Day 38 - 40 Days in the Old Testament
Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days in the Old Testament
Day 38 | GIVE CAREFUL THOUGHT TO YOUR WAYS
40 Days in the Old Testament
Day 38 | GIVE CAREFUL THOUGHT TO YOUR WAYS
GIVE CAREFUL THOUGHT TO YOUR WAYS
Haggai 1:4-6; 2:4b
“Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: ‘Give careful thought to your ways.’ You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear like you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!”
“Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” (NLT)
We are now in a time AFTER the 70 years of Babylonian captivity. Many of God’s people have returned to Jerusalem with the specific mission of rebuilding the Temple. Unlike our churches today, the Temple was a sign of God’s presence with His people. To neglect to rebuild the Temple showed great apathy toward the LORD.
Why I say, unlike our churches today, is that the buildings we call “churches” are only places where “the church” meets. Today, the church is the people of God, we followers of Jesus Christ, not the building. There were no churches in the days of Haggai, but there was the Temple.
God sent Haggai to awaken God’s children from their “slumber” of sorts and to re-energize them to rebuild the Temple.
The people responded positively and started rebuilding the Temple, which God promised to bless, along with the workers.
Haggai shows us how God was – and is – involved and active with His people. In Haggai, we read verbs like God sends, stirs up, shakes, withholds, fills, strikes, chooses, and blesses. He does the same with us today.
WE are the church, and we need to BE the church with a message of HOPE to a world in need.
Prayer: LORD, help me be STRONG and serve you well. Amen.
Haggai 1:4-6; 2:4b
“Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: ‘Give careful thought to your ways.’ You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear like you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!”
“Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” (NLT)
We are now in a time AFTER the 70 years of Babylonian captivity. Many of God’s people have returned to Jerusalem with the specific mission of rebuilding the Temple. Unlike our churches today, the Temple was a sign of God’s presence with His people. To neglect to rebuild the Temple showed great apathy toward the LORD.
Why I say, unlike our churches today, is that the buildings we call “churches” are only places where “the church” meets. Today, the church is the people of God, we followers of Jesus Christ, not the building. There were no churches in the days of Haggai, but there was the Temple.
God sent Haggai to awaken God’s children from their “slumber” of sorts and to re-energize them to rebuild the Temple.
The people responded positively and started rebuilding the Temple, which God promised to bless, along with the workers.
Haggai shows us how God was – and is – involved and active with His people. In Haggai, we read verbs like God sends, stirs up, shakes, withholds, fills, strikes, chooses, and blesses. He does the same with us today.
WE are the church, and we need to BE the church with a message of HOPE to a world in need.
Prayer: LORD, help me be STRONG and serve you well. Amen.