Ruins to RestorationSample

PRAYER: PRAY THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WOULD HELP YOU SEE PLACES IN YOUR LIFE WHERE YOU HAVE BUILT ON A FOUNDATION OF YOUR OWN MAKING INSTEAD OF BUILDING ON THE FOUNDATION OF JESUS CHRIST. DEVOTIONAL: After multiple decades of living in a foreign land, away from their homes, against their own will, the Jewish people that we read about in Ezra 3 were finally able to come back to their capital city of Jerusalem and begin the long, arduous process of rebuilding the temple for their God. It was a moment of both joy and sorrow, gladness and sadness. You may be thinking, “Wait, why sadness? They’re returning back to their homes! What is there to be sad about?!” Well, we have to see with our mind’s eye what they were seeing with their physical eyes; as they approached their capital city of Jerusalem they saw their once beautiful temple in shambles, left completely destroyed by the Babylonian armies that had taken them into captivity some 70 years prior. Those who were overjoyed were those who had not seen the former glory of the now-destroyed temple, but those who had seen that former glory believed that whatever new temple they built would pale in comparison to the old. However, despite the mixed feelings about the rebuilding of the temple, Zerubbabel decided that it was time to begin to lay the foundation of the new temple that was to come. Have you ever been in a moment of your own life where you felt like your life had been destroyed, left in shambles, and that your best days weren’t ahead of you but instead, behind you? What are we to do in those moments? What is the answer? The answer is to start laying the foundation of your life but this time, to be absolutely sure that the foundation you are building on is none other than the firm foundation of Jesus Christ. Question: What is one area of your life that you have built on a foundation that isn’t Jesus? How can you begin to rebuild that area on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ?