Latest / Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms / #183. Ezra 1-6 + Psalm 137 | They Obeyed God… So Why Did Everything Get Hard?

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#183. Ezra 1-6 + Psalm 137 | They Obeyed God… So Why Did Everything Get Hard? · Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms

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  This is The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.
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  I'm Stephanie Hickox.
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  I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a win for the nation of Israel.
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  Thankfully, in the Book of Ezra, though we will continue to see persecution and obstacles, God's mercy and favor is undeniable.
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  Today we're covering Ezra chapters one through six and Psalm one thirty-seven biblical scholars attribute the Book of Ezra to be written by Ezra, but it might surprise you that we're not going to encounter his name until chapter seven
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  Initially, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were a combined narrative and together they cover a hundred and five-year time period, including the rule of five different Persian kings The theme of Ezra is the restoration of the covenant to
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  God's people.
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  And as these exiles return back to Jerusalem, Ezra chronicles the reestablishment of their identity.
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  What does it look like for these people to be in exile for seventy years and then return to rebuild their homeland?
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  It hasn't been vacant, and there have been other people there How are those people going to receive them back?
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  well, if Ezra isn't, introduced till chapter seven, who will be our main characters?
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  Let's take a look at chapter one to find out.
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  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
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  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 a house
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  at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
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  Whoever 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 rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel.
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  He is the God who is in Jerusalem.
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  And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.
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  Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem.
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  And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered.
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  Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods.
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  Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of Mithredath, the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.
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  And this was the number of them: thirty basins of gold, one thousand basins of silver, twenty-nine censers, thirty bowls of gold, four hundred ten bowls of silver, and one thousand other vessels.
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  All the vessels of gold, and of silver Were five thousand four hundred.
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  All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.
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  I'll work backwards as we talk through this chapter.
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  As a reminder, these elements of the temple were taken by Nebuchadnezzar and brought into Babylon, and then blasphemously used by Belshazzar the night he died Instead of leaving them in that large banquet hall, they have been carefully collected,
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  preserved, and even inventoried so that the items of the temple stayed together.
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  Twice it says that Cyrus brought them out.
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  Was he so zealous for his project that he was actually doing some of this himself?
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  I'm not sure, but I like that thought But do you notice how the Ark of the Covenant Is not mentioned in this list.
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  It's mysteriously absent here And we'll just have to keep reading to find out if it ever reappears in scripture this idea of God's people going back to the Promised Land with 5,400 pieces of gold and silver in their
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  hands, I just love it they had the items that were stolen from the temple, but also the people were giving them gifts to go back with.
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  Does it remind you of the Israelites leaving Egypt with their silver and gold before the Exodus?
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  The providence of the Lord to ordain nations and kings and peoples to bless His people monetarily is amazing, and it didn't stop then.
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  Have you had an experience in your life where you needed an insurance company or an organization help you, and you saw the favor of God work on your behalf?
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  Maybe you're in a situation right now where you need them to Do you believe that God can move in the hearts of people who do not even acknowledge Him as their Lord?
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  He can and he does Let's go back to the beginning now.
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  I've not hidden the fact that I am enamored with the way that God worked in the heart of Cyrus.
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  he's fascinating to learn about There's a legend that says his grandfather had a dream that one day Cyrus would overtake his throne.
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  His grandfather acted like Snow White's wicked stepmother and sent this young child away to be killed by one of his soldiers.
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  The soldier had compassion and didn't follow through with it, instead entrusting Cyrus to the care of a shepherd.
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  When Cyrus grew older, they discovered his identity, and he was restored to a place of authority.
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  We can't confirm if this is a legend or if it actually happened, but if it did, can you picture how God would have used that to soften Cyrus's heart for the meek and the lowly people such as shepherds?
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  And then perhaps to have compassion on the Israelites that were shepherds for hundreds of years and served a God who called Himself the shepherd of His sheep.
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  I know I'm speculating about some of these things, but we can confirm that Cyrus read some of the prophecies about him in Isaiah and Jeremiah.
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  Remember, Isaiah wrote a hundred and fifty years before Cyrus came on the scene, and Jeremiah over a generation before.
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  Who had the honor of revealing these prophecies to Cyrus?
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  My best hypothesis is that it was Daniel.
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  and the historian Josephus records an account of this occurring Daniel had clear knowledge of the scriptures, and he also had access to the throne.
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  Honestly, this is one of those moments in history that when I get to heaven, I would love to ask God if I could take a peek of the prophecies being revealed to Cyrus Scripture clearly says that it was
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  the Lord who stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, and this is absolutely archaeologically verified.
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  In the Cyrus Cylinder, which chronicles the return of the Jews.
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  Cyrus's humanitarian efforts continue as he tells the Jews that anyone who wants to go home can go Verse five told us that God's Spirit was also moving in the people to encourage them to go home I'm sure some
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  were wrestling with the decision.
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  They had spent 70 years in a new location, and the journey was about 500 miles.
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  Daniel himself was too advanced in years to return to the Promised Land But just who would have the honor of leadership?
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  someone who is in the kingly line of David was chosen, not to reign as king, but more so to be a governor over the people.
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  The last three kings of Judah were not honorable But Zerubbabel is.
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  He's the grandson of Jehoiachin, Chapter two gives us the lineage of those returning home.
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  You might not be fascinated to read about these 50,000 exiles and their names that committed to making the trek, but this list was crucial for the reestablishment of the nation and certainly the continuing of the Levitical line.
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  Chapter three reveals that Jeshua was serving as the head priest and he is the grandson of one of the former head priests and this is why genealogies matter.
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  Zerubbabel join together and build an altar to the Lord to offer burnt offerings And many bring free will offerings.
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  They set up contracts with masons and carpenters, and of course they'll need those cedar trees from Lebanon 3:7 reminds us that all of this is being done according to a grant from Cyrus, the king of Persia God has
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  provided for the task.
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  It's a small detail, but there's a phrase that stands out to me in 3:8.
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  In the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, The son of Jozadak made a beginning together with the rest of their kinsmen.
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  They made a beginning.
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  Sometimes you just have to start somewhere.
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  I can't imagine how overwhelming this task was.
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  It's exhausting enough to come home after a vacation and think about unpacking your suitcases and doing all of the laundry.
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  Imagine being absent from your city for 70 years Where does one begin?
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  Well, with the guidance of the Lord, they made a beginning.
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  They appointed priests and Levites, and they laid a foundation for the temple.
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  Some of the word choices Ezra uses really strike me.
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  As they lay the foundation and are worshiping and praising God's faithfulness, verse 11 says, "And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord."
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  They echo the psalmist, For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever."
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  It probably doesn't surprise you, but I tend to be pretty responsive in my worship style, and I've been praying about how to best guide some of my kids that have a more stoic demeanor in their worship of the
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  Lord.
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  I know it's all about the heart and not the outward appearance, but I'm gonna be including this verse in our prayer at the end As the foundation is being laid and the people are worshiping Many are rejoicing at
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  this new beginning, but there are also many sobbing as they remember the former glory of Solomon's Temple Now, they would have to be quite elderly at this point if they both remember Solomon's temple and they were in exile
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  for 70 years.
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  Certainly it's possible that they were brought to Babylon During the second or third wave?
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  But the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology says that the biblical account of Solomon's temple would make it arguably the most impressive structure ever built, that just the amount of gold in it would equal three hundred billion in today's
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  dollars Though Cyrus has agreed to foot the bill for this rebuilding project, it is going to pale in comparison this combination of worshiping and weeping is so loud that from far away the people can't tell what emotion is
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  coming out of there.
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  It's all blending together In chapter four, Zerubbabel says something that might strike you as pretty offensive, but I tend to think he's legit.
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  Hear me out.
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  There's resistance from the enemies of Israel.
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  Many of these included the Samaritans.
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  these are people not taken away to Babylon and included many people that were imported in and then the former Israelites married them, and these people were known for their syncretistic worship.
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  It means they worshiped Yahweh and other gods.
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  And what was one of the main reasons that the Jewish people were taken into exile?
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  Because of their idolatry when Zerubbabel says to them, "You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God, but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the King
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  of Persia, has commanded us," I think he's saying, "Hey, we're not even gonna chance it.
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  We are not aligning ourselves with you and your idolatrous ways They're wanting to stay on the straight and narrow as they rededicate themselves to the Word of God.
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  Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, this doesn't silence the opposition.
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  And perhaps it stirs them up.
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  They discourage the people, make them afraid, and sabotage their efforts Eventually, there's a new king on the throne in Persia, and the opposition writes a very official complaint to him.
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  It's dripping with political manipulation But unfortunately, the king falls for it.
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  This puts a stop to the faithfulness of the 50,000 Jews.
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  But I'm sure you're thinking, "This is the Lord's will.
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  He moved in Cyrus's heart to provide a way for them to build a temple.
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  Surely this opposition won't last long, right?"
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  Wrong.
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  This rebuilding was actually halted for at least 10 years.
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  And I have to pause on this for a theology check.
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  As believers, we should not be surprised by opposition.
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  We should expect it, and we should be very careful what we believe when we face resistance.
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  When we know God has called us to something and then it gets hard, this doesn't mean it wasn't God's will for us.
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  clearly, they are doing exactly what the Spirit of God stirred them up to do But it doesn't mean they don't have to contend for it In chapter five, God sends the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the Israelites
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  to continue the rebuilding of the house of the Lord now it's a third king on the throne.
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  Who is Darius I?
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  And God's people write to him.
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  They say, "We've been halted in our progress, but we're just doing what Cyrus commanded that we do.
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  Can you make a search of the record?"
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  Darius agrees to the scavenger hunt for this scroll and finds it in Ecbatana.
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  this was the capital of Media.
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  Remember, it's the Medo-Persian Empire, and it was a common summer home for the kings.
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  Not only does Darius command that the building is commenced, he also says that the opposition needs to help fund it from the royal treasury This king was known for his brutality against his enemies, so they knew that this
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  next threat held water.
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  And I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made a dunghill.
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  May the God who has called his name to dwell there overflow any king or people who should put out a hand to alter this or to destroy the house of God that is in Jerusalem.
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  Even this king recognizes that God dwells with his people Eventually, the people finish the work and they dedicate the temple previously, they had prevented outsiders from joining in the building of the temple.
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  But when it comes to celebrating the Passover, anyone whose heart longed to worship Yahweh was welcomed in.
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  There is a large time gap between Ezra chapter six and chapter seven, so we'll come back to this later and take time to focus on some minor prophets and dive into the second Bible book that has the name
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  of a woman And finally today, let's look at Psalm 137 because it describes the difficulty of the people living in Babylonian captivity, particularly how grieved they were by the people's mockery and their inability to engage in meaningful worship
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  at the temple of the Lord.
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  It ends on a pretty strong imprecatory tone, calling upon the judgment of their enemies.
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  I don't really resonate with this, But in a very minor comparison, I can recall just a glimpse my early days of motherhood.
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  I had three boys back to back, and I can remember on our van trips as I'd be serenaded by Larry the Cucumber.
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  I recall thinking how much I loved being a mom, but how I missed having car trips alone where I could engage in full-out worship with the Lord I realize it is such a minor comparison but it makes me
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  realize how devastating it would be to be away from church and to be limited in worship for much of a lifetime So for you and I, who likely have every privilege and provision to worship Let's pray that we
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  wholeheartedly embrace it Heavenly Father, we thank You that You are good and that Your steadfast love endures forever to Israel and to the church We praise you that we live in a day and age when we're allowed to
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  listen to podcasts, and church buildings abound although we often feel opposed and even persecuted in our culture, most of us live in countries where we are allowed to proclaim and worship Your name.
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  And I pray that this availability of church buildings and Bibles and worship songs doesn't produce apathy in our hearts Rather, I pray we would embrace this incredible blessing you've allotted to us And that we would worship responsively as
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  Zerubbabel did And that it's an uphill battle to be faithful.
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  May she never doubt that the work she's doing is what you've called her to Give her strength to endure And root in her confidence that this is still a good work ordained by you.
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  Jesus, we thank you that you are the picture of peace in the midst of persecution May we be resolved.
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  in your likeness.
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  It's in your mighty name we pray.
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  Amen