Jeus Messiah

God's Goodness And Mercy

“Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries.” Ezekiel 6:8

Judgment had hitherto triumphed, but here in Ezekiel 6:8, mercy rejoices against judgment. God leaves a remnant, a little remnant of the children of Israel. It is purely by God’s grace that they were spared. In other words, they deserved to be cut off from the rest, and they would have been cut off if God had not protected them (Is. 1:9). Why did God preserve a remnant of the people of Israel? Let’s understand it from two perspectives.

1) They are a preserved remnant. This remnant would be the seed of another generation, out of which Jerusalem would flourish again. In the midst of God’s wrath, mercy is remembered. There is a mixture of judgment and mercy here. There was judgment because they were carried away as captives to a foreign land. Yet mercy was present because they escaped the sword in the land of their captivity. We see this same principle repeating itself again and again regarding God’s dealings with His people, that in judgment, God always remembers mercy.

2) They are a penitent remnant. God is merciful. He gives us time to repent. This remnant here, marked for salvation, is a type of the remnant reserved out of the body of mankind to show forth God’s mercy. God was using them to show His salvation through man’s repentance. Sin takes place when we start forgetting God in our lives (Jer. 3:21). Repentance takes place when we begin to remember who God is, His love for us and His promises to us.

In Ezekiel 6:9, God says the remnant will remember Him. They could only do so by the grace of God. That grace shall find them out wherever they are, and by bringing God to their minds, “they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations” (6:9).

As with the prodigal son, we see how he came back to the father when he remembered how the servants in his father’s house had enough bread to eat. And when he returned, he was met with a loving and merciful father who embraced and restored him to his rightful place. God in his mercy is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). Let us not glory in our own strength, but in the mercy and grace of God, without which, we are nothing. “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4). God in His mercy laid on Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, the iniquity of us all (Is. 53:6). Let us be thankful once again, that it is God’s goodness and mercy that leads us to repentance.

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The Chastening Of The Lord

“Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,” says the LORD, “For I am with you; for I will make a complete end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but I will not make a complete end of you. I will rightly correct you, for I will not leave you wholly unpunished.” Jeremiah 46:28

In judgment, God always remembers mercy. Even though Israel was punished for her disobedience, she remained as God’s beloved nation. The book of Hebrews says “For whom the LORD loves He chastens” (Heb. 12:6). The chastening of the Lord will not crush a person. He always chastens us with love, knowing that something good will come out of it. When you are going through discipline, you need to remember three things:

(1) You need endurance (Heb. 12:7-8). “If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.” If you endure chastening, God is dealing with you “as with sons.” It will eventually yield the fruit of righteousness in your life, thus enabling you to partake of His holy nature.

(2) Maintain the right attitude (12:5). Don’t despise the chastening of the Lord. Don’t reject it or run away from it, thinking that it’s completely unnecessary. Discipline is part of the process of making you a true disciple of Christ.

(3) Don’t be discouraged (12:5). When you are going through discipline, don’t feel discouraged and think that you have failed. Every great man of God would have gone through chastening by the Lord. Even Jesus had to learn obedience by the things which He suffered (5:8). God’s chastening is not meant to crush you (Is. 42:3). It is to make you stronger. God will not allow you to suffer beyond what you are able to bear. God is the best Disciplinarian. Jeremiah 46:28 says, “I will rightly correct you.” When David was asked how he wanted to be punished for numbering Israel, he said, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man” (2 Sam. 24:11-16).

As we run this race, the chastening of the Lord is inevitable. But it will change our character and mold us to be more like Jesus. When you sow good character into your life, it will reap a great destiny! Be encouraged as you go through the chastening of the Lord.

Christ Our Redeemer

Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is His name. He will thoroughly plead their case, that He may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. Jeremiah 50:34

Judgment against Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, Elam and Babylon was foretold in Jeremiah 49-50 and the redemption of Israel was promised. Jeremiah prophesied that the Ammonites, descendants of Lot, who were historically hostile to the Israelites, would be destroyed (49:2-5).

Then, the prophet’s attention was turned to Edom. Edom had always been a jealous enemy of Jacob’s descendants and had joined Nebuchadnezzar in plundering Jerusalem. They even expanded their territory into southern Judah, inhabiting an area later called Idumea, the birthplace of Herod, the king at the time of Jesus’ birth. Because of their actions toward Israel, Edom’s fate was foretold by the prophet: “I have made Esau bare … his descendants are plundered, his brethren and his neighbors, and he is no more” (49:10). In Jeremiah 50:1-3, judgment was pronounced against Babylon.

We can expect the forces of evil, like the enemies of Israel, to come and discourage us in an effort to destroy our faith in God. However, God is not glorified by our fears, doubts or frustrations. We must keep our eyes on the promises of God that have never failed.

2 Corinthians 2:14 says, “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” The victory belongs to the people of God. Jeremiah continued to prophesy about the release of Israel from captivity, and the day when the Israelites would repent and accept their Messiah in a perpetual covenant thatshall not be forgotten (Jer. 50:4-5). The LORD promises that He will come as the Redeemer to plead their case (50:34).

Let us hold fast to our faith, for we know “it is Christ . . . who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (Rom. 8:34). When we are facing insurmountable difficulties, we can take comfort that Jesus, our Messiah and Redeemer, always lives to make intercession on our behalf. He knows exactly what and how to pray for us. As we join the forces in heaven to pray, God will give us the victory like He did with the nation of Israel in their troubled times!

Every Work Will Be Judged

For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. Ecclesiastes 12:14
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” Everything a Christian has done must fall into one of two categories—good or bad. There is no neutrality. Every act that is not performed in faith and obedience for the glory of God, is unacceptable to God and therefore bad. All these works will be judged when Jesus returns. However, this would not be a judgment of condemnation but one of reward (1 Cor. 3:11-15). So how will Jesus judge believers when we stand before Him?

(1) According to our RELATIONSHIP with Him (Matt. 7:21-23). There are some professing Christians who only have a head-knowledge about Jesus, but have never had an experiential intimate relationship with Him. These people will not stand the test of fire in that day.

(2) According to our OBEDIENCE (7:24-25). The man who hears and obeys God is likened to one who builds his life on a solid foundation which will stand the test of storms in life.

(3) According to our FAITHFULNESS (24:45-46). God wants us to be faithful at all times and in every situation, even when it is inconvenient; or when no one is watching; or when it is dangerous to be faithful. Faithfulness is the cornerstone of character. And God is more committed to building our character than our comfort.

(4) According to our FRUITFULNESS (25:21). God wants us to be faithful so that we will be fruitful. Jesus has chosen us to go and bear fruit—fruit that should remain (John 15:16). Everything that bears fruit, God will prune so that it will bear even more fruit. But everything that does not bear fruit, God will take away (15:1-2). This shows the importance of fruitfulness in God’s eyes. (5) According to our motives (Rom. 2:16). God judges our thoughts and intents, the deepest motives and impulse of our minds and hearts.

Knowing this, let us live our lives circumspectly and judge ourselves in these five areas so that our works will stand as we come before the judgment seat of Christ one day.

Sowing In Difficult Time

He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. Ecclesiastes 11:4

For some reason, the fear of insufficiency tends to overshadow our faith in God. When we see the storms coming, we tend to withhold our seeds. In 1 Kings 17, a woman almost brought about her own financial collapse because of this fear. Her barrel of meal was nearly empty, so she stopped giving to God. Though she was under divine command to feed the prophet Elijah, she decided to disobey the Lord’s command (17:9-12). The fear of insufficiency had gripped her. When Elijah realized the problem, he immediately addressed the issue. He encouraged her to give toward her future harvest and not from her past shortages. “So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah” (17:15-16). Her victory came swiftly. The seed she planted resulted in a miracle harvest for herself, her son and Elijah. If you are willing to take God at His word, no matter what situation you may be in, God can perform His word.

In Genesis, we read of how Isaac was living in a difficult time of famine. He was overcome by the fear of insufficiency and made plans to leave the Promised Land, the land of God’s provision. He was heading to Egypt, the land of man’s provision. But God appeared to Isaac and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father” (Gen. 26:2-3). Isaac obeyed. In the next few verses, you will find that he sowed precious seeds into the famine-parched land. How foolish he must have seemed to the unbelievers. It looked like a total waste to plant good seeds then.

But Isaac used his faith as a shield against bad news and the advice of the best minds of his day. He boldly obeyed God. He knew that if he sowed no seed, there would be no hope for a harvest. “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him” (26:12-14). Again you see that if a person is willing to obey the voice of God no matter how bad the economy may seem, God is going to perform what He promised. Similarly, we can put away every fear of insufficiency and start sowing toward our future today!