Missions Paul

Ezekiel 12

So I packed my bags in broad daylight.
Everyone saw, they knew I was leaving.
I began to make my escape through the wall.
They saw, but they did not understand.

My life is a prophecy.
I am a sign.
They see and hear.
But sadly they don’t get it.

I shake when I eat.
With fear I drink.
I look weird.
But it will be worth it if it keeps them from despair.

My life is to show them that to be with God is better than to reject Him.
Today I will do the same.
Regardless of results, I will keep at it.
They need to see, they need to hear.

The days are nearing an end.
They think they have more time than they have.
That what I portray is for then not now.
But today is the day of salvation, now is the time.

Ezekiel 11

I am back with my people now, back in captivity. It’s not the best. But I have learnt it is better to be in a bad place than in a God-forsaken place.

I now know what God thinks of leaders who are self-absorbed and who lead for selfish gain.

I know that the Spirit who can speak judgment through me is also the Spirit who intercedes through me.

I know that no matter where I am, even in exile, God is my sanctuary, He can be found anywhere.

I know that God has not stopped creating. He is still transforming the cold-hearted. He is still working in me. He has and He will.

I know that the glory can leave. I know never to forget that.

Do you know these things?

Ezekiel 10

I could still see the throne. Majestic and beautiful. After all we were going through I could still see the image of Sovereignty. God was still in control.
Can you still see the throne?

I saw Him go in. I saw Him come out. He had fire in His hands. Fire to purge, to judge, to cleanse, a powerful element to be distributed. I wondered if I could ever do the same.
Have you made that journey? To the altar and out? Can you carry the fire?

I now know what filled looks like and also the experience of fullness. The glory took over. I saw it. But sadly I know what it is to see the glory lift. A sad and frightening day. I saw all this.
Filled or departed? How would you describe your church?

I could see the angels each with 4 faces and I saw the wheels. They were in sync with each other because the Spirit of the creatures was within the wheels.
If the angels moved the wheels moved. When the angels stopped the wheels stopped.
As the Spirit is in you are you also in sync with the will and direction of God?

Ezekiel 9

I saw it move.
The glory cloud. It lifted from the altar and it moved to the threshold.
I knew it was significant.
The glory is always between the altar and the threshold.
It comes after the sacrifice.
It comes before the new day.

I heard the voice.
It was loud and authoritative.
COME to me, v1
GO for me, v4
FOLLOW, v5
Come. Go. Follow.
Three simple words.
Sometimes difficult to obey.
Often powerful and overcoming.

Ezekiel 8

“Have I seen this?”The answer was that I had seen enough, v12.
I had seen worship replace sacrifice, v5.
I had seen the wider-older saints take worship indoors, v12, it was always meant for all to see.
I had seen a women disappointed because their lifeline had been taken, v6.
Basically I had seen what the above produces: false worship.
I can still see it today.

Ezekiel 7

Some don’t believe in hell.
It is impossible that God would allow that.
God only does good things.
He is Jehovah-Jireh, my provider.
He is Jehovah-nisei, my banner.
He cannot be Jehovah-makkeh, my destroyer (v9).

But on this day that is what I called Him.
It was the end.
Disaster.
Doom.
Calamity.
They said it would never exist.
They said the city would stand so long as there was God.
They underestimated God.
They did not know Him.
Many died, many taken who had refused to believe in hell.

Ezekiel 6

Mountains are firm and unmovable.
Mountains are fixed, durable and last forever.
Mountains are prominent and tower over you.
Mountains call for respect and awe and worship.
Mountains are symbolic for the many challenges we face, they are not physical but situational.

I wake to such mountains today as I do every day.
But today is different.
Today I set my face against such domineering high places.
Today I prophecy against them.
I speak to remove their grip on my life and that of others I love too.

I do it to know him who is higher than the mountains that I face.

Ezekiel 5

I have come to realise the purpose of my life is to demonstrate God.
It is not just words, but everything I do speaks, calls out, delivers a message.
That is not always comfortable for those who journey with me and it is certainly not comfortable for me at times.
So I shave my head and my beard, something done to an enemy to humiliate them.
I humiliate myself that others may see that the close relationship between God and His people is cut off. It is broken and now separated, just as my hair is cut off from my head.
I am a priest. We must under no circumstances shave our head.
I am now politically, religiously, ethically incorrect.
I have outcasted myself.
They might as well hang me on a tree accursed, but that’s for the One and Only.
Why do I do this? Why do I live out my faith so publicly?
Why do I embrace such humiliation?
There is no greater love than to lay your life down …

Ezekiel 4

I’m laying down.
This is not me falling face down in worship.
No, this is me laying down for others.
430 days is a long time.
Many have speculated why this long. The captivity of Israel and Judah lasted 430 years.
It feels like a lifetime, laying down here. But I know why I am doing this.
I am carrying the people’s sin upon me.
It’s like I’m a priest, “Give me their sin O Lord, Give them Your righteousness.”
Maybe I should do this for a lifetime.
Lay my life down for others. Feeling their pain and bearing their sin. All my life, from now on.
It is better than cooking food over the dung of men, anything’s better than that!

Ezekiel 3

I’ve tasted it, eaten it and now I am consumed by it.
I am speaking it, sent with it and rejected because of it.
It will not let me give up, grow soft, become fearful and remain silent.
The Spirit has lifted me above the problems. He has opened my ears to the sound of His presence and He has fulfilled me with a burning anger to right the wrong. All of this is because of that.
I have been prepared by it, locked in with it, learnt in silence with it. But now I am ready! I am ready to sit with people, empathise with them and wait to speak it.
I am speaking of the Bible. It really is inside me!