Chicken Soup

“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” - Psalm 119:18.
Date: Saturday, September 06, 2014
Today's Chapters: Ezekiel 24-26
Message Title: Chicken Soup
Hello My Friend,

Have you ever boiled chicken? At first, the water is clear, then as the meat cooks all the blood begins to come out and rise to the top of the water. It's a dark, scum like substance, pretty disgusting, and you have to literally scoop it out for it to be useful. Sin is like the scum that sits on top of the water, it darkens us, and makes us look pretty disgusting, we cannot remove it by ourselves, we need someone to do it for us. There is only one person who can remove the scum of sin, for us to be useful, Jesus Christ. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:7-9.

The entire time Ezekiel was telling the Jews about the devastation in Jerusalem he was still in Babylon. You can imagine their surprise when they began to realize that the false prophets telling them that they would be set free had deceived them. They had been cast into the stock pot, so to speak, to remove the scum of sin that was right on top of them. “Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day. And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it: Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones. Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein. Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.” - Ezekiel 24:2-6.

In this rather odd illustration, God uses a stockpot to explain that He was purging them from the filthiness that defiled them. While God's people are precious and valuable to Him, only after the scum is removed can we truly understand how valuable He is, and be profitable to Him. Do not despise the chastening we get from God, He only does it to make us profitable. “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” - Hebrews 12:6,7.

Since most of Judah was taken captive to Babylon it must have seemed like God was done with them, He really wasn't. He was saving them from all the corruption going on there, it must have been really bad if He sent them to a heathen nation. While there, all the hateful, spiteful, nations surrounding them were still gloating. The world loves to see a God nation fall, but God will not be mocked, especially by those who refuse to acknowledge Him. He sent Ezekiel to warn them of the coming judgment placed upon them.

“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD. Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred; Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast. And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.” - Ezekiel 25:13-17.

It is evil and wicked to make fun of and rejoice over others who are being chastened by God, especially if they have nothing to do with Him, and mock His people. God will not be mocked, He will remove the scum of every nation that mocks Him or His people. “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.” - Romans 14:9-13.
While God hates sin, and surely knows that we can never completely sinless, we can sin less as we allow Jesus to remove sins we knowingly commit. I admit, some sins are hard to overcome, and that is why we need Jesus, He really is the only one who can remove the scum. Do you realize that after the scum is removed from the chicken it makes one great bowl of soup? Jesus makes something great out of us when we let Him remove the scum. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” - 2 Corinthians 4:17,18.

Today's Prayer: God, What an amazing and peculiar way to show Your children how valuable and precious they are. Without You, we really do not know how to remove the scum that makes us look filthy, we try to do what's right, only to fail over and over again. Lord, You truly are the only one who can cleanse us and make us great, lead us and guide us, give us Your power to remain faithful to You. Help us not get angry or bitter over Your chastening, and keep us looking to You, even when we do not understand why we are being chastened. Give us the strength to keep allowing You to remove the scum, and make us into something great. In Jesus' name, Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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