Famine Of Righteousness Part 1

 

Famine Of Righteousness

Worship goes far beyond, just having an emotional experience. It is during worship one can actually experience a closer spiritual encounter with the Lord. Worship includes adoration, exaltation, magnification, glorification and the giving of thanks to the Lord! Webster defines worship as; an extravagant respect admiration or devotion to an object of esteem; reverence paid to a divine being or supernatural power.

RESET!

Everyday is a precious gift from the Lord.  Your personal  daily devotion to the Lord  is important! God can meet you right where you are.  Regardless as to what is happening in this world or what is,  or is not going  in your life; GOD STILL  DESERVES  to be honored, praised, thanked & worshipped! He can help you meet the challenges that life presents. He can help you rise above them all.   Begin to live everyday starting now: ” TO GOD BE THE GLORY! ” 

 

God’s principles for life, living, His Church, marriage and the family as well as “True Worship” are continuously being abandoned.  God wants each of us to seek Him first. Everything that we will ever need we can discover in Him.  

 

GOD IS!

God is Omniscient therefore He knows all things spoken or unspoken. There is no fooling God.  If you think you can you are only fooling yourself. When you truly believe this you will begin to think and live differently. 

 

God is Omnipotent; meaning all power! God so deserves pure unadulterated worship & praise. God created us to worship Him. It is we who need Him. He did not program us like computers or make us to be robots.  He has made each of us uniquely different.  We have our very own temperament. It is out of His love and mercy that He allows us the freedom to choose to worship Him. This is not the same as being religious.  You can worship just about anything.  However, the true worshippers must worship God; “ In SPIRIT and in TRUTH. ”

 

God is and always will be eternally everlasting. He wants us to live a life of worship. We  are living in the midst of an invisible war zone.  The battle is not ours.  God is able to keep us in the midst of it. However, we must learn to seek Him daily and stay adorned in our spiritual armor. This is why each of us  need Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  Have a spiritual feast. Daily partake in His Word!  Begin to really;  “lean & depend on Jesus.” For He wants us to live our lives to please Him. “ For though we live in the world we do not engage in war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world…” II Corinthians 10.

 

Ezekiel is a great example of a man that chose to live a life of worship and obedience to God.  This is not always easy. He was no doubt a “peculiar” man. He was a priest known for his integrity and purpose although he was carried away to Babylon captivity. He remained dedicated to God. It is a conscious choice to live apart from the world yet, remain within it. Despite what was going on about him, he lived what he preached, proclaimed and prophesied. Look about us and see all that is happening.  He lived a life centered around worshipping God. Today it is also so very important too that your main focus for life and living for the Lord become your main priority. Instead of just focusing only upon the here and now begin to look deeper.

 

This is why worship is so very important. “Be still and know.” When your life is built upon the “Solid Rock” principles of the Lord’s Word you will be able to endure and press onward.  Even in this day and time when much is going on, do not compromise your godly principles and values to be accepted. We must learn to TRUST GOD regardless of what happens. As children of God He still wants us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your path straight.” Proverbs 3.

 

Today we are currently experiencing a “famine of righteousness.”

 

One must only visit the corridors of scripture to see time and time again the consequences of what happens when the world, a nation, His Church, politicians, or a group of people ignores what God has to say. They often seek to conform to the latest trends. Ezekiel was willing to forego the praises and misunderstanding of God’s people. He did not receive a warm reception, nor was he welcomed or celebrated. Yet he moved all throughout the people serving the Lord.  They instead had chosen to accept and embrace the ways of the world.

 

Our devotion to the Lord must be more than talk. Sometimes it requires that we make grave spiritual sacrifices.  Such as time in personal devotion and more time with the Lord in His Word. We are to; ” Be in the world but not of the world…” We must at times forego the support of others. Less dependency upon being accepted by the masses and more focus on honoring God. Less time seeking to be understood  yet striving daily to understand the Lord and His  marvelous living Word. 

 

We should continually be drawing near to the Lord. 

 

Many are pressured to think in terms of giving sacrifices of material goods or money.  Often to the point some neglect to tend to their own home life.  Their place of worship has actually become a place to escape? To some their little kingdoms?  This is due to many church assemblies have become very material in regards to their constant concern for things for the building.  There is nothing wrong to want a nice place of worship.  But consider the cost before you build. Is it or will it be a continual burden you must bear. Not everyone is spiritually mature… Please do not continue to fleece the sheep of God… Depending on the assembly, often tithes are used  to determine one’s worth, status or their level of participation and influence…

 

Malachi is often used to enforce the Tithe.  It is important to study the Word to know what the Tithe was for and what it actually was…   Malachi  was the last Old Testament Prophet/Priest sent  to Israel by God.  He spoke strong rebukes to both the priests as well as to the people. They had faltered in their commitments to the Lord.  He called them to “REPENT!”  After Malachi there is a silence of 400 or more years.   God will make a way for us to do whatever He calls us to do. “…Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not…  Malachi 3 

 

Things in themselves are not bad.  And it is good to give! But, In some cases money has become some congregations primary focus.  Keep in mind; “God loves a cheerful Giver!”  

 

Seek daily the KINGDOM of GOD an HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS

Does not the Lord say; “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else will be added…” Matthew 6   Well this is true for the assembly of the Church as well.  When the Tabernacle which was a grand tent  was assembled, they carried it  from place to place. Notice all the things that were in the Tabernacle?  What they did?  What they did not do? What was not allowed?   There are 50 chapters devoted in the Bible to the Tabernacle.  17 in Exodus,  18 in Leviticus  13 in  Numbers,  2 in Deuteronomy. It was known to be a place  to gather together to worship & praise God.   It was dedicated as a special place set apart to honor our Lord God;  Yahweh!   

 

The main focus and top priority  was always to worship GOD! Think about it  when Solomon built the Temple.  All that he needed to build the  place of worship was already provided…   For hundreds of years there were no places of worship built  for the Church of God to assemble.  The Disciples and the Apostles built no places of worship…  Jesus built no place of worship.  It is your choice to build a place of worship. Therefore trust God!

 

” Know ye not that; Our bodies are the Temples of GOD! “

 

There has been a priority shift.  Many other things are now included in worship? Some places of worship are more like community centers.  Some of everything goes on in the name of the Lord!   It is important to know GOD and HIS WORD for yourself.  Focus more on Him rather than your issues. Allow Him to strengthen your faith and trust in Him. Think deeper upon the spiritual disciplines.  Our future and eternal life rest in the Lord.  We are each accountable to God for what we do.  Know what God requires of you.

“THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE!”  

 

God speaks to His people in many ways.  

 

God never forgets those who are faithful!

 

The name Ezekiel means; God is strong or God strengthens! True success in a spiritual sense is not how the people respond to us, but it is how we respond to God! Ezekiel was called to an “obstinate and stubborn” group of people. We too are often called to share our faith live out loud God’s word, with unkind, ungrateful, disrespectful, rude, hard, harsh and spiritually abusive people…   Yes indeed know; “The wheat and the tares are growing together…” Yet, God Our Father has promised to; ” NEVER LEAVE NOR FORSAKE US!”  He sees everything that is going on.   It is vitally important to develop an intimate personal relationship with Him.  Daily be led by the Spirit of God regardless as to what the majority is doing. ALL of His promises are true! ” GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU/US! “ The Lord wants us to share the Gospel regardless as to how we might be perceived, even today when we are today in this world are experiencing a “famine of righteousness.”

 

When studying the book of Ezekiel if you look closely, you will see just how closely it relates to what is going on in the world right now. Ezekiel genuinely wanted the people to understand who God is. He was sent to the children of Israel to remind them of God’s principles for life, living and worship. The children of Israel were not a nation who did not know God. They had just become “rebellious”. They had turned their back on God and instead embraced many of the ways of the world. Ezekiel went to great lengths to get their attention. For over two decades he wrote, preached, warned and pleaded with God’s people to return to His principles.

 

In reading Ezekiel one must not be so removed from him that he is thought of as a fictional character with an irrelevant message. To embrace the overwhelming genuine concern he exudes one must be daily adorned in their spiritual armor and open their spiritual ears and listen attentively. Ezekiel tremendously, ferociously and vehemently cries out as he prolifically expounds God’s Truth. Since he had been labeled as being “strange” the people were quite reluctant to listen.

Ezekiel wanted the people to return to God.  We too should want the people to return to God!

See Part 2