sokin's devotional 26 - opposition
"then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. they hired counselors to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia."
Ezra 4:4-5
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by God's grace, the Israelites rightly returned to their homeland to rebuild the temple as per the decree by King Cyrus.
but immediately, they faced opposition. ESV study bible tells us that this deliberate persecution against the rebuilding of the temple by the "enemies of Judah and Benjamin" was over a span of about 20 years.
2 things to note here:
1. this will happen again and again
the people of God will always suffer undue punishment and persecution. the plans of God will almost always attract opposition and plans to thwart them. there will be opposition to the things of God. thats just the way the world works. God's ways and the Gospel are almost antithesis to the ways of this world and the desires of the flesh. (1 Corinthians 1:27, 2 timothy 3:12)
2. God's plans, if they are indeed His plans, will always and eventually succeed. - even though you may be hard pressed on every side, remember that if you are indeed following God's plans - they will succeed! we as believers have this promise given to us - that the Lord of all is sovereign over all and will reign over all. His plans will always succeed. as long as we dedicate it all to Him, and indeed if He wills it, it will happen.
so keep pressing on!
Ezra 4:4-5
---
by God's grace, the Israelites rightly returned to their homeland to rebuild the temple as per the decree by King Cyrus.
but immediately, they faced opposition. ESV study bible tells us that this deliberate persecution against the rebuilding of the temple by the "enemies of Judah and Benjamin" was over a span of about 20 years.
2 things to note here:
1. this will happen again and again
the people of God will always suffer undue punishment and persecution. the plans of God will almost always attract opposition and plans to thwart them. there will be opposition to the things of God. thats just the way the world works. God's ways and the Gospel are almost antithesis to the ways of this world and the desires of the flesh. (1 Corinthians 1:27, 2 timothy 3:12)
2. God's plans, if they are indeed His plans, will always and eventually succeed. - even though you may be hard pressed on every side, remember that if you are indeed following God's plans - they will succeed! we as believers have this promise given to us - that the Lord of all is sovereign over all and will reign over all. His plans will always succeed. as long as we dedicate it all to Him, and indeed if He wills it, it will happen.
so keep pressing on!
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