SWHW Bible Reading Plan: August 2021Sample

Top Takeaway from Jessica Hottle:

The world doesn't get to dictate your position in Heaven. Only by God, through faith in Jesus, is how your position in Heaven is found. 

In Ezekiel 9-11, we read about the judgment of Jerusalem. God gives visions to Ezekiel. 

Ezekiel 9:3-4 says, "Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer's inkhorn at his side;  and the Lord said to him, ‘Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.’"

God commanded the one with the inkwell to mark the righteous men of the city. The mark was to identify their protection. 

"Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; begin at My sanctuary." Ezekiel 9:6

This shows that even when judgment comes upon an entire nation, God still knows how to mark and identify the righteous. (We also see examples of this with the blood on the doorposts of the Israelites' houses on the night of the Passover and the scarlet cord in Rahab's window.)

Our mark becomes our witness. How we live our lives, how we treat others, what words come out of our mouths become the mark of whom we serve. Although our lives will not be perfect, and we will get it wrong, the goodness of God leads us to repentance. 

People will say, "There is something different about you." To which you can reply, "That's because of Jesus." 

God marks our soul because the moment we decide to follow Jesus, we become alive. His ways become our ways. His words become our words. 

Although you may feel different from the rest of the world, don't fight that feeling because you were made to be different. Set apart from this world. 

Father, thank You for loving us the way You do with continual grace and mercy. Show us how to become more like You with our words and actions. Help us to look different from the world and not fear the difference. We love You, Amen!