King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: God Comes First
Date: Wednesday September 07, 2011
Chapters: Ezekiel 22-24, Proverb 7, Psalm 87
Click Here to Read Them or Go to: http://imfollowingjesus.com/bible-september-7

Hello My Friend/Guest,

“Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:..Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,” - Ephesians 5:6-8,20-26.

A relationship with God is like marriage between and husband and wife, it takes commitment, faithfulness, submission, love, and a lot of patience. Just like a husband and wife say vows that join them together as one, when we pray and ask Jesus to save us we say vows that joins us together as one. Now, if your spouse ever committed adultery you would be devastated, you would feel angry, ashamed, and betrayed. Well, this is how God feels whenever we are unfaithful to Him. Now, once you are saved you are always saved, but that does not mean that you will not suffer the consequences for being unfaithful to God. For years Ezekiel was commanded by God to prophesy about the final destruction of Jerusalem. The time of judgment was now set and the destruction of the Holy City would be brought about as the result of their unfaithfulness to God.

“Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries. Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed...Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths...In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD. Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee. Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it.” - Ezekiel 22:4,5,8,12-14.

The blood shed, man made idols, and acts they have committed were all an abomination to God. In addition their destruction will be publicly known and mocked by all the heathen nations. Today, our once godly nations too are being mocked by heathen nations as we continually defile our own with man made idols (e.g. Virgin Mary, Buddha), shed innocent blood, and brought judgment for our unfaithfulness to God. One day every nation will stand before Jesus Christ and attest to their unfaithfulness. “For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” -James 2:11-13.

Ezekiel continues God's message to the unfaithful nations, illustrated by a parable of two adulteress sisters, Aholah and Aholibah. Aholah, which means, her tabernacle, represents Samaria (Israel), these were man made places of worship devised of their own thinking. Aholibah, which means, my tabernacle, represents Jerusalem (Judah), and these were places of worship which God himself had chosen to put His name there.

“And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah. And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours, Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses. Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself...And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms. She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men. Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way,” - Ezekiel 23:4-7,11-13.

No matter how strong we are in our faith, if we get around wickedness long enough we too can become corrupted if we are not keeping our eyes on God. In fact, the more a person allows sin in their life the quicker they lose sight of God. It is important that, as Christians, we dote upon God, He should be the first love of our lives, everything, including our mate, comes second. “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” - Luke 14:26. This does not mean to literally hate everyone around you, it means, no matter who is in your life, your love for God needs to be more than the person or thing you love the most. Every time a person, game, hobby, or even a career is first place over God it becomes the love of their life and something God sees as adultery. We do not have to stop living our lives, but we do need to let God know that He comes first. “Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” - Psalm 37:4.

Today's Prayer:
Dear God,
Lord, we know Your love because You first loved us. You gave Your one and only Son to die for our sins so that we would not perish but spend eternity in heaven with You. As our roots grow down into Your love we gain strength, understanding, and maturity. Though we cannot grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, we can respond in love to You. Just as we rely on the love You have for us, may You find our love consistent and reliable. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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