The return of God’s blessing begins with a real confession of sin - ‘our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens’ (Ezra 9:6). If God chooses to bless us, it is not because we deserve to be blessed by Him. It is because He loves us and wants more than anything else to pour out His blessing upon us. Despite all of our sin, God’s Word encourages us to believe that the Lord may yet ‘grant us a little reviving’. Pray that God will ‘grant us some reviving to set up the House of our God’ (Ezra 9:8-9). This was Ezra’s prayer. It was the prayer of ‘a very great assembly of men, women and children’ (Ezra 10:1). If prayer for revival is real, it will be much more than pulpit prayer. There will be much prayer, arising from the hearts of many people: ‘If My people pray... I will heal their land’ (2 Chronicles 7:14).
The Return Of God’s Blessing Begins With A Real Confession Of Sin.
The Christ-Centred Life Is The Truly Happy Life.
‘The Beatitudes’show us God’s way of blessing. We might also describe them as the Be Attitudes, since they show us what we are to be. Jesus teaches us that the way to happiness is the way of holiness. The only alternative to the way of holiness is the way of hypocrisy. There can be no true happiness when we are walking in the way of hypocrisy. Holiness is to take shape in our lives - the shape of Jesus Christ living in us. This is the truly happy life: the Christ-centred life. We are not to live according to present appearances. We are to live in the light of the future Reality of God's heavenly Kingdom. Some of Jesus’later statements can be viewed as an exploration of the meaning of the Beatitudes. The general principles (3-10) are to be applied personally: ‘Blessed are you...’(11-12). We are not only to read the Beatitudes. We are to live them.
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com
God Wants To Bless Us. How Much Do We Want To Be Blessed By Him?
The return of God’s people to Jerusalem was not simply a geographical return - moving from one place to another. It was a spiritual return. They were returning to the Lord. They were seeking His blessing (21). Without God’s blessing, we are nothing. We may have happy memories of better days, recalling ‘the good old days’. We may look back to times of blessing, remembering how the hand of the Lord was upon us. If this is all we have, we have nothing. We are no longer in the place of blessing. We need to return to the Lord. The times of blessing can come again. God gives us His promise: ‘The hand of our God is for good upon all that seek Him’(22). God wants to bless us. How much do we want to be blessed by Him? If the times of blessing are to return to us, we must ‘return to the Lord’(Isaiah 55:6-13).
Ezra 9:1-10:44
The return of God’s blessing begins with a real confession of sin - ‘our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens’(9:6). If God chooses to bless us, it is not because we deserve to be blessed by Him. It is because He loves us and wants more than anything else to pour out His blessing upon us. Despite all of our sin, God’s Word encourages us to believe that the Lord may yet ‘grant us a little reviving’. Pray that God will ‘grant us some reviving to set up the House of our God’(9:8-9). This was Ezra’s prayer. It was the prayer of ‘a very great assembly of men, women and children’(10:1). If prayer for revival is real, it will be much more than pulpit prayer. There will be much prayer, arising from the hearts of many people: ‘If My people pray... I will heal their land’(2 Chronicles 7:14).
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com
The Blessing Comes Down As The Worship Goes Up.
To ‘all’ of us, God gives His call. We are to ‘rebuild the House of the Lord’. To ‘all’ of us, He gives His strength: ‘Then... all those whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the House of the Lord’(1:3,5). If the work of God is to be done, every one must play their part. No one must opt out. No one must say, ‘There’s nothing for me to do’. There’s always something to do. There’s something for every one. God has so much work for us to do. We must not fail Him. He is calling you to serve Him. He will give you the strength that you need. Open your heart to Him. Surrender your life to Him. ‘Every person in every nation, in each succeeding generation, has the right to hear the news that Christ can save... Father, I am willing to dedicate to Thee, life and talent, time and money. Here am I, send me’.
Ezra 2:36-3:13
At the heart of God’s work, there is worship - ‘praising and giving thanks to the Lord’. This is our first priority. We must not forget the Lord. We must remember that ‘He is good’. We must remember that ‘His steadfast love endures for ever’(3:11). Nothing can take the place of worship. This is where serving the Lord begins. It begins with worship. Without worship, we cannot serve the Lord. He must be at the centre of everything we do. This is what serving the Lord means - keeping Him at the centre of everything you do. We look for ‘more love’, ‘more power’, more of God’s blessing in our lives. We must give ourselves - more fully and more truly - to Him: ‘I will worship You with all of my heart... with all of my mind... with all of my strength’(Songs of Fellowship, 392). The blessing will come down as the worship goes up!
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com
Thought For The Day - "The Way Of The Lord ... "
The way of the Lord leads to blessing. The way of self leads to judgment.
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This thought is taken from
Isaiah 23:1-18
'Look at the land of the Babylonians, this people that is now of no account!' (13). To the nation which turns to Him, the Lord speaks His promise of blessing - 'Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord ...' (Psalm 33:12). To the nation which turns away from Him, God speaks His warning of judgment - 'For lack of guidance a nation falls' (Proverbs 11:14). We must choose. Will we choose to listen to the Lord, to submit our lives to Him, to follow the guidance He has given to us in His Word? Or, will we ignore Him and go our own way? The way of the Lord leads to blessing - 'Righteousness exalts a nation'. The way of self leads to judgment - 'sin is a disgrace to any people' (Proverbs 14:34). What will it be? - 'Look at the Babylonians...!' or 'They will see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven' (Matthew 5:16).
Thought For The Day - "God Wants To Bless Us ... "
God wants to bless us. Let's pray, "Lord, I want You to be my salvation and my strength"
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This thought is taken from
Isaiah 29:17-30:17
'In returning and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. You said, "No!"' (15-16). God wants to bless us. He wants to be our 'salvation'. He wants to be our 'strength'. How does God bless us? How does He become our 'salvation'? How does He become our 'strength'? We must want His blessing. We must want His 'salvation'. We must want His 'strength'. We must return to Him and rest in Him. We must quietly listen to His Word, putting our trust in Him. There is no 'salvation' without 'returning and rest'. There is no 'strength' without 'quietness and trust'. God does not force Himself upon us. We can say, 'No! I will have none of it'. God wants to bless you. Will you say, 'Yes, Lord! I want You to be my 'salvation'. I want You to be my 'strength'?