Grab some coffee and have a seat!

The kids are sleeping and quiet (what???), the coffee is brewing and you have some time to recharge. What do you do? I always have a list or things that need done. But, one thing that is at the top of the list is spending time with the Lord. Through these times of Bible study he refreshes my soul, teaches me immense truths and recharges me for the rest of the day. He uses coffee to do that too ;)

Every once in a while, I plan on letting you in on what I am learning. It is simply amazing these days. I joined a Precept study, which goes on the premise of digging very deeply in the Word in order for God to show you through your study what He wants you to learn for that day. We use deep Bible study including re-reading, word studies in the Greek and Hebrew, cross referencing and at the end of the week seek through commentaries to see what other people taught about a particular passage.

Hang on to your seat belts......we are studying some difficult Old Testament books....Ezra, Haggai, and Esther.

During the first 7 chapters of Ezra we read about the re-building of the temple in Jerusalem. The background is this. Nebuchadnezzar had captured and relocated the Jews, torn down the temple and pillaged it, taking the valuable treasures from the temple to Babylon. Isaiah had profesied over 100 years earlier that their salvation would come in a kind named Cyrus. At the time he profesied, no one would have known who Cyrus was (that in and of itself is amazing. His profecy came true because God keeps His promises!!!!) Many years later, the Jews finally made it back to Jerusalem and wanted to rebuild the temple......but they kept getting stopped! They had the foundation laid, but them the trouble began. People began intimidating them, threatening them, writing to foreign kings to write edicts to stop them etc. The first couple of times this occurred, work on the temple actually stalled. The people were living in FEAR and they stopped building the temple. But then......then some leaders of the land wrote to King Darius in hopes that he would stop the project. Their intent was to cause harm to the people of God. But, God used it for GOOD! Not only did King Darius not stop them, he gave them all the money from the treasury and all the things they needed for dedication of the temple to the Lord! The temple was then finally completed and God's promise was fulfilled!

This encourages me greatly. No matter what I am going through this day, God has made a way for me. He keeps His promises even if it appears for the time being that He has forgotten me. God has promised never to leave me or forsake me and I know that to be true.

How has God encouraged your heart this week?