3.j. ‘Give thanks to the LORD of hosts, for the LORD is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!’

Ezra 1:1  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:

“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Jeremiah 29:10   “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

Jeremiah 33:7-13    I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first.  I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me.  And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.  “Thus says the LORD: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again  the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD: “‘Give thanks to the LORD of hosts, for the LORD is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!’ For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the LORD.  “Thus says the LORD of hosts: In this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be habitations of shepherds resting their flocks.  In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the LORD.

The prophecy of Jeremiah spoke the word of God and I doubt there were many remaining in Babylon from Jerusalem who remembered or were alive at the time of capture.  Those who did listen and knew the outcome of God’s wrath upon them, and believed what Jeremiah said had to have their heartbroken.  They were able to witness this first hand and more than likely die before seeing the restoration of Jerusalem.  Some of these parents certainly spoke of Jeremiah’s prophecy to their children to give them hope, strength, and courage.  And to those who believed in what God had said, and were alive at the time of this proclamation from Cyrus, this had to be a very glorious blessing to hear and see the hand of God at work.  Can you imagine hearing this and knowing it was foretold to you.  All you had to do was believe it your eyes would be open to seeing God at work.  Obviously, there were those who did not believe and because of this did not see this as God’s doing but rather because of chance and good fortune.

When we read God’s word there are many both blessings and warnings given to us.  Promises of His hand of protection, leading, and peace.  Likewise, there are words of wrath, anger, and judgment.  Just because we might choose to not believe them does not make them less truthful.  How would our lives change if we spent time in His word and believed what we read?  Would our thoughts and actions be different?  Would we see God’s hand at work more clearly?  Would we have a more thankful heart and mind?  Would things in this world have less influence?  Would our eyes remain focused on honoring Him?  Would we consider living in light of Him?  Would we be more grateful?  Would we seek and desire to hear and see Him?

If we spend more time in His word we will certainly be starting at the right place every day.  If we seek to be led by His word we will be starting at the right place every day. It is a personal, intentional, daily choice.  We should not take this commitment lightly or the benefits from it without a grateful and thankful heart.

Oh God, open our eyes to Your word and lead us on paths that glorify and honor You.

1.z.

2 Chronicles 14:1  Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him peace. And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. And Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor.

Acts 9:31     So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Psalms 105:3-4     Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!  Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Jeremiah 29:12-14    Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.  You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

1 Peter 3:12     For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Matthew 11:28-29   Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Asa the son of Abijah followed in his father’s footsteps and stayed close to God.  He set an example for the people and held to it.  He was the King and people looked to him, followed him, and learned from him what it meant to follow after God.  We can look at this and say if we are a King or leader the expectations are different for us in the eyes of the Lord.  At the same time, we say this we then think because we are not a King or a leader the expectations on our life is not as great.  In fact, we generally think and set the expectation on our lives much much lower when it comes to visible actions, when it comes to thoughts we mull over in our head, and when it comes to what we say.  We seem to allow ourselves to land our God-honoring humble service and obedience at the lowest expectation possible and still feel “good” about our lives.

During a bible study last Friday with a small group of men we discussed what life might look like if we actually took seriously the ever and always presence of God.  Would we set our expectations low?  Would we think, act, and speak differently.  Would we seek His word more diligently and desire His presence more deeply so that our humble service would continual in greater honoring, glorifying, following, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ.  Would we actively seek and desire and expect to hear His quiet whispers of leading?  Would we take every thought captive and lay it out against His word so that we would never allow a non-God honoring thought to dwell in our mind.  Would we examine those actions we are planning on doing and compare them against the word of God so that every action was honoring Him?  Would we examine what we are going to say against His word so that we ensure it was honoring Him?

Setting low expectations leads us to allow ourselves to be neglectful in His word and complacent in its application into our very lives.  You are a child of the King, a child of God, and priests to God, and a Holy temple to the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Your expectations need to be set very high and in line with God’s Word, for the honoring of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.