God will protect our work . . .

. . . and our families, too.
We can trust Him to do this.
And we honor Him when we do.
Let's look again at chapter eight of Ezra, OK?

I think it might have been interesting to have been one of the oxen yoked to a cart, observing the group camped by the canal . . .
Ezra: "Well, we have our worship leaders and our temple helpers now, so it's almost time to leave. Y'all need to be packing up and making snacks for the trip tomorrow."
People: "What?"
             "Aren't we going to have an escort?"
             "Yeah, you mean we will leave when the armed guards are here,
               right, Ezra?"
Ezra: "Uh, no."
The Bible doesn't show us any of that. I'd kinda like to know how Ezra broke the news to them! And I'd like to know if once they heard the news, they had any comments? (Grin)

Here's how it would have gone in today's world:
Ezra: "Well, we have our worship leaders and our temple helpers, now, so it's almost time to leave. Y'all need to be packing up and making snacks for the trip tomorrow. We won't be waiting for an armed guard, but setting out alone at dawn."
People:  "Not me! I didn't sign up for this!"
              "I'm bailing out! You're crazy!"
              "As the chairman of the relocation committee, I must protest. Sister
               Hepzibah tells me that her family relations were attacked by robbers
               near here!"
              "As chairman of the finance committee, I must warn you for your
                own sake, Ezra, we must not go without guards! We have silver
                and gold for the temple!"
              "Ezra, are you nuts? Our worship teams aren't used to this!"
              "It's suicide, that's what it is!"

And so on, and so on . . . .
But apparently, no one protested.
Maybe this is why:

There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer. (Ezra 8:21-23)

We're not sure how, but apparently God gave Ezra peace about this. They humbled themselves and fasted, and they prayed for a safe journey.  Ezra felt strongly about this because he had assured the king that they'd be safe -- that the hand of their God was "on everyone who looks to Him," and because of that, they'd not be needing a military escort.
Robbers?
No worries.
Wild animals?
No problem.
He had great faith in God that He would deliver them, their children, and their possessions from the enemy and any ambushes along the way.
And he was right! Look at verse 31:

  On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way.  (v 31)           

When we study in Nehemiah, we will see that he accepted the king's protection for his trip. We will also see that there's nothing there to say that he was lacking in faith to do so. Some people will ask, when is it wrong to use human means - in addition to trusting our God?

Probably the best thing to do is to trust God while thankfully employing the means that He does provide for us. Here's what this means: we pray for safe travels while we fasten our seat belt (and drive carefully!). We pray for His healing, but we take the medicine that the doctor suggested for us. I think that God expects us to use the means that He provides, along with trusting and having faith in Him. Does that make sense?

I guess what people worry about, and indeed, what we must guard against, is that sometimes using what's available to us by human means can lead us away from trust in the Lord. Or, it can be a poor witness to unbelievers. I think this is why Ezra rejected the king's soldiers for escort duty. He wanted to witness, even in this way, to the pagan king.
Oftentimes, people will make their needs known only to the Lord in prayer. They feel strongly that they are honoring God by demonstrating this faith in Him to meet their needs. Others reveal their needs to people around them, all the while trusting God to make a way for things to be resolved - either by His mighty hand, or by the help of other believers. I don't think there is a "right" or "wrong" here - just a reminder that we must make certain we are seeking to honor God, and that we are putting our trust in Him. He can choose the way to solve the problems!

I believe that this portion of the eighth chapter of Ezra is highlighting for us the need to recognize there will be enemies along our path; there will even be ambushes along our way. As believers who are seeking to do the work of Him Who saved us, we desperately need His "hand upon us" to protect us. Why?  The enemy is seeking not only to destroy our work for the Lord, but to destroy our families....our children....our "children" in the faith. He will do this by tearing apart families, by estranging children and parents, by toppling our leaders, and by slandering our testimonies. 

Knowing that Satan is prowling about, we must humble ourselves and seek the protection that God promises. God will bless our work for Him, and will protect our work and our families when we honor Him with our faith and trust.

God-honoring work

Yesterday, we mentioned that it's important to "roll up our sleeves" and work for the Lord. Today, let's start to look at how we can honor God with our work. Ezra is going to be our example here, as we look at chapter 8 of the book bearing his name.
Ezra stepped out in faith here, both in his organization of the leaders and people who were willing to make this journey, and in his determination to make the trip without an armed escort. Ezra actually had thousands of people who were putting their faith on the line with him, by venturing out into a desert infested with robbers and animals - with no protection. Usually a caravan of this sort would enjoy the protection of an armed guard. It was one thing to ask the king's permission to lead a group of people back to Jerusalem. It was quite another to actually convince volunteers to the difficult task. Once again, a group of people was facing giving up the comfort of what they knew - what was familiar - and making the move to an uncertain future in Israel.

Let's take the chapter a bit out of order, shall we? The first portion is a list of names that made more sense to me once I read the second portion. (Grin) Ezra had no small task in trying to organize a pilgrimage of (what turned out to be) around five thousand people. This included women and children. And they were facing a trek of about nine hundred miles across that desert we mentioned before!
Can we use our imaginations? What would we feel like if we were contemplating a trip of that magnitude. Oh, and forget about riding a camel or donkey or horse -- no campers or RV's, either. Just your feet. A pack on your back, or your goods on a cart pulled by oxen if you were fortunate. Dry. Dusty. Tiring. Dangerous.
This group actually started out on the first day of the first month, back in chapter seven. But they paused for three days at a canal, and took stock of their situation. Ezra was dismayed to realize that there were no Levites present in the group. Why was this a problem?  If we recall from our previous studies, these were they who were descendants of Levi. There were divisions of duties: the high priest, the ordinary priests, and the Levites who cared for the service of the sanctuary.

Ezra's problem was that Levites were needed to free up the priests to do their work. And perhaps that was part of the problem - maybe no Levites had joined the caravan because they not only knew it was a hard trip, but they knew they'd have the "low man on the totem pole" tasks to do. But in spite of the lack of "glamor" in their tasks, these men were essential to the people's worship of God.

What was Ezra to do? He honored God by trusting Him to raise up godly and qualified leaders (and ordinary people, too) for the work. Let's see what happened: he selected nine men (two of whom were called "teachers" and sent them to talk to Iddo, the leader of a nearby group of Levi's descendants. And he briefed them on what to say . . .

 So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of learning, ¹⁷ and I ordered them to go to Iddo, the leader in Kasiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his fellow Levites, the temple servants in Kasiphia, so that they might bring attendants to us for the house of our God. (Ezra 8:16-17)

Now let's see what kind of results these men had; did they have good success? Were they persuasive?

¹⁸ Because the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah, a capable man, from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah’s sons and brothers, 18 in all; ¹⁹ and Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and nephews, 20 in all. ²⁰ They also brought 220 of the temple servants—a body that David and the officials had established to assist the Levites. All were registered by name. (v 18-20)

They were blessed by the Lord to bring back thirty-eight men, and over two hundred temple servants were convinced to accompany the returning exiles. These families had very short notice to pack up and go!
It's inspiring to see Ezra's response. He was an humble man, and was grateful for the men who joined the journey "because of the gracious hand of our God upon us."  He obviously recognized that God had put it in the hearts of His people to be willing to serve, even if the tasks were not flashy or glamorous.

Even today, God's work requires workers as well as leaders.  Too many leaders? Not enough workers? Too many workers? All of the parts of the body of Christ are valuable and necessary. If we are believers in Christ, we are part of His body, the church. We have a ministry, whether it's a leadership role or a worker role -- all are important. Every part of the body of Christ is significant!

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.  (Romans 12:4-6a)

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13)

I expect that we all will easily agree on that one. This next one? You may not agree with me, but I believe (and we've studied it before) that the top level leaders in the Lord's work should be men. (Yeah, I know, hopelessly old-fashioned and all of that.)  Here in Ezra, the list numbers the men and calls them the heads of the households. Ezra knew the structure of society in his day; he knew that if he directed the appeal to the heads of the families, they would bring their family groups with them. Kinda different from what some churches want to do today - they will send the buses out after the kiddos and overlook the husbands and dads who truly need what the church has to offer!
I base my opinion on several familiar verses: I Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1. And also on Ephesians 5, where husbands are to be the heads of their families.
Now, let's get one thing straight.
This does NOT mean that in the church, the deacons or elders lord it over or patronize the women of the congregation. It does NOT mean that women are second class. It does NOT mean that husbands can bark orders to their wives and children.
Instead, men should be servants as Christ set an example for them. They should be self-sacrificing, and utilize the Bible to learn their true roles:

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: ² Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; ³ not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the Chief  Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.⁵ In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, (I Peter 1:1-5a)

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. (Ephesians 5:25-28)

Leadership that honors God? That means elders who are accountable to the Lord for how they direct the church. That means husbands who will answer to God for the spiritual direction of their families.

When we keep these principles in mind, we can trust God to raise up godly leaders as Ezra did. (And He will bring people for the work, as well.) We will, when we work and honor God, find leaders who are godly in character, and who are also qualified by gifts and by training. Look back at the men that Ezra sent to recruit leaders and workers: they were called "leaders" and "men of learning." One of the men who answered the Lord's call was called a "man of insight." Ezra wasn't threatened by these guys -- he was grateful that the Lord had called out godly, qualified workers.
In the same way, our churches need godly leaders, qualified for the office of pastor or elder or deacon, both by their gifts and their training.  When we read in I Timothy and again in Titus, we read of mainly character traits, except for the one "able to teach," which assumes both a gift for teaching and the training to be effective.  No man will constantly, perfectly match all of those high standards in those verses, but at the same time, we need to make certain that we don't elevate leaders who glaringly, hugely lack any of those qualities.
God will bless work that honors Him. He will raise up godly leaders and workers, too.

Rollin' up our sleeves

Roll up your sleeves and get to work!
It's an old saying, but an apt one.
To get ready to do something intense, or difficult, or demanding.
We roll up our shirt sleeves so that the cuffs don't get dirty as we work.

In the last two weeks, we looked at our lives and studied how God would bless a LIFE.
This time, we will study how God will bless our WORK.

We'll be focusing on the eighth chapter of Ezra, so I hope that you will take some time to prayerfully read it, in preparation for our study.
It's a lengthy chapter . . .
This chapter gives the account of a journey.

The first fourteen verses tell the names of the heads of households that made the journey.
The remainder of the chapter gives the account of their trip.

About five thousand people, including women and children, traveled from Babylon to Jerusalem.
It's interesting to see that the phrase we saw several times in the previous chapter, "the hand of our God," occurs three times in this chapter, too!
Let's pull those out and look at them:

Because the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah, a capable man, from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah’s sons and brothers, 18 in all;  (v 18)

I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.”  (v 22)

On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way.  (v 31)

Honoring God is the over-arching theme of the chapter. First, as he assembled the people, Ezra realized that they needed priests to go with them - worship is important. He took care of that problem right away so that God would be honored by worship.
Second, God was honored in the faith Ezra showed. He didn't accept an armed escort for the trip because he'd already told the king that God would protect them.
Thirdly, Ezra honored God with his honesty - a strict accounting of the resources they were transporting to Jerusalem.

We will delve into the story much more deeply in the coming days. For now, please read it and reflect on it, and we'll dive in next time!

Friday slowdown

In the morning I will rise up Shed the darkness And bathe in Your light And I recount all Every blessing The words You’ve spoken That bring me new life I am reminded from where You have brought me And where You have placed me for today I won’t forget that Your hand will hold me Your love sustains me through the wait I will wait on You, Lord I will wait on You, Lord Oh the burdens That I’ve carried They are heavy Oh too heavy to hold There’s a river There’s a sunrise There’s a new day And it’s bringing new life Bless the Lord, oh my soul And all that is within me I will rise in His love I’ll shout of what He’s doing I won’t forget All of Your mercy All of Your grace That is poured out on me

Your turn to speak!

Today, I would like for us to "brainstorm" some questions . . . I appreciate the discussions we've had recently and hope we can have more. I know that many of us are on the go, and so busy that we barely have time to read the study posts, much less brainstorm and leave comments! But I think the Lord can bless us all if we take a few minutes to share our thoughts - something we say may be just what someone else needed to hear!

What are your thoughts on "God's hand of blessing"? Is it selfish to seek His blessing?

What are some ways that we can glorify Him for His blessings and mercy?

Just like in the life of Jacob, what we do for God has nothing to do with our own strengths and capabilities. It has everything to do with our seeking His mercy and His power to do His will!

I hope you will take a moment to think on these questions and leave your thoughts for us.

Me? A teacher? Ezra 7, continued

The result of God's blessings as we study and obey His Word, and as we tell others of what we've learned, should be that we glorify God.  In a previous post, we noted that the incredible letter from King Artaxerxes detailed so much, above and beyond what Ezra could have hoped for, and now we see his response:

Praise be to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who has put it into the king’s heart to bring honor to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem in this way 28 and who has extended his good favor to me before the king and his advisers and all the king’s powerful officials. Because the hand of the Lord my God was on me, I took courage and gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me. (Ezra 7:27-28)

There's that phrase again . . . the hand of the Lord was upon Ezra.
He didn't take credit for the time that he'd spent in study; he didn't ask for pats on the back because he devoted himself to study of the scriptures. He didn't brag about how brave he was to making his bold request to the king, nor about how eloquently he talked, or how smoothly he persuaded him.
Nope.
He gave all the credit to God, for His abundant mercy.
This is a ringing affirmation of his faith and his desire to glorify God for that mercy.

You see, any good that pops up in anyone's heart - believer or non-believer (like the heart of a pagan king) - comes from God. And He deserves all of the glory!  Like Ezra, our first instinct should be to raise our voice and thank Him, praising Him for the blessing of serving Him.
When God blesses us, our appropriate response should be to bless God for His abundant mercy - He sees fit to use such imperfect people as we are!
Wait a minute . . . that's important. Let's examine that a little deeper, OK?
When we look at the gospels, we see God using imperfect people, no? I mean, why in the world did Jesus choose the individuals that He did?  Perhaps it was to pinpoint the fact that they would be able to rise above their flaws and their mistakes -- because of His power.
After all, He didn't say, "Follow me" to the popular people. Nor to the rich or the successful. Can you imagine how the Pharisees looked down their noses at the team our Savior pulled together? (Grin)
It didn't matter what towns people were from; it didn't matter what they did to make their living; it didn't matter if people looked up to them or down at them; what mattered was that Jesus was going to use them for the good of His kingdom, and to reach others with the gospel.

Even if you look at the Old Testament, you see that God chose some interesting characters to move His purposes forward -- some of them were in extremely difficult times of their lives, too:
     
            Abraham -- was very old
            Joseph -- was abused
            Elijah -- was suicidal
            Job -- went bankrupt
            Moses -- had a speech problem
            Gideon -- was paralyzed by fear
            Samson -- was a rogue with ladies
            Rahab -- was a prostitute
            Noah -- was a drunk
            Jeremiah -- was very young
            Jacob -- was a cheat and a deceiver
            David -- was a murderer and adulterer
            Jonah -- ran from God
            Naomi -- was a woman, and also a widow

In the New Testament, the Samaritan woman was a divorcee; Martha was a worrywort; Peter denied Jesus three times; Zaccheus was greedy; the disciples fell asleep during prayer; and Paul persecuted and killed Christians! (Many thanks to Jarrid Wilson for the illustrative list.)

If we ever feel unworthy, we should remember all of the flawed people that God has used to share hope to this world. He knew them. He called them.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)          

No matter what our obstacles are, the same power that made it possible for Jesus to conquer the grave lives within us! Of course we have flaws -- but He is Almighty!

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. (Titus 3:5-8)

To finish our lesson for today, let's go back to the list up there and look closely at one of the characters there: Jacob. There are many places in the Bible where God is known as the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and so on. I think it's pretty special that He is pleased also to be known as the God of Jacob. (You can check out Psalm 46 if you have time.)
Jacob was a man with "a ton" of shortcomings. His checkered past included his conniving his brother out of the birthright. Instead of pleading with God, he bargained with Him! Again, I am running long today, but you can check out Genesis 28 if you have the time to open your Bible there.)
After many years of trying to out-maneuver the wily Laban, he returned to the homeland full of fear about what his brother Esau might do to him. The night before Jacob was to meet him, the Lord met him and wrestled with him - Jacob walked with a limp the rest of his life from that encounter.
Before dawn, the angel of God said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking."
Here is the answer Jacob gave: "I will not let you go unless you bless me." (Genesis 32)

The Lord did bless Jacob, the deceitful, the conniver, by changing his name to Israel -- meaning one who has wrestled with God and prevailed. The greatness of Jacob had nothing to do with any strengths or abilities he had on his own. The greatness he experienced in the remainder of his life was due to God's hand of blessing resting on Jacob.

I don't know about you, but I'm inspired. I want to join Jacob and pray, "God, I won't let You go until You bless me." I want to make it possible for Him to bless me, by studying and obeying His Word. I want to take those studies and pass along what I learn to others. And I want to give all the glory to Him!

Prayer requests

Today, I would like to allow us all a chance to leave comments with prayer requests, and to assure others that we are contending for them as prayer warriors . . .

Hear my voice when I call, Lord;    be merciful to me and answer me.
 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”    Your face, Lord, I will seek. (Psalm 27:7-8)

These verses inspired my thoughts recently and I wanted to share them with you.

Perhaps people are over-dramatic sometimes, but we often hear them say, "We are living in perilous times." Perhaps each generation has looked around themselves and said that.  In our world, today, we have turmoil over elections, radical terrorism, and natural disasters like Hurricane Dorian. Volcanoes have recently erupted, earthquakes shake our earth. I believe that the earth is showing the pangs of rebirth; the evidences of the Lord's coming again are getting stronger.
I think that as prayer warriors, we need to ask for and to contend for His presence. The Bible tells us that He is looking throughout the earth for those who are praying and seeking His face:

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. (II Chronicles 16:9a)

Let's look at our own lives and evaluate our time spent with the Lord each day.
Are our hearts totally His?
Sometimes we are not aware of where we are in our spiritual lives. We are "too busy" to appropriate what is available to us. We've talked recently about putting the blessing of God on our lives as a top priority....if our hearts are not seeking God, we are settling for lesser things. We can tap into His power and His presence, for we are heirs with Christ.
Wait a minute.
Let's say that again, because it is not something we should read quickly, or take for granted.
We can tap into His power and His presence, for we are heirs with Christ.
He wants to take us deeper into His presence, to show His power and salvation to everyone that we come in contact with! He is a God of compassion:

The Lord is gracious and righteous;    our God is full of compassion. (Psalm 116:5)

He is the answer to all of our problems and our pain. He is longing to take the pain and brokenness of the peoples of this world, and show the light of Jesus into their souls:

The people walking in darkness    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness    a light has dawned.
You have enlarged the nation    and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you    as people rejoice at the harvest, (Isaiah 9:2-3)

It's His presence that can stir hearts and break down barriers. He can bring strident voices to be stilled, and intolerance can turn to understanding.
How can they hear?
God is looking for us to partner with Him. We can speak words of hope and restoration; we can pray for His help and encouragement in the midst of these turbulent times. We can pray as the psalmist did, in the verse posted at the top of this page -- we can seek His face.
We can cultivate His presence in our lives.
We can contend for our neighbors, our country's leaders, and others, in our prayers.
We can repent of any distractions or idols in our own lives, and ask for Him to "set us on fire" for Him.
We can ask for forgiveness of our sins and be a clean vessel, carrying salt and light to our world.

As the gospel spreads, we can pray that His mercy and power would change our country:

 I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. 9 Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it. (Jeremiah 33:8-9)

Will you join me in prayer today?
Will you seek His face?
Are there prayer requests that we can add today, and all of the prayer warriors who pause here can lift up the requests to Him?
Let's worship Him in prayer, and wait to hear His voice.