Now after this....

                Ezra 7. 1

(That is how God leads us.

That is how we follow Him,

one step at a time,

into a deeper dimension 

            of knowing Him.

"Obey God

in the thing He shows you

and instantly 

the next thing is opened up."

         -- Oswald Chambers)

            

Do you not know

 that you are God's temple

and that God's Spirit

       dwells in you?

           1 Corinthians 3. 16

(And that reality

     changes everything.

You are different now.

Live that way).

But we have the 

             mind of Christ.

            1 Corinthians 2. 16

(Not just mindful of Him,

     but have His mind in this.

Not just what is God's way,

but His all-encompassing response.

What is the mind of Christ

          in this?

His thoughts over mine,

His heart over mine.

My response should look

                radically different).

...in whatever place he sojourns...

                         Ezra 1. 4

(Here?  Even here.

Wherever God places me,

    always strategically,

    always with purpose,

almost always in unexpected ways

   and among the most unlikely.

For what has God charged me to do?

        Be faithful to Him.

        Even here. Even in this.

God is fulfilling,

restoring and redeeming.

And He invites me to join Him.

Even in what

    I cannot yet see).

Now to Him

    Who is able 

to strengthen you....

            Romans 16. 25

(God is able.

He grants a strength

    that is not my own

    in impossible places.

God's got this.

Not strength to muddle through,

      but to bring Him glory

in this part of His story).

No matter what

   is on your path today).

Be strong 

      and of good courage.

Do not be afraid or dismayed

before the king of Assyria 

and all the horde

       that is with him,

for there is One greater with us

                than with him.

With him is an arm of flesh,

but with us 

       is the LORD our God,

to help us 

       and to fight our battles.

                 2 Chronicles 32. 7-8

(We all struggle with something.

And sometimes that struggle

     comes from

     trying to do life on my own.

Don't forget Who is with you.

His victory prevails

over our fears,

     both real and imagined).

And every work that he undertook 

in the service of the house of God

and in accordance with the law

          and the commandments,

seeking his God,

he did with all his heart,

                and prospered.

                2 Chronicles 31. 21

(Seeking God in it

       changes everything 

and causes us to thrive,

    no matter the dire circumstances.

No work is mundane in God's economy,

    the common becomes the uncommon,

the ordinary

   becomes the most extraordinary of all,

and faithfulness to God

      is a catalyst to the incredible).