Ezekiel 34:31 – “And you, my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are my people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, shepherds and sheep filled my consciousness.  In Ezekiel 34:31, God issued a powerful reminder we need.  “As for you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God, declares Lord Yahweh.”   

Isn’t that obvious?   If it were, God would not have issued this reminder.  This is a reminder of our mortality, finiteness, and dependency.  We neglect that vision to our own hurt, bringing needless struggle to our lives.  We depend on God totally, yet we must do the work set before us.  We are not to sit around waiting for God to do it all.   We hear, we heed, we do.

True repentance is seen in Ezekiel 33:14, “turn from sin and do justice and righteousness.”   In Ezekiel 36:17, we realize that we can be defiled by our chosen lifestyle.

In Ezekiel 34:2-4, we see the sleeping church lulled to sleep by false shepherds.  Religious form but no power.  When did we decide to accept form without power?  Why did we settle for flying coach with a first-class ticket?

In Ezekiel 34:11, we get a glimpse of God’s next move.  He is about to take over!  The dry bones are about to come to life.  The dry church members are about to be reenergized and released.  The Holy Spirit makes us alive (Ezekiel 37:14).  The explosion of release is upon us.  Listen for the sound and be ready.  It will be a time of get-in, get-out, or get-run-over!

In Ezekiel’s vision, a wall separated the Holy and the Profane.  That wall in the Last Days is Jesus!  The Cross separates the pure and impure.

We want to be those who receive a ‘full reward.’ (2 John 8) We want to be those who embrace the key of life in the Kingdom as revealed in 3 John 2.  Soul prosperity flows out to physical and material prosperity.  Don’t be afraid to prosper.  Be afraid of false prosperity produced by and focused on the flesh.  If the heart is right, the head is right, and the hand is right.

Lord, help us give you our hearts so you can transform our lives and enable us to be harvesters rather than hoarders.   Help us to be, not just appear to be.  Help us to have the power, not just the picture.

LORD help us to become Sheep of Your Pasture and follow You!