Welcome And Daily Bible Focus

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Hey everyone and welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. In this podcast, we will be breaking down the Bible one chapter a day. Whether you are a new believer or have been following Christ for a while, we believe that you will learn something new and fresh every single day. So thank you for joining us and let's get into breaking down the Bible together.

Today’s Theme: God’s Presence

Community Shoutouts And Subscribe Request

Recap: Come Home To The Lord

Reading Zechariah 2 Vision Of Jerusalem

Interpreting The Promise Of Presence

Practical Hope And Eternal Inheritance

Invitation To Return And Prayer

Closing Reminder And Next Chapter Tease

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Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today, Zechariah chapter two. And today's title is God's Presence is Among Us. God's Presence is Among Us. This chapter reminds me of a song that we used to sing a long time ago. And I I don't really sing that much anymore, but we used to have this song, it would say, The presence of the Lord is here. The presence of the Lord is here. Yeah, we used to, and what it was doing is on Sunday morning we would be reminding ourselves, I don't care how you feel, I don't care what's happening this week. I I don't I don't care about any of that. I know objectively, because God's presence fills the universe, the presence of the Lord is here. And I love this because that's what this chapter is reminding the nation of Judah, and that is God's presence is all around you. So return home. Come on home because you can't you can't go anywhere where God's not there. So you don't have to you don't have to travel a long way to come home. It's a mindset of coming home to God. And I love that so very much. And so we're gonna jump into that. I want to give you just a moment to find Zachariah chapter two. And while you're doing that, take just a moment, also like, share, and subscribe to YouTube channel and the podcast. I want to say real quick, thank you to everybody for continuing to share the podcast. Since we started to read through the New Testament again, we've been really working hard to try to find ways to remind people where to find the podcast, where to go for the YouTube channel. And so, for so many of you who are just continuing to share at all these different places, thank you so much for doing that. It really does help. And thank you for subscribing to the YouTube channel. We recently hit a new growth goal, and it's because of you. So thank you for sharing this with people. Thank you for subscribing. It's free to you, it helps us out a whole lot. When you like the videos, it helps. And I just want to say thank you on behalf of everyone at the Bible Breakdown team. And also make sure you go into the Bible breakdown discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing group of people doing a wonderful job, and you can get the details to all of that at the Biblebreakdown.com. Well, if you're with us yesterday, we took some time and we talked through this idea of Zachariah's main message being to come on home. Come on home to the Lord. And I love this idea because it's it's not as much a location as it is a state of mind, as it is a decision of the heart that I'm gonna come to the Lord. And in chapter one, he was saying that if you return to me, I'm gonna return to you. And it was that mental image of God's hand is always outstretched. The whole reason why they were back from Babylonian exile was because God brought them back. And so he was saying, finish the journey, come on home to me spiritually and watch what I will do. Well, now in chapter two, he is going to remind them about the idea that his presence is all around them and is among them, and they don't have to be afraid. What a wonderful lesson for us to still grapple with, learn from, and embrace today. So if you're ready, Zechariah chapter 2, verse 1 says this. When I looked again, I saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. Now pause. I did forget to mention, don't forget that some people call this the the revelation of the Old Testament because of all the imagery that's going on. So just don't forget, there's a whole lot of storytelling up in here. We're creating these different word pictures to help us get our minds around it. So here we go. Let's try again. Chapter 2, verse 1. It says, When I looked again, I saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. Where are you going? I asked. He replied, Well, I'm going to measure Jerusalem to see how wide and how long it is. Then the angel who had said with me, or the angel who was with me went to meet the second angel who was coming toward him. And the other angel said, Hurry and say to that young man, Jerusalem will someday be so full of people and livestock that there won't be room enough for anyone. Many will live outside the city walls. Then I myself will be a protective wall of fire around Jerusalem, says the Lord, and I will be the glory inside the city. Then the Lord says, Come away, flee from Babylon in the land of the north, for I have scattered you to the four winds. Come away, people of Zion, you who are exiled in Babylon. After a period of glory, the Lord of Heaven's armies sent me against the nations who plundered you, for he said, Anyone who harms you harms my most precious possession. I will raise my fist to crush them, and their own slaves will plunder them. Then you will know that I am, that the Lord of Heaven's armies has sent me. Then the Lord says, Shout and rejoice, O beautiful Jerusalem, for I am coming to live among you. Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on that day, and they too will be my people. I will live among you, and you will know that the Lord of Heaven's armies sent me to you. The land of Judah will be the Lord's special possession in the holy land, and he will once again choose Jerusalem to be his own city. Be silent before the Lord all humanity, for he is springing into action from his holy dwelling. Wow. I love that chapter because he is saying you have been scattered, you have been divided, you have been lost, you have been discouraged. But those days are coming to an end. That actually I am going to do something in you that is so amazing that you can't measure it. That you may be able to measure it right now, but watch it grow. Watch what I'm going to do. And realize that the greatest miracle that's going to happen is not going to be in the way I feel your barns. It's not going to be in all the other things that I do. Even though those things are going to be great. The greatest blessing you're going to have is I'm going to live among you. I'm going to be with you. That is the inheritance that we have as Christians. That the greatest miracle that could ever happen to us is already happened, and it's called salvation. That when we receive salvation, the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside of us. And we have an eternal home, an eternal inheritance, an eternal destiny waiting on us. And so every single day you and I wake up, if you're a Christian, the Holy Spirit is inside you. He bears witness with your spirit that God is among you. And for many of us, once you've been a Christian for a while, we get used to it. Which is why it's so important to find somebody who's who's a brand new Christian and listen to them talk about how they sleep better at night, how their battles are just a little bit less important, about how their fears are no longer able to control them because they have Christ living in them. He's the hope of glory, the living hope. You hear that and you go, Yeah, that's right. I forgot. I forgot what it was like when I couldn't sleep in peace. When I couldn't sleep with a joy in my heart because I didn't know the Lord. And the greatest thing about coming home is the peace in your heart. I want to ask you this question. When is the last time that you paused on your prayer requests? You paused on the mountains you haven't climbed yet, you paused on all the things that you hope God does. There's nothing wrong with all that. But when is the last time you paused on all of that and said, God, I'm just thankful that you live among me, that you are with me, you are in me, you are for me, and that nothing can take away the hope of eternity. You ever thought about that? There is nothing that can happen in this life that can overthrow the promise of God in your life. Like no nobody can say, Well, you're not gonna go to heaven anymore because I don't want you to. Like, well, good luck with that, bro. You know? The inheritance of eternal life that we have is untouchable. Guarded by the king of kings. There's there's nothing better. And so I want to encourage you to take a moment and think about today that God is living among you. And so if there's anything that has caused you to walk away from him at all, it's time to come on home. It's time to experience the freshness of God in your life. Let's pray together right now. God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, Lord, that you are always calling us home. Always calling us back to you. I pray, God, that we will never stop coming home to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, God's Word says in Zechariah 1, verse 3 says, Return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord of heaven's armies. Let us never stop constantly returning back to the Lord. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Zechariah chapter three.