Corona Devo 1114

Just who do you think you are, and who gave you permission? 

What right do you have to preach the Bible and call it "truth"?

Why are you "rocking the boat" and "ruffling feathers" and "making waves" about Jesus?  

Everyone knows that keeping the status quo means "playing it safe" and not speaking up or out about God.  "Fitting in" means blending in and not sticking-out in belief or faith.

Just who do you think you are, and who gave you permission to live-out-loud for the Lord and to rebuild His "Temple" today?

“This was their answer: 'We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the Temple that was built here many years ago'... ~Ezra 5:11

If you are basing your life on the Truth of the Bible and preaching God's Word by example and maybe even with words...keep building His Temple today!

There's going to be opposition.  There's going to be delays, red tape, and even downright evil.  But God's Temple and Kingdom can only be built by His people, and it will only be furthered by His footmen and footwomen.  

So, just who do we think we are?  "We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the Temple that was built here many years ago"... ~Ezra 5:11

There have always been people and institutions attempting to stand in the way and delay the progress of God's Kingdom and His "Temple".  There's nothing new happening today that didn't already occur yesterday.  But God has always made a way, and may we be among those willing to stand for the furthering of God's Kingdom (Temple) here on earth.

~~~

At that time the prophets Haggai and Zechariah...prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem. They prophesied in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. 

(2) Zerubbabel... and Jeshua... responded by starting again to rebuild the Temple of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them and helped them.  

(3) But Tattenai, governor...and...their colleagues soon arrived in Jerusalem and asked, “Who gave you permission to rebuild this Temple and restore this structure?” 

(4) They also asked for the names of all the men working on the Temple. 

(5) But because their God was watching over them, the leaders of the Jews were not prevented from building until a report was sent to Darius and he returned his decision.  

(6) This is a copy of the letter that...the governor...and the other officials...sent to King Darius:  

(7) “To King Darius. Greetings.  (8) “The king should know that we went to the construction site of the Temple of the great God in the province of Judah. It is being rebuilt with specially prepared stones, and timber is being laid in its walls. The work is going forward with great energy and success.  

(9) “We asked the leaders, ‘Who gave you permission to rebuild this Temple and restore this structure?’ (10) And we demanded their names so that we could tell you who the leaders were.  

(11) “This was their answer: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the Temple that was built here many years ago by a great king of Israel...

(17) “Therefore, if it pleases the king, we request that a search be made in the royal archives of Babylon to discover whether King Cyrus ever issued a decree to rebuild God’s Temple in Jerusalem. And then let the king send us his decision in this matter.”  ~Ezra 5:1-9, 11, 17

And do you know what the king found when he searched the archives?  He found that the followers-of-God weren't doing anything wrong, illegal, or disruptive.  In fact, “In the first year of King Cyrus’s reign, a decree was sent out concerning the Temple of God at Jerusalem.  “Let the Temple be rebuilt on the site where Jews used to offer their sacrifices, using the original foundations...  (4) ... All expenses will be paid by the royal treasury." (Ezra 6:3-4).  

That news was not what King Darius was expecting to find in the royal history books, and it was absolutely not what the officials who were trying to stand in the way of God's people were expecting to find.  They did not find dissenters.  They did not find radicals.  They did not find rebel-rousers: they found servants.

"We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the Temple that was built here many years ago"... ~Ezra 5:11

~~~

So...just who do you think you are, and who gave you permission to live-out-loud for the Lord and to rebuild His "Temple" today?

We're just nobodies, trying to everybody all about Somebody that saved our soul! (Casting Crowns song: "Nobody".)  

Who do we think we are?  We are God's sons and daughters (His words, not ours).  And who gave us permission?  

Jesus!  He told us to tell others about Him and to follow Him, which is (in modern "spiritual" terms): rebuilding His Temple. 

 And Jesus came and said to them...(19) "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you".  ~Matthew 8:18-20

Who gave us permission to live-for-the-Lord and to invite as many people as we can to join us along the way?

The Lord!  Yahweh!  God the Father.  God the Son.  God the Holy Spirit.  

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;  ~I Peter 2:9

~~~

So King Darius sent this message: “Now therefore...governor... and...your colleagues and other officials...—stay away from there! (7) Do not disturb the construction of the Temple of God. Let it be rebuilt on its original site, and do not hinder the governor of Judah and the elders of the Jews in their work.  ~Ezra 6:6-7

~~~

So--ask us one more time today: "Who gave you permission to rebuild this Temple..."?  

(11) “This was their answer: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the Temple...  (Ezra 5:10-11).

We sure are.  

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com