For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord , and to do it , and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

Ezra 7:10

1.Preparing one’s heart.

It has now been 8 months since I gave myself to the most wonderful woman of God in marriage. It is truly astounding to me to see time just slip through our hands, but at the same time the most memorable moments are building something genuinely wonderful. In light of this I had this thought about preparing my heart. Primed by the above scripture of course, I began to consider what a whirlwind of a work it was to prepare my heart to pursue, adorn, and marry my wife. IT WAS 3 YEARS!

Pursuing God in no way makes me anything special or even greater as a person, but I will say that it has indeed revealed someone special and greater within the person.

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Yes, about 3 years before I even made “the move” if there is such a thing to begin a rudimentary friendship with my wife. What was I doing in the meantime? Well in a way I had purposed first to pursue someone much greater, GOD. Pursuing God in no way makes me anything special or even greater as a person, but I will say that it has indeed revealed someone special and greater within the person. When anyone makes a decision to seek God, there is great wisdom ahead. In the years before I even considered being ” man enough to marry” I had to get to know THE MAN, Jesus Christ. Let me tell any who read this…there is not just change there is transformation in your life when you find the source of all that is truth.

So in this preparation of heart I found these things to be absolutely true for life:

1. The Grace of God is essential to understand in pursuit Him
   • I am sure you have heard the “Do and Don’t” Christianity, but “Mr and Mrs. Christian” accomplish little apart from saturating the schedule with vain religious activity. Discovering the Grace of God is discovering who you are, The more you find the more you realize who Christ has made you to be!
2. Jesus Christ did not just die on the cross so that I could carry on with the “normal life”
   • It is called transformation in the Bible for a reason it changes the very essence of your soul when you find and accept Christ (it actually gives you a living Spirit to experience new life as your soul is renewed!)
3. Living in my guilt, shame and fear never gave me true freedom, nor will it ever
   • Even being “mr Christian” all my life never truly gave me any joy. It definitely spared me from heartache but it never could substitute for what Christ had to offer in developing a relationship with Him.(What He has said and left for us in His Word: The Bible)
4. Pursuing God was actually more of a personal pursuit instead of a corporate one.
   • The church has a vital place in the pursuit of God, but a genuine walk of faith is sought and made a reality by measured steps of one’s will in faith that Christ will do what He has promised to do in your life. (e.g: Reading the Bible for yourself, Seeking out teachers of the Bible, Finding sound teaching of the Bible, Personal prayer, Listening to sermons, Letting the Word of God shape, correct, and transform your life….)
5. Finding my wife was just God’s timely gift.
   • I cannot explain it but finding my wife was just so timely and couldn’t have been anything apart from a miracle. (She is way out my league btw). Likewise if you make your life align with where God is, you will find the blessings of God are closer when you are near to Him than away from Him, and they are far greater than companionship, companionship was just one of many imparted.
6. the heart has already been prepared, it just has to be set free
   • Ezekiel 36:26 explicitly states that God gives us a new heart of flesh(living) in place of past heart of stone(dead). The amazing truth about having a ready heart after God is that God has given you a perfect one already if you have received Him.
   • In Ephesians and Colossians it speaks of “putting off and putting on” there is a very clear indication that our will (another gift from God) plays a part in God’s divine purpose. It has to be surrendered over to another kingdom/ another way of thinking with whole new ordinances. WE THINK that good decisions and obedience pave the way towards blessed life, but the reality is that faith and a different spectrum of obedience pave the way. “Study out New heart vs. Old heart in the Bible!”

For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord , and to do it , and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

Ezra 7:10

2.The Different Spectrum of obedience

You will see this throughout the New testament, especially through Paul’s epistles that it is not man who lives and pleases God, but it is Christ. When it continues to say Ezra prepared his heart to seek the LORD, AND TO DO IT… it is highlighting something greater than man’s capacity, it is revealing a SPIRITUAL capacity IN CHRIST. The New Testament of the Bible amply states ” it is no longer I, it is not I, not of myself.. etc” even Christ would not take claim to the power and amazing witness His words had to the hearts of people to clearly communicate that divine obedience is not of man’s capacity but of God’s. Throughout history man has only proved incapable to follow a higher order of thinking, values, and even divine law. Romans 7 plainly exclaims ” in our flesh(natural ability) dwelleth no good thing”. Do we truly think that anything we can do can please an eternal Just and Holy God…NOPE….BUT there is the gift of God; Christ in us, the hope of Glory, this is our new heart, our new capacity that draws outside of us yet changes the inside of us. Amazing grace from God to not only call us out but to faithfully do all that He desires to be done in this world. (1 Thes 5:24) IT IS A DAUNTING MYSTERY, but is AN ABSOLUTE REALITY you can experience today!

So in your assessment of self, be sure to count yourself out because it is no longer you, but you…the new you, seated above, adorned with righteousness, called out and Holy….CHRIST IN YOU, that will be able to perform the complete purpose of God for you in your time.

For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord , and to do it , and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

Ezra 7:10

3.To Teach Others

The conclusion of being a ready scribe is publishing what God has done! Have you ever had something so monumental happen in your life where you just always speak of it, write about it, refer to it as this immovable landmark or milestone in your life? IF you have found Christ, you have discovered THE MOMENT of them all, unfortunately it is often concealed or hidden from us. That is why we have the Bible first and foremost, the local Church, street preaching, evangelism, and many other avenues of reminding man that the war is won, the battle is over, we are free from the deception of defeat! The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God! With the new heart, and the capacity and ability of the Holy Spirit(Christ in us) we have only this small but vital operation to carry out…the publishing of God’s great work!

When all three of these work in progression, it is an amazing manifestation of God’s glory. Men and women find something greater than themselves and more powerful than their bondage of sin when a believer stands as a ready scribe as Ezra did long ago. Have an amazing week and live transformed to His way as you seek to pursue God with your life as a ready scribe!