SHOW NOTES

• • As we read and find ourselves in Ezra and this particular point in history, God had chosen Ezra to bring the people back to the Scriptures. Ezra is going to lead a spiritual renewal through the study of God's Word and Worship.

     

    Hi everyone.  I’m Tammy Becker and welcome to the Almighty God and Gospel Girl Podcast.  Our reading for the week are Ezra 1 to Nehemiah 9. And just a quick reminder to hit up my website for the corresponding show notes, links and graphic mentioned in this podcast.

     

    So I’ve titled todays episode, The Bible is Life’s Instruction Manuel.  And I was really thrilled when the Lord lead me to talk about Ezra and how he really wanted the Israelites to renew their faith with God.  So many times my poor friends hear me constantly talk about this in the Bible study I teach each week, but you know what…it is true, and it is important and that is why I chose to take about it today.

     

    What we see here in Ezra are God's highest priorities for His people:

    Word and Worship, and if you missed last week’s podcast, it was all about  work, war and worship so make sure and go back and take a listen to that one.  Now, having this foundation, Word and Worship, Ezra will guide the Israelites as they rebuild their country and society.

     

    These are still God's highest priorities for us today. But some may ask, ''What about my family, my work, my friends, my neighbors and my community? There are some other really important things going on right now that we need to focus on that have nothing to do with the Bible and church.''

     

    But what we need to understand is that only through the pages of Scripture will any of these relationships or issues be understood, make sense and effectively be resolved. It's God's Word that shows us how to love people compassionately, how to work diligently, how to show mercy and kindness to others, and how to have a positive impact on our communities.

     

    So, let's take a look at 3 things we are to set our hearts on that we see exhibited in the life of Ezra. Remember, verse 10 says, ''For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach His statutes and rules in Israel.

     

    1. Set your hearts to STUDY God's Word.

     

    Every believer has a personal responsibility to learn and study their Bibles. For Ezra, this was his life calling, but the Scriptures are clear that regardless of our vocation, the study of God's Word is vitally important for all of us.

     

    Deuteronomy 6:4-9 tell us this: “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.  And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.  And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.  Repeat them again and again to your children.  Talke about them when you are at a home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.  Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.  Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

    And let me read on more passage from Joshua 1:8: 

    “Study this Book of Instruction continually.  Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it.  Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.  This is my command be strong and courageous!  Do not be afraid or discouraged.  For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

     

    I don't think this is new news for most of us, but I do think that we need to make a SHIFT in our thinking about studying the Bible. We tend to think that if we study the Bible:

    - It's going to be boring.

    - I won't really understand it.

    - It's just going to make me feel guilty for not doing what it says.

    - It's not going to be relevant

    - God's just trying to get something out of me.

     

    So, the shift needs to go from duty to delight.

    God is not trying to get something out of you, instead think of it as God is trying to woo you into falling in love with Him. When you sit down to read your Bible think of it this way:

    God, the God of the universe, who holds all the power, who has all the resources at his disposal...this God has CHOSEN YOU! to be his child

    to shower you with love, mercy, kindness and compassion on an ever-flowing non-stop basis

    to take you, who were once his enemy and reconcile your relationship with himself

    to forgive all your sins, past, present and future in order that you can live life to the absolute fullest.

     

    Listen to Psalm 119:14-16: "I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches.  I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways.  I will delight in your decrees and not forget your word.

     

    Let's make the shift from duty to delight...from what does God want from me to...what does God have for me today.

     

    What promise, blessing, help, kindness, word of encouragement, wisdom will he impart to me, what attribute of Himself will He show me, what truth will he reveal to me to help me understand my present circumstances.

     

    Some might say, ''That's a selfish reason to read the Bible.'' But I will say, ''No it's not, and here is why...''

    When we go to God with great expectations of His provision - then He is glorified.

    When we go to God in His Word to be nourished and satisfied - then He is glorified.

    We are acknowledging that we cannot help ourselves, we cannot sustain ourselves, we don't have all the answers, we need His comfort, we need His grace, we need His relational intimacy.

     

    Illustration: Think of the parent/child relationship. Children have to go to their parents for just about everything. And parents love it when they do, it makes us feel needed. While God doesn't need to feel needed, it still happens that He is lifted up as the one who provides for us.

     

    Lisen to this passage from Matthew 7:7-11 it teaches us about effective prayer.  Vs 7, “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for.  Keep on seeking and you will find.  Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives.  Everyone who seeks, finds.  And to evderyone who knocks, the door will be opened.  You parents-if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?  Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake?  Of course not!  So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”

     

    God absolutely delights in caring for his children. But you won't see this until you really dig into your Bible and make this shift from studying it out of delight instead of duty.

     

    If you are having trouble studying the Bible, please join us for our weekly zoom Bible study.  I have a private fb, group called Girl, Read Your Bible!  There are a few groups, mine has a comma after girl and an exclamation mark after Bible.  You can also visit my website to grab the link in these show notes as well at youministries.com and go to the corresponding notes S4 EP21 for the links.

     

    So you may be asking…

    ''But doesn't God actually want and command us to DO certain things? YES. And that slips us right into to number two.

2. Set your hearts to do what God's Word says.

''Aha! See, I knew it was just a bunch of rules and regulations!''

Again, we need to make a massive shift in understanding what obedience really means and what it looks like.

One way the Scriptures picture it is by ''walking with God.'' Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Zacharias, all were said to have ''walked with God.'' In these instances we get a sense of men who had a daily, moment by moment demeanor that listened and spoke with God. And they went out and did what God told them to do. But it was not just a duty, they delighted in living out God's will for their lives.

Get your notepad,

1 John 1:1-7 brings in this idea of fellowship to the obedience equation.

And, Micah 6:8 probably one of the most fitting verses for our current situation. I'd say the Bible is pretty relevant…and no I’m not going to read those verses to you, you are just going to have to look them up yourselves!

We live a life of obedience to Scripture out of our relationship to God with Jesus. A heart that obeys asks:

What is God doing...and how can I join him?

What has God done...and what is my response?

Not out of a debtor mentality like I need to or should or have to pay God back for what he has done but obedience out of gratitude and love and relationship. A heart that obeys and lives within the will of God is one that is inseparably connected relationally to Jesus.

The fruit and evidence of a renewed heart is a new desire to look for ways to serve the Lord - to use our new spiritual gifts for the advancement of God's Kingdom.

- Ezra not only set his own heart to study and live out the Law of the Lord but also to teach the Scriptures in Israel. Ezra knew how critically important it was to teach others about God's Word, so they would know it

-so they could obey it

- so they, in turn could teach it to others.

2 Timothy 2:1-2 shows us a good soldier of Christ Jesus, vs 1 “Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace the God gives you in Christ Jesus.  You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses.  Now teach these truths to her trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.

This is our number three.

The pattern of the Bible is for one generation to pass it on to the next generation. This happens:

parent to child

mature believer to new believer

peer to peer

Illustration: During this time of Covid 19, I'm trying to intentionally teach not only my daughters some things I think I missed teaching them early on in their life, if you don’t pay the water bill it will get shut off, yes things like hot water heaters go out and sometimes have to be replaced…you get the point, but I also reminded them about their upbringing and God.  It was important that they remember their roots and that they must maintain that relationship they developed with the Lord as a child by staying in His Word as an adult…just as a house needs maintenance so does our soul. But, I didn’t just stop there I showed up for my friends, family and peers and they showed up for me. I showed up, they showed up.  I started teaching Bible studies, I made myself available to others and I helped in my community.

In the same way we need to pass on the truths of the Bible to the next generation of believers.

So, what is the SHIFT we have to make in our mindset to teach others the Bible?

I think we need to make it creative and memorable. The Bible is a very serious book and we should take it seriously - but that does not mean our teaching has to be cold and boring.

We will be teaching a wide range of people and ages and they all have different ways of learning:

- A 2-year-old may need a Bible with pictures or just simply story-telling

- Elementary kids can start to understand the adventure of the Bible

- Middle and High school students can begin to see how relevant it is to their everyday lives and what having a relationship with Jesus means

- College and beyond we begin to put it all together and see the big picture and deeper understanding of theological truths.

One thing that is true, is that all people of all ages can begin to understand the core message of the Bible...which is the gospel.

They are created in the image of God

They rebelled and sinned against God

God sent Jesus to take away their sins by dying on the cross

Jesus gives us a new life now and forever.

Teaching others the Bible is a joy and a delight, not just a duty. But people need to see this joy displayed in your own life, otherwise, we send mixed messages.

So let's continue to keep God's priorities of Word and Worship as our top priorities. All of life flows of this core message.  

From duty to delight and enjoyment.