The assignment

Scripture: Ezekiel 3:1-11

Verse 1: The roll is the message that has to be delivered to the ones assigned to hear it. Ezekiel had to swallow the Word first. We have to meditate on the Word before God sends us out. He instructs us to become intimate with what He wants to release. All messages come to the messenger first for self- examination. The message has to be authenticated by being filtered through the messenger and digging up fallow ground. The messenger is charged to deliver a pure message by first receiving pure revelation, self-repentance, and conviction. We are anointed according to the assignment, according to what we can handle, and according to what we are willing to sacrifice. The message has to be qualified by the messenger when it is received and understood and accepted. .A man who is a habitual liar does not have the authority or qualifications to teach against lying. An adulterer is not qualified to teach against committing adultery. The Word has to be active and alive in order to have power to break yokes or bring change.

Verse 2: Ezekiel was obedient and ate the roll. The eating is representing studying the Word. We must identify with what the Lord is saying. The rhema word is critical. We cannot carry a message that we do not digest. The carrying of the Word means there is yoke breaking anointing. The messenger has to be the first partaker. The message is a movement and the Word must be spoken with clarity in order to produce fruit. In order to feed, we must be filled.

Verse 3: Jesus is the bread of life. Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Eating the Word is satisfying, delivering, rewarding, and renewing. It is also sweet. The word replenishes, strengthens, and saturates us as wells of life. We become springs for out of our bellies shall flow rivers of water. As we consume, we have power to release. The Word of God is spirit and it is life. We must watch what we speak because life and death are in the power of the tongue. We must be conditioned to deliver.

Verse 4: God sends us prepared for battle and prepared to do what needs to be done. The Word has to be shaped in our spirit for the proper execution. He sends us out confidently and assured with the height of illumination. Our faith produces fruit and expectation. God has already designed the audience to be filled with receivers and doubters.

Verse 5: God is all wise and all knowing. He knows all of mankind. He knows that most unbelieving, compromising, and law bending folk are professed Christians. These people who claim to believe are disgruntle when hearing the truth and the Word falls to the ground rather than on their hearts. We do not need to be discouraged but instead press forward and do what we are sent to do in the midst of adversity. Everyone is called to areas of ministry with specific charges of responsibility and cannot be consumed or distracted by attitudes or responses of people. The message has purpose. It has to be delivered to their shame for being doubters and it will testify against them. The truth is this. Every person that is selected, preordained to cross our path, is a stroke of paint or a scene in the big picture of our canvas of life.

Verse 6: God knows that many that are not of the household of faith are more open to receive and believe than those that are in the faith. (Many profess that they know Him but their heart is far from Him.) Those that are not of the household of faith are hungry for answers and want to see the living God. They recognize that there is something bigger than themselves and they are willing to hear and be saved. They do not understand the language of faith but are willing to learn. They exercise faith inwardly.

Verse 7: God watches the good and the evil and knows the disobedience of His people. People strive to live lives apart from God but want to be covered by the blood that He shed. They want to fill their bellies with lustful gratifications and eat the roll of rebellion. They choose to live according to their own selfishness. They seek sensual pleasures and continue to chase temporary highs being seduced by hell and walking in false security.

Verse 8: Ezekiel exuded strength. God gives us the power to stand strong in His might. We have no reason to fear but be steadfast and uphold the Word of truth no matter how people look, talk, or act. We must be firm and not intimidated by the predictable temptations and illusions of strength that is displayed by the enemy. Our foreheads are marked with the seal of God and He protects all that is His.

Verse 9: Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. When God be for us, who can be against us? God sends us as strong towers to signal what is coming rather it be good, bad, or ugly. God is not concerned with their reactions because He foreknew what they would do. Nothing is a surprise to God. He just wants us to be faithful in our assignments and for us to fulfill what He has given us to do. We cannot be detoured by anything. God is the only one who can change the plan. He does not change the end result, but He will change His methods and send us in another direction that will still cause us to end up in the original determined place. We may think that God will use Billy but the blessing is actually set up to use Jane. We may think that we need to go to New York but the blessing is actually in Arizona. Sometimes the place where we think we should be is not the place we are ordained to be. Sometimes the things that we think we should do are not the things that we will do. God set us up by giving direction that may not turn out as we expect but the experience will be used to ignite our faith and trust in Him. He sets us up for enlargement for the true designated place. God intrigues us with some good things but gives us something better.

Verse 10: We are accountable for what God entrusts in us. We cannot do things or speak things the way we think is plausible but according to the commandment delivered by God to us. Be diligent in thy hearing and don’t add to it and don’t dilute it. Speak as it was given by the Spirit of God.

Verse 11: People are bound by lack of knowledge and by vanity. No one can say they never knew the truth and God’s expectations. God always sends the message. It is not always about being blessed with something. The biggest blessing is learning how to please God in everyday living. People are accountable for their receptivity and repentance. They will be justified or condemned by their own hands (response).