Daily Prayer

Good Wednesday morning, my friends.

 

Since Sunday I have been mulling over one of the points I heard preached in the sermon at our church.  It was based on this passage:

 

I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, 'These are the LORD's people, and yet they had to leave his land.' I had concern for my holy name, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone.

 

"Therefore say to the Israelites, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.

 

Ezekiel 36:19-23

 

The point was this: How did the Israelites "profane" the Lord's name?  Was it by "using it in vain" (swearing)?  No.  They profaned His name by not living up to the covenant He had made with them.  They chose to do things "their way", and their sins piled higher and higher until, after repeatedly warning them, He finally sent them into exile in a foreign land.  And the people of that land assumed their God wasn't powerful enough to save them.  That is how they profaned His name.

 

So what about you and me?  Do the people around us see that our God is powerful?  Do they see how He has changed us?  Or do we still look like everyone else?  If they know we bear the "Christian" label but are still trapped by the worries and wants of this world, what does that tell them about our God?  And just to drive this point home, notice what the last line of this scripture says: He will prove Himself holy to the world … through us!

 

As I said, I have been mulling this over because I can see the issues this points to in my life.  How about you?

 

 

Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace be yours in abundance,

Bruce

 

 

Father, may I thirst for holiness more than I desire anything else on earth.

 

Father, make me holy in every aspect of my conduct, do in me what You must to do through me what You will.

 

Father, because of my relationship with Jesus, may I count everything as loss and live a new life-style.

 

Father, send the Spirit to take me to the cross and crucify me to the world. Give me a new life-style.

 

God of peace, make me "perfect in holiness." Preserve me "whole and entire, spirit, soul, and body, irreproachable at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thes 5:23).

 

(http://www.presentationministries.com/brochures/BeHoly.asp)

Bruce MacPherson macpherson@celtic.ca / Blog: The Celtic Christian / Home: 613.489.4174 Cell: 613.720.0821 You are receiving this email because you have requested it or I felt you would be interested in this material. If you would like to be removed from this email list, please do not hesitate to contact me at the above email address. Likewise, if you know of someone else who you believe would appreciate receiving these messages, please let me know.