First Thing
Ezra 3:10 When the builders completed the foundation of the Lord’s Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the Lord….” [emphasis added]
Ezra 3:11 With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord: “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!” Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid. 12 But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. 13 The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance. [emphasis added] Read the rest of this entry
Truth vs. Error
2 Tim.3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right”
Over the next few days, we will be learning how to go forward from the story in Ezra 3 [please read]. A couple of things led to this and we will learn a few lessons from history. After David died, Solomon became king but he did a lot of not so good things. But God was faithful and Israel broke up into two kingdoms after the death of Solomon – the northern and the southern kingdoms. Jerusalem was in the southern kingdom. The northern kingdom was given to idol worship and the Assyrians captured it. Prophets Micah and Isaiah Read the rest of this entry
Genesis
Luke 1:32 “He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.”
Our lesson on going forward today, is from the life of David. David was completely forgotten by his own family. Imagine, God sends a prophet to change the destiny of the family and David’s father does not even remember he has a son called David. It must have been a horrible experience living in that kind of household. When the state had need for soldiers, David’s brothers qualified. This means Jesse invested in their training but not in David. Instead, he was sent to look after sheep and forgotten.
Persistent Obedience
Gen.26:12 “When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the Lord blessed him.”
Our lesson today is from the life of Isaac. It is easy to look at our scripture reference today and claim the promise for yourself. But I do not think God wants us to ignore the verses that follow [please read Gen.26:12-25] because they teach us a very important lesson when it comes to going forward. It is a lesson in persistence. Isaac was persistent. God had just changed Isaac’s destiny but with his growth and multiplication, came fierce opposition.
Instrument
1 Sam.3:19 “As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable.”
Samuel encountered God and the very next day he had to take a stand for God. 1 Sam.3:15 “Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then got up and opened the doors of the Tabernacle as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said to him. 16 But Eli called out to him, “Samuel, my son.” “Here I am,” Samuel replied. 17 “What did the Lord say to you? Tell me everything. And may God strike you and even kill you if you hide anything from me!” So Samuel told Eli everything God told him; God was chastising Eli on his Read the rest of this entry
Leadership
Deut.11:18 “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 19 Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road…”
Our lesson today is from the life of Samuel, Hannah’s son. Hannah had a deal with God; He would give her a son and she will give the son back to God to serve God. And that was exactly what happened. God gave her Samuel and immediately she weaned him, she dedicated him to God and dropped him off at the temple. You can imagine how young the boy was but she actually left him in the temple with Eli. She would visit him from time to time to give him new clothes. When you dedicate your children to God, believe that Read the rest of this entry
Engage
1 Pet.3:3 “Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. 4 You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.”
1 Pet.3:5 “This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the authority…” God is just amazing! Right here in His Word, He has laid out the keys to lasting beauty. Do not get me
wrong; as a lady you must take care of yourself. But you are not to be completely focused on looking good, sounding right and smelling good. If you are not good within, all those things will not matter. Imagine buying a designer perfume, the package came with the designers seal so you have no reason to Read the rest of this entry
Vision
Ruth 1:16 “But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.”
Our next lesson is from the life of Ruth. Ruth moved forward after she encountered God. Scripture introduces Ruth as a single woman, though she had been married but was now widowed and single again. As if that was not enough, this same Ruth was in the company of bitterness. Imagine someone trusting God for a life partner or someone waiting on God for anything, hanging around bitter people. The company of bitterness has a way of amplifying an already bad situation. But God came through for her.
Rejoice!
James 2:26 [AMP] “For just as the [human] body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works [of obedience] is also dead”
1 Sam.1:17 “In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.”18 “Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.” The Bible records that Hannah’s countenance changed and this is so instructive. Just like Hannah, you and I must take action; add action to your faith. You have waited, you have fasted, you have worshiped, and you have prayed. You need to add actions to your faith. Her action was she broke Read the rest of this entry
Sorted!
Heb.10:23 “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise”.
The second Biblical example is from the life of Hannah. Hannah’s story was not just that she was married and childless, her husband was married to another woman that had children for him. So Hannah was childless in the midst of fruitfulness and was consistently ridiculed for it. The place of waiting comes with a certain level of pain that can greatly increase if the people around are not sensitive. But Hannah remained faithful to God. She could easily have focused on her pain and drifted away from God which is what a lot of Read the rest of this entry
