SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/24/2016 11:02 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
Evasion
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Haggai 1:2-4
Message of the verses: “2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ’This people
says, "The time has
not come, even the time for the house of the LORD to be
rebuilt."’" 3 Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet,
saying, 4 “Is it time for
you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?"”
As we look
at verses three and four again we see that the people chose not to work on the
Lord’s house, but they did chose to take the time to build their houses. When we look at the description of the houses
the people were building we can see that they were no ordinary houses, but
paneled houses. Dr. Wiersbe adds of
these houses “the kind the kings built for themselves (1 Kings 7:3, 7; Jer.
22:14).”
He then
once again quotes from Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness, and all these things [food, clothing, shelter] shall be added to
you.” Now we realize that Haggai’s congregation
had never heard that verse, but they have heard the principle from Proverbs
3:9-10 “9 Honor the LORD from your wealth And from the first of all your
produce; 10 So your barns will be filled with plenty And your vats will
overflow with new wine.” Not much before
these verses we read “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean
on your own understanding. 6 In
all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. 7
Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil. 8 It
will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones.” We can believe that these people understood
what the Lord Jesus would say in the verse from the Sermon on the Mount.
We cannot
be hard on these people for having their priorities mixed up for it is no
difference in many of our churches today in our country.
Dr. Wiersbe
writes “Local churches can’t expand their budgets for world evangelism because
the money isn’t there, and yet many church members don’t believe Matthew 6:33
and put God first in their giving.
Measured by Third world standards, Christians in the Western world are
living in luxury, yet their giving is low and their debts are high because
their wealth is being used for things that really don’t matter.
“When we
put God first and give Him what’s rightfully His, we open the door to spiritual
enrichment and the kind of stewardship that honors the Lord. A century after Haggai ministered, the
Prophet Malachi accused the people of robbing God of their tithes and offerings
and thereby robbing themselves of blessing (Mal. 3:7-12); and his words need to
be heeded today.”
“7 "From
the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not
kept them. Return to Me,
and I will return to you," says the LORD of hosts. "But you
say, ’How shall we return?’ 8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ’How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.
9 "You are cursed with a curse, for
you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! 10 "Bring the whole tithe
into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,"
says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven
and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. 11 “Then I will
rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the
ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes," says the LORD of
hosts. 12 “All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful
land," says the LORD of hosts.”
In our next
SD on Haggai we will look at our next main point “Believe God’s promises.”
3/24/2016 11:24 PM
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