Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Among The Stones Of Fire

When something is new it can be shaped in different ways by those who have access to it... children, corporations, governments are influenced and shaped in part by policies set forth in their formation.

There is value and potential danger in being at the ground floor of something. Founders often profit and/or lose the most from a new venture.

"You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you." - Ezekiel 28:13-18 ESV

The stones of fire here speak of lava or fires used to melt and cast metal. Satan was an eyewitness to God's creative work.

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements - surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" - Job 38:4-7 ESV

It seems that all the angels were but Lucifer had unusual access. We don't know why Satan fell but we can see the other things that were different about him and come to some conclusions. There is a potential danger to being at the formation of something incredible and new. External decisions that create can also lead to internal decisions in witnesses that destroy them.

God called this place among the fiery stones an Eden. God thinks and acts in purity. He has no flaws but His decisiveness is based on knowledge that He alone possesses. An onlooker is put is a place where they will need to make a choice about what he or she is witnessing.

"Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them." - Hebrews 13:9 ESV

God wants to do a new thing in people's lives and as witnesses to God's work we are put in an interested position. How we think and what we say can make or break us. Thinking in grace is vital.

Today is a new day but are we new people who are thinking in newness? We can be.

"You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known. They are created now, not long ago; before today you have never heard of them, lest you should say, 'Behold, I knew them.' You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your ear has not been opened. For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously, and that from before birth you were called a rebel. "For my name's sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last." - Isaiah 48:6-12 ESV

"From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." - 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 ESV

Jacob will say, 'I have seen all this before.' but Israel is a new creature. We are new creatures. The old has passed away. If we have the privilege of standing near the stones of fire and seeing what is formed we want to have minds that befit the place and time. If we live in the purity of Eden then we must guard our heart and make sure that the pure water flows over us so our thinking does not get dusty.

Then we can also act decisively and those decisions formed in grace will glory God in Heaven.

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