SEEING DEEP
with Denise Pass
BIBLE READING PLAN
The Hand of God
The hand of God can be for us or against us. The favor of God is not something that can be manipulated. God knows our hearts. And when we seek God, are diligent to study and apply His word, God works in our circumstances with His loving, gracious hand to bring about his perfect will in our lives.
Bible Reading of the Day: Ezra 6-10
Ezra 6:22
“And they held the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, because the Lord had made them happy, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to encourage them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.”
Ezra 7:6b
“6 So this Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all [a]he requested because the hand of the Lord his God was upon him.”
Ezra 7:9-10
“For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him. 10 For Ezra had firmly resolved to study the Law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.”
The phrase, “The hand of the LORD was upon us”, or variants of this phrase appear in today’s reading appears six times.
Ezra 7:6, 7:9, 7:28, 8:18, 8:22, 8:31
Sometimes we can feel like God does not see us – as if our way is hidden from Him.
We read about God’s hand being with others and wonder why we struggle so.
But let’s see what the people did that helped the hand of God to be for them instead of against them.
The Hand of God—Being diligent in God’s word.
Ezra 7:6
“Ezra was skilled in the Law of Moses.”
The Hand of God—Studying and applying God’s word.
Ezra 7:9-10
“For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him. 10 For Ezra had firmly resolved to study the Law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.”
Scripture of the Day: Ezra 7:27-28
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to glorify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, 28 and has extended favor to me before the king and his counselors and before all the king’s mighty officials. So I was strengthened according to the hand of the Lord my God that was upon me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.”
What will God do when we apply His word to our life? He will be for us. He will put his hand upon us!
The Hand of God—God Provides
Ezra 8:18
“18 And as the good hand of our God was upon us, they brought us a man of insight from the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, and his sons and brothers, eighteen men; 19 and Hashabiah and Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his brothers and their sons, twenty men; 20 and 220 of the temple servants, whom David and the officials had provided for the service of the Levites, all of them designated by name.”
The Hand of God—God Protects
Ezra 8:22
“22 For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to [l]protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who abandon Him.” 23 So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He listened to our pleading.”
And I also want to add here that encountering troubles do not mean that God’s hand is against us. God is with us in our struggles. His hand strengthens us. The words, gracious hand mean good hand, and hand is a reference to His power. God is able, friends. Even when our circumstances seem impossible.
The Hand of God—In Hard Times
When bad things happen to others, we don’t need to assume that they did anything wrong. And God is able to trump hard circumstances with His grace and grace. He moved in the heart of three kings from our reading in Ezra today. He can do the same in our kings, Presidents, and leaders today.
My recent COVID challenges have been difficult, but my reliance needs to be on God, not just on medicine. God is able to use medicine and doctors, too. But my hope is in Him and His gracious hand! And sometimes we need to ask God to reveal to us when His hand has been for us and we just did not recognize it.
Application
- When we trust God, we know that nothing is wasted in His hands.
- Choose this day blessing or curse.
- The hand of God is largely dependent upon our actions.
- God is good all the time. If we believe that, then we trust His hand at all times.
𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘁 12 𝗽𝗺 𝗘𝗧.
Day #317: Ezra 6-10—The Hand of God
𝒱𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒟𝒶𝓎: Ezra 7:27-28
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The post The Difference the Hand of God Makes—Nov 12 Bible Reading Plan
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