Moved By The Spirit

Moved By the Spirit

Ezra 1:5-6

Watch on YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U16bCwoYr-8

While reading the book of Ezra, the Lord wouldn’t allow me to move beyond chapter one and specifically to meditate on verses five and six.

Ezra begins by taking us back to Jeremiah’s prophecy that after 70 years of Babylonian captivity, God was going to bring the Jews back to their homeland, the land of Israel.

Through Jeremiah, the Lord said, “After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.” (Jeremiah 29:10 NKJV)

And then Ezra talked about who was going to go, and what those who remained behind did for those who went.

“Then the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. And all those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered.” (Ezra 1:5-6 NKJV)

My hope today is that this message is both practical and inspirational for all of us, and that it will encourage and energizes us to find God’s calling and purpose for wherever we may be, and whatever comes our way.

What we see from our passage are the types of people that make ministry happen.

1. Called by God

This is seen in the first part of verse five.

“Then the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites…” (Ezra 1:5a NKJV)

God had specifically called the tribe of Levi to minister before Him and to minster to the people on His behalf (Numbers 18:26). And also the heads of each of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, or the southern two tribes of the house of Israel where the city of Jerusalem is located, which are the tribes that were taken into captivity.

These were the ones that God had called to go and start the rebuilding project for the new temple (Ezra 3:8). These were the ones that God had specifically called to ministry.

What about today? How will we know if we are of the called by God?

Let me say that God raises up those He calls, and everyone will know it. But if we say that God has called us, or if we have to promote ourselves, then there’s a very good chance that it’s self-promotion, not God.

I have had people come into my office in Vegas, as well as a couple of times here in Mesquite and tell me that God has called them as a prophet, or that God has called them to this or that ministry. And then ask if they can get in front of the congregation and give their message or do their thing. My answer is usually, “Not at this time.” And that’s mainly because they either couldn’t define exactly what the ministry was, or how their answers revolved more around them doing the work rather than God.

I have also had people tell me that God has given them this or that giftedness, but when I start digging deeper, they start using the “God Card” saying, “God has called me, and God knows my heart.” At this juncture I usually thank them, but inside I just want to say, “Well God does know your heart, and he says in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked and beyond cure, and who can truly know it.” (paraphrase)

What I have found is that those who revert to the “God Card” to validate their ministry or message by using, “God told me,” may not have been called, but are rather calling themselves.

When you are called by God, others will know it. They knew who the Levites were and their calling, and your calling will be evident as well.

But what about today, how does somebody know? Well, we’ll know because they will already be operating within that gift. If God has called you to be a teacher, then you’re already teaching in some way. Teaching, you might say, is in your blood.

Ilona, our oldest granddaughter will probably be a teacher someday. Now, I can’t say for sure if this is a prophetic word, but when she was living with us for the first five years, she would pull out all her stuff animals into a classroom setting and began teaching them. I have no idea what she was teaching but she was teaching. There were even times when some of the animals had to go to time out because they weren’t listening.