So much joy in my heart---it is God, if you only knew my circumstances.
It's the end of our school year and a time of reflection.
I am so overwhelmed with what God has done in my life this year.
Col. 1:29 - What stirs in us? The Power of the Energy of Christ,
if we just let it be.
God stirred Ezra to rebuild the temple.
When they saw the foundation laid,
the people wept. Loud! Wonder why?
They loved Someone more than the blessings.
The priests and Levites, people who so desired to be holy,
they wept so hard, it was indistinguishable.
What beautiful passion if it was for God and not for themselves.
Who knows?
But I come back to the question . . .
What stirs in me today?
It's been one of the best years of my life.
And we've been stripped of quite a few things.
Stripped and filled by God.
Oh, to live like Ezra did:
"Ezra was deeply distressed by My people's compromise
more than by their troubles. His burden for holiness led to tears
of repentance and to his refusal to eat or drink as he grieved
My people's evil." 66LL
Oh, to live like that.
PRAYER FROM PSALMS
Psalm 119:136 - Rivers of waters run down mine eyes,
because they keep not thy law.
Like Ezra, may we weep for our families, our friends, ourselves.
All those who do not follow God
OVERVIEW: Ezra 1-3
I thank You Lord, that You lay a sure foundation for us and turn us from damaged vessels to restored vessels when we seek You and love You and Your ways without compromise.
ReplyDeleteThe older I get, the more I realize those tears from old men returning to God. It's a sweet reunion. A longing heart that thought it had lost that love for good returns. God revives our hearts from cold stones to burning embers, and we feel the deep mourning of losing our First Love. We hurt that we stray and broken, and we return with unfathomable joy that He is still waiting for us.
ReplyDelete"Then the voice says, 'They have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.' There they are. There *we* are - the multitude who so wanted to be faithful, who at times got defeated, soiled by life, and bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life's tribulations, but through it all clung to faith.
My friends, if this is not good news to you, you have never understood the gospel of grace.” -Brennan Manning