“For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, ‘The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.’ So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.” – Ezra 8:22-23

When times are tough and threats are everywhere, it’s all-too-easy for the people of God to forget that our most powerful tools are fasting and prayer. As humans, those don’t seem like enough – we feel that we must do more! That’s a terrible mistake. Earthly power, cultural acceptance, physical security, and government approval all pale in comparison to the power available through boldly coming before the throne of God with our requests! Our fasting focuses our prayers and our prayers invoke the limitless power of God to address the limited challenges we encounter.

As one year ends and another dawns, there are so many challenges facing us as followers of Christ. We must proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the face of increasing skepticism. We must teach the unchanging faith of God in the face of our ever-changing culture. We must speak on behalf of the unborn and support and minister to the most vulnerable among us. We must make disciples who make disciples. We must create Christian community during a time of increasing isolation.

Sustained faithfulness and effectiveness in all these things is beyond our earthly ability! Though we would prefer dramatic displays of strength, we must instead discipline ourselves to fasting and prayer. We must learn to rely, as the early church did, not on our own resources, capabilities, and connections but upon God’s daily provision of grace and strength along with His enduring power to knock down strongholds and open closed doors.

“One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.” – Psalm 145:4

God has always had one primary plan for preserving the faith across the centuries: personal sharing from one generation to the next. Churches, organizations, institutions, and schools certainly have an important role to play. However, the most fundamental structures God created to preserve and advance the faith are personal relationships.

Each generation is called to pass their faith on to the next. Parents telling children the great stories of the Bible and their own personal experiences of God’s greatness and faithfulness. Grandparents giving testimony to God’s work in their lives and their ongoing relationship with Christ. Older believers nurturing the faith of younger relatives, neighbors, and students.

If you’re a follower of Christ with younger people in your personal sphere of influence, then you have a responsibility! You don’t have to be a highly trained pastor or Bible teacher. You just need to be willing to speak of God’s greatness, kindness, mercy, love, holiness, and righteousness in your own life. What has God done for you personally? You should be eager to share what Christ did for you on the cross and encourage the next generation to receive those benefits for themselves by faith.

Who in your life needs to hear about the mighty acts of God?

“Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build.” – Ezra 4:4

If you stop to think about it, this is a profoundly sad statement. God had moved the spirit of the mightiest king on earth to send the Jewish exiles home to Israel to rebuild the temple. God had overseen their safe travel back and provided for the work. Nonetheless, when the locals got upset, the people of God became afraid to do what God had commanded and provided for them to do. They forgot everything God was doing in their midst and focused on the opposition in front of them. Fear defeated faith.

Sad as this is, this isn’t an isolated incident in the history of God’s people. Nor is it merely a relic of the past. When God commands us to act, it’s still normal for there to be opposition. In fact, if there were no opposition, we should probably make sure we’re actually in God’s will!

That said, when the opposition comes (and it will), how will you react as a follower of Christ? Will you live in fear? Will you be discouraged from doing what God has called you to do? No!

We must not let the discouragement of friends, family, neighbors, opponents, or strangers keep us from doing the work God has prepared for us. We must be diligent in sharing the Gospel, ministering to those in need, and advancing God’s Kingdom here on earth. Don’t let people discourage you from actively following Jesus every single day!

“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, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:” – Ezra 1:1

There’s been an awful lot of angst-filled hand-wringing about leaders this year, hasn’t there? That’s certainly quite natural. However, desperation, anger, hatred, and fear about earthly leaders isn’t appropriate for Christians! Such an attitude misunderstands and even insults God’s power and sovereignty. Too many Christians act like functional atheists in believing that God needs help or that Christ or the church needs earthly protection.

God has always been completely clear: He alone makes nations rise and fall. He alone appoints leaders, both good and evil. He is 100% in control of history and uses even ungodly pagans like Cyrus to accomplish the things He promised and willed to do.

Christian, don’t put your love and hope in any earthly leader. Ever. Trust in God alone. Don’t compromise your Christian witness because of your dislike of any earthly leader. Be Christ toward that leader, toward those who disagree with you, and toward those who agree with you.

The world isn’t going to end because of some earthly leader. God is just as much in control today as He has always been. You do what Christ has commanded you to do. Let God take care of the rest!

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” – Revelation 7:9-10

What a glorious picture of the family of God, gathered together in heaven before God and Jesus! Can you imagine it? Try, right now. Picture countless millions or billions of people from every nation, every race, every ethnic group, every language gathered together to praise and worship!

It’s a glorious image reminding us of one of the wondrous truths of the Christian faith: that we are united by Christ in us. In Christ, all the labels and categories the world would use to divide us become irrelevant. We are new creation in Christ, one family, one people, one Spirit in us. In Christ, what unites us is infinitely greater than what divides us! We are the body of Christ in all the beauty of our many God-given colors.

So how do we live like this here on earth? How do we bring this aspect of heaven into our lives today? Christians have often done a very poor job at this but we need to do it. How do we earnestly live like every single person of every single skin color is beautifully and wonderfully made in God’s image?

How do we live in a manner that isn’t blind to the many colors God has given us and that doesn’t disparage, diminish, or mistreat others or ourselves because of skin color. How do we genuinely celebrate God’s diverse creation while whole-heartedly embracing our brothers and sisters of every color, every language, every citizenship, and every heritage? What step will you take to live this wondrous aspect of God’s Kingdom here today and every day?