Are we able to discern what miracles come from God and which are faked by Satan? Exodus 7-8

Jesus, the source of streams of living water.

The river brings life everywhere it goes, transforming Israel into a paradisiacal garden. It brings life to even the lifeless salt waters of the Dead Sea, recalling the transformation of the dry bones in ch. 37. What is more, this unearthly river grows dramatically from small beginnings to become a mighty torrent that is impossible to cross. The exiles are to notice this and remember that the work of God often begins in small ways but culminates in grandeur.

From the Reformation Study Bible

Let those who love the Lord Jesus Christ be ashamed to play the coward, but come out and own their glorious Captain. Should not the soldier wear his red coat? Should he hide his regimentals? You would despise such a man. Is Christ then to be the leader of a troop of cowards? What are you ashamed of? Be ashamed of being ashamed, if you are ashamed of Christ. ~ Charles Spurgeon

How can the church be made salty again? Confession of sin and repentance, the pulpits to be ablaze w/a renewed hunger for the Word of God, recognition that we have been gouging ourselves with spiritual junk food, and a recommitment to walk in obedience to the Word.

What is it to walk worthy of our heavenly calling?

Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called…Ephesians 4.

What is it to walk worthy of our heavenly calling?

1. It is to walk regularly, consistently, to tread with an even foot, and to walk according to the rules and axioms of the Word. A true saint is for canonical obedience; he follows the canon of Scripture: 'As many as walk according to this canon' (Gal. 6:16).

2. To walk worthy of our calling is to walk singularly. 'Noah was upright in his generation' (Gen. 6:9; 7:1). When others walked with the devil, Noah walked with God. We are forbidden to run with the multitude (Exod. 23:2). It is better to go to heaven with a few than to hell in the crowd. We must walk on an opposite course from the men of the world.

3. To walk worthy of our calling is to walk cheerfully. Rejoice in the Lord evermore' (Phil. 4:4); too much drooping of spirit disparages our high calling and makes others suspect a godly life to be melancholy. Christ loves to see us rejoicing in him. Cheerfulness is a perfume to draw others to godliness. Religion does not banish all joy.

4. To walk worthy of our calling is to walk wisely and warily. Others watch for our halting; therefore, we must look to our standing. We must beware not only of scandals but of all that is unbecoming, lest we open the mouths of others with a fresh cry against religion.

5. To walk worthy is to walk wisely and courteously. The spirit of the gospel is full of humility and candor. Take heed of sullen, arrogant behavior. Religion does not take away civility but refines it

6. To walk worthy is to walk wisely and magnanimously. Though we must be humble, we must not be base. What is sinfully imposed ought to be zealously opposed. A brave-spirited Christian would rather suffer than let his conscience be violated. Here is the serpent and the dove united, sagacity and innocence.

7. To walk worthy of our calling is to walk influentially—to do good to others and to be rich in acts of mercy (Hebrews 13:16). As Mary poured the ointment on Christ, so by good works, we pour ointments on the head of the gospel and make it give forth a fragrant smell. Good works, though they are not causes of salvation, are evidences.

Here is a matter of consolation to you who are effectually called. God has magnified rich grace toward you. What though the sea roar, though the earth be unquiet, though the stars are shaken out of their places, you need not fear. You are called and, therefore, are sure to be crowned.

From All Good Things by Thomas Watson

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Reading through Ezekiel this month and came to those well-known passages most churchgoers can quote - I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you, etc...dry bones come alive. Plenty of sermons are preached on these. It’s the good part – the grace and mercy of God. But if the first 30+ chapters are left out (which they very often are), the good becomes just nominally good. Yeah, God is good. But plowing through the wrath and judgment of God before you get to Chap 34 makes the good phenomenally good – a drop to your knees, extraordinary, miraculous, breathtaking (and whatever adjectives you can throw in there) kind of good. Why settle for nominal when you can soak in the extraordinary? Why settle for knowing a piece of God when you can know the whole of Him? Labor through the hard parts instead of skipping to the good part. It’s worth it!

Repentance.

And how pleasing to God was this conduct in Jonah, is shown in the eventual deliverance of him from the sea and the whale. Shipmates, I do not place Jonah before you to be copied for his sin, but I do place him before you as a model for repentance. Sin not; but if you do, take heed to repent of it like Jonah.

Ezekiel 3:18-21. The prophet is to preach equally to all, and the individual's true status as righteous or wicked will be revealed by their response to his message. Whether they were previously regarded as "righteous" or "wicked," if they heed his words, they will receive life, while they will die if they ignore him. The distinguishing characteristic that leads to life rather than death is thus not previous status but present faith in the Lord's word through His prophet.

~From The Reformation Study Bible