# 3 Things from Ezra

Date: June 7, 2024

This will be our last night on the book of Ezra. We’ve been in this book since the beginning of February, almost the whole year. We’re just going to get an overview of the man, the man, Ezra. That’ll be the title tonight: Ezra. And I’m going to review a lot. I love for something to stick in our head and in our heart from this series about the book of Ezra. So let’s just review. Let’s try to get as many people involved as we can tonight. So if you know the answer, don’t wait for somebody else to say, let’s all say it. We try to get everybody involved. The more you answer out, the more it’ll stick in our thick skulls, trying to get it in our head and in our heart. Help me out. The book of Ezra is about the re…

…rebuilding of the temple. Good. Chronologically on a timeline, the book of Ezra starts at the end of what? 70 years, right? Remember they went to sin and God said 70 years, Babylon had captured them. Then a king of Persia took over Babylon, and he was very favorable toward the Jewish people. He said, “Go rebuild that temple.” Anybody remember that king’s name? Cyrus. And so they did. They left from Babylon all the way over here to Jerusalem.

A lot of people in this first group, how many? Just shy of what? Anybody remember the 50,000? Good, good, good. Ms. Patterson, she always had the numbers. She’s six, so she took it for us. But can you imagine 50,000 people traveling all the way back as their crow flies? How many miles is that? 500, good. They went up by the river and up and then down. How many miles would it be that way?

It took about 108 days, we think. This first group going back, 50,000 people. And we haven’t mentioned this, I don’t think, but the leader of that first group was Zerubbabel. And maybe that would just help you put some things together as you read the Bible. That was the leader of the first group.

And they came back. Let’s just do this: If we were to kind of put the books of the Bible together chronologically, approximately where would the book of Ezra fall? Would it fall in the beginning of the Old Testament or the end of the Old Testament? The end, just a little before Malachi. It may be Ezra, right in the middle of Ezra, it’s Haggai and Zechariah, and then a little bit after that is Nehemiah and Malachi. Something like that. There might be a little discrepancy about the specifics, but along that line towards the end. They got over there to rebuild the temple. Traveled all that way, they’re there, and they start rebuilding. They started the feast there, and they started rebuilding. What was the first type of opposition they got?

The infiltration joiners—these men, they even got names for it now. They said, “We want to be a part of it.” The world’s crowd did. They wisely said, “You’ve got no part in God’s work here.” And they were wise about it. They continued building. Eventually, they sent a letter back, and that king did not search good for Cyrus’s decree. He sent back, “No, you’ve got to stop the work.” And so it was stopped.

There’d be a debate a little bit. Many will say around 14 years. Then these two preachers started preaching. One of them said, “Hey, is it time for you to live in your sealed houses while the temple of God lies waste? Go up to the mountain, get some wood, start building.” Anybody remember that? Who was that? Who was that preacher? Haggai. Good, good. Then there was another guy named Zechariah. Who’s the older one? Haggai. How much sooner? How much earlier did he start preaching? A little bit later on, Zechariah started. Remember? Two months? Somebody said, “Did you say two months?” Two months? That’s it. Oh, two months. You’re right. You’re right. I was going to say one less than what I got in the right hand, but you got it already. Two months earlier, and then Zechariah starts preaching. Then, very interesting, very interesting. This verse says, “And the temple was built.” Very interesting. Nehemiah, the twin book, same chapter, same verse, same number. It’ll say the wall was built. Anybody remember that chapter and verse? The numbers I’m looking for.

Close. Got the right numbers. 6:15, good, 6:15. Let me just say a word about that since our last time going through it. I’m trying to get it to stick here. Remember, we had said back in the Hebrew manuscripts, they were often found as one book. I was looking a little bit today on the Internet about Ezra. By the way, I was shocked how many spin masters are out there that’ll twist the Word of God. Be careful with that, especially on the Internet. Go with the book, hang what they say. They’ll put a spin on it, kind of like the newscasters are today. Be careful. Here’s one thing I noticed. Some are kind of making a little bit light of our King James English Bible, saying back in the day, “Well, this should be one book.” The Hebrew manuscripts, many of them were one book, but we’ve kind of messed it up. But I’ve studied a little bit deeper and found out many say, if you dig a little bit deeper, that originally they were two books. The Hebrew scholars, when they were putting together the canon of the Scriptures, they combined them, those Hebrew scribes. So originally it was two. God always knows what He’s doing. Amen. Just stick to the book. Don’t follow all that stuff there. But anyway, just thought I’d throw that in there.

Then the second group is going back. Years later, another group is going back. This man was not mentioned so far. Chapter number seven, he’s mentioned. He’s bringing this second group of people back. Anybody remember his name? Ezra. Good. Anybody remember the size of that group? What was it? Somewhere around 5,000, something like that, much smaller. They’re going back. Now, the temple’s already been built, so now they said they were going back to what?

…to beautify the temple. And that’s what the Word of God says, and really to restore biblical order also. And that’s right. They went back, began to beautify and whatnot. Opposition comes. Oh, I’m getting it out of order. This is when they started rebuilding again under the two preachers, and opposition came. They sent a letter back, but that king, a different king, he searched better and he found the manuscripts or the decree from Cyrus. Anybody remember where they found it at? Summer Palace, right, right?

Then later on—I got out of order. Man, I messed it up tonight. I don’t know. A little bit later on, the second group comes under Ezra. They come back to beautify it. But as soon as they get there, some people come to Ezra and say, “Hey, Ezra, man, there’s sin in the camp, and we got issues.” Ezra began to mourn. By the way, a great prayer of Ezra is in Ezra chapter number nine, one of the great prayers of the Bible. He’s asking God for mercy on his nation, whatnot. Anybody remember the sin? What was this sin?

Yeah, they haven’t separated. Because they hadn’t separated, they began to intermarry. Now, that doesn’t mean the racial part. It has to do with God’s people and the world’s people not separating. And then us marrying with the world’s crowds, what I talk about there. And they had to deal with the man there, all right. But tonight we want to look at just the man, Ezra. Brother Jim, if you would go off, and we’ll get going here. The man Ezra. Let’s just look at this man for a little bit tonight. I believe the Lord has us point out some things about it. By the way, praise the Lord, you’re here on a Wednesday night. You’re awesome. Just so faithful. God’s pleased with that. You keep your priorities right. That’s just awesome. My hat’s off to you, and God’s very, very pleased with it. Good to have Lori here. I think her first time on Wednesday night. Lori, raise your hand over there. Yeah, good to have Lori here on Wednesday night. That’s awesome.

We’re in Ezra 7. We’re going to start in verse number 6. Would you please stand as we read the Word of God together? Ezra 7, and we’ll be in verse number six. Ezra 7, verse number six. Y’all there tonight? Amen? Good deal. “This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. And the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord His God upon Him.” Jump down verse number 10, if you would. “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” Would you pray and ask the Lord just to stir us tonight as we look at this man Ezra for a little bit? Father, thank you, Lord. You spoke to my heart earlier as I was studying about this man. Lord, use it to purify me, to purge me, to make me what I ought to be for you. And, Lord, the same with all of us here tonight. These are great people, Lord. Thank you for them. They’re faithful in your house. Lord, we don’t want to discourage; we’d like to help and encourage. Lord, use us tonight for that. Lord, clean us up for you, so use us more. We’ll thank you, Lord, for what you do. Lord, I’m asking for that in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Three things. Thank you for standing. You may be seated. Thank you so much.

Three things about Ezra. Number one, number one, you’re looking in verse number six right there, verse number six. He says there, “This Ezra went up from Babylon. And he was a…” What’s the next two words? Ready scribe. Now that’s interesting: ready scribe. Scribes were typically men that would copy; one of their main jobs was copying the Word of God. They didn’t have Hewlett-Packard copiers. They didn’t have copy mat printing places. They didn’t have all the printing machines. They didn’t even have the Gutenberg printing press at that time. Men would write the Bible. Oh, there are so many stories. We don’t have time to get into how meticulous they were about it. They’d write the word Jehovah, go take a bath, throw the pen away, and so on and so on. One family was very meticulous about it, with so many details. That’s one of the jobs of Ezra. He was a scribe. So he was in the Bible. Man, he was reading it, he was studying it, and he was writing it. But it’s interesting: the Bible says he was a ready scribe. Now, verse number 10, right down here, it says, “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord.” Here’s this first point: Ezra was ready. He was prepared, if you will. If you hear Brother Marlin, he means it as a compliment, but maybe if somebody’s just sharp, well, they’re quick-witted, whatnot, and just ready to go. When he talked to Brother Marlin, he’s got that Fairview language going, you know, and he says, “What about so-and-so?” He said, “Oh, they’re ready. They’re ready, man, so-and-so, they’re ready.” That’s one of his terms: they’re ready. And Ezra was ready. He was prepared.

Think about all those years that Ezra had been back in Babylon just preparing. He had probably—well, he was born in Babylon, no doubt about it, born in Babylon. There are 60 years between these two groups. And then later on, Ezra is mentioned in the book of Nehemiah. So he for sure was born in Babylon. Think about all those days he was just copying the Word of God, reading, studying. There may have been times he thought, “Man, I’m just tired of doing this, preparing.” But when the time came for God to do something through Ezra, he was ready. Now, I’m not saying he wasn’t doing something in him before, but in a great scale, if you will, when that time came, he was a ready scribe. He was prepared. He had been taking the hours, days, months, weeks, and years following God’s will for his life. When time came, God had something for him to do, he was ready. He had prepared his heart. This thing of preparing—he was ready. Someone said this: “God has a prepared place for a prepared man.” God has prepared a place. He’s got a prepared place for a prepared man or lady. They’ve been preparing to serve God. They’ve been diligent in doing the things God called them to do at that point. So one day God said, “Hey, I’ve got a prepared place for them.”

Look at this. Ezra was in the Bible. I mean, what did it say there in verse number six? He was a ready… what’s the next word? And he was in the Bible. Verse number 10, he talks about how he was ready to teach it. Verse number 10: “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” He had been preparing. He had been in the Word. Now think with me for a second. Sometimes—and you don’t have to read it in the morning; I like to, if I could work it out in my schedule, in the morning—but sometimes we think, “Well, I’ve got to get that Bible out and read it again.” Oh, my goodness. We think it’s just about that moment. But it may be you go to work, and that coworker you’ve been praying for, they’ve got a burden, or their marriage is in trouble, or they need someone to witness to them. God’s been getting your heart ready that morning, prepared. He knows what’s about to happen. He knows. Brother Great and Miss Jennifer came back from a trip, and their neighbor—they mentioned it—their neighbor’s child, in his 30s, had passed away in a car accident. What tragedy. They went over there, and I’m sure they were a blessing to him. But here’s the thing: you never know when those things are going to happen. Our diligence to be in the Word and being prepared—you never know what God has down the road for you. It’s a sad thing sometimes when God has something out there He would like to use Paul for, but Paul’s not prepared because Paul hasn’t got his heart right. I haven’t been in the Word that morning, and I’m not equipped to do what God has prepared for me to do. This man was a ready scribe. He was in the Bible. He was ready.

Can I just say this about the Word of God? You don’t learn the Word of God overnight. In time, there are layers. Look over, if you will, in Isaiah, Isaiah 28, to see how God grows us in the Word of God. If you want to say, “I would like to grow in the Word of God,” how can I do that? The Bible describes it right here in Isaiah 28. Isaiah 28. He’s talking here; he said the children of Israel are backslidden, even their leaders have backslidden. I can’t really talk to them; I can’t work through them. Look in verse number seven. Isaiah 28, verse number seven. You all there tonight? Amen? Look what he says. He said, “But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way. The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink. They are swallowed up of wine; they are out of the way through strong drink. They err in vision; they stumble in judgment. For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so there is no clean place.” It’s a sad thing. God said even the priests and the prophets, they’re just drunkards, and they’re laying in and they throw up, their vomit. The tables are filthy. God said, “I can’t work through those people.”

Now look at the next verse, verse number nine: “Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breast?” He said, “Look, is a baby just getting weaned from the mom? Am I going to be able to teach them? The ones just getting off milk?” He said, “I can’t use those little babies, little children.” Now he tells us how you grow in the Word. Look at this next thing. Here it is. Here it is. Verse number 10: “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” Here’s what he’s saying: You read your Bible through and say, “I didn’t get a whole lot out of it.” Well, it may be you laid a foundation for next year for you to get a whole lot more out of it. God puts the first level, and then the second level. We want to go to level 20, but you can’t get to level 20 unless you have one and two and three and four. What you’re doing today matters sometimes 20 years down the road. You say, “Man, why do I got to go to Sunday school on Sunday morning and Sunday night and hear the Bible all the time?” Friend, it might not be what it does today, but it might be the foundation, a precept that God’s going to be able to put another precept on, and that’s the precept that you use to change somebody’s life. But it’s precept line upon line. Here’s the problem: when I say, “Well, I’m just going to bypass that. I don’t care about that. I’m not concerned about that,” then God says they can’t go to the next level because you haven’t got that precept.

One of our men, I think, is what he told me, if I remember exactly right, this is his third time reading this Bible through. He said, “Now I feel like I’m starting to get something out of it.” What was he saying? He said the first time, I guarantee he got something out of it, but he was just getting the bottom precept, bottom line. That’s how God works. This man, Ezra, he had been working at this, studying and preparing. We don’t know how old he was, but for years and years and years, he had been doing the monotony of writing the Bible. God says he’s a ready scribe. He’s got his heart prepared to obey and to teach the law of the Lord. He’s ready. He’s a ready scribe. Can I say next year—and I’ve been on this thing, us reading our Bible through—it might affect you in 2025. It’s so important. This man was trying to follow God’s way of living then in the past, and God says he’s prepared right now. He’s ready to go right now.

By the way, young people, that’s why it’s so dangerous when somebody says, “Well, go sow your wild oats while you’re young, and you can get right later on.” Later on, so often you’re not prepared to serve God because you haven’t been building precept upon precept, line upon line. More often than not, they never get right. And even if you do, praise the Lord for that God can do, but He can’t use you like He could have because you’re not lining up line upon line. That’s why I would try to say, man, stay in there and keep growing in the Lord. Don’t fall for this lie of the devil: “Sow your wild oats.” You know, that plaque we gave Miss Tammy Sunday morning? Right in the beginning of that, it says, “As a young adult, she began to seek the Lord.” I wanted to put a lot more in there; you can only get so much in a plaque, you know. I think I had before: “Intensely seek the Lord.” She had no idea that years later, God would make her a pastor’s wife. But God wouldn’t have made her wife when she was a young adult, moved out, if she didn’t intensely start seeking the Lord then. God got her salvation settled, got her baptized, and all these things, precept upon precept. That’s how God works.

But this man, Ezra, ready scribe. Now let me ask you—we’ll move to the next point—are you going to be ready when God wants to use you? God likes to minister in somebody’s life; are you going to be ready? The Bible says that man Ezra, he was a ready scribe. God has so many things He likes to do in our lives and through our lives. Boy, it convicts me. I don’t want God to say, “Paul, I’d like to use you,” and there have been times, I guarantee you, when I wasn’t ready. Ezra was ready. Can I say this: Don’t sacrifice your future on today. Don’t do that. Number one, we said Ezra was—he was what? He was ready. Come on, y’all can do better than that. Number one, Ezra was? He was ready. I wonder, what was that first point? Think about Brother Marlin. How many have you ever heard Brother Marlin say, “Boy, he’s ready”? Raise your hand if you’ve heard him say that. Yeah, that’s the saying right there. We’re following after Marlin. He was ready. One thing about Ezra: he was ready.

Let’s get the second thing in here about Ezra. We just got three things real quickly today. Look back in verse number six, if you would please. Ezra 7 and verse number six. “This Ezra went up from Babylon.” Let’s just focus on that right there. Think about it: Babylon, way over there on the map—we took it up already—it was the wealthiest place on the earth at that time. It was, I mean, it was like the metropolis. It was the United States of that day and time. Ezra grew up in that. People, for the most part, aren’t trying to leave America; they’re trying to come to America from all over because of the wealth. You understand? That was Babylon. It was the wealthy place. That’s where Ezra was. So Ezra left from Babylon. Not only that, in Babylon, he was a scribe. Scribes held a notable position. That wasn’t like street cleaners. Being a scribe was like being an attorney or a lawyer.

Now look at his descendants. Look back in verse number one. Ezra 7, verse number one. “Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes King of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah.” Brother Frank’s going to read the rest of these names, verse number two through verse number five. I’m joking with him; he’d probably do better than me if he did. “The son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, the son of Zeriah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron.” Aaron. Yeah, exactly, the priest. He had a great heritage. He was in direct descent from the high priest. He may have been ready or been in the line to be the top religious guy in Babylon. That’s where most of the Jewish people were. He could have been the top dog in his profession. He was of the line and lineage of Aaron. In the world, on the face of the earth, this guy had a life of ease. He had it made in the shade with a lemonade. That’s where he was. Yet, he left his life of ease and popularity to go with just really 5,000 people in comparison to what was in Babylon—just a handful—and go back over to Jerusalem, which they described in some places as lying in waste. The people who had seen the first temple, remember we studied that, and they saw the second temple, they cried. It was nothing in comparison. Yet Ezra left his life of popularity and ease. He probably had plenty of money in the bank. He had it all prepared, and he left it all. He was ready and he was willing.

God spoke to my heart this afternoon, this morning, on this point here. Honestly, the stage of life I’m in: I’m 50 now. We’ve been in the same place for 20 years now. Finally, we’re starting to kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel where our mortgage is going to get paid off. We’re starting to get there. I just paid my truck off. Somebody say amen right there. Come on now. Amen. I like that. And I’ve been in the same ministry for 20 years, and it’d be kind of easy to coast. We’ve got a building now; it’s all paid for. We’re not in the storefront. We’ve got an assistant pastor, Brother Anthony, who does a great job. Got a youth director. We’ve got programs now. We’ve got all that. It’d be easy just kind of take it easy. We’re trying to somewhat prepare for retirement, all those things. I’m not—I’ve got my issues for sure—but I haven’t wasted my health on drugs or alcohol or wild things. I went to the doctor the other day, and they wanted to take about five vials of blood. Take it all, right? Every test in the world, besides the one test I asked them to run. Can you believe that? It’s not true, but I’m just saying, my health’s not that bad.

Ezra maybe was at the same point in his life. He left it all, walked away from his security, his job, his retirement, if you will, his life of ease. He said, “God has something for me to do, 900 miles over there.” I won’t have the luxuries over there. I won’t be known over there by thousands—maybe a little bit by the Jewish people—but they had all kinds of issues over there in Jerusalem. I won’t be in a palace over there. I hear this quite often, and my hat’s off to those who do it: I’m amazed by people who have worked, settled their retirement, and then go serve the Lord on the mission field for the rest of their healthy years. My hat’s off to them. That’s kind of what Ezra was doing. If a pastor, middle-aged or older, who has been used by God in a good-sized church, feels God calling him to start a new church, and he leaves that established, wealthy, good-sized church to start the new one—I still hear some people talking, “Can’t believe he’s doing that.” If God’s leading him, praise the Lord, he’s willing.

I thought about my mom and dad when they moved up. My mom is still only 39, of course, young. But they were up in years when they moved to Tennessee, and the church had been going five or six years or something like that. It’d be easy for them to say, “Well, time for us to sit back.” They got a bus right when they moved up here; they had 69 on their one bus. They worked it. If we’re not careful, we think, “Well, time for me to kick back and take it easy.” Ezra didn’t do that. He was willing. He left all that ease and security and luxury and said, “I’ve got to do something for God.” By the way, all these years later, I don’t think he regretted it.

Would you just think back a little bit? I did this today. Think back in your mind to when you first got saved. Think back when you were just a young Christian, on fire for God. You were just so excited: “I’m saved! My sins are forgiven! I’m going to heaven! I’m going to serve God with my life!” You had dreams and vision and desire. You told the Lord, “Whatever you want me to do, Lord, I want to do it.” Remember when you had that fire burning in your bosom? You wanted to do something for God, be something for God. Do you still have that? Is it still like that? Do you still tell the Lord, “Lord, wherever you want me to go, I’ll go”? I used to tell the Lord, “Lord, if you wanted me to go to China today or tomorrow, I’d do my best to get on that plane today.” Are you still like that? I still like that, as it was. That’s the people God uses. What’s that verse in Romans 12? “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” He didn’t say, “I beseech you, therefore, young Christians.” No, it’s for all of us. Young folks, as long as you’re not too old—it’s for all of us, me too. If I’ve lost that fire and I’ve left the Lord, God hasn’t moved. God doesn’t change. He’s in the same place He was five years, ten years, five months ago, or 30 years ago. I’m the one that’s moved. He doesn’t change. I’ve got to say, “Hey, Lord, there’s something there that I’m not where I used to be. Lord, would you show me why I don’t have that fire anymore?” God hasn’t changed. He’s the one that brings the fire, by the way. I’ve changed. It’s a continual presenting yourself to the Lord: “Lord, I want that fire.” He can bring it back. Ezra was ready and he was willing. He left it all, left Babylon, went over to Jerusalem just to serve God. Let’s get this last thing in here. Point number three.

Help me out. Number one, Ezra was what? He was… Brother Marlin. He was ready. Point number two, he was… He was willing. He was willing to leave it all. He was a scribe. He was willing. Then let’s get this last thing in here. Verse number six. Ezra 7, verse number six: “This Ezra went up from Babylon. He was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. And the king granted him all his request, according to the…” Would you read the rest of that verse, that little phrase here? “…according to the hand of the Lord His God upon him.” Look in verse number nine. Verse number nine: “For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.” I’m going to phrase this last one like this: Number one, he was ready. He was willing. Then number three: He was walking with God. The Lord had His hand on him. Everything about that verse indicates he walked with God. He wasn’t walking for God; God took him.

What about that verse over there, Micah 6:8? “He has showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” We sing that song sometimes in the garden, sometimes at funerals, quite often funerals. That chorus of it: “And He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.” Do you still know that? Do you walk with the Lord? Do you have that sweet fellowship? Ezra said, “Man, God’s hand is on me.” He was walking with God. When’s the last time you just had some sweet fellowship, just walking with God?

If we’re not, something’s wrong. A couple things can happen. I won’t list them all. Sometimes we just get too busy. I think it was D. O. Moon who said, “If you’re too busy for God, you’re just too busy.” On our second building on that storefront, we had a little marquee sign out there, and we put that on there. I got more responses from that than just about anything we’ve ever put on signs in all these years. We put that on there: “If you’re too busy for God, you’re just too busy.” We’ve had the most comments on that sign. So many people said something about that. That’s the truth. Hey, if you don’t make your walk with God a priority, you won’t have a walk with God. Guarantee it. Satan will work at that. You’re going to have to work at that. Maybe you’re just too busy to have a walk with God. Maybe it’s sin. Ask the Lord. Maybe it’s pride. Did you notice that verse in Micah 6:5? “To walk humbly with thy God.” “The proud He knows from afar off.” Maybe it’s pride. Maybe it’s weights. I listened to a preacher the other day, and he said basically the first stage of anyone backsliding is always that we won’t let go of our weights. After a while, if I’m not willing to let go of those weights, they become sin. He said there’s always the first step in someone backsliding. Maybe I’m not walking with God because I’m not willing to let go. You say, “What is a weight?” It’s something that’s not sinful in and of itself, but it weighs me down from serving God. Maybe I’m just too busy to walk with God. Maybe it’s sin. Maybe it’s pride. Maybe it’s weights. Maybe it’s just a direct sin in my life I’m not going to let go of; I let it creep into my life. Ezra said the hand of the Lord. It’s right there. He’s walking with God.

I felt many a time, but there are a couple times I think about my children, and they’re still young—even though they have children on the way, they’re still young, you know, at least one of them. But I remember times, maybe some key times it seemed like, and problems came up. Can you believe problems with kids? Anybody can you imagine that? We had to deal with things sometimes, major things, and I was thankful—not always, I wasn’t perfect about it—but I was thankful that for the most part, we were walking with God during those times, and I’m so thankful they didn’t need me; they needed the Lord working through me. You just never know what’s going to happen today or tomorrow, next week, next month, next year. He walked with God. Ezra, he said the hand of the Lord. Help me out real quickly. Number one, Ezra was ready. Ezra was willing, and Ezra was walking with God.

Original File: 3 Things from Ezra - Pastor Paul Chisgar 112019