Haggai the Prophet Part 2

     Last week I wrote about how we needed to make sure we kept ourselves (temples) cleam and well kept up with for God. We need to worship Him with our entire being, no matter how we are percieved by others. This week will be a continuation of the last story. God told the people through Haggai that they needed to clean themselves up a bit, more than a bit, and rebuild their temples. Without God, they were nothing worth a piece of good sense.

     After God told them to look carefully into their lives and "think it over", He directed them to go to the hills and cut down some trees to make wood to rebuild the Temple, and to "do it just for [Him]. Honor [Him]." They had set themselves up on pedistles and made great plans for themselves and their futures, but without God involved in those plans they would all fall to ruins. God took away those ambitions. He took away the crops, the fruits, He took away EVERYTHING they had to live on. He let nothing thrive. (Haggai 1:10-11).

     Then all the people listened to Haggai, they listened to God speak. They listened with entirity, they gave their all to God in that moment...they turned a new leaf. Have you ever wanted to do that? God is always giving us opportunities to turn our lives around completely. We just have to listen to Him.

     The people listened and obeyed God's every word through Haggai. He was nothing like the other prophets, but they listened to him. Once the people were building the Temple, the Lord said with great joy, "The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house, and in this place I will grant peace."  (Haggai 2:9).

     And it was...

     Then it was time to change some laws that were senseless.

     God brought a topic about sacrificial meats to mind. Of a piece of sacrificial meat was kept in a pocket of a priest , or anyone for that matter, and that pocket bumped into other foods...bread...wine...would those foods be made holy by the mere contact? "No." the priests would reply. Okay, so what if someone dies...the man to pick the body up and clean it for burial is made unclean by touching the unclean dead man, right? "Yes." the priests would say. These rules would be changed. God had given the Persians everything He could to support their lives then, so the Persian priest could not say no to God now. God had become their Savior in the sense of saving their physical bodies. Jesus Christ the Savior had not come to us yet in Haggai's time.

     If God calls you to do something, will you do it immediately? Would you say to Him, "Hold on, God, let me check my schedule...I think I can make 2 minutes of time for you on Thursday."? Or would you say "No."? The Lord will still be calling you. Even if you say no at first, eventually you will hear His call stronger than ever. At that point accept the mission the Great One has given you. Take the challenge, "Fight the good fight of the faith"! (1 Timothy 6:12).

     Memory verse of the week:

     "Above all else, guard you heart, for everything you do flows from it." (Proverbs 4:23) 

     Put it somewhere you will see it often, and everytime you see it, read it out loud to yourself. It'll be no time until you'll have it memorized. Still be working on Psalm 119:11!

     Any prayer requests? Just post them in the comment section or e-mail them to me at:

     livin4christ0129@yahoo.com

     God bless!