GIVE CAREFUL THOUGHT

-


January 25, 2022

 Haggai 1:2-7 
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” 3Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 6You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.


Matthew 6:31-34 

31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.


Give Careful Thought

God took the time to repeat Himself here, so let’s take some time to really do what this verse calls us to do—reflect on our lives. As you take this seriously by giving it careful thought, how can you begin to release to God leadership in your life?

In our Haggai reading above God through the prophet challenges the people then and us today. God speaks, "think about how you're living. Is it time for you to live in these paneled houses when My house is left in ruins?  According to some commentaries that I read, basically, this was high-end living.  You've got all this kind of stuff and God is not against us having nice things. God is against us putting nice things ahead of Him, for our benefit. God knows a House built on "stuff" is weak foundation to build on and results in some very dissappointing and unfulfilling circunstances. He's not against us having nice things. He doesn't want nice things to have us. 

REFLECT

Read through today’s words from Jesus again and consider the ways you’ve tried to meet your own needs apart from God. It can be very subtle.  In what ways have these efforts been successful? In what ways have they left you feeling empty?

Confess your deep needs to God. Can you trust Him enough to turn from building your kingdom to building His?

Pray

     Holy Spirit, we’re going to need Your help to see where our lives need remodeling. God, we need Your strength to stay dedicated to the work You’re doing in and through us. Will You come today and refresh our passion. Amen


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FUN with GOD

-
Image
  June 13, 2024 PSALM 30:11-12 “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!” I have learned that God loves to exceed our expectations and break open our boxes. For example today let us think about our Father in Heaven as a God who is "Fun". I was talking with a friend recently and we were talking about the varied perceptions of God that many people have. Sadly, the notion of God most common is that God is not loving toward all he has made, but a God waiting to exact some form of retribution for our actions that he might deem "sin". You know "God is out to get you" kind of thinking. My friend and I felt that this is a terrible misconception and distortion of the Bible's picture of God. I am convinced that the Bible contains evidence that God desires to reveal to us the immense joy of havi
Read more

BE ENCOURAGED

-
Image
  JULY 3, 2024 Psalm 8  Lord , our Lord,      how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory      in the heavens. 2  Through the praise of children and infants      you have established a stronghold against your enemies,      to silence the foe and the avenger. 3  When I consider your heavens,      the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars,      which you have set in place, 4  what is mankind that you are mindful of them,      human beings that you care for them? 5  You have made them a little lower than the angels      and crowned them with glory and honor. 6  You made them rulers over the works of your hands;      you put everything under their feet: 7  all flocks and herds,      and the animals of the wild, 8  the birds in the sky,      and the fish in the sea,      all that swim the paths of the seas. 9  Lord , our Lord,      how majestic is your name in all the earth! In this Psalm, David expresses wonder at how God displays His power through the most
Read more

METEORIC LOVE

-
Image
  JULY 5, 2024 I'm amazed at the human capacity for love. I will use myself as the case study. I have been blessed to have a beautiful and wonderful woman to love as my wife. When our first daughter was born, I was amazed to find that my heart expanded to a different channel of love. Some of you I am guessing know what I am talking about. My soul opened in a new way. When I thought I had expended all my love, along came children 2, 3, and 4. I would always wonder if I had the capacity to love more than I already did, could my heart expand more? Guess what my capacity for love kept growing. And now as a grandfather of 4, that love expands and expands with each one. I have said to my daughter about my Grandkids, “just when you think you have topped out your love for them,” which is quite substantial, "you spend an afternoon with them and your love for them grows again." There seems to be some new reservoir of love that opens and is released. Have you experienced that in you
Read more