered. 

I understand it’s only a picture, but I see a major similarity between this and today’s church worship. 
Ezekiel was both priest and prophet
Every Christian today is a priest by virtue of salvation. The preacher is a priest who is also a prophet. 

We gather at set times
We come when the church doors are open.

We gather as members
A Christian doesn’t have to be a member of a church, but he is not a leading Christian (elder) without church membership. 

We gather in expectation 
We come expecting that God will speak to our preacher to speak to us. God can and does meet with His people in other places. But He meets with them every time in the House of God

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4500 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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My author Page for Kindle/Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/author/marvinmckenzie

Ezekiel 8:1 (KJV) God Showed Up

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Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at http://www.dubli.com/M04VB. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free.

Ezekiel 6:11-13 (KJV) Always Access Mercy

Ezekiel 6:11-13 (KJV)
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.
He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my fury upon them.
Then shall ye know that I am the LORD, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols.

What an ominous passage. 

The abominations of Israel had reached that place where God would pour out His fury upon them. And where should they escape?

• Those who were scattered would die of pestilence and disease
• Those who were nearby would die of the sword
• Those who were trapped in a siege would die of famine

There was nowhere the judgment of God could not reach. 

But take heart. 

Neither is there any place the mercy of God cannot reach. 

Isaiah 43:2 (KJV)
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

God says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”[1]

• We can never escape His judgments but
• We can always access His mercy

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[1]1 John 1:9

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4500 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
My author spotlight at Lulu.com:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/marvinmckenzie

My author Page for Kindle/Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/author/marvinmckenzie

Ezekiel 6:11-13 (KJV) Always Access Mercy

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Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at http://www.dubli.com/M04VB. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free.