Date:
Tuesday,
May 19, 2015
Chapters: Ezra 7-10
Message Title: Keeping Afloat
Hello My Friend,
As Christians, when we first begin walking with Jesus we feel like we can walk on water, and we see so many blessings unfold. Then all of a sudden the devil creeps in, not too much, just a little bit, he brings up something from our past or something we long for, and we start to sink. Oh, we still serve God, but something is amiss, it pulls us down further and further, and if we do not get help, we drown. There is hope for all of us, and that hope is Jesus Christ, we must realize that Jesus is always with us, He is our life preserver, and He's not going to let us drown. So, while we may be ready to sink to the bottom, Jesus says otherwise, He will never let us go. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.” - John 10:27-29.
Ezra was born during the Jews Babylon, he wasn't aware of all the events that took place prior to their captivity. He was a descendant of Aaron, Israel's first high priest and was accepted the call to Jerusalem to bring spiritual leadership to the people. Now, that all the work had been completed we are given an account of Ezra and the people who willingly accepted the call to rebuild the temple. “This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him. And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” - Ezra 7:6-10.
You never know when the call will come to serve God, and many times He will take us out of our comfort zone to do it. Before I dedicated my life to Christ and began serving God, I was raised a Catholic, I had no idea that my entire life I was being taught wrong. It wasn't until I began reading and studying the Bible myself that I learned the truth about God, Jesus, and even the Holy Spirit. People teach what they think God is all about every day, but unless our heart is prepared to seek the Word of God, and do it, we will never know God nor do we have any right to teach others about Him. “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.” - 2 Timothy 2:11-16.
Ezra recalls his time in Babylon, having received the call from the king to assemble a group of people willing to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and city. Ezra was a little overwhelmed about the job God had given him to do, but he knew God was with Him and would guide him in the right direction. Over seventeen hundred men volunteered to go to Jerusalem, before going any further the entire team fasted and prayed to God. “And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi. Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.” - Ezra 8:15,21-23.
There is a saying, “Many hands make light work.”, and while God does call us to take that step and follow Him individually, He knows we cannot do everything ourselves, therefore, He entreats helpers. Jesus said that the faith of a mustard seed is all that is needed to move mountains. Can you imagine what it would do if several people got together with that same faith? While God can certainly give us the strength on His own to handle things, He knows our bodies are physically and mentally unable to handle everything on our own. Naturally, He is going to place people in our lives with the same faith, willing to give up their comforts to serve God when He calls them to follow the same direction. Sometimes, to get the right direction, we need prayer and fasting. “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” - Matthew 17:20,21.
When Ezra and the people arrived in Jerusalem they expected to see at least a few of the Jews who managed to escape captivity worshiping, praising God, and giving them some hope that God was there. Instead, it was just the opposite, the moral and spiritual condition in Jerusalem was terrible and it grieved Ezra to the point that he fell on his knees, and began to pray for God to forgive them all. “And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God, And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.” - Ezra 9:5-8.
Revival, is spiritual awakening, no matter how strong our faith in God, and even when we serve God on a regular basis, we need a revival. Life can drown our spirit to the point that we just float on top, struggling to keep our head above the water. God knows life wears us down, we need Him daily to keep us afloat, but even daily can be a challenge, and all it takes is a little bit of depression or guilt to put us in bondage to our circumstances. That is where the strength of Jesus comes, He is our floating device, the one and only person who can keep us afloat when we have no strength to swim. He will lighten our eyes, give us hope and a new outlook on things, He is our revival. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30. Praise God!
Today's Prayer: God, You know there have been times in my life when I sunk so deep in my past that I couldn't breathe anymore, but Your hand always pulled me back up. Thank You for loving me and not forsaking me, thank You for holding me up, even when I wanted to fall. Thank You for Your endless mercy and grace, it truly endures, and thank You for always being there for me, even when I wanted to give up. Lord, I need a revival, pour Your Spirit upon me and fill me with Your love, mercy, grace, peace, strength, and wisdom. Help me to get through this day, uplifted and encouraged, knowing that You are always with me, and have something great in store for me. In Jesus' name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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Chapters: Ezra 7-10
Message Title: Keeping Afloat
Hello My Friend,
As Christians, when we first begin walking with Jesus we feel like we can walk on water, and we see so many blessings unfold. Then all of a sudden the devil creeps in, not too much, just a little bit, he brings up something from our past or something we long for, and we start to sink. Oh, we still serve God, but something is amiss, it pulls us down further and further, and if we do not get help, we drown. There is hope for all of us, and that hope is Jesus Christ, we must realize that Jesus is always with us, He is our life preserver, and He's not going to let us drown. So, while we may be ready to sink to the bottom, Jesus says otherwise, He will never let us go. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.” - John 10:27-29.
Ezra was born during the Jews Babylon, he wasn't aware of all the events that took place prior to their captivity. He was a descendant of Aaron, Israel's first high priest and was accepted the call to Jerusalem to bring spiritual leadership to the people. Now, that all the work had been completed we are given an account of Ezra and the people who willingly accepted the call to rebuild the temple. “This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him. And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” - Ezra 7:6-10.
You never know when the call will come to serve God, and many times He will take us out of our comfort zone to do it. Before I dedicated my life to Christ and began serving God, I was raised a Catholic, I had no idea that my entire life I was being taught wrong. It wasn't until I began reading and studying the Bible myself that I learned the truth about God, Jesus, and even the Holy Spirit. People teach what they think God is all about every day, but unless our heart is prepared to seek the Word of God, and do it, we will never know God nor do we have any right to teach others about Him. “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.” - 2 Timothy 2:11-16.
Ezra recalls his time in Babylon, having received the call from the king to assemble a group of people willing to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and city. Ezra was a little overwhelmed about the job God had given him to do, but he knew God was with Him and would guide him in the right direction. Over seventeen hundred men volunteered to go to Jerusalem, before going any further the entire team fasted and prayed to God. “And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi. Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.” - Ezra 8:15,21-23.
There is a saying, “Many hands make light work.”, and while God does call us to take that step and follow Him individually, He knows we cannot do everything ourselves, therefore, He entreats helpers. Jesus said that the faith of a mustard seed is all that is needed to move mountains. Can you imagine what it would do if several people got together with that same faith? While God can certainly give us the strength on His own to handle things, He knows our bodies are physically and mentally unable to handle everything on our own. Naturally, He is going to place people in our lives with the same faith, willing to give up their comforts to serve God when He calls them to follow the same direction. Sometimes, to get the right direction, we need prayer and fasting. “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” - Matthew 17:20,21.
When Ezra and the people arrived in Jerusalem they expected to see at least a few of the Jews who managed to escape captivity worshiping, praising God, and giving them some hope that God was there. Instead, it was just the opposite, the moral and spiritual condition in Jerusalem was terrible and it grieved Ezra to the point that he fell on his knees, and began to pray for God to forgive them all. “And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God, And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.” - Ezra 9:5-8.
Revival, is spiritual awakening, no matter how strong our faith in God, and even when we serve God on a regular basis, we need a revival. Life can drown our spirit to the point that we just float on top, struggling to keep our head above the water. God knows life wears us down, we need Him daily to keep us afloat, but even daily can be a challenge, and all it takes is a little bit of depression or guilt to put us in bondage to our circumstances. That is where the strength of Jesus comes, He is our floating device, the one and only person who can keep us afloat when we have no strength to swim. He will lighten our eyes, give us hope and a new outlook on things, He is our revival. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30. Praise God!
Today's Prayer: God, You know there have been times in my life when I sunk so deep in my past that I couldn't breathe anymore, but Your hand always pulled me back up. Thank You for loving me and not forsaking me, thank You for holding me up, even when I wanted to fall. Thank You for Your endless mercy and grace, it truly endures, and thank You for always being there for me, even when I wanted to give up. Lord, I need a revival, pour Your Spirit upon me and fill me with Your love, mercy, grace, peace, strength, and wisdom. Help me to get through this day, uplifted and encouraged, knowing that You are always with me, and have something great in store for me. In Jesus' name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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