“After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, ‘The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.’” – Ezra 9:1

Throughout history, God’s people have been called to set themselves apart in devotion to the Lord. This command not to join into sinful activities simply because they are popular, pleasurable, cultural, or traditional is a call to holiness. To be holy is literally to be “set apart” and devoted to God. That looks somewhat different today because followers of Jesus aren’t under the Old Testament Law. We’re made holy not by our actions but by the cleansing work of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is what makes all who believe in Him holy in the eyes of God.

Nonetheless, we’re still called to pursue holiness in our lives. As Christians, we’re commanded to live and pursue that holiness every day of our lives. We’re called to imitate Jesus Who was perfectly holy. We’re to be in the world but not of the world which is a call to holiness in the way we conduct every aspect of our lives: worship, work, school, play, family, friendship, and everything else. Followers of Jesus should be making friends with, working with, and caring for those who don’t know Jesus, without ever embracing the unbiblical behaviors, values, norms, and expectations of those who haven’t yet been adopted as children of a most holy God.

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem.” – Ezra 7:27

It’s way too easy to think in terms of what’s “impossible”. Ezra’s story is a great reminder that with God, nothing is impossible. Logically, it would seem impossible that a powerful pagan king would care in the slightest about the spiritual condition of a conquered people. Yet, because the spiritual condition of God’s people is always important to God Himself, the Lord moved the king of Persia to action.

The king directed Ezra to go and teach God’s Law to God’s people. The king directed that large sums of money be given for the renewal of God’s Temple. The king directed that God’s work be done for the purposes of God’s kingdom. Can anyone honestly believe that a pagan king just happened to come up with that idea? Absolutely not!

God can work through the powers of the world to accomplish His purposes, even when the situation seems impossible. God can work through people who don’t know Him to accomplish His purposes. There’s no reason for the people of God to ever despair that the work of God is “impossible”. There’s simply no such category as “impossible” when we’re talking about our Living God!

Whatever is going on and whatever obstacles you may face to the work of God’s Kingdom, don’t give up! Pray. Seek the Lord. Trust the Lord. Teach His Word. Do His work. Advance His Kingdom.

“For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” – Ezra 7:10

Ezra had a unique task in Israel. God’s temple had just been rebuilt when God appointed Ezra the task of rebuilding His people. God’s people had returned home, but they didn’t know how to be His people. They were happy to be back in the land but they didn’t know how to be faithful, how to grow, or how to serve and please the Lord. So God sent Ezra to rebuild His people.

How did Ezra rebuild the people of God? Through the Word of God. Ezra “set his heart” – he committed himself through and through – to three simple things.

First, he committed to diligently studying the Bible for himself. Successfully building up the people of God isn’t the result of personal charisma, unique communication skills, or special effects though those things may help. The long term building up of God’s people must be rooted in leaders and teachers deeply committed to personal study of God’s Word.

Second, Ezra committed himself to personally doing what the Bible said to do. Building up God’s people cannot be done in a hypocritical or abstract manner. Those called to build up the people of God must order their lives in deep obedience to God’s Word. They must lead by example and teach from experience.

Third, Ezra committed his entire life to teaching the Bible. He probably could have taught other leadership techniques and skills, how to win friends, or to influence people, but he didn’t. The hard work of building up God’s people must always be done first and foremost through the teaching and application of God’s Word. There is no substitute or shortcut. Offer nothing less and accept nothing less!

“Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!”
– Psalm 144:15

Everyone has a god. Everyone worships something. We were made to worship and we all do. Everyone has something that reigns supreme in their heart. Sometimes people recognize this and sometimes people are completely blind to it. Sometimes people think their god is one thing, but it’s really something else that dominates their thoughts and lives.

Some call their god by the name central to their faith. Some claim they believe in no god, calling that which rules their hearts names like reason, self, independence, science, morality, ethics, money, fame, sex, status, pleasure, or power. Everyone has a god. Many of those gods are cruel, terrible, exhausting, and disappointing. Blessed are those whose God is the Lord.

Blessed are those whose God is YHWH, Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the Creator of the Universe. He is supreme in knowledge, wisdom, and power. He is ever-present, all good, and perfectly holy, righteous, and just. He is merciful and gracious, patient, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. He rules the universe and counts the hairs on each head. He loves you and desires to be in a meaningful relationship with you. He made such a relationship possible through faith in His Son Jesus. Believe in Him and enjoy the blessings of having the Lord be your God.

“Lord, part your heavens and come down.” – Psalm 144:5a

God answered this fervent prayer of King David. We call that answer Christmas. The miracle of Christmas is that God the Son, the eternal God of the Universe took on a human body and nature and was born in Bethlehem to a virgin over 2000 years ago. As John’s gospel explains in chapter 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.” Here John testifies to his own personal experiences with Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God.

God parted the heavens and came down. He came down in humility, born as a fragile human baby laid to sleep in a food trough for animals. God came down to experience the trials, temptations, frailties, joys, and sorrows of human life for Himself. God came down to live a life without sin, to die a sacrificial death in our place for our sins, and to rise from death in triumph over sin and death. God the Son came down at Christmas and changed the course of all creation, offering eternal life to all who believe in Him. No matter what happens in this troubled world, we can trust God, because He’s already parted the heavens and come down for us!