Ezra 2 - Exiles Return!

What a company returning from exile!  Can you imagine the impact on the cities they moved from and to? 

I was wondering about all those people today who mark the box Christian or one of the various denominations on the various forms that ask for religious affiation.  Are they in exile?  Will they return to worship the LORD?  Now, I know someone is thinking that they can worship without the community of saints. They can sit under a tree and pray or on the golf course and thank God for the green.  Yeah, right!  Well, I don't play golf.  And... as much as I love to sit under a tree and pray, you still need the community of saints.  There is a whole Body of Christ out there.  Get connected to it!  I have said it before (multitudes of times) and I will say it again: 
     "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Rom 10:17

Please don't tell me you are a Christian, if you never take the time to hear God's word or even read it!  How do we develop relationships with friends or family members?  Maybe, by getting to know them?  It's no different for our relationship with Jesus Christ.  We get to know Jesus by hearing  about Him by others who love Him.

For those who claim membership in a church body and haven't entered that worship center in years - return from exile!  Attend worship with the congregation you haven't worshipped with in decades.  For those who do not presently have a place to worship with other saints, find one.  And... for the rest of us, we need to get busy seeking them out and help them as Cyrus helped God's people to be released from captivity.  Bring the word of God to them if they will not come to you.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Ezra 1 - Cyrus More Faithful Than Us?

We begin the book of Ezra pretty much where 2 Chronicles left off...

     "...the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
     This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

     ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them.'"  (1:1-3 NIV)

What would possess this non-Jew who had power and authority over the people of God to release them from their captivity and bless them as he sends them on their way to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem?  Scripture tells us that the LORD moved his heart.  Just as He moved others to come up against His people so that they would learn and turn to Him, He also moves the hearts of others to show grace and mercy.

Cyrus was not of Abraham's or David's lineage.  He was not a part of the promise; yet, he attributes his position over all the kingdoms over the earth to the LORD, the God of heaven.  He attributes it to the one God.  That just amazes me. 

How many of us, who claim to be followers, who claim to believe, claim all that we are and have and do, to the one God, our LORD?  In a very real sense, I think, that Cryus was more faithful than many (most?) of Abraham's children, than of David's. 

It is election year.  This may be a reminder to us that the one who claims (or others point out to be) the most Christian may not necessarily be the one whom God would have lead us.  For countries or world governments, it is not always the one whom we perceive as "Christian" who listens to the LORD's will for His people - and we are all His people.

May God bless each of us with the knowledge, the realization, of how much He has given us and help us to use those gifts to do His will, glorifying His holy name.

2 Chronicles 36 - Last Chapter - Into Exile

Some peoples never learn.  Hard-hearted, after running through their last hard-hearted kings, the Israelites are given into to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, by God, exiled to Babylon for 70 years.   One would thing the people would learn, but, no.  They ran through kings like water runs in a waterfall; yet, they would not repent.  They would not turn back to the LORD.  They lose their temple.  They lose their home.  They lose their freedom.  Into captivity they go. 

In the end, it is only by the softening of the Persian's king's heart, by God, that the people are allowed to return to rebuild the temple. 

Sometimes, it seems, we can be so hard-hearted toward the LORD, that it takes a non-believer, with a heart softened by God, to steer us back on course.  I have (and I'm sure if you think about it, you probably have, too) often been turned around by someone who worships others gods or as some would say they worship no gods.  For whatever reason or however He does it, God can use anyone to soften our hearts toward Him; to bring us back to Worship; to renew our faith.  The Holy Spirit is not limited to just work on and through Christians.  The Holy Spirit can do whatever the Holy Spirit wants.  He is God and God works in ways we can even begin to fathom.   

Well, I am back from vacation and heading to the church very soon for Bible study.  May God soften the hearts of all people (especially those who say they are Christian) so that they would study and hear His word more faithfully.