Our lesson on Ezra...

We had Bible lesson the other day and the topic was Ezra. I've never really paid much attention to Ezra. Perhaps it had never come to life for me. But it did this time.
Ezra was an Israelite of the captivity from Babylon. The temple had already been rebuilt 60 years previously and 80 years had passed since their slow return to Jerusalem.The reigns of  Nebuchanezzar, Cyrus, Darius, Ahasuerus, and now Artaxerxes had come to pass. We have now read about Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Esther, and now Ezra. He was to go to Jerusalem to teach the people. Getting permission to go, he finally gets there and there is so much joy at seeing his people and his land. The punishment for sin had brought them into slavery and now they could begin anew. But then the princes come to Ezra with distressing news. The people had married foreign men and women.

Wasn't it the foreign women who deceived Solomon's heart and drew him away? This may not seem so distressing, I mean Israel was led captive and not many were left. Most left had gone to Egypt. But it was. They disobeyed God's command. Took in what seemed harmless with a twist of deceit to the heart. What harm would a goodly woman or man be though they be foreign?

The New Testament warns us about such things.  II Corinthians 6:11-18 tells us about such separation. A separation much more than mere physical.

"....Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? ....v.17..Wherefore, come out from among them, and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,....."

At the evening sacrifice, Ezra fell on his knees raised his hands up to the Lord. They had sinned and Ezra thought all was well. That they were off to a good start. His heart could make no excuses but only plead for mercy. All he could do was beseech the Lord for the people in humility. 

This is the heart God is looking for. The godly sorrow that it takes to reach God's heart. Our churches are full of goodly piety. Some even preach against sin.But they have or are in the process of joining themselves to foreign wives and husbands- the world. They have accepted the world and what is seen as normal. Deceived themselves into thinking they could espouse a little of what is foreign to God and that God would overlook it. That a little compromise with the world isn't so bad. Bigger churches are pleasing to God, so they think, because living out the blessings of God with no Uriah spirit is showing how good God has been instead avoiding the very appearance of evil. All a form but no heart in the matter. Or a little heart with a little form but not a complete surrender.

Oh, how Ezra must have felt! He cried ,"We are before you in our sins. We cannot stand before you because of this."  


Let us remember Ezra and reach God's heart. God is not mocked even when we allow ourselves to accept sin, harmless as it seems. He sees within us and our affections. He knows whether we are following others or following God. These are sober thoughts but we are not playing games. Heaven is not make believe and hell is real separation from a loving God. "Depart from Me, for I never knew you..." are real words that I don't want to hear said to me or my loved ones. So Ezra must be taught and will be taught from here on out. Maybe we won't forget his cries and will avoid the sin of marrying the world.

Recall Notice

A friend send this to me by email. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Recall Notice

The Maker of all human beings (GOD) is recalling all units manufactured,regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart.
This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units.
This defect has been technically termed "Sub-sequential Internal Non-Morality, " or more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarily expressed.

*Some of the symptoms include:

1. Loss of direction
2. Foul vocal emissions
3. Amnesia of origin
4. Lack of peace and joy
5. Selfish or violent behavior
6. Depression or confusion in the mental component
7. Fearfulness
8. Idolatry
9. Rebellion

The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this defect.The Repair Technician, JESUS, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs.. There is no additional fee required. The number to call for repair in all areas is: P-R-A-Y-E-R.

Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure.. Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician, Jesus, into the heart component.

No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with:

1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self control

*Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E. (Believers' Instructions Before Leaving Earth) for further details on the use of these fixes.

*WARNING:* Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded.

For free emergency service, call on Jesus.

*DANGER:* The human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped in the furnace. The SIN defect will not be permitted toenter Heaven so as to prevent contamination of that facility. Thank you foryour attention!

- GOD

P.S. Please assist where possible by notifying others of this important recall notice, and you may contact the Father any time by 'Knee mail'.Because He Lives!

Who was that pesky thief?

It seems someone has stolen my 9yr. old's bike! The children have been leaving their bikes out in the front lawn lately and yesterday when he went to go ride it before we went out, it was gone.
I know how shocked he felt. When we lived in a big city many years ago, before we had children, someone stole our van, not once-but twice! When I was a little older than my son, I had what I thought was a good friend, steal something of value from me. Turns out I found it among her things a couple weeks later.

Satan is like that. He tries to steal our joy, and he tries to steal our peace. He tries to take something that doesn't rightfully belong to him for all the wrong reasons.
Our son went looking for his bike yesterday but didn't see it anywhere. Sometimes we look for our joy but it seems no where to be found. I've always felt that if someone stole from me, perhaps they needed it more than I did. Though, that doesn't replace the wheels of a bike, van, or something of value. It does bring you to see that God knows who the pesky thief was. He knows their heart and motives. He knows the enemy of our soul, too. He knows when he is out on the prowl.

Should we hold on tight to our earthly possessions so the thief won't take any more? I think you should be a good steward of what God has given you and take care of them.(That's why the rest of the kids put their bikes in the backyard after that.) Should we fret that the enemy is getting under our skin trying to steal our joy? Scripture tells us to take our cares to Jesus who cares for us. He tells us to be still and wait on God. He reminds us that it is He who will make us strong. We are no match for the enemy, and who does he think is in charge around here anyway? Does he not know that there is not one hair on your head that falls that God doesn't know about? Scripture tells us that we know all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) So he is just a tool in the Master's hand. A tool he plans to use to sharpen our focus, strengthen our heart, and brings us closer to His care.

So next time you feel like a thief is lurking around. Take guard -and tell the Master.

By the way, after I read this to my sons, the 9yr.old reminded me that their Daddy told them it is every sparrow that falls that God knows about, and that He knows every hair on your head.
So I stand to be corrected, I think. ♥♥

Stained Handkerchief

Homemade laundry soap has not worked so well for me. I was really excited about it and went ahead and made it but I'm afraid that I'm finding a lot of stains in our clothes. Maybe I didn't do something right. I really wanted it to work for us. Maybe we wash too big a load? I doubled the amount of cups per load since it was so cheap to make, but that didn't seem to help either.

Somewhere in time I heard the illustration of sin being like a black stain on a white handkerchief. The handkerchief being the heart. I've been thinking about stains lately. Denial set in about my laundry but I've just about had it with the stains. Frank Peretti's book The Oath has also stirred a lot of thoughts within me about the handkerchief.

I guess if you had to explain the theory a little more in detail I would say that everyone gets a handkerchief the color of ecru. They all get stained but start out so faint against that background that you can't even tell at first. The owner eventually starts to notice that their handkerchief has some flaws. Some intentional and some that just couldn't be helped. Though, he or she tries to get that hanky cleaned up because the pesky stains are really getting on their nerves, it never seems to look white enough. The fact is, it never will look white on its own.
So the proprietor has only 2 choices to make. He can either keep the hanky ecru clean or just ignore the color and the deep stains set in all together. Can ecru ever look white? There is such a difference.
Of course there is the Weaver of it all that could change the color of the fabric from ecru to white, but that would require admitting that there is something very wrong with ecru. That the stains tend to blend in at first and that if you keep it free from heavy stains, you can't hardly tell how dirty it really stays.
Suppose the owner does come to the Master Weaver and He does such a thing for the helpless fellow. A new life starts out with a white handkerchief. Never again to pretend it is clean. At least not for long.
White is not a true color. It is a hue or shade of color. That is why as a white handkerchief it would show any stain clearly without it blending in. It would show for what it is. A stain would look so out of place. Surely it would make the owner uncomfortable. He would have to go to the Master Weaver with any problem in the fabric and the Master Weaver would make it clean again. If he didn't, the stains would soon set in and spread throughout the fabric to the point that it would eventually shade in most places ecru once again. The Master Weaver would see it and know. The owner would have to not care any more.

Sin is so much like this illustration. It blots our handkerchief and our minds. There is no question about the stain, the handkerchief's condition, and the Master Weaver's ability. The question that arises is which color is your handkerchief? Ecru or White?

An Allegory..about the Kingdom of Refrigerator.

Once upon a time, there was a knight ,with a skirt of course. Wasn't Joan of Arc a knight? Maybe she would have been a couple of centuries previously. This knight's name was Linda and she had been comissioned by royal proclamation(Titus 2:4-5) to:


"...they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. "

Now this knight had assignment over many of these kingdoms, and as it was, had battled many dragons. Some by herself and others with the help of her esquires, or the Handsome Knight in Shinning Armor. He always seemed to save the day. But there were many dragons still to come, some threating some of her kingdoms as we speak. Some dragons were very hard to conquer. Thus we come to the Kingdom of Refrigerator. This one was not easily defeated for the dragon of Slothfulness dwelled there and wasn't about to let her fulfill her calling.
One of the reasons that Knight Linda had such a hard time defeating this horrible monster ,specifically in this Kingdom, was because she constantly ignored it. This was a downfall on her part, and the King had noticed that His good knight needed some leading. There are times when a knight just needs to hear the truth and so this time she did. She was touched to think the King had noticed and was willing to forgive her intentional faults. So she determined in her mind ,she wasn't going to disappoint the King.
Resolved to defeat the dragon of Slothfulness, she faced the Kingdom of Refrigerator, as daunting as it was, and attacked! Early in the morning, when she knew she wouldn't have as many obstacles to turn her aside, she stabbed the dragon in the heart and saved the Kingdom!
Kingdom Refrigerator shined from the freedom that held it bound, and the King looked on in pleasure.
There was Victory for the noble knight Linda that day, and she along with her fellows rejoiced at pressing toward the mark of her high calling. She knew she would have to walk humbly before her King ,who's knights had a way of veering off from fighting the difficult dragons.

The End