Katy

Ezra was a wise man who knew the ways of man, so he weighed out the precious metals prior to the journey. He told them that the articles would be weighed again on arrival in Jerusalem.He also told those in charge of the items “You as well as these articles are consecrated to the Lord”. This will also act as a deterrent to anyone thinking of anything wrong. It is wise to have checks and balances in place , not as a sign of distrust but every organisation needs to be transparent and be able to account for every cent that they have, especially when it doesn’t belong to individuals. As Christians we also have the responsibility of setting good example and most importantly not bringing dishonour to God by being deceitful and sinful.

Ezra calls on the people to fast because he is very aware that they are vulnerable and have a lot to loose if they are attacked on their journey. Ezra knows that they need God’s help and so they fast and pray. Fasting does not compel God to do as we ask! God will do what we ask humbly in prayer and fasting if it is in His will and is the correct outcome for us. When we fast we show God that we depend on Him and His goodness. It makes us humble and brings clarity to our prayers and brings us closer to God. It sharpens the mind and brings us blessings from God.

John 19v36, 37. Tells us that scripture was being fulfilled at the cross when “ They will look on the one they have pierced”.But later on in Revelation when the Lord returns we are told in Rev1v7 “Look, He is coming with the clouds and every eye will see Him; and even those who pierced Him; and all the people of the earth will mourn because oh Him. So shall it be! Amen” so it I’d something we will all witness in the future and we are all counted among “ those who pierced Him”. Every time a sinner repents they are washed and made clean so this is something that is happening on an ongoing basis but here Zechariah is talking about the kingdom of Israel , God’s chosen people who keep rejecting Him and continue with their false prophets and idols despite all the pleading of the prophets. But a time will come when the Jews will repent and will once again be drawn together and will be cleansed. God loves His chosen people and He longs for them to return to Him. In the tribulation in the last days they will be refined and return to God.

To operate from a policy of mercy and compassion means being faithful to God and emulating Him. We can see from the Scriptures that Jesus was always merciful and full of compassion therefore we must be the same. If we remember that we are sinners saved by grace and remembering how God has shown mercy and compassion to us how can we treat anyone else differently. In wider society we must speak up for those less well off that ourselves. We can also help in small but practical ways eg do voluntary work in a charity shop that funds housing or raises funds for children etc. Volunteer for food bank work. There are different opportunities in different places. By using our vote we can endeavour to elect people with high values into office which will in turn help to get just judges into the courts. But we do need to take elections seriously and scrutinise the candidates and listen to what they have to say so that we can vote for the best person available who is interested in helping those who are vulnerable in society. If we have to do jury service we must carry this out with bias in any way, and judge on the facts of the case. We must pray for God’s guidance during this time. We must always pray for our leaders and ask God to guide them even if they are not believers. I don’t have very much to do with people from other lands these days but have in the past. I have always treated them as I would anyone from my own land. I tried to help those that were in difficult circumstances in any way I could. I am conscious that their culture very often is different, and often found myself defending them to other peers that were impatient and biased against them. Unfortunately in our country we have a lot of ignorance resulting in resentment and antipathy towards people from other countries. Number 23 v19 God is not human, that He should lie, not a human being, that He should change His mind. God is truth, He cannot lie if we profess to be Christian then we also must not lie to anyone, and especially to our fellow Christians.

Unfortunately as we have seen in our lesson making worship about us rather than God has been happening for a long long time. I think that maybe many of us have become complacent about church and all that goes on at church. Because we go each week it may become routine! This is not the way we should act, we should start to prepare our hearts in our quiet time before church by asking God to help us have the right attitude and approach to help us humble ourselves and realize the great privilege we have in being able to come into the presence of God and to be able to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth and to be able to pray to Him. There are many of our brothers and sisters in Christ that don’t have the freedom to to come together to worship God. If each person in our church’s prepared their hearts and really thought about the purpose of gathering together the worship would be less about themselves and more about worshiping God. The emphasis in church must always be about worshipping God and not about entertainment for us. Everything should be kept simple. Jesus did not have elaborate music to go with His preaching. Everyone should be willing to participate as the Spirit leads. This may not be easy but as part of the body of Christ we must be prepared to trust God and worship or pray out loud even if we are nervous. Again it’s not about us but about God. We must never put entertainment before our attendance at church or our prayer meeting or bible study night. Or allow laziness keep us away. Our desire to worship God and be part of the fellowship of believers must be stronger than our laziness. If we do these things our churches will be in a positive place!

We can easily fall into the trap of trying to do God’s work in our own strength because we are brought up to be independent and resourceful. I think we so often approach our work without enough prayer and consciousness of God’s presence with us. We therefore rush into what we are doing with asking God for His help, strength, leading and guiding. For me it is often when I realise it’s not going the way it should be, that I remember I have not spent time in prayer about whatever I am doing. “Not by might, not by power but by my spirit “ says the Lord, means that things in our lives are not accomplished by our own efforts but by the presence of the Holy Spirit being with us and helping us. In my own life I find this comforting that I can depend on the Holy Spirits help in every situation. I don’t have to face things in my own strength but in the strength of the Holy Spirit.

Joshua’s filthy clothes represent his sin. The angel instructed his helpers to remove the filthy clothes and replace them with ‘rich clothes’(NIV), and a clean turban. God is telling Joshua that He has taken away his sin, and if he obeys God and walks in His ways that he will govern His house and have charge in His courts. Present day leaders can take consolation from this passage that God will forgive them their sin if they are repentant and obey God and walk in His ways. Interesting that there is no mention of repentence in these verses. I presume he was sorry , whatever he had done was not his usual way of behaving. God knows all heart and He must have know Joshua was sorry for what he had done.

The Lord knows exactly what is going on throughout the world and in this passage God has roused Himself from His Holy dwelling, He is coming to bring justice and His wrath on those who deserve it. Zechariah is telling mankind to be still and await what God is going to do. Is the context of God being ready to protect His people, nobody needs to say anything God is at hand and He knows exactly what He is doing. Nothing anyone says can add to what He is working out. Silence from the enemy of God probably represents the fear they feel, when they realise that they are wrong . That God is truly the awesome powerful and great God that they have always denied. Silence from a believer may be a sign of worship and adoration, of a heart bowed in front of their wonderful, loving Father. A sign of complete trust and respect.

We cannot have salvation without repentance.If we think we can then we are on the wrong track. Jesus came to die for our sins, to enable us to have salvation but if we don’t repent and are not true my sorry for all we have done then we will not be saved. Repentance is an integral part of the gospel message. In order to become close to God we must repent of all known sin in our lives. If we harbour sin it will form a barrier to having an intimate relationship with God. Also God will punish us if we deliberately keep on sinning and not seek His help to stop whatever we are doing.

When Haggai tells Zerubabel that God has appointed him to be His ‘signet ring’ it would have shown him that God had confidence in him to carry out the task of rebuilding the temple. He would feel honoured and humbled by the Lords attention to him. A leader‘s signet gives the receiver the authority to act on behalf of the owner of signet. When we listen and obey the Spirit of God we are acting in God’s will and therefore we will be happy and content and God will be pleased with us. We will desire the things of God and we will be enabled the do the work God wants us to do. The spirit will lead us and guide us to be effective for the Lord. I am authorised to tell people about all that Jesus has done for me, and how they can have eternal life too. But I must do this with gentleness and respect.

Any thought word or deed which is sinful defiles us before God. Disobedience can be an area of defilement, or being sucked into the ways of the world, this may be subtle and is an area we need to be very careful off. We can do this by being mindful of how we spend our time, tv, types of books we read. Watching who we spend time with do they share the same values and interests that we have.? I also recognize that we may spend time with different people when we are trying to draw them to the Lord but we must never compromise our conduct in any way. Being involved in Church work won’t make us holy. To be holy we must set ourselves apart from the world and yet live in it. We must be deeply committed Christians. Spend time in prayer, meditation and bible study. Have the fruit of the spirit in our lives and be humble. If I am spiritually defiled I must confess my sin and repent. Then spend time seeking the Lord , prayer and heartfelt sorrow.

In Haggai 2v4 The Lord tell Joshua son of Jehozadak “Be strong, all you people of the land and work. For I am with you”. There are other times when God give this same promise to people in his Word. Joshua 1v9 “ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged for the Lord, your God is with you wherever you go.” In my own times of discouragement I use there verses particularly the verse from Joshua1v9. I say it over and over again to myself. I also trust God and ask Him to help me and forgive me for being discouraged! I do feel these verses and promises are written for us to claim as children of God. I also feel that this is why they are written in more than one place to remind us that God is with us and we need to be strong and courageous, we do not have to go in our own strength but in the strength of the Lord. And we need to continue our work for Him and not grow weary. Galatians 6v9. Philippians 4v13.

When God disciplines us it is to get our attention, or maybe to teach us something, maybe be have been disobedient or neglectful in some way! We must expect to have hardships and sorrows in this life. It may just be part of living in a fallen, sinful world! John 16 v33 “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world”. This verse is so accurate. We all have troubles but by trusting in God and holding onto Him, we can come through and even experience Joy along the way. I don’t have hardship at the moment Thank God, but there are always worries when you have children and grandchildren. I try my best to hand them over to the Lord and trust Him for each concern. It doesn’t always work but I ado experience His peace amid the crisis! I think God is constantly asking us to trust Him to see us through every situation that arises in our lives.

God is displeased with me when I fail to obey Him. When I neglect Him and do not give Him the time I should give Him. Time spent in reading His word, in prayer and in meditation. God is pleased with me when I come to Him and put my trust and faith in Him each day. When I surrender every part of my life to Him and acknowledge Him as Lord and Saviour. I also please Him by my obedience, by my study of the scriptures to learn more about God and what He expects from me. The main reason I don’t serve both joyfully and deliberately is because I am distracted by so many other less important things in life. Usually for me family, husband, etc. The Lord showed us very clearly that Mary in the story about Martha and Mary , was doing the right thing by sitting listening to everything Jesus had to say rather than helping her sister prepare a meal for Jesus and his disciples. However I do try to do everything for the Lord and try to honour Him by doing everything to the best of my ability.

James 3v17,18 Wisdom that comes from Heaven is first of all pure; then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, and good fruit, impartial and sincere. When we give up we lack this heavenly wisdom but also we are not clinging on to God which is what we must do when times are really tough.We forget His promises when we are face with difficult circumstances Joshua 1v9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. He may not remove the hard situation but He will surely go through it with us. We must trust and know in our hearts that He can bring up through everything that can possibly happen to us.

There is grave danger in allowing non Christians or nominal Christians become involved in Church matters. If they were permitted to be involved they could introduce something which is not Biblical . This would give a wrong message about our Church and it’s teachings. It would dilute and distort the teaching of God’s Word. People within the Church would be confused and may start to believe things that are unbiblical. This in turn may lead to many problems within the body of Christ.If a member of the body did something wrong and had to be corrected, they may refer to the other person and what had been introduced into the church and question as to why that is allow but now they are being corrected ! Non biblical practice would also drive sincere Christians away to other bible believing church’s, visiting Christians would not come to join in worship if nonbiblical practices were going on in a church.

My personal worship is not what it should be! I do spend time with God daily morning and evening and try to stay connected to Him during the day. But I just feel I need more and more ! I need to pray more deep meaningful prayer! I have read so much about prayer but I feel so much is head knowledge which I find hard to implement! I need to rise earlier so I can have more time in prayer before the family get up. I need time determination, peace and quietness!

Q1.A. Some Israelites decided to stay in exile.... this is70 years later so they may not have had the same loyalty to Jerusalem, their temple or their God, as some of their friends. However they helped to fund the rebuilding of the temple by sending gold and silver and other items. There were probably others who were just to comfortable where they were to uproot and travel the journey back to Jerusalem. Q1.B. Characteristics of those who returned to Jerusalem: 1.A deep devotion to God. 2. Loyalty. 3.Faithfullness. 4.Determination 5.Perseverance. 6.Hard working. Those who don’t return: 1. Contentment. 2. Complacency. 3. Fear.4.Easy going. Q1.C.I am reminded by this question of the parable of the sower in Matthew 13.v3-9. The seed that falls on the path is the person who hears the Word of God but doesn’t understand and so Satan distracts them and snatches the Word away. The seed that falls on rocky ground is the person that succumbs when they have trouble and persecution because they love God. The seed that falls among thorns and briars are those who are choked by the worries and pleasures of this world and they are unfruitful. But some seed falls on good soil and those are the people who hear and accept Gods word, they go and devote their lives to God. People these days feel that God is outdated and that the Bible is irrelevant for this present age. They feel self sufficient , and therefore don’t need God. Unfortunately many children/young adults know nothing about God because their parents don’t believe so the children are not being taught anything about God. Q1.D. True disciples of God are those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus. They study God’s word with diligence, and are ‘doers of the word and not just hearers’, James 1v23 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. They spend time daily in prayer, worship,and reading. They meet with fellow Christians for services, prayer,encouragement and fellowship. They use every opportunity to speak about Jesus to those they are in contact with. They speak freely and naturally about all that Jesus has done for them.

I usually start my quiet time thanking God and praising for the many blessings He gives me each and every day. I love to praise God because I want Him to know how grateful I am that I was chosen by Him before time began. Also that by His grace I am a child of God. I don’t lift my hands in praise as much as I should , in our church people are very conservative and don’t lift their arms/hands in praise but quite often I find there is no other response but to lift my hands in praise! With eyes closed and heart and mind focused on God nothing else matters! It is awesome to think of all the ways I Sam blessed by God and my praise and thankfulness seems so weak and halfhearted. To be praising God brings Him pleasure and who can think of a better place to be. Thank you so much Dr Ralph for this great study. So much information and learning. May God bless your work for Him.

I really like the first verse: How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live in unity. Life is so calm and peaceful when we live in harmony as God wants us to live. We all have a great responsibility to insure so much as it depends on us to make sure it happens. We do this by pulling our weight in church, by coming to church willing to contribute in whatever way the Lord has gifted us.We must not criticise people to others. We must not gossip. If we do have a problem we must address it through the correct channels. We must be helpful in whatever way we can. Lasting unity is hard to maintain because we live in a fallen world and we all are sinful. We may work towards unity some of the time but every now and again our ego’s and sinfulness gets in the way. Unfortunately we can all be guilty of this. In the world the ethos at the moment is to put “ I” or “ me” first. With no reference to God. This leads to disunity, and worse. Romans 12v3 Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement. Unity can only be present when we seek unity by praying about it as a church/ family on a regular basis. My chief obstacle to love in my life is my own selfishness, laziness, pride, and resentments. Some days are better than others!

God promises David that his family / descendants will last forever, that one of them would continually be on the throne, as long as they stayed faithful to God and obeyed his commandments. God promised to be a father to them and punish them when punishment was needed. But God would never take his love away as he did with Saul. David’s descendants remained on the throne until 587BC , when the king of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar attacked, captured and destroyed Jerusalem. He took the Israelites as captives and took them to Babylon. David’s line can be traced through the generations to Jesus born in Bethlehem. Jesus came to redeem us Jews and gentiles from our sins by suffering torture and dying on the cross for us. He rose from the dead on the third day and now sits at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. Jesus is the fulfilment of the Davidic promise. When Jesus returns He will take all believers to heaven with Him , where we will continue to give Him glory , honour and praise. And continually call out with all the heavenly hosts “Holy, Holy, Holy.”!

I think that demanding answers from God will lead to stress because by being demanding we are not trusting in God. If we aren’t trusting God we are trusting our own abilities which is a recipe for stress and sometimes worse! Different situations in our lives need to be prayerfully brought to God and left with Him.This is easier said than done! But if we do this on a regular basis we will see God being faithful and answering prayer, not always as we would wish but in ways that so often , in retrospect we can see was the best way for us. And sometimes we don’t ever know why the Lord has permitted things to happen! This is where we learn to grow in trust. Trust is something that can take a long time to develop but wonderful when we can trust God with our lives and know deep down that all will be well eventually. Deuteronomy 29v29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. I don’t really get angry about unexpected things that happen. They often make me sad , worried or disappointed but not angry. But not matter how bad I feel once I take it to the Lord He lifts the sadness, worry or any other negative emotions I may have. The problem doesn’t go away but I know the Lord is with me as I walk through the dark valley! I find a quiet spot to be alone with the Lord, sometimes it may be at night in my bed! Wherever it is I pray and ask God’s help to bring me through the situation. If I am coming to spend time with Him and not in a crisis, I will spend time praising Him and meditating on a verse or piece of scripture. Sometimes I might sing a song of praise.,or worship. I hope in God for everything He has promised in His word. Forgiveness of sin, every day blessings , Grace to obey Him and do His will. I look forward with hope to spending eternity in His presence. No eye has seen, nor ear heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love . 1 Corinthians 2v9.

I know that God has chosen me to be His child and has sent His son into the world to die on the cross so that I can have my sins forgiven if I am truly sorry and trust in my Lord and Saviour. These facts bring me great happiness and assurance for both this life and the life to come. It makes me love Him more and more when I think and meditate on the enormity of what God /Jesus has done for me. I long for my family to have all this that I have but the unfortunately they don’t but I trust God for their souls. His timing is perfect! I do try and forgive people straight away and not hold grudges. Not always easy but the Lord gives me the grace to do it. Ephesians 3v32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, considerate and forgiving just as God in Christ forgave you. I try to live by this verse. My expectancy is of certainty, God will deliver on all His wonderful promises , I will spend eternity in His presence, worshipping Him and Praising Him with no distractions or earthly things to drag me away. I must just remain in Him and keep my focus on Him until He calls me home or He returns. Praise Him!

As a child I found it very hard to please my mother. I was always in trouble, my work before school was not done to her satisfaction so it had to be repeated. I was often late for school, consequently I was in trouble in school. I was the eldest of seven children so I had a lot of responsibility. My teenage years were a nightmare. I was always in trouble I tried my best to do all I was asked but it just never seemed to make my mum happy! Icouldnt wait to leave home. It was wonderful to have freedom from housework etc. I always felt angry towards my mum. I looked forward to going home for holidays but it was always much the same. Although I realized my sisters had the responsibility now but Mum never was so hard on them as she was with me. At this time I was not a Christian. Years passed I got married and had my own three children and gave them a different upbringing but still made mistakes. During this time I became a Christian and my heart softened towards my Mum. She became ill. With dementia my sister was trying to look after her but her children were younger than mine so I took leave from my job and went to live with her for ten months, my husband was very understanding and agreed to this. We lived a three hour journey away. I believe the Lord gave me this time with my Mum. It was a healing special time. It was not an easy time but a time of my being enabled by the Lord to show love and caring to the one person who caused me so much hurt anxiety and low self esteem. I could not have done it without God’s wonderful grace. After this time my Mum was admitted to a nursing home, it was getting more difficult to do 24/7 as she was up night and day. Also my husband was really feeling my absence, so I went home. I visited mum every third weekend , my sisters and I had a rota so someone visited every day. We were now 4 hours away from each other. This time continued to be a time of healing as I had no work to do just time spent, sitting talking, pampering her. We also could go into the garden, in her wheelchair. It was a very precious extension of time given to me by the Lord. This time enabled me to better understand my mum and to be able to forgive her by God’s Grace.

Fear of the Lord means being aware of who God is and showing respect to Him. We can do this by obeying Him and trusting in Him as Our Lord and Saviour. We must be aware of how great, awesome and powerful He is and how insignificant we are! God blesses me every day. I have all the basics needs in life , a roof over my head, food on the table., I live in a country not at war and with a moderate climate. I have three healthy children and three grandchildren. I could go on and on. Praise you Lord! We live in a fallen world and because of that we will have struggles. The struggles are very often the times when God seems closest to us, helping and guiding us through each difficult day. God is also working out His purposes in the world and can use all our struggles to further them. Struggles can teaches us perseverance , perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything.James 1 v4. Often prosperity is only thought of in terms of financial, but there are many other ways of looking at it. Prosperity does mean flourishing in something but not always in money. When we are walking with the Lord we will prosper, that may not be in material things but will mean in our spiritual lives. We will enjoy the joy of the Lord , and feel His presence and His leading and guiding in our lives. The things of the world will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.