When God gives favor, sometimes even the enemy will help
Ezra 1-2/1John 3-5
How to get the most out of Hungry Bible
OT
1:5 Then God stirred the hearts of the priests and Levites and the leaders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple of the LORD.
NT
3:1-3 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if you do sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who pleases God completely. He is the sacrifice for our sins. He takes away not only our sins but the sins of all the world. And how can we be sure that we belong to him? By obeying his commandments.
:11 Anyone who hates a Christian brother or sister is living and walking in darkness. Such a person is lost, having been blinded by the darkness.
:13 I am writing to you who are mature because you know Christ, the one who is from the beginning.
:15 Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you.
OT Flash Points
Cyrus, King of Persia hears God’s command
He repopulates Jerusalem and
Orders the Temple to be rebuilt
NT Flash Points
Clear marks that let us see & know who is God’s, what is right & where the Spirit is in charge
Pray for those on the fringe
Don’t condemn
Perspective
Reliance on anything or anyone other than God?
Can you expect God to show His life through you?
What would we be like if we could really believe that He can be all that He says He wants to be in us?