Ezra Faced With Enemies Ezra 3

This is Pastor Daniel Stevenson. I'm director

of the Salisbury Life Station and pastor of New

Heights Fellowship Baptist Church of East Toledo.

And you're receiving this message because you

opted in to be encouraged. I'm thinking today

of Ezra 3 -1. And Ezra and those who've gone

home to rebuild the temple after the exile in

the land around Jerusalem and they're thinking

about getting started and they look out and they

see that they're surrounded by enemies. There's

all kinds of people who want to cause a problem

for God's people as they're trying to do the

things they're supposed to do. And so they've

got to make a plan, take a course of action.

Take some steps. What am I going to do? You know

what they do? They turn. They build the area

of worship, in particular the altar, and begin

sacrifices to God. They begin holy worship to

God the best they know how. That's a lesson for

us. When things look tough, when things look

down, when there's enemies all around, what's

our priority? What are we going to do? Are we

going to get our craw up, defend ourselves, attack

our enemies, train ourselves, build better defenses?

No, that's not it. What we're going to do is

turn toward the Lord and do the things of the

Lord. Do the thing that the Lord sent us to do,

which is to worship Him. God is looking for worship.

Christopher's in spirit and in truth, John 4.

He's looking for people who will put their lives

on the line for him, who will focus on him, sing

his songs, do his work, serve him, study, be

the church. And if you'll put God first, he'll

take care of all the rest. When you see your

enemies encroaching, remember to put God at the

center. Be encouraged today. If you need growth,

look for plenty of opportunities coming up from

the Life Station very soon and from New Heights.

And then at the same time, I would encourage

you, download our app. is going to be a great

way in the future that you're going to be able

to keep track of what's going on through these

ministries. If you don't have a smartphone, don't

worry. We're going to try not to leave you out.

Make sure that you're in our texting group for

updates. What's that? You don't text? Don't worry.

We'll try not to leave you out. Give us a call.

Let us know you want to be kept abreast of everything

that's going on through the live station and

through New Heights, and we'll do our best to

keep you in the loop.