TIME OUT FROM CAPTIVITY

FAITH CAPSULE: “when the time of God is at hand; His hand will bring forth deliverance through any of the creation of His hand.”

Ezra 1

“Now 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…” (Ezra 1:1) When the heart is stirred, the ear will hear and obeying God will reign in the life of him whose heart is stirred. Someone’s heart has the need to be stirred for your captivity to come to an end. The heart of Cyrus, king of Persia, who was not a worshipper of the God of children of Israel, became a vessel that God used when it was time for their captivity to end. God is awesomely gracious and what He wants to do is always a done deal. When God opens a door, no man can shut it. This was the case for the children of Israel in captivity. Cyrus, the king of Persia, after a stirred heart made a proclamation, “Thus says Cyrus the King of Persia: ‘All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. 3 Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. 4 And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.’” (Ezra 1:2-4) Who else can deliver like God? When He defends, He will deliver and when He passes, He will preserve. Without any announcement or prior notice, captivity ended when God stirred the heart of a non-believer. It does not matter how long you have been grounded because when the time of God is at hand; His hand will bring forth deliverance through any of the creation of His hand. Cyrus, the king of Persia, did not just make a way out for the children of Israel; he also made provision for their need and restored back what was taken away by Nebuchadnezzar. Indeed, when the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, they were like those who dream. (Psalm 126:1) God will bring to your way one that represents Cyrus, king of Persia, and you will return and be restored. Through Cyrus, God was accomplishing His own will when He graciously delivered His people. Are you His people? God is never too late to deliver and He is also a God of the eleventh hour.

Prayer for today: Ask Him to bring back your captivity as the streams in the south.

LOOK, SEE AND TURN
FAITH CAPSULE: Without turning to God, the journey to the center of divine assignment for your life will not be turned on.

1 Samuel 17
Every man’s turning point is different from the next man’s. All that Isaiah needed to do was to see and be fully turned from what he was and become a prophet of God. The Bible records, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple…” (Isaiah 6:1) After Isaiah’s seeing, the attention switched from what he used to be and he made himself available for God. Isaiah looked; he beheld and then turned himself unto God for the calling upon his life. Are you positioning yourself well enough where the Lord is able to get your attention? King David’s turning around to the center of divine assignment did not manifest until he killed Goliath. As a shepherd boy, the youngest of his family and with no reputation, David held up the name of God reputably high before the giant Goliath of the Philistines. David was responding to his father’s command to go and see his brothers who were among the armies of Israel at the battle camp against Goliath and the Philistines. David’s response was a turning that led to not returning as a shepherd boy but rather as a giant killer and next in line as king for the people of God. The giant Goliath, as strong as he was, caused fear to hold down the armies of Israel from taking any serious charge against their enemy. The armies of Israel were under incessant insult from Goliath for forty days; morning and evening. Goliath went as far as stating, “’I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.’ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine; they were dismayed and greatly afraid.” (I Samuel 17:10-11) Goliath’s claim caused David to look and behold before turning around to face Goliath. David rejected every persuasion from his brother and King Saul to not fight Goliath. David’s turning aside was ignited when he responded, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you…” (1 Samuel 17:45-46) David did exactly what he said and Goliath was history. It was after the fall of Goliath that David turned completely from what he had become to what God wanted him to be. Are you looking and beholding what is at sight? Without turning to God, the journey to the center of His divine assignment for your life will not be turned on.

Prayer for today: Help me Lord and let me not miss where You are calling me to see and turn to my divine assignment.

THE HAND OF GOD
Ezra 8

Just as the eye of God will make you unstoppable in every area of your build up, so the hand of God will keep you going with favor in your journey. The testimony of the psalmist points out that it is the fear of God that provokes His eye to be upon His children. (Psalm 33:18) Ezra testifies, “…The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.”(Ezra 8:22) It is clear that provoking the hand of God to be upon is for those who seek His good. We seek God to serve God and God wants nothing from His creation but to serve Him. Without any doubt, God will always make good every possible way for any of creation that desires to serve Him. The children of Israel, in bondage of over four hundred years, needed to serve their God, but the condition of the house of bondage (Egypt) did not permit. Manifestly, it took the hand of God for the children of Israel to come out of bondage and set them up in the journey to their expected end. When it was time for God to bring to bring them out of bondage, God said to Moses, “But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed.” (Exodus 3:19-21) When God brought them out with His hand upon them, they did not go empty handed. By favor of the hand of God, they plundered the Egyptians. (Exodus 3:22) The same hand that brought Ezra and the children of Israel out of captivity favored them with all they needed in their journey as it is documented in the word of King Artaxerxes, “…whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, let it be done diligently.” (Ezra 7:21) Ezra and his people came out of captivity with all they needed to progress and not regress in their journey. The hand of God is an outstretch one that will not fail in moving for His children. Also in His hand, all the favor to move forward is inhabited. The same hand yesterday is the same today. God does not change, but He does have His own way of changing our situations for His glory. If you will consciously walk His Word, the Word will work for you.

Prayer for today: I ask for the same hand that answered for Ezra to answer on my behalf O Lord my God and my Father.

THE EYE OF GOD
Ezra 5

Enemy can delay, but will never be able to deny the move of God in our life. When the children of Israel began to face stiff opposition at all levels, their rebuilding project of the temple ceased. However, it did not take forever before construction resumed. The attempt of their adversaries to terminate the effort to rebuild could not prevail forever, but only delayed for a period of time. The children of Israel could not be denied because their God was over them. Indeed and in truth, He that is above is above all and none of His will can be terminated. The Word of God testified the reason why the children of Israel could not be interrupted, “But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that they could not make them cease till a report could go to Darius…” (Ezra 5:5) When the eye of God is upon you, then you become unstoppable to any force under heaven. Can you tell if the eye of God is upon you? Are you taking a conscious step that calls for God’s eye to be upon you? Gaining understanding of what it takes to have God’s eye upon you would be a help. It is written in the Book of Psalm, “Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine.” (Psalm 33:18-19) God does nothing by accident because He is a perfect God. It is clear that provoking His eye to be upon us is directly rooted in fearing Him. To fear God is to love Him; to love God is to serve Him. How much of His fear do you have in you? We do not fear God by mouth, but by the way we live in the Word of His mouth. Fearing God will not happen by determination, but by the Spirit of God. Determination failed Peter after promising not to deny Jesus three times before the cock crowed. Peter eventually went ahead to deny Jesus three times. The Word of God states, “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” (Jeremiah 32:38-40) God is the one who will put His fear in our heart. Do you desire His fear? Ask for it and He will deposit His fear in your life. With the fear God in your life, His eye will always be upon you.

Prayer for today: Lord I ask for Your fear to reign and rule my life.

ADVERSARIES
Ezra 4

The Word of God commands us, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14) Every Word of God is to be approached with seriousness. None of His Word is more serious than another, but all is to be approached with the same level of seriousness. Violating His Word of command will undoubtedly violate our world. The children of Israel while in captivity were to go back and rebuild the temple when the Lord stirred the heart of Cyrus King of Persia. The Bible records that, “when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the LORD God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, ‘Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.’” (Ezra 4:1-3) Let it be known that the adversaries did not present themselves as adversaries; it was their intention to later on be revealed as adversaries. Those adversaries wanted to join with the children of Israel in helping to build not because they loved them, but rather to tear down their attempt to build. After having been denied joining in helping to build, they began to discourage the children of Israel. It is recorded that, “…they troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.” (Ezra 4:4-5) The people of the land (the adversaries) had no good plan in their attempt to join with the children of Israel that were coming out of captivity. The point here is that if the children of Israel had agreed and became unequally yoked together with them, the building would not have been completed. In every attempt of your build up for the glory of God, your adversaries will pretend and persist, but you will respond and resist just like the children of Israel. Some adversaries persist for long, but we are to resist as long as it demands. As a believer, in your building process pay attention and be not unequally yoke just as the Word of God commands. Imagine the children of Israel coming out of captivity and ending up in an unequal yoke? Are you experiencing any agent of adversaries in your building process? Pay close attention in your building process; adversaries will pretend and persist. Be encouraged in the Word of God, resist and you shall prevail at the end.

Prayer for today: Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; defend me from those who rise up against me.