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?