Enduring Hungers

[Christ4Ever]

'Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid--consider it: 'Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded [fruit]. [But] from this day I will bless [you].' " Haggai 2:18-19 NKJV

A lovesick student once told his teacher, “At breakfast, I can’t eat because I’m thinking about her. At lunch I can’t eat because I’m thinking about her. At dinner I can’t eat because I’m thinking about her. Then I can’t sleep at night…”

The teacher interrupted, “Let me guess, because you’re thinking about her.” The student looked puzzled.

“No,” he said. “I can’t sleep because I’m so hungry.”

Twice the prophet Haggai wrote, “Give careful thought” (Haggai2:15, 18). Although he wasn’t writing about appetite or lovesickness, he repeated his admonition because careful thought helps us examine our hidden hungers.

Haggai’s first admonition prompted God’s people to consider how unprofitable life was when their first thoughts were about improving their houses, while God’s didn’t even have permits (Haggai 2:15). In the second admonition, God reminded them that when they began putting Him first, He honored them—He increased their earnings and pleasures (Haggai 2:19).

In distracted cultures, it’s difficult to “give careful thought.” The time required doesn’t seem as immediately satisfying as gratifying other hungers like hobbies and amusements. But when believers think carefully about the good God does for those who work on His kingdom first, they do more than avoid the unprofitable hours Haggai describes; they honor God—and He so often returns the favor.

Prayer: Father, help me examine my hidden hungers so that I can work first on Your place in my heart.

 

[B-A-C]

Haggai 1:2; “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.”’”
Haggai 1:3; Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Haggai 1:4; “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?”

Perhaps another way to put this... some people are busy building up their own houses and their own kingdoms, while they let the kingdom of God and His house languish.
A lot of people say the church isn't a building, and that is true. But still apparently the building matters to God.

Haggai 1:8; “Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord.
Haggai 1:9; “You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?” declares the Lord of hosts, “Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house.

This passage is talking about the physical building (temple/synagogue) but it has Spiritual meaning as well.
How is your temple doing? Not your physical house, but your Spiritual house. Maybe you live in a big 2 or 3 story mansion with statues and fountains in your yard. The shrubs and bushes are all landscaped and the grass is mowed.
But the temple where the Spirit of the Lord lives is in shambles. God is on the back burner, prayer and Bible reading are non-existent, sin has crept back in and you haven't even noticed.

Haggai 1:14; So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,

Maybe it's time to do a little house-cleaning and re-building inside ourselves.

1Cor 3:16; Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
1Cor 6:19; Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

Once you get the Lord's house in order... then He will bless you. ( Haggai 2:18-19; )

 

[Christ4Ever]

Dear Brother, @B-A-C
Agree. One can see both the physical & spiritual nature of what transpired with the money changers in the Temple.

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up." So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said. John 2:13-22 NKJV

To neglect one, is to open one up to compromising the other. Yet, if one does not perchance in these days attend a church, it still does not take away from the fullness of being part of the Spiritual one in Christ Jesus.

As always, a joy in hearing from you dear brother.
With the Love of Christ Jesus.
YBIC
Nick
\o/
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