Rebuilding Plan

Read: Ezra 1:
“3 Whoever is among you of all His people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, in Jerusalem; He is God.” Ezra 1:3

Examine:
God returned people of Israel to Jerusalem in three stages. Each stage had a specific purpose and was led by a specific man. Zerubbabel led the first with the charge of rebuilding the temple. The second was led by Ezra and this stage was designed to realign the people’s hearts in obedience to God. Nehemiah led the third and its objective was the rebuilding of the walls.

Apply:
Sin is destructive. There are three main things that sin destroys; my worship of God, my obedience to God, and my safety in God. That is what the Israelites were charged with rebuilding (their temple, their hearts, and their defenses) and that is what I will always find as I rebuild what sin has destroyed.

Pray:
I always want to start with rebuilding the walls of protection. When those walls come down and my life or the lives of others come under attack, the first thing I want to restore is a sense of safety and protection. “God if You will just restore peace, then I will praise You.”; I am not sure how many times I have uttered that prayer for myself or on behalf of others. But, You know my heart to well. As soon as things get better I will drift away. Because of Your knowledge of this You hold-back peace and protection until I deal with worship and obedience.

Worship is critical. It is not the singing of songs on a Sunday. Worship is all of me acknowledging all of You. It is a movement of my heart that stirs me to towards Your greatness and reminds me of the pale comparison of the world to You. It is an exchange of the best my life has to offer for the best You have to offer. It is the acceptance of You has my perfect Father, Jesus as my perfect Lord, and the Spirit as my perfect provider. It is a grand celebration of everything You are and a walking away from everything the world has to offer. It is the safety of a relationship that can never be shaken and everything in my life will be birthed, not out of my obedience to You, but out of my worship of You.

That is the place I need to land today. Obedience will come and the walls of defense and protection will be provided. I want to start today, just as I am and just as my life is, and offer You the worship You deserve. I want my worship to be untethered from my desires for a better life and the circumstances that I face. I want my worship to stay before You incessantly and for my prayers to never cease offering You praise. I open the doors of my heart wide to You today and offer it to You to do with as You desire.