1 And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.
2 And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, [even] unto this very day.
4 For [they are] impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD.
5 And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they [are] a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.
6 And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns [be] with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they [be] a rebellious house.
7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they [are] most rebellious.
8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.
9 And when I looked, behold, an hand [was] sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book [was] therein;
10 And he spread it before me; and it [was] written within and without: and [there was] written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
This chapter shows that God calls a prophet to go speak what God wants him to speak. God wasn't checking to see if he graduated from a bible college, or how many degrees or accomplishments he had, whether people considered him qualified or not. Ezekiel was qualified to preach what God told him to preach, because and only because, God picked him.
God's ministers don't get their message from other people, or books of sermons, or the denomination, or work on it all week to be ready by Sunday! God's ministers get what they are supposed to say, and who they are supposed to say it to, directly from God!!
God's ministers are instructed to not change their message to keep people happy, but to correct what is wrong and to instruct on what to do right. God's ministers don't care if you like them or their message. They are working for and pleasing God, not you.
So when you have people in church who won't sit next to certain people, or look down on others, or treat people as 'less than', or who hurt peoples feelings without fear; then you had better expect a fiery message that confronts this 'wicked' behavior and puts it in check.
If that doesn't happen because the minister doesn't want to offend, or is worried they might leave, or they might not put their money in the offering - then that minister is either 'not called of God' or they are 'disobedient' to God. Either way that is not good.
Remember: God's prophets are sent to God's people to rebuke the sin 'in' the church! When sin is allowed to run free in the church and is not put in check by the minister, then you know that the minister is not working for God! He is working for someone else!
Time is short. Do some serious praying while you can!!
scriptures broken open for 30 days continues...
With Love,
~ Miss J
http://ThingsYouWantedToSay.com