Thoughts ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZONPRTOFF dateof comment Look Inside Data Conditions:Order: Dateof Comment 03/13/2026 You always hear about God hardening Pharaoh's heart like that is the only thing God is capable of. Our God is a God who also softens hearts. After Israel upset God so bad, he exiled them into slavery for 70 years. There are some amazing things God did to allow the people to finally come home: Ezra 1:1-7 NLT Cyrus Allows the Exiles to Return 1 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the Lord fulfilled the prophecy he had given through Jeremiah. He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom: 2 “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Any of you who are his people may go to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you! 4 Wherever this Jewish remnant is found, let their neighbors contribute toward their expenses by giving them silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock, as well as a voluntary offering for the Temple of God in Jerusalem.” 5 Then God stirred the hearts of the priests and Levites and the leaders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple of the Lord. 6 And all their neighbors assisted by giving them articles of silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock. They gave them many valuable gifts in addition to all the voluntary offerings. 7 King Cyrus himself brought out the articles that King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his own gods. I never hear about this side of God. He did not stop here. Nehemiah was about to see what God was about to do: Nehemiah 1:3-4 NLT Nehemiah’s Concern for Jerusalem 3 They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.” 4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. God was about to do something for Nehemiah like he did for Ezra: Nehemiah 2:1-6 NLT Nehemiah Goes to Jerusalem 2 Early the following spring, in the month of Nisan, during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was serving the king his wine. I had never before appeared sad in his presence. 2 So the king asked me, “Why are you looking so sad? You don’t look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled.” Then I was terrified, 3 but I replied, “Long live the king! How can I not be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.” 4 The king asked, “Well, how can I help you?” With a prayer to the God of heaven, 5 I replied, “If it please the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.” 6 The king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked, “How long will you be gone? When will you return?” After I told him how long I would be gone, the king agreed to my request. Here are two occasions where our God softened hearts. What is really interesting about Pharaoh of Egypt, King Cyrus, and King Artaxerxes, is that the method God used on each brought Glory to his name. What we have to realize that God does not just make people stubborn. 03/07/2025 You can tell those who really love the Lord when they begin to think like this: Psalm 139:23-24 (New Living Translation) Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. If you are like me you know this is right but it may be disappointing when we find out how many things we do that offend God. It is necessary to know if we are to correct it and get back on living like Jesus. Jesus - King of kings! 04/02/2024 You and I are very fortunate to not know the entire plan that God has for us. Here is more proof on how much Jesus loved us because he on the other hand knew everything: Matthew 20: 17-19 (New Living Translation) As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside privately and told them what was going to happen to him. “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die. Then they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. But on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” Did Jesus know this from his great understanding of the Old Testament or was it revealed to him by the Father? I am not sure what I would do if I knew what Jesus did about his life was to unfold. Jesus told his disciples how everything was to unfold when he made this last trip to Jerusalem. When Jesus did rise from the dead everyone really did not believe it happened. It was like what Jesus said went in one ear and out the other. The spiritual world is entirely different than what this world says. The world can cloud our judgement of spiritual things. Gods Kingdom is spiritual, and it requires a different kind of thinking to understand the things of God. Other than what is in God's word, the rest has to be explained to our brains by the Holy Spirit himself. He wants to reveal everything to us if we just ask him.
