During the first year [538 BC] that Cyrus was king of Persia, the Lord caused him to make an announcement.
It was written down, and Cyrus ordered that it be read throughout his kingdom.
This was done so that what the Lord
had told Jeremiah[i]
years before would now happen. This was the announcement: 2 From
King Cyrus of Persia:
The Lord, the God of heaven, gave all the
kingdoms on earth to me. And he chose me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem
in the country of Judah. 3 If any of God’s people are living
among you, I pray God will bless them. You must let them go to Jerusalem in the
country of Judah. You must let them go build the Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is
in Jerusalem. 4 And so in any place where there might be
survivors of Israel, the men in that place must support these survivors. Give
them silver, gold, animals, and other things. Give them gifts for God’s Temple
in Jerusalem.
5 So the family leaders from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin
prepared to go up to Jerusalem. They were going to Jerusalem to build the Lord’s Temple. Also everyone who God had
encouraged prepared to go to Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbors
gave them many gifts. They gave them silver, gold, animals, and other expensive
things. Their neighbors freely gave them all those things. 7 Also,
King Cyrus brought out the things that belonged in the Lord’s Temple that Nebuchadnezzar had taken away from
Jerusalem. He had put them in his temple where he kept his false gods. (Ezra 1:1-7, ERV)
Spiritual renewal requires
the use of God’s great power working accordingly to His gracious promises for
His glorious purpose (in His time)
·
Spiritual renewal for Christian’s must include God’s purposes. See Ezra
1:1-4 above.
·
Spiritual renewal for Christian’s must include God’s power. See Ezra 1:5-7
above.
Ice cold water tastes
wonderful when you are dehydrated. When
you are spiritually dehydrated from a lack of God, don’t be satisfied with a
small amount of God. Quench your spiritual thirst with the Bible, prayer, and
church.
24 Let us
think about each other and help each other to show love and do good deeds. 25 You
should not stay away from the church meetings, as some are doing. But you
should meet together and encourage each other. Do [these] even more as you see the day [Christ will come to judge all
people, and take the saved to live with Him in Heaven]? (Hebrews 10:24-25, ICB) The
church is not a brick and mortar building, but a body of believers with the
power of the gospel to impact lives. Bless the world with not being a part of
it.
Jesus continued to
say to all of them, “Any of you who want to be my follower must stop thinking
about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that
is given to you every day for following me. (Luke 9:23, ERV) We each have our individual stories to help others with because God has
made us as we are. In His timing, we must leave our comfort zones to work
towards a greater commitment to His kingdom.
20–21 He never
stopped believing God’s promise, for he was made strong in his faith to father a child. And
because he was mighty in faith and convinced that God had all the power needed
to fulfill his promises, Abraham glorified God. (Romans 4:20-21, TPT) When God calls you to a ministry, His provisions
supply the demands of His promises.
[i] (Jeremiah 29:11-14, MSG)
10-11 This is God’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up
and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring
you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take
care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. 12 “When
you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen. 13-14 “When
you come looking for me, you’ll find me. “Yes, when you get serious about
finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be
disappointed” God’s Decree. “I’ll
turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into
which I drove you”—God’s Decree—“bring you home to the place from which I sent you off
into exile. You can count on it.Inspired by the sermon “The Return: The Comeback” (installment one) Sunday September 6, 2020, Pastor Josh Boyer, CenterPoint Lewis Center. All CenterPoint churches are open in-person as of today at 10am. They will continue to meet online at facebook.com/centerpointchurches or centerpointchurches.com/live.
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| Pastor Josh Boyer |
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