HAGGAI 1 - PUT GOD FIRST & HE WILL BLESS YOU!
Holy Spirit lead me to Haggai 1 today.. a very important message for this season as we are coming out of captivity & about to experience the great wealth transfer from the wicked to the righteous 💰💰💰 Read this in terms of Ecclesiastes 1:9 Everything that happens has happened before; nothing is new, nothing under the sun 🌞
On the first day of the sixth month of the second year that Darius was king of Persia, the Lord told Haggai the prophet to speak his message to the governor of Judah and to the high priest. So Haggai told Governor Zerubbabel and High Priest Joshua that the Lord All-Powerful had said to them and to the people: You say this isn't the right time to build a temple for me. But is it right for you to live in expensive houses, while my temple is a pile of ruins? Just look at what's happening. You harvest less than you plant, you never have enough to eat or drink, your clothes don't keep you warm, and your wages are stored in bags full of holes. Think about what I have said! But first, go to the hills and get wood for my temple, so I can take pride in it and be worshiped there. You expected much, but received only a little. And when you brought it home, I made that little disappear. Why have I done this? It's because you hurry off to build your own houses, while my temple is still in ruins. That's also why the dew doesn't fall and your harvest fails. And so, at my command everything will become barren-your farmland and pastures, your vineyards and olive trees, your animals and you yourselves. All your hard work will be for nothing. Zerubbabel and Joshua, together with the others who had returned from exile in Babylonia, obeyed the Lord's message spoken by his prophet Haggai, and they started showing proper respect for the Lord. Haggai then told them that the Lord had promised to be with them. So the Lord God All-Powerful made everyone eager to work on his temple, especially Zerubbabel and Joshua. And the work began on the twenty-fourth day of that same month.
Haggai 1:1-15 CEV
AFTER CAPTIVITY IN BABYLON, GOD'S REMNANT RETURNED FROM EXILE. THEY WERE THE ONES MOST COMMITTED TO THE LORD & TO REBUILDING JERUSALEM. THEY SET ABOUT REBUILDING GOD'S TEMPLE.. IT WAS HARD WORK & THERE WERE HOSTILE ENEMIES RESISTING THEM, SO THEY GAVE UP & LEFT IT UNFINISHED. THEY TURNED THEIR FOCUS TO REBUILDING NICE HOMES FOR THEMSELVES INSTEAD.
THE PROBLEM WAS NOT THAT THEY HAD NICE HOMES... IT WAS THAT THEY HAD NICE HOMES WHILE GOD'S TEMPLE WAS LEFT IN RUINS. THEIR PRIORITIES WERE OUT OF ORDER. THEY PUT MUCH EFFORT AND SACRIFICE INTO THEIR OWN PERSONAL COMFORT & LUXURY WHILE THEY LET THE CAUSE OF THE LORD SUFFER.
THE LORD SENT THE PROPHET TO THEM AS A WAKE UP CALL 📞 I AND ASKED THEM TO LOOK AT THEIR CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES (lack of finances, hardships, drought, crop failure ..) AND REMINDED THEM "IF YOUR PRIORITIES ARE WRONG (if you focus on the world 1st and God 2nd) THERE IS NOTHING THAT WILL SATISFY YOU." AND GOD SAID "CONSIDER YOUR WAYS! GO UP TO THE MOUNTAINS & BRING WOOD & BUILD THE TEMPLE, THAT I MAY TAKE PLEASURE IN IT & BE GLORIFIED."
WHEN THE PEOPLE HEARD THE MESSAGE FROM THE PROPHET, THEY FEARED THE LORD SO THE LORD SAID "I AM WITH YOU" & HE CREATED A STIRRING OF THE SPIRIT WITHIN THEIR LEADERSHIP THAT EXTENDED TO THE REMNANT.. A SPIRITUAL STIRRING TO DO THE WORK THAT WAS NECESSARY.
UNDER THE NEW COVENANT, WE ARE THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD. PRIORITIZE CORRECTLY BY PUTTING YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD & BUILDING HIS KINGDOM FIRST .. WITH A HEART OF LOVE & THAT WANTS TO PLEASE & GLORIFY HIM ABOVE ALL ELSE. IN RESPONSE, HE WILL GIVE YOU STRENGTH, HE WILL ENCOURAGE YOU & HE WILL BLESS THE WORK OF YOUR HANDS.
Jesus is the ONLY WAY!!!
BY ACKNOWLEDGING WITH YOUR WORDS (FROM YOUR HEART) THAT JESUS IS YOUR LORD & SAVIOR, YOU ARE SAVED FOR ALL ETERNITY.
GOD DOES NOT EXPECT US TO BE PERFECT, BUT HE REQUIRES THAT YOU BELIEVE THAT HIS SON IS THE CHRIST WHO CAME TO TAKE AWAY YOUR SINS & TO MAKE A WAY FOR YOU TO SPEND ALL ETERNITY IN HEAVEN WHEN YOUR LIFE HERE ON EARTH IS FINISHED.
IF YOU HAVE NOT MADE JESUS THE LORD OF YOUR LIFE, DON'T WAIT ANOTHER MINUTE SAY THIS PRAYER NOW (MUST BE SAID ALOUD):
Father God, I recognize I am a sinner. I come to you asking forgiveness of my sins. I confess in my heart and speak with my mouth that Jesus Christ is Your Son, and He died on the cross for my sins. I confess Jesus as the Lord of my heart, my soul and my life. I accept Jesus as my personal Savior and I praise You for making a way for me. I declare by the Blood of Jesus that I am saved. Jesus, I invite You into my life, and I pray You continue to reveal your LOVE to me by Your Holy Spirit. I ask You to have Your way with my life. I thank You for the new creation You have made me.
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