relationships (Haggai 2:1-23) Being With is Close and Personal

(Haggai 2:1-23) On the twenty-first of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying, 3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison? 4 But now take courage, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord, ‘take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ declares the Lord of armies. 5 ‘As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit remains in your midst; do not fear!’ 6 For this is what the Lord of armies says: ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord of armies. 8 ‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of armies. 9 ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of armies, ‘and in this place I will give peace,’ declares the Lord of armies.”

10 On the twenty-fourth of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet, saying, 11 “The Lord of armies says this: ‘Now ask the priests for a ruling: 12 If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and touches bread with this fold, or touches cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?’” And the priests answered, “No.” 13 Then Haggai said, “If one who is unclean from a corpse touches any of these things, will the latter become unclean?” And the priests answered, “It will become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai responded and said, “‘So is this people. And so is this nation before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean. 15 But now, do consider from this day onward: before one stone was placed on another in the temple of the Lord, 16 from that time when one came to a grain heap of twenty measures, there would be only ten; and when one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there would be only twenty. 17 I struck you and every work of your hands with scorching wind, mildew, and hail; yet you did not come back to Me,’ declares the Lord. 18 ‘Do consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month; from the day when the temple of the Lord was founded, consider: 19 Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree, it has not produced fruit. Yet from this day on I will bless you.’”

20 Then the word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel governor of Judah, saying, ‘I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. 22 And I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations; and I will overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and their riders will go down, every one by the sword of another.’ 23 ‘On that day,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, My servant,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you,’” declares the Lord of armies.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

Sin is contagious, but holiness is not.  Holiness will not just rub off on someone if they are simply going through all the right motions, or if they are hanging out with mature believers.  To be holy as the Lord is holy is a choice that every person must make:  to realize our need to be saved, repent of our sins, and accept the forgiveness and salvation that is only possible through Jesus Christ's work on the cross.  In this, the Lord changes us from the inside out, and seals us for eternity.  

The Lord is omnipresent, meaning He is everywhere at one time.  Therefore, the Lord is always near - in vicinity - to everyone.  As believers, as soon as we become Christians, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.  Therefore, we always have the indwelling Spirit within us.  But - we can quench the Spirit by ignoring the Lord, and by drifting away from Him and His word.  Too often, Christians start to do things their way, thinking that God is "with" them and that He'll just sweep up their mess as they go and make everything good.  

Note that in Romans 8:28, it clearly says, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."  It doesn't say that things will work out according to our purpose, or to our desires.  And it most certainly doesn't say that things will work out for good when we do things our way.  Even if we think God would really appreciate our personal plans, preferences or ideas, we are not omniscient.  We do not know all things!  But God does!  This is why we need God's direction and God's help!  Only He knows what is best and what is needed!

Therefore, God is only "with" us when we are with Him.  When we strive to walk in His way - in His will - according to His plans - with His help - we will experience courage and confidence that God is "with" us.  Will we still make mistakes?  Definitely!  But like king David, a man after God's own heart, if we truly love and trust the Lord, we will be confessing our sins as we become aware of them, and daily, we will be striving to continue on in seeking after the Lord, to trust and obey Him in everything..

The Lord is here to help!  And He wants us to take advantage of that!  He desires to have a close relationship with each and everyone of us, so that He can work for us, in us, and through us, all to His glory!  To work things out for good, according to His purpose, and to His holy, perfect, omniscient goodness!

relationships (Daniel 11:1-45) Choosing and Embracing Help

(Daniel 11:1-45)

“In the first year of Darius the Mede, I arose to be of assistance and a protection for him. 2 And now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will stir up the entire empire against the realm of Greece. 3 And a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases. 4 But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, because his sovereignty will be removed and given to others besides them.

5 “Then the king of the South will grow strong, along with one of his princes who will gain ascendancy over him and rule; his domain will be a great realm indeed. 6 And after some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to reach an agreement. But she will not keep her position of power, nor will he remain with his power, but she will be given up, along with those who brought her in and the one who fathered her as well as he who supported her in those times. 7 But one of the descendants of her line will arise in his place, and he will come against their army and enter the fortress of the king of the North, and he will deal with them and prevail. 8 And he will also take into captivity to Egypt their gods with their cast metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold, and he on his part will refrain from attacking the king of the North for some years. 9 Then the latter will enter the realm of the king of the South, but will return to his own land.

10 “And his sons will mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and overflow and pass through, so that he may again wage war up to his fortress. 11 And the king of the South will be enraged and go out and fight with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will be handed over to the former. 12 When the multitude is carried away, his heart will be haughty, and he will cause tens of thousands to fall; yet he will not prevail. 13 For the king of the North will again raise a greater multitude than the former, and after an interval of some years he will press on with a great army and much equipment.

14 “Now in those times many will rise up against the king of the South; the violent ones among your people will also raise themselves up to fulfill the vision, but they will fall down. 15 Then the king of the North will come, pile up an assault ramp, and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand. 16 But he who comes against him will do as he pleases, and no one will be able to withstand him; he will also stay for a time in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand. 17 And he will set his mind on coming with the power of his entire kingdom, bringing with him a proposal of peace which he will put into effect; he will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But she will not take a stand for him or be on his side. 18 Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many. But a commander will put a stop to his taunting against him; moreover, he will repay him for his taunting. 19 So he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and not be found.

20 “Then in his place one will arise who will allow an oppressor to pass through the Jewel of his kingdom; yet within a few days he will be broken, though not in anger nor in battle. 21 And in his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the majesty of kingship has not been conferred; but he will come in a time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by intrigue. 22 And the overflowing forces will be flooded away from him and smashed, and also the prince of the covenant. 23 After an alliance is made with him he will practice deception, and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people. 24 In a time of tranquility he will enter the richest parts of the realm, and he will accomplish what his fathers did not, nor his ancestors; he will distribute plunder, spoils, and possessions among them, and he will devise his schemes against strongholds, but only for a time. 25 And he will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the South with a large army; so the king of the South will mobilize an extremely large and mighty army for war; but he will not stand, because schemes will be devised against him. 26 Those who eat his choice food will destroy him, and his army will overflow, but many will fall down slain. 27 As for both kings, their hearts will be intent on evil, and they will speak lies to each other at the same table; but it will not succeed, because the end is still to come at the appointed time. 28 Then he will return to his land with much plunder; but his heart will be set against the holy covenant, and he will take action and then return to his own land.

29 “At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. 30 For ships of Kittim will come against him; therefore he will withdraw in fear and will return and curse the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and pay attention to those who abandon the holy covenant. 31 Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation. 32 And by smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will be strong and take action. 33 And those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days. 34 Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will join with them in hypocrisy. 35 And some of those who have insight will fall, to refine, purge, and cleanse them until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.

36 “Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt himself and boast against every god and will speak dreadful things against the God of gods; and he will be successful until the indignation is finished, because that which is determined will be done. 37 And he will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will boast against them all. 38 But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, precious stones, and treasures. 39 And he will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will make them rulers over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.

40 “And at the end time the king of the South will wage war with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow them, and pass through. 41 He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab, and the foremost of the sons of Ammon. 42 Then he will reach out with his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. 43 But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels. 44 But rumors from the East and from the North will terrify him, and he will go out with great wrath to eliminate and annihilate many. 45 And he will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

There aren't any evil actions or intentions within God's will!  But as He has given everyone a free will, He allows evil to exist and work, allowing them only so much leeway in order to help bring about His will.  When a jeweler shows anyone a diamond, they place it on a black background because this is when the majestic qualities of the diamond are most obvious.  God knows what He is doing, and one day He will put an end to all sin and suffering.

Meanwhile, no one can say that God hasn't given them a chance to do things their own way!  God has given, and gives us, plenty of opportunities to do things our way, but from personal experience, this never goes well.  The Lord God's way is the way of righteousness, and His way always works out for good.  Does that mean everything here on earth will go perfectly for everyone who is a believer?  Actually, the Lord tells us that we will face persecution.  

Now, even when I did things my way - the world's way - I still faced persecution.  But that was going through the consequences of my bad decisions.  Things did not work out for good... UNTIL I decided to go back to doing things God's way, and God turned all of that around for good.  I still lost all of my friends, and was very much alone for a while, but that was really for the best!  I then had an opportunity to focus on my relationship with the Lord, and from there, start to build up a new friend-base that would help me to remain steadfast.  

Of course, God is always there to help us in everything, even in those times we face persecution for doing things God's way - but in that - we will have great peace and confidence, because we are on God's side.  As He calls us to share and to serve, He will equip us and guide us through, in His love, peace, strength and wisdom!

Christians have been martyred over the course of history, and they are still.  And from verse 34, we see that God gives faithful believers, those who are truly believers, extra strength and help in those extreme moments of distress.  This can be a testimony to many in order to help them see their need to be saved, as well as to be an encouragement to other believers that God will see us through anything. How can we say, "God is always there for us" if we never go through anything? So, when we go through tests and trials, these are amazing, awesome opportunities to see how God will work in our lives and in the lives around us!