As we have begun our 30 Days of Vision focus, God is challenging us to be heroic, faithful, diligent, unified, wise, and steady. As we look to His Word for examples we begin with Caleb and Joshua in Numbers 13. They show us that even when the majority is wanting to give in to fear, we can focus our faith on God's faithfulness to His promises and move forward with confidence into the next phase of our personal journey, as well as the journey He has in store for Eastwood Baptist Church.

Ezra is one of those books that doesn't get much attention, but it takes place on the cusp of the third covenant between God and His people (Adam in Eden, the Hebrews going to the Promised Land, and now the return after the Babylonian captivity that will set up the coming of Jesus). They had been sent to the heart of idolatry and evil, and that world was not that different from our world today. Ezra helps us to see that God expects that we too can rebound from these low points and be great again!

Three books of the Bible cover this time period: Esther shows us those who stayed in Babylon, Nehemiah describes rebuilding the wall (external), and Ezra describes rebuilding the temple (internal). We focus on Ezra in order to get the internal right before we take on the external projects in the future. Ezra 3 should be our roadmap as we focus on God first (worship), the get to the work of witnessing to the world.

In Ezra 4-6 we see an example of one of life's universal truths... if you are following God's will, you will be attacked, accused, and opposed. Much like them, as we get focused on what God has in store, the evil one will try to distract and discourage us. We must be ready for his strategies of opposition by equipping ourselves to defend using prayer and God's Word.

Ezra finally appears in his book in chapter 7 verse 10, and he sets a great example for us... he not only studied God's Word, he also taught it and DID it. In life we face a decision each day to risk it (live by faith) or retreat, and if we choose to risk it on faith for Jesus we are growing through Him.