Temple reconstruction begins today
Grand Sweep Daily Reading: Ezra 1, 2, 3
Ezra 1:1-4 (NIV)
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and put it in writing:
2 “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 at Judah.
3 Anyone of His people among you – may His God be with Him, and let Him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.
4 And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide Him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.”
Good morning!
Temple reconstruction is hard, hard work. Whenever we try to tackle a job that seems impossible to the human eye, it is always good to have a leader at the helm with a vision that is larger than life. Thank God for King Cyrus of Persia. After seventy years in captivity, the Israelites from Judah were given their freedom to return home. The King had a vision and a plan to rebuild the temple of God in Jerusalem. This would be no easy feat. Cyrus knew that the power of God supersedes any human effort or plan of action. When the Lord of life moves your heart to step out in faith and tackle what seems to be an insurmountable task, there is absolutely nothing that will be impossible for you to achieve through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in your life.
King Cyrus was not a Jew and yet, God gave Him a vision and the resources to help make the temple reconstruction become a reality. He freed the remnant, gave them His personal protection, and returned their temple articles taken by Nebuchadnezzar. Sometimes, when we least expect it, God can choose to use anyone He wants to bring people into relationship with Him. He might even choose you! If the Lord of life called you today to step out in faith for Him, would you go?
The Israelites had become arrogant and complacent in their love for the Lord. God allowed them to endure a season of captivity; a time of reflection to experience what it is like to live life apart from His master plan and protective umbrella of grace. Have you ever been in a place of separation from God? We sometimes become so self-assured that we begin to pull the reigns back from our Lord. We choose to do things the way that we would want to do them, rather than taking time to listen and obey God’s plan and purpose for our life. We move out of alignment, and find ourselves in wandering around in a wilderness.
This morning, there will be many from our United Methodist Churches across Missouri who will come together in a place of community. We will join our hands and hearts to worship, praise and fellowship in the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a place where we set our separate ministries aside and renew our covenant to walk together faithfully as the body of Christ. Our purpose is sure. We are here to fulfill the Great Commission of our Lord, to reach out to all the nations and make disciples for Jesus Christ. We are rebuilding the temple of the redeemed. It is our covenant, our joy and privilege to serve Him with our lives. We bring our unique gifting and offer them upon His altar today. When I think about what we are doing, there are moments when the task seems way out of our reach. The good news is that we have a Bishop with a vision! He tells us that if we hold hands and boost each other up, we can reach every person for the Lord. It won’t be easy, but it is possible when we humble our hearts and place our lives in the open arms of Jesus Christ.
If you believe that God has called you to step out in faith for Him, do not let your inability to see the big picture keep you from taking that first step. Are you ready to get out of the boat? Find a leader with a true vision and follow Him. There is no greater leader than my Jesus. He willingly came to earth to show us how much He loves us all. He set the bar on loving sinful people, while freeing us from the sin that separates us from Him. It is His blood that covers you and me, and with the power of the Holy Spirit, we can take the resurrection message to every nation. We can reach the world for Jesus!
It’s time to begin temple reconstruction. Today is the day. We have a leader with a vision. We have our Lord who saves, redeems and equips us each one of us to answer His call. We have each other to hold onto. What are we waiting for? It’s time to go!
Grace and peace,
Deb Spaulding
www.songofdeborah.com
Pray for: a willing heart to serve the Lord every day, in every way. He calls each of us to spread the Gospel, the Good News of salvation, so that every heart may hear and know the Lord who saves us all by grace. Won’t you take my hand today and walk with me? We have the best leader in the world to look to. He is right here with us today, and He will be with us always, even to the end of the age.
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© Copyright 2007, Deb Spaulding
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