Haggai – Page 3 – I'm Following Jesus

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Saturday, September 19, 2020
Chapters: Book of Haggai
Message: With All Your Heart

Hello My Friend,

As I was reading these chapters it occurred to me that we are going through a similar situation today, God has called on His faithful to rebuild His Church through this pandemic, but so many churches are closed up that nothing is happening. In fact, even though this virus, which is really no more deadlier than the flu, is subsiding, the fear itself is holding up the rebuilding of His Church through mandates and idiotic laws that really have nothing to do with spreading the virus, and everything to do with power hungry people dictating our every move. God knows this, and this is why He is telling the Church to defy these unconstitutional laws and get back to rebuilding His Church. You do realize that the longer the Church is closed up the more unruly and devastating things are going to get. I admire the churches who defied those laws and remained open during the pandemic, with precautions of course. I also understand some of them that did close for a time, and used online services to keep the people somewhat encouraged. There does come a time when enough is enough, and this is that time.

[II Timothy 2:14-16 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. 15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.]

The Book of Haggai contains two chapters, the author is Haggai and it was written to the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem from Babylon after being in captivity for seventy years, the timeline is approximately 520 BC. The purpose of the book was to inspire Israel to have a new zeal for God and make the leaders aware of their responsibility to rebuild the temple of worship. What we are to learn from the book is that when God’s work comes first, everyone prospers. When the Jews returned to Jerusalem to start rebuilding the temple they were so excited to get the foundation laid, but after some opposition from the people they were forced to stop, and for fourteen years they rebuilt their own homes. We heard of Haggai being one of the prophets to help encourage the Jews to get back to the rebuilding of the temple in the Book of Ezra.

[Haggai 1:2-8 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built. 3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. 7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.]

[and this house lie waste?] Did you know that a record number of people had house repairs done during the pandemic? [earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.] Do you also realize people are struggling right now too? They are working hard and seeing nothing for their efforts, eating, yet still hungry, they are literally getting paychecks that are spent before they get them. God takes pleasure in blessing us, when we put His work first, [Hebrews 13:15-16 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.]

Life somehow has a way of taking away our zeal for God and hindering us from doing His work effectively, and you can be sure that He will put the fire on us to get us back to doing His Work, and when we do, we will start to see His blessings again. That is what happened after Haggai went to Zerubbabel.

[Haggai 1:12-14 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD. 13 Then spake Haggai the LORD’S messenger in the LORD’S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD. 14 And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,]

[And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel] Do you see how God lifts our spirit when we are reminded that He is with us? We are not in this alone, God is with us every step of the way, and I need to remind myself of that too, and get back to serving Him full-time. One thing we can be sure of is that when we put God’s work first He will be there for us and see us through every step of the way of it. And the work we do for God is not necessarily in a church, it is wherever He leads us. Remember, we are the church, not the building. God will use us in whatever place He needs us, whether it be an office, a store, or a parking garage, but if we do not have His best interest, we will struggle. Now, this is the first time God has spoken to the Jews since their captivity, He reminds them of His covenant with them since they left Egypt. And the blessings they will be receiving for their hard work will be nothing compared to what they will get when all nations come to Him.

[Haggai 2:3-7 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? 4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts: 5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. 6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.]

[is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?] Remember where you were when you first got saved? When you first started serving Him? When He started changing your life? None of our work for God is vain, and it never returns void. The blessings we receive now for our work are amazing, yet will be nothing compared to when we get to spend eternity with Him, [Matthew 6:19-21 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.]

Are you doing God’s work and still struggling? Perhaps it is time to reassess to see if what you are doing is wholeheartedly. God knows, and if there is some sin, or if our heart is really not into it, He will see it, and He will not be pleased with our work. Three months into building the temple, God sent Haggai to the priest with a message, some of them were working on it, but their heart was not in it.

[Haggai 2:13-18 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. 14 Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean. 15 And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD: 16 Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty. 17 I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD. 18 Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’S temple was laid, consider it.]

[I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail] Pandemic come when we are serving God to remind us that something is not right, and we need to figure it out and repent. If our work is halfhearted, or there is some sin, God will chasten us to repentance. We are the church, and if we are going do God’s work, no matter where we are, we need to be clean. Perhaps the most important work we will ever do for God is showing them Jesus in our lives. Our greatest blessings come from being a witness of how Christ has worked in our lives. Notice that God says, [Consider now from this day and upward,]. Forget about yesterday, move forward. We mess up, I mess up, you confess your sin, get back up, and go forward, and then you will see His blessings unfold like never before, [Philippians 3:13-15 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.]

Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for the reminder of Your amazing promise to always be with us when we accept Your Son as our Saviour. You have purposed every one of Your people to work for You in some way so that we can bring others to Your Son. As life starts to overwhelm us it is easy to set Your work aside in order to try to endure it, and of course, that brings more problems instead of solutions. Lord, Help us to make and keep Your work first place in our lives so that we can find the solutions to our problems and not become so overwhelmed that we lose sight of You. If there is something in our lives that is defiling us, help us clean it up so that we can get right with you, give you our whole heart, and please You through our work. Give us Your power, strength, wisdom, mercy, grace, and guidance to do the work You called us to do, and open our hearts so that we can do it with all our heart. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

Are You 100% Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: http://readytofollow.com/
Receive The KJB Daily Devotions In Your Email: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Missed A Message: http://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/
Visit I’m Following Jesus Missions: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/welcome/
I’m Following Jesus On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/readytofollowJesus/