King James Bible Study Daily Devotional


Message Title: Comfort In The Rod
Date: June 01, 2011
Chapters: Ezra 1-2
Click Here to Read Them or Go to: http://imfollowingjesus.com/bible-june-1
Details of Today's Chapters: The Decree of Cyrus to restore Temple in Jerusalem, preparations for the return of the remnant, the remnant are numbered.

Hello My Friend/Guest,

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” - Psalm 23:1-4.

It is amazing to realize that out of the billions of people in the world today, all created by God, only a small remnant of them are actually children of God. Oh, many people may believe in God, but very few want to leave the comforts and prosperity of the world to accept Him into their lives. We all want to prosper and God wants us to as well, but if we truly want to prosper in all areas of our lives we need to be willing to let go of our worldly comforts and seek comfort in God. He alone can give light to the darkest trials we face, present and future.

The book of Ezra is the fifteenth book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains ten chapters. The author of the book is Ezra, the prophet and it was originally written to the Jews that were in Babylon. The purpose of the book was to record the Israelites return from exile after spending seventy years in Babylon, to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. The time line for these events are approximately 536 BC to 457 BC. What we are to learn from the book is the basic principles of repentance, returning to God and restoring our relationship with Him. “And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,” - Ezra 6:21.

Ezra is a continuation of II Chronicles 36 where it said, “To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.” - II Chronicles 36:21-23.

Now, after seventy years in Babylon, God is ready for His people to come forward and rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. During the 70-year captivity, despite appearances to the contrary, the prophets encouraged the exiles concerning their restoration and foretold that they would rebuild Jerusalem. When Cyrus began conquering the world, he did not know that the Almighty God was giving him the victories, but it was God who inspired Jeremiah to predict the exact year Cyrus would release the Jews and now that time has come.

“Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, 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, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God 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 the God,) which is in Jerusalem.” - Ezra 1:1-3.

From freedom to prison, from life to death, from peace to war, from feast to famine, God has His hand in everything everyone does. He will even allow His children to suffer through the very things that the world has to offer. Why? To get His people to put their faith and trust in Him alone in every area of their lives. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:.. I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.” - Ecclesiastes 3:1,14.

The same God that raised up the spirit of Cyrus to proclaim liberty to the Jews, raised up the Jews spirits to accept the challenge to rebuild Jerusalem. An account was kept of the families that came up out of captivity, out of the hundreds of thousands of Jews only 42,360 remained with God and were willing to head back to Jerusalem, which was still desolate and in much despair.

“Now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city;.. And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the house of the LORD which is at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in his place: They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work threescore and one thousand drams of gold, and five thousand pound of silver, and one hundred priests' garments.” - Ezra 2:1,68,69.

Not only did Jews come back, but people of many nations who were in Babylon. When we choose Jesus, no matter where we came from, we choose God and when we choose Christ above all the temptations and glorious sights of the world we become children of God. “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” - Galatians 3:26-28.

Most of the new generation of Judah had never been in Jerusalem and had no reason to leave Babylon except to rebuild the Temple in the old, ruined city of Jerusalem about 900 miles away. Only a few were willing to endure the hazardous, long and difficult four-month journey on foot, amazingly not one complaint is recorded, the first ever. Those who truly want Christ to be Lord of their lives are willing to step out of their comfort zones, maybe even go into unfamiliar territory, and follow Him where ever He leads them. “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.“ - Matthew 16:24,25.

Living for Christ is not giving up life, it's giving us life, a new life that will in fact be prosperous, one that is eternal. All who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior become dead to their sins and are reborn into a new life, one that honors God as we let go of the things we thought gave us joy and hold on to the things that truly give us joy. “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses...Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” - I Timothy 6:10-12,19.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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