Nehemiah 1-2 ; Psalm 147:1-11 ; Revelation 16 Today is Christmas Day, 2025 , and I want to wish you a very blessed, Merry Christmas ! After reading our texts for today, I want to frame my reflections within the following context: our God – with His unfailing love – compassionately looked down upon us from heaven and saw what we ourselves are often unwilling and unable to see. He saw us – in the midst of our greatest needs – for salvation, for redemption, and for reconc

Ezra 10 ; Psalm 146 ; Revelation 14:14-15:8 "The Birth At Bethlehem" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Felt-Tip Marker on Paper In Ezra 10, after Ezra’s own confession of Israel’s national sin, “a large crowd of Israelites gathered around him and wept” (verse 1). The Israelites have become convicted of their sins of intermarriage which they then confessed before God (verse 2). Under Ezra’s leadership, these people agreed to follow the Lord’s will in this very painful situ

Ezra 8:15-9:15 ; Proverbs 31:1-9 ; Revelation 14:1-13 "Winter" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Acrylic on Canvas In Ezra 8:15–9:15,...

Ezra 7:11-8:14 ; Psalm 145:13-21 ; Revelation 13:2-18 "Christmas, 2020" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Colored Pencil on Paper In Ezra 7:11–8:14, we are able to read the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest. In that letter, we see the king commissions Ezra to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. This letter should have laid to rest all doubts about the Jews returning and rebuilding, although as we still see today, opposition against the Jews is nev

Ezra 6:1-7:10 ; Psalm 145:8-13 ; Revelation 12:1-13:1 In Ezra 6:1-7:1-10, we see how God works behind the scenes to bring about His...

Ezra 4:6-5:17 ; Psalm 145:1-7 ; Revelation 11 "In The Fulness of Time ..." © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Pen & Ink on Paper In Ezra 4:6–5:17, we see the historical fruitlessness of opposing our awesome God, His purposes, and His people. In chapter 5, we see an age-old issue that always seems to be initiated by the enemies of God. Here, the enemies of the Jews wrote letters of accusation and fabrication to King Artaxerxes against the post-exilic Jews to discredit them

Ezra 2:68-4:5 ; Proverbs 30:24-33 ; Revelation 9:13-10:11 "Colorado Winter" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Acrylic on Canvas In Ezra...