“From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid.” Ezra 3:6
Our drive to have everything perfect often gets in the way of progress. Sometimes certain things just need to be left alone so that other, more important things can be done right now. Continuing to put it off will only be more of a hindrance. As they say, there is no time like the present. And this is how the returning captives from Babylon felt. They had been out of proper worship of God for quite some time. Things were not as they should be, but they were moving in the right direction. Offerings were being restored. People’s hearts were being moved to draw closer to God. The spiritual hunger was there and now was the time to do what needed to be done even if other things were not in their proper place yet.
Worship can’t wait. Drawing closer to God can’t wait. Getting hearts realigned with God can’t wait. Restoring fellowship and bringing back the service of the LORD could not wait for the foundation of the temple to be laid. It was vital for them to eventually get the building back in shape the way it needed to be, but it was even more important to deal with their hearts first. The foundation of the physical building can be laid later, but the foundation of the spiritual building needs to be laid immediately. The Apostle Paul taught us, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). This takes precedence over all else.
We all have a mountain of things to face each day and/or an extensive to-do list. And they are real things that need to be done – eventually. But what comes first? Or, should I say, who comes first? There is no substitute for showing God He has priority in your worship, in your life, and in your heart:
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” – Matthew 6:33
“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” – Proverbs 3:6
“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” – Hosea 10:12, emphasis added
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” – Hebrews 12:1, emphasis added
“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” – Psalm 46:10
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“The anointing is me is not as strong as another.”
“I can’t do this.”
“I don’t have enough to work with.”
“I am too small.”
“I don’t have someone supporting me like that.”
Have you ever struggled with the idea of you don’t have enough in you to make a difference or a positive impact? Do you feel God pulling you into an area of faith but the fear that your “little bit of stuff” is not enough and it’s holding you back?
Many people struggle with thoughts such as these. If it’s not big, it won’t work. But God never called us into big things. But, what He did do was call us to step out in faith believing in Him, in where He wants to take us.
There is to be no inferiority complex among God’s people. We are not depending on what we bring to the table. Our dependence is upon Him and what He does with what we bring. God is the one that establishes the work of our hands (Psalms 90:17). God is the one who gives the increase off of what we do (1 Corinthians 3:7). Therefore, it doesn’t matter what we think of the size of what we bring because God is the one working behind the scenes; God is the one who works in it to outsize all.
All He asks of us is to step out in faith and work with what He gave us.
“For who hath despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10). Every great tree that stands tall in the forest started from a small thing; from a seed. Your “small thing” is the seed of your gift that God is waiting for you to plant so that He can cause it to grow. An unplanted seed will not flourish and neither will your gift.
Don’t shun it because you think it’s not big enough. Don’t toss it to the side because you think it’s not good enough and doesn’t matter. It’s not about what you bring; it’s all about what He does with what you bring.
Luke 16:10 tells us, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much . . .” God wants to see what you do with the “least” before He turns it into “much.” Won’t you plant your little seed today?
Little stuff matters. If you don’t think so, take encouragement from these little critters:
“There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:
The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer,
The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;
The locusts have not king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;
The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces,” (Proverbs 30:24-28).
You see, it’s not about size or strength, but the wisdom God gives to those who render their little bit of stuff to Him in service. Size doesn’t matter to God because He is the God of increase. What matters most with God is our faithfulness in rendering what we do have to Him and trusting Him to let it grow.
“Little things make big things happen” (John Wooden).
Especially, when God is in it. So, don’t cast it off. Work it!
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Sour thoughts. Ill feelings. Have you ever struggled with these? There are days when they seem to invade your thinking. Although you don’t want them there, they seem to come unannounced. Not asking for your permission to be there, they come and tread upon the courts of your mind, disrupting your beautiful day.
When they step into your territory, what do you do? Do you let them walk around freely, unhindered? Or do you dismiss them and show them the way out?
Meandering about means they have a chance to muddy up the places marked with their footprints. In their meandering, they can bring confusion, bitterness, hurt, and pain. They can bring wrong assumptions that leave much devastation in their wake. Continuing their journey in your space unleashed can quickly tear apart what took years of love and hard work to build.
But giving them the boot frees you from these radicals that just want to stir up strife in our homes and in our lives. And the process the Apostle Paul gave us to do just that in and of itself, is not that complicated.
His advice: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).
When it is peace that we want and not things that cause bitterness and strife, we have the choice to replace those sour thoughts with something lovely and beautiful. We can make the decision within ourselves to not settle for something that puts in us and draws out of us things we do not want.
Take up these things of virtue and praise, and clothe your day in them. Choose to be purposefully mindful of that which is good, making that which is bad and sour flee before you.
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If looking at a valley of dead bones isn’t enough, then what follows would have blown my mind! God does some pretty amazing things in the Bible and this by far has to be one of my favorite stories that display His complete sovereignty and grace. It’s one thing to hear of people being brought back from the dead and it’s quite another to see the process unfold in such an extraordinary way, even if it is in a wonderful vision.
Can you imagine experiencing that moment with God, and Him asking what is supposedly a simple but not-so-simple question? “Son of man, can these bones live?” (Ez. 37:3). That question must’ve rolled through his mind, stunning him a bit. Awestruck, his response was as I believe mine would have been, “O Lord God, thou knowest” (Ez. 37:3).
At that point, I believe Ezekiel was probably starting to realize in a whole new way the magnitude of this wonderful God we serve. Looking out over the valley that he was drawn to, and seeing the waste of what was once life and trying to imagine them alive? His response was to appeal to the sovereignty of God – “You know!”
God does know, but perhaps He wants us to know that He knows. Right? It may sound confusing but God puts these questions out there to see where our belief lies. To see if we really see Him as the One who is in control of everything, including those things that appear utterly dead and beyond the hope of restoration.
I don’t know personally how it may have looked, but I can imagine the scene in my head. Going about through that place and seeing nothing but human remains here and there. I would have begun pondering all the “what’s, who’s, why’s and how’s” all this came to pass. What battle took place? Who was involved? Why did it have to come to this? How is it that there were none left to bury the dead? There before him, was a mass of unanswered questions covering a sea of death.
I wonder about that scene with the appearance of bodies upon bodies, stacked and scattered throughout. Lives were gone here and there remained nothing but death and dry bones. Nothing to cheer about, nothing to hope for if it were not for that question that came from the mouth of the Lord: “Can these bones live?”
Death in reverse? Is that what God was asking, he must have wondered? Taking an impossible act of nature and reenacting the process in rewind mode? If the question wasn’t enough, how about the command: “Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.” (Ez. 37:4). Standing reverently but in utter stupefaction, Ezekiel must have known that he was at a point of no return in his ministry. God was drawing him deeper into the process. “I don’t know about this,” may have been what most would be thinking as they did as He commanded.
What would it have been like? At the spoken command, to hear an unsettling sound. A noise permeates the atmosphere. Rattling began to disturb the quiet of the valley. In a place that knew only demise and decay would now be re-identified as something miraculous. The rattle was with purpose. It meant things were moving into their proper place. It meant brokenness was being made whole. It was the start of a brand new life where there was none before. This was incredible to not only witness but to be a part of!
After the re-attachment of limbs and other skeletal remains, the real stuff transpired. It’s one thing for bones to find their host bodies and reattach themselves. It’s quite another to witness those very bones, and the nothingness that was left, begin to take on a new life. Sinews and flesh began to re-cover the bleached, parched surfaces. All the while, Ezekiel just watches. What would you do? Like a train wreck, as horrible as it may seem you can’t tear your eyes away from it. Under it all, organs started to reform and the life supply of veins maneuvered their way throughout, spreading the possibility for more life.
But God was not done, yet. He was genuinely reversing the life process. The bodies were now formed and covered “but there was no breath in them” (Ez. 37:8). Then, God gave him a new command: “Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live” (Ez. 37:9). Ezekiel followed God’s command and said, “So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.” (Ez. 37:10). Before they stood, did they gasp at the feel of air entering their lungs once again? When they stood, did they turn to each other recognizing the “what was” and processing the “what is now?”
To see dead bones live in this fashion would have been awesome and beautiful. Think about it. God showed Ezekiel an impossible situation and did a complete turnaround and restored life where only death resided (compare to Israel’s spiritual restoration found in Ezekiel 37:11-14). It’s as if He had His finger on the hands of some big clock and purposefully began to rotate it backward. Spinning it and spinning it until all the death that once was had to let go and make room for new life to come to the forefront once again. What would it have been like to witness this vision?
Don’t you know? We may have not been bones but what remained of us of what the world stripped away was given a new command in the valley. The valley, our lowest point of life, was shaken and rattled until it stood at the command of God. Our lifelessness was renewed when His Spirit breathed in us freshness untold. Before He had a vision of us, we were surrounded by spiritual death. But then there arose potential out of nothingness. Captured by grace and loved on through His mercy, we received in us His gift of a second chance.
There are a lot of things in that particular vision of the valley that would have left me unsettled but I only had to turn to the One who was commanding the change in me and see the love in His eyes for me. I only had to look and believe as He did that, there is something alive here, there is something that can be raised up for me. We have all been in that valley. Vision or not, many have been to the place of impossibility just to see Him make it possible.
To see those bones rise to new life and live would have been awesome. But to see what He has done in us is far better. I don’t know what it would have been like there but I know what it is like here. The Bible says, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection,” (Romans 6:4-5). Because of Christ, we have received another chance to experience a new life outside of the valley. Just because it appears dead, doesn’t mean it’s so. God can raise up the most impossible of situations.
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What you feed yourself on, and what you fill your mind with will determine what you produce in your life. Fill up on the goodness of the Father. Fill up on His Word. Fill up on “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights…” (James 1:17). His ways are perfect and right. In Him, you will find everything you need to satisfy your soul.
“For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer…” Philippians 1:19
There is so much hurt going on in the body of Christ. Saints are going through trials and tribulations like never before. As the days draw to a close, a time when our Lord Jesus Christ will come back to whisk us away to glory, the enemy has been on a vehement rampage against God’s people everywhere.
Paul, when he wrote his letter to the Philippian church, knew something of hardships. He was imprisoned and put in a place of affliction and hurt. So, when he writes of the faith he has, that the saints will help pray for his deliverance, he knew what he was talking about.
There is a wonderful bond in the body of Christ that is like no other. Unity, love, and compassion mean so much to our survival that our very witness to the world depends on it. There has been, over the past few years, an awareness of how we have hurt not only one another but our witness before the world through gossiping and the tearing down of one another.
Jesus Himself said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another,” (John 13:35). Having sincere love toward another means that we would want what’s best for them. Even if it means exalting somebody higher than yourself; putting the petitions of prayer that someone else so desperately needs above your own.
We often hear the encouragement that, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much,” (James 5:16). To avail means that we have a God-given right to have the upper hand, through prayer, against any foe that would dare to rise up against one of God’s anointed ones. How are we using that advantage? Are we selfishly gleaning all the grapes off the vine of blessings for ourselves, or do we have enough Christian courage to let another feast off of your effectual, fervent prayers before you get a taste?
Paul openly admitted on several occasions how much he was dependent upon the prayers of those who had his back in ministry. Despite his supposed super saint/apostleship position, he realized that the sweet aromas of selfless petitions were being put up to God on his behalf. Because of that, he was assured that he would see deliverance.
How much care and emphasis do you really put on the body of Christ when you bow the knee to the Father? How much is that hunger in you to see the salvation of the unsaved of your family and friends being fed? Do you really believe that not only will your prayers move mountains in your life but also in the life of another? You may be their only hope, whether they are born or again or not, to draw near to God and receive deliverance.
Paul puts it best in 1 Corinthians 13:1 where he says, “Though I speak with tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” Are you just making a lot of noise when you pray or are you busting the gates of hell loose because your heart is hurting for another? It was Abraham Lincoln that was quoted as saying, “I am sorry for the man who can’t feel the whip when it is laid on the other man’s back.”
There are some “whips” being laid on others; some burdens that you can help someone else carry if only we would do as the Philippian church did and pray. Not just any prayer, but prayers that will let our brothers and sisters know assurance of seeing deliverance, too.
If you want to see true restoration in your own life, learn to put the needs of others before your own. Job 42:10 states, “The Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends.” We are to be a people who step in that place of praying for others and petitioning heaven on their behalf. It was not until Job prayed for his friends were his losses restored.
Let’s work today in hedging people in under the arc of safety, the covering of prayer, so they will finally see deliverance, too. There may be a hurting soul quietly pleading for someone to, “Please, Pray Me Through to My Deliverance.”
A shepherd boy who had been forgotten when Samuel came to call, David was treated as a “less than” by everyone who knew him the most, except God.
God, looking past his outer array saw something special in him. He instructed Samuel to, “Arise, anoint him: for this is he,” (1 Samuel 16:12). Following God’s lead, “Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward,” (1 Samuel 16:13).
Not only had he been empowered and anointed by God’s Spirit on that day, but his life has never been the same since then. Because of the anointing in his life, David experienced ups and downs; he experienced victories, and he experienced times of loss. But in the end, he is still known as one of Israel’s greatest kings; as the bloodline through whom our Lord Jesus Christ came, and as a man after God’s own heart, Acts 13:22.
What David gained, Saul lost. As David became empowered by God’s Spirit, Saul was stripped of this anointed pleasure and replaced by something evil, 1 Samuel 16:14. This made David a continual target of hatred and adversity. What started out as a relationship of love (1 Samuel 16:21) quickly turned to envy and hatred after David returned from the slaughter of the Philistines because the women of the city sang, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands,” (1 Samuel 18:7).
Saul knew he was on a downward spiral and as a bird of prey perched to claim his next victim, “Saul eyed David from that day and forward,” (1 Samuel 18:9). Even when David was sent to relieve Saul of the distressing spirit that had come upon him, his life became an endangered treasure as the javelin of hatred whisked through the air intent on taking his life, 1 Samuel 18:10-11.
The LORD was with David. The people loved David. The anointing was on David, but that didn’t mean people wouldn’t try to squash what God was trying to accomplish in his life. David was at times a fugitive, constantly on the run, but he escaped time and again in what I am attributing to the providence of God.
At one point, in a dark cave in the wilderness of En-gedi, David had the opportunity to rid himself of the provocation of Saul once and for all. Yet, David refused to come against anything or anyone who had once been anointed by God, 1 Samuel 24:6.
This did not immediately vanquish Saul’s pursuit of David. Not until Saul perished in the battle against the Philistines did David become free of this enemy who pursued his life, 1 Samuel 31.
Hear this, we may not be aligned to be a great king of Israel or the like, but the Bible tells us, “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people,” (1 Peter 2:9a). The anointing on your life makes you and me something and someone special before God.
The rest of 1 Peter 2:9 states, “That ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” Because God has poured His oil of anointing, through the power of His Holy Spirit, upon each and everyone that belongs to Him, we are designed to make a mark for Him in this world.
This anointing will bring enemies and battles, and yes, at times may seem dangerous, yet, “He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God,” (2 Corinthians 1:21). God is the one that has anointed us, and “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).
Through Jesus Christ; through the power of His Spirit in us, we have been called and blessed to walk in the power of all God designed each one of us to be. Don’t let your circumstances dictate your anointing. Don’t let the Sauls of your life pierce through what God has divinely appointed for you. David ran for his life yet God’s plan for him never faltered. He was set aside for the Master’s use, and so are we.
There will always be adversity against God’s anointing, but if God anointed you choose today to walk in all that He has blessed you to be. Your anointing may seem dangerous at times, but in the end, it is well worth it. Just ask David.
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In His heart, He saw a vision. That vision was you. In His hand, you were designed and created. You are unique and the only one who is beautifully you. A creation for His glory, you are a created masterpiece, and no worldly artist can capture the essence or create the image of all you were intended to be. God made you, you, a one-of-a-kind treasure in His hands. “Thy hands have made me and fashioned me . . .” Psalm 119:73
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What are you seeking today? Life throws a lot of hard stuff our way; some things are harder than others. The answers aren’t always that easy to find, but if you will look to God, SEEK HIM in the midst of it all, I believe He’s right there listening.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7
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