“I’m blessed with everything I need. I am working hard
towards everything I want. And most of all, I appreciate, and thank God for
what I have.” (WomenWorking.com)
Ezra 7:1-10, 27-28, VOICE
More than 50 years had passed since the temple was completed by the first
group of exiles, and Artaxerxes I was ruling Persia. Ezra (son of
Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, 2 son of Shallum, son
of Zadok, son of Ahitub, 3 son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son
of Meraioth, 4 son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, 5 son
of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest)— 6 this
Ezra traveled from Babylon to make a
request of the king. Ezra was a scribe, a scholar of the law of Moses
that the Eternal God of Israel had given, who had the support of the Eternal
God; so the king granted all his requests 7 that more Jews
(including laypeople, priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple
servants) be allowed to return
to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes’ reign.
8-9 On the first day of the first month of Artaxerxes’ seventh year as king,
Ezra traveled from Babylon and arrived in Jerusalem on the first of the fifth
month. Ezra’s exodus from this foreign
empire was successful because he was supported by his True God. 10 He
was a second Moses, and
tenaciously studied, practiced, and taught the Eternal’s law to Israel.
Ezra: 27 Eternal God of our
ancestors, may You be blessed by the
praises of Your people for motivating the king to fill and beautify the
Eternal’s temple in Jerusalem. 28 You have blessed me with Your
loyal love and strengthened me with Your motivation as I stood before the king and his cabinet and his princes. Because of You I was able to convince
the elders of Israel to accompany me back
to Jerusalem.
Ezra 8:15-20, 21-23, 31-32, VOICE
15 I gathered everyone together on the banks of the river to
Ahava, and we camped there for 3 days. As I reviewed the people and the
priests, I noticed that no Levites had joined our group. 16 I
sent 9 tribal leaders (Eliezer,
Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam)
and 2 teachers (Joiarib and
Elnathan) 17 to Iddo, the tribal leader in Casiphia, with
instructions for Iddo, his coworkers, and the temple servants in Casiphia to
bring ministers to join our caravan
and work in the True God’s temple. 18 Just as the True
God intended, they brought Sherebiah and 17 of his sons and brothers, all of
whom were descendants of Mahli (son of Levi, son of Israel); 19 Hashabiah
and Jeshaiah and 18 of their sons and brothers, all of whom were descendants of
Merari; 20 and 220 temple servants, a position David and the
princes had created to serve the Levites, who are listed.
21 I declared that the whole caravan should
fast by the river of Ahava, humbling ourselves before our True God and asking
for a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and our possessions. 22 We needed His protection more than ever
since I had been ashamed to ask the king for a military escort of
soldiers and horses on our journey after telling him, “Our True God takes care
of anyone who follows Him, but He uses His power and anger against anyone who
abandons Him.” 23 We knew fasting and following our True God would ensure that He helped us travel
safely to Jerusalem—and He did. 31 We left the banks of the
Ahava River on the 12th day of the 1st month. On our 4-month journey to Jerusalem, the True God did indeed protect
us—He saved us from any enemies or skirmishes along our journey. 32 Once
we reached Jerusalem, we rested 3 days.
We are truly blessed with all the
modern-day conveniences we have. We are not lucky, nor do we deserve what we
have. God’s gracious hand is upon us, and all we can do is say “thank you” to
our heavenly Father.
If you don’t feel blessed, consider…
·
Counting your blessings-Bless the Lord, my soul; and do not forget all his gifts. (Psalm 103:2, NABRE)
·
Seeking God’s blessings- When you pray for things, you don’t get them because
you want them for the wrong reason—for your own pleasure. (James 4:3, GW)
What correlation is there between God’s blessing you, and you’re
searching for it? God blesses you with all the…
·
Resources you need as you obey His commands-(See Ezra 7:1-10, 27-28 above) Loving me empowers you to obey my commands. (John
14:15, TPT)
·
Support you need as God’s
people are gathered together- (See Ezra 7:28, 8:15-20 above) We should not stop gathering together with other believers,
as some of you are doing. Instead, we must continue to encourage each other
even more as we see the day of the Lord coming. (Hebrews 10:25, GW)
·
Protection you need as you seek God in prayer-(See Ezra 8:21-23, 31-32 above) God’s name is a place of protection—good people can run
there and be safe. (Proverbs 18:10, MSG)
Where God guides, He provides. It’s
time to trust His promises.
Friendship is one of the greatest
blessings God has given us. Friendship is a two-way street. To have friends,
you must make the effort to be friendly to others. It’s time to step out in
faith to connect with someone else.
In
the midst of a fallen world, where things are not quite as they appear; you can depend on
the promise of Romans
10:13(NTE): All who call upon the
name of the Lord, you see, will be saved. [i]
[i] Inspired by the
sermon “Resources: The Comeback” (installment five) Sunday October 4,
2020, Pastor Dave Jansen (CPG). All CenterPoint churches are open
in-person at 10am. They will continue to meet online at
facebook.com/centerpointchurches or centerpointchurches.com/live.
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