Reliance – Worship And Obey The Lord
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Now, and the first year of Cyrus King of Persia, is that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all of his kingdom. And also put it in writing saying, thus says, Cyrus King of Persia, all the kingdoms of the earth, the Lord, God of heaven has given me. And he has commanded me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah, who is among you of all his people, may his gone be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah and build the house of the Lord, God of Israel. He is a God, which is in Jerusalem and whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let them, men of his place help him with silver and gold with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God, which is in Jerusalem.
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Then the heads of the father’s houses of Judah and Benjamin and the priests in the Levi’s with all whose spirits, God had moved arose to go up and build the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem. And all of those who are around them, encourage them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered. So the priest in the Levi’s or some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the Nephilim dwelt in their cities and all Israel in their cities. And when the seventh month had come and the children of Israel we’re in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem, and then Joshua, the son of Jozadak and his brothers and the priests.
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And it’s a rebel, the son of
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Although the foundation of the temple of the Lord and not been laid Jesus, we worship you. We bless you. And we praise you for your word, for your encouragement, for your strength, for your faithfulness, for your victory, for your salvation, for your mercy, for your grace, for your justice, and for the peace that you give us, that passes all understanding, okay, Lord God, open our hearts and open our eyes this day so that we would have the discernment that we need to Worship you in spirit and in truth to praise, see you in all circumstances to understand the times that we are living in to perceive our calling our duties and our responsibilities, and to obey your perfect will show us what we need to see in your word in jesus’ name.
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Amen. These passages that I read Worship of Ezra chapters, one, two, and three, as I was reading through this and the course of my devotionals, Ezra chapter three, verse three, stood out to me as though I had never read it before, even though I had, but what the Holy spirit quickened to me as I was looking through these verses is the idea of the situation that these people were in verse three and chapter three in the book of Ezra reads though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries.
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They set the alter on its bases and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening burnt offerings. And what I don’t think I had fully internalized because the word of the Lord is alive, right? The Holy spirit will Quicken portions of it to you, right? When you need it is the interesting point that this is the initial stage of restoring the proper Worship of the one, true God that is being done without a formal foundation, without a full institutional foundation.
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And it is being done either. And though the people of God are in fear of them, the surrounding environment. Think about the situation and ask the Holy spirit to show you what the parallels are to today, too. What the body of Christ is walking through right now, the people of Israel had gone into captivity. They had turned away from God in all respects from the top of the government on down. And as a result, they were brought into captivity in a foreign land where they lived for some time.
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And then a new ruler came into power, a new place. The kingdom came into power and then a new ruler came into power. And that new ruler declared that the people of God had an opportunity to go back to their promised land and to reestablish the Worship of the one, true God, they go back, but they find themselves in occupied territory. They are where they’re supposed to be in a place that the Lord has set aside for them, but they are surrounded on all sides by enemies.
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And they are fearful of these enemies. But despite that fear, they begin to worship the Lord. They’re not waiting for the temple to be rebuilt in order to begin to praise the Lord’s name, they are not waiting for their enemies to be defeated and thrown out of the lands. They are not even waiting for their fear to subside. They are worshiping and for the perceptive among them, there are always good reasons to worship.
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It is clear. It should be clear to them that the Lord had ordained this. They were coming out of captivity. They were coming out of exile. They were returning to a place where their Worship could be conducted in its proper fashion. And what do we see today? We see a time of upheaval. We see a time of revealing. We see a time where the people of God in this nation have been given an opportunity to worship, to praise and to serve the Lord.
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But we have been asked to do so in what in many instances is enemy territory. And there is tremendous fear in the people of God, from the threats that are surrounding them. We can certainly say today that fear had come upon the people of God, because of the people of those countries. When the wicked, a ruling, the people mourn. And we also see a scenario where the institutional foundation is non-existent.
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It is something that needs to be rebuilt. Rededicated, reconstructed, everything had grown corrupt, and it crumbled because the corrupt cannot stand permanently. It always undermines itself because it is built on a foundation of lies. But going back to this component of fear, the moral of what I took away immediately from this is the importance of worshiping God.
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In all circumstances, the importance of having the discernment to understand what is of God and what is not, and the willingness and the faith to praise and worship the Lord, regardless of what we see with our eyes, regardless of what we feel emotionally, regardless of the position that we are in. I remember frequently a concept from a sermon from David Wilkerson, a tremendous men of God who exclaimed that the Lord has looking for a people to praise him on the near side of the red sea.
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He’s looking for people who know who he is and who will praise him even in advance of a miraculous deliverance. When everything seems impossible, even when a situation is fearful, even when a situation is not just challenging, but seemingly insurmountable, the people who returned to Jerusalem obviously were motivated. But you can imagine in a group of tens of thousands, that there would have been many different voices in that group. Even people who wanted to get out of captivity, who would look around at the situation and judging by their eyes and their rationality and the scenario on the ground would say, what are we doing here?
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We can’t defend ourselves. We’re going to be overrun. These people are our enemies and dangerous, and they are being brazen and bold in their opposition. They are not interested in any way of going along and getting along. There is no potential unification. Here. There is a hard and fast split that has made enemies of these people groups. So we don’t have the power to overcome them. So what are we even doing here? Shouldn’t we be preparing fortifications.
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Shouldn’t we be defending shouldn’t we be doing all these things. Why are we spending this time, dedicating ourselves to setting up Worship when the time tempo hasn’t been created, why don’t we reestablish the temple first? And then we’ll get around to this and you have to defend ourselves. We have to have these practical strategies. Otherwise we’re going to be overrun. And that’s even the RA the rational side. There will probably still others, people whose fear had gripped them so much that they were incapable of thinking about anything else.
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Fear has a strong grip. It is a powerful tool or a weapon capable of imprisoning. Even the strong, even the mighty or even the faithful should we succumb to it? And so at a time, when many are experiencing fear, because of this sensation of finding yourself behind enemy lines, so to speak, what does the word of God prescribed as the solution? Well, clearly here from Ezra, the solution is even as you seek to rebuild the foundation of the structure of a formal Worship of the Lord, even at all reform is sought and rebuilding a new efforts.
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Where do you begin? You begin by worshiping and obeying the Lord. If you were fearful Worship And Obey The Lord if you’re a bold and courageous Worship And Obey The Lord if you feel like you have no direction, Worship And Obey The Lord if you feel like there’s nothing that can be done. Worship And Obey The Lord if you feel like victory, which is inevitable because of the power of God Worship and Obey the Lord. If you’re ready to stand and ready to oppose the forces of spiritual darkness, Worship no Bay.
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The Lord. If you are seeing more clearly now the distinction between good and evil Worship and obey the Lord. If your fear all about the election and the proclamations that have come along with it. Worship Obey the Lord. If you were a kid and frustrated and impatient at the way, things are going Worship and Obey the Lord. If you were the bold and dedicated to remaining steadfast Worship And Obey The Lord. If you have to do dedicated yourself to prayer and fasting and you still waiting for a breakthrough Worship And Obey The Lord if you have, I have a clear calling from God, but you’re waiting for the right door to open Worship And Obey The if you are on the brink and your family is in tatters Worship And Obey The Lord if you do not know him or your faith is flagging Worship And Obey The Lord.
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If you have been clinging tightly to the Lord, Jesus, through all of this Worship And Obey The Lord. If you are living and breathing in the Lord has granted you another day Worship and praise. And Obey the Lord. If you, my fellow brother or sister in Christ have taken your eyes off of eternity. Worship And Obey The Lord. If you have taken your eyes off of your responsibility to occupy until he comes here in this life, Worship And, Obey The Lord there is, but one solution, the power of God there is, but one response that we must have, regardless of the situation that we are in, in this moment, and it is the response that the Israelites and Ezra’s day made, they worshiped and they obeyed the Lord and the doors were opened.
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The temple was restored. The enemies were defeated. Victory was had because of the power of God, because of the goodness of God, because of the faithfulness of God, because of the righteousness of God. And because the people of the Lord had decided simply to Worship and to obey that is the call on each of our lives. In this moment, there is nothing more, there is nothing less. The Lord will show you what it means to Worship and Obey, but that is the posture we need to have.
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There are so many who are caught up in so many different complications and challenges, but there is a God who sees all who knows all who wants to deliver, who deserves a harvest. And if you are in a situation where you are fearful Worship And Obey The Lord do you see what the Lord can do in this generation? Has the Holy spirit giving you the discernment to understand what victory looks like?
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Have you come to grips with the nature of evil? And have you thought about the magnitude of the power of moving in the opposite direction? What would happen in this land? If corruption was removed, if freedom was restored, if righteousness based on the righteousness of Christ became preeminent, what would happen if all of the poison were drawn out of our systems, what would happen if the people of God became unencumbered, unshackled, what would happen if the power of God comes down in a mighty deliverance, what could be accomplished for the sake of his kingdom?
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What if we simply Worship And Obey The Lord and refuse to be taken captive by the fear that is projected at us constantly, we are in a situation where we must choose this day, whom we will serve as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I pray that you will join us in worshiping and obeying Jesus Christ in this critical moment, Lord, to help us, help us to understand the gravity and the eternal consequences of the moment that we are in Jesus.
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You are incredible almighty. And we pray Lord that you would give us a posture of humility with an understanding that we can do all things ’cause you, Jesus strengthen us, but you are ruling and reigning the King of Kings in the Lord of Lords high and lifted up. And that the people of this world we’ll have a chance to see you for who you are. What I pray that my children will grow up in a country where it is safe and where they are free to worship you in spirit and in truth.
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And we commit Lord to worshiping you in spirit and in truth, regardless of the surrounding situation, regardless of the circumstances, but Lord work powerful, mighty miracles. In this time, raise up your people, send forth laborers into your harvest, speak to all of those who are fearful and show them the way forward. We trust you. Lord, our faith is not misplaced our faith and your power and your forgiveness and your blood Jesus. And in your righteousness is not misplaced. Our exclusive Reliance on your cross.
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And your resurrection is not misplaced. You are God, and you are God alone. And we love you. And you have loved us transform our hearts Lord and transform our minds. Give us the grace in the faith and the strength that we need to even on the near side of the red sea. Even if we are surrounded, even if we are fearful, give us the spiritual resources that we need to worship you and to obey you, Jesus, you are worthy of it.
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We give you all the praise, all the glory, all the honor for what you have done and for what you are about to do in Jesus name. Amen.
