Spiritual accomplishments are designed so they require both faith in God and grace from God. Although Ezra and Nehemiah were individual writers inspired by the Spirit, in the Hebrew Bible their books were treated as one. While there is overlap, they each deserve their own place in the Canon. Remember, there were three waves of […]
A little old lady throws a bottle with a message into the Lake. Guess who found it? […]
Shechaniah (“dwelling with Jah”), like a shooting star, appears just long enough to light up the darkness. While Ezra was crying out to the Lord, “a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel,” also weeping bitterly (Ezra 10:1). Whatever the decision, it would have very sad results. Suddenly a man named […]
Is it just preachers and missionaries who should live by faith? Jesus says “No.” We’re not just saved by faith; we should all live by faith too. […]
Rarely are the right choice and the easy choice the same thing. God’s will is never said to be easy. At the pivot point in Ezra’s prayer, he says, “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this?” (Ezra 9:10). Have you ever been in a situation where you know something has to be done […]
God’s door is open. He knows the whole story. His heart is toward us. He wants to restore us. Are we ready? The prayer of Ezra (Ezra 9:5-15) plumbs the depths of shame and humiliation as he views the ragged landscape of the nation’s “iniquities [that] have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt…grown up to the […]
Some of God’s servants seem to have instant success. Others walk right into trouble. But God… Ezra’s task of sorting out the “holy seed” (Ezra 9:2) in the Israelite marriages—where “holy” doesn’t mean sinless, but separated from the nations for God’s purpose—was extremely difficult. It was compounded by the fact that it wasn’t just the common people who had […]
Read More… from April 9, 2025 — The Ministry Of Unscrambling
In Christian marriage, we don’t seek for our partner to meet our needs, but to share Christ’s bounty. Jesus called it “the doctrine of Balaam” (Rev 2:14). What was it, and why should it be an issue still in the Church Age? Marriage was the first divinely-ordained institution, and so the first attack-point of the enemy. The […]