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I was reading Ezra Chapter 3 this week when I happened upon an interesting portion of scripture. Assembled together in Jerusalem, the Israelites set out to rebuild the temple. What’s interesting to me however, is not so much that they were rebuilding the temple, but rather how they started and what transpired as they were building.

We read,

Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices. (Ezra 3:3, NIV)

What that says to me is that they prioritized their relationship with God above everything else.

If it were me, I would have probably said, “These people are getting restless, let’s get the walls up before anything else. Let’s ensure our safety before we start holding morning and evening services.”

But they weren’t like me. They were more faithful to God than the average person. They didn’t run, they didn’t start building walls, and they didn’t give up. They went to the altar where they found safety and strength.

Their priority was to worship God, not to hide from the enemy. This is important to note. Why? Because the battle is not against flesh and blood.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12, NIV)

There’s a spiritual battle behind every physical war. Facing your problem without going to prayer is like picking a weed without destroying the root. In order to get to the root of the problem, we need go to the altar, lay down our burden, and meet God in prayer.


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Tilling the Soil

Read Ezra 3.

Planting Hope

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12, NIV)


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Darlene Schacht and her husband Michael live in Manitoba Canada where the summers are beautiful and the winters are cold. Together they’ve come to learn that relationships aren’t always easy, but that marriage, the way God intended it to be, is a treasure worth fighting for.

She began her publishing journey about twelve years ago when she pioneered one of the first online magazines for Christian women, known at the time as “Christian Women Online Magazine.” After three years, Darlene left CWO to blog as a solo author at Time-Warp Wife Ministries.

It was also during this transition that she worked alongside actress Candace Cameron Bure to write the NYT Best-Selling book, Reshaping it All: Motivation for Spiritual and Physical FitnessReshaping it All was the winner of both the 2011 USA Best Book Awards and the 2012 Christian Reading Retailers Choice Awards.

Author of more than 15 books, Darlene continues to write and to minister to her readers through her blog at TimeWarpWife.com.

Connect with Darlene:

Facebook: @timewarpwife
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Twitter: @timewarpwife

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene Schacht
The Time-Warp Wife