A church without doors.
Well, you can't get in!
Lots of people feel this way.
The truth is that we want what is outside the doors
more than what is inside.
"The unexamined life is simply not worth living." So says Socrates. Do I own up to examining, not as though doing penance, but taking a good hard look at what stirs within. Why am I jealous? What about my sorrow over not being used by God? What's with this hidden anger that no one sees but I harbor and hold and hate? What about the rotten pride of not wanting to be a part of certain things, people, events? What's up with this distance I maintain from my family? Why are other things more important than God? How can I spend ten times the amount of time on stuff that only matters on earth?Two little words in this first chapter. Not yet! Haggai 1:2 - The time has "not yet" come to do God's work. Well, when will I do it? 1:5 Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways! You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.”
Haggai 1:14 - Oh God, stir us all up! They knew the exact day. May we know the very moment.
The Lord is with you! Take courage. My Spirit is abiding in your midst. Haggai 2:4-5. O God, open the doors of heaven. Shake the heavens and the earth.
PRAYER FROM PSALMS
Psalm 24:7 O God, fling wide the Gates, open the Ancient Doors, and let the King come in and invade every one of us this day. Amen.
Photo Credit: Flickr, the Commons. Van Gogh
Wrong priorities
ReplyDeleteYou know, I get busy. I have planned to join a new church since we moved, but one thing or another gets in the way. I've even called a couple of groups that do philanthropy that I want to help with, but never have quite gotten around to actually pitching in and doing the work it takes to help another out. How long has it been? Could something done a few years ago count for making a difference today for the Lord? What is God actively doing in my life today? .
I seriously doubt if any of Haggai's people thought it was a bad idea to rebuild the temple. They probably all thought it was great in theory but never really quite got around to it. They built their own house but neglected putting God first.
In my own life, I know when God's desires for me are put ahead of my own self-centered thoughts, my life unfolds better. A priorities check is in order about now. Not just about intentions, either. Talk is cheap. God wants dedicated hearts that produce fruit, not blow-hards that plan on putting Him first, but let life get in the way.
God, abide in our midst. Be fully present and first and foremost in our hearts and lives
Jesus said it best: "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you" (Matthew 6:33, HCSB).
Love your thoughts, Annette.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I'm reading the Bible for the first time.
It's so fresh. So beautiful. So hopeful for my mess.
I'm square in the midst of troubles.
God is square in my midst too!
You're right, who thought rebuilding was a bad idea?
They just said: Not Yet!
Unwilling to follow fully His Voice, His Steps.
Love what you said about our "life unfolding."
I think your life unfolds with beautiful grace and hope and courage. Maybe you haven't served or signed the letter of membership intent but you are following fully. And He is pouring out of you----we know who are touched by you!
I wrote a reply and blogger did not publish it....ugh. I agree with Bev, Annette, your heart has spoken to my heart over and over the years we have been Pearls. Both of you have added to my Christian walk so much. It truly is all grace and He is calling me to something that is a very heavy burden and my flesh does NOT want to carry it. He will carry it and it is going to go on for several years. I know this for certain. My "old age" is unfolding before me and it does not look like what I thought it might. I am paying the consequences of my son's sins and I think that is another reason it is so heavy. God has promised He will never leave me nor forsake me and I know His grace is far more than sufficient enough. He gently reminded me this morning of the two verses He gave me that have blessed me in my daughter moving eight hundred miles from my presence after 41 years and He told me that they applied to this situation. Yes, Annette you touch me every time you share your heart.
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DeleteThank you, Bev and Mary Lou for sharing your hearts here. It's such a privilege to do life together with you. You both are so in tune to God's Hand on your lives, and that must please Him so. The longer I live, the more I see that God is preparing us for eternity and less often for comfort this day. Most often how I know it is God at work in a situation is that it doesn't look the way I thought it would look. And yet we know we can trust in our good God to see us through.
ReplyDeleteThere is such a sweet communion here on Pearls as hearts connect. I love you both to pieces.