Be Strong

Readings for today: Haggai 1-2, Psalms 59

Be strong. In the face of all the challenges this world can bring. Be strong. When you’re disappointed and let down. Be strong. When you are anxious and afraid. Be strong. When life doesn’t go your way. Be strong. When you feel overwhelmed. Be strong. I love today’s words from Haggai. They are words for every generation. Words for every community of believers in every culture and place around the world. Words for those who are old and young, rich and poor, educated and lacking education, powerful and powerless, influential and marginalized, black, brown, or white. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’ve come from or your background or life experience, God says, “I am with you.” I am with you in the midst of life. I am with you in the midst of all the challenges you face. I am with you in success and failure. I am with you in plenty and in want. I am with you in sickness and in health. I am with you to the end.

And what is the faithful response to God’s amazing promise? Work. Keep pressing in. Keep pushing forward. Keep working until the job is finished. And what is the job? For Zerubbabel and Joshua, it was the rebuilding of the Temple. For us, it is the work of evangelism and discipleship. Proclaiming the good news of the gospel to the whole world and teaching those who believe all God has commanded. This is a work that never ends. It is a work that demands our best effort and our best resources. It is a work that is worth doing because eternity is literally at stake. It is a work that will endure. A work that will last. A work that will become a monument in the heavens for all to see just as the work of the ancient Israelites would result in a Temple that would stand as a monument to God’s greatness and glory for all the nations to see.

Listen to Haggai’s words again and think about how they apply to your own life. Insert your name where it mentions Zerubbabel and Joshua. Don’t be afraid to claim these promises as your own. “Even so, be strong,____________— this is the Lord’s declaration. Be strong, ____________, high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land — this is the Lord’s declaration. Work! For I am with you, __________  — the declaration of the Lord of Armies. This is the promise I made to you, _____________, when you came out of Egypt, and my Spirit is present among you; don’t be afraid.’” For the Lord of Armies says this: “Once more, in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all the nations so that the treasures of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,” says the Lord of Armies. “The silver and gold belong to me” — this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. “The final glory of this house will be greater than the first,” says the Lord of Armies. “I will provide peace in this place”  — this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.” (Haggai‬ ‭2‬:‭4‬-‭9‬ ‭CSB‬‬) It’s amazing to think about. God shaking the heavens and the earth, the sea and dry land. God shaking the nations to fill His house with His glory. God promising that the final glory of His house will far eclipse the former glory of His house. This is the glory we are working towards as His people. This is the glory we will one day worship and dwell in when we stand before the Lord at the end of days.

Readings for tomorrow: Zechariah 1-4, Psalms 60

God and Money

Readings for today: Haggai 1-2

“Well, the God I believe in isn’t short of cash, mister.” - Bono

Why does God care about our money? Why does He care about how much we make and how much we give? Why does God care about what each individual does with his or her wealth? Why does God care what the nations do with their wealth? Surely He doesn’t need it. Surely our currency holds no value in His Kingdom where the streets are literally paved with gold. Surely gold, silver, coins, and cash are worthless in a place where there is no need or lack or want. So why does God talk so much about money throughout the Bible? Why does God say things like He does today in our reading from Haggai,

“‘I own the silver, I own the gold.’ Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.” (Haggai‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

God cares about money because He cares about us. He cares about what money and wealth does to our hearts. He cares about what happens to us when we acquire too much, too quickly without having the spiritual maturity to handle it. He cares about us clinging to it. Trusting in it. Finding our safety and security in what we make or what we save or what we own. The love of money is one of the primary competitors to the love of God which is why the Bible calls it the “root of all kinds of evil.” The people in Haggai’s day delayed the rebuilding of the Temple because of a perceived lack of resources. God, however, knew better. Listen again to what He says, “A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies: “The people procrastinate. They say this isn’t the right time to rebuild my Temple, the Temple of God.” Shortly after that, God said more and Haggai spoke it: “How is it that it’s the ‘right time’ for you to live in your fine new homes while the Home, God’s Temple, is in ruins?” And then a little later, God-of-the-Angel-Armies spoke out again: “Take a good, hard look at your life. Think it over. You have spent a lot of money, but you haven’t much to show for it. You keep filling your plates, but you never get filled up. You keep drinking and drinking and drinking, but you’re always thirsty. You put on layer after layer of clothes, but you can’t get warm. And the people who work for you, what are they getting out of it? Not much— a leaky, rusted-out bucket, that’s what.” That’s why God-of-the-Angel-Armies said: “Take a good, hard look at your life. Think it over.” (Haggai‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬-‭7‬ ‭MSG‬‬) The people in Haggai’s day had put the proverbial cart before the horse. They tried to provide for themselves rather than rely on God. They put their physical needs before their need to worship. They built fine homes and ate fine meals and drank fine wines while the work on the Temple languished. The problem was not a lack of resources but mixed up priorities.

We face the same struggle in our own day and time. The human heart hasn’t changed much over the years. We are still so easily tempted to fall in love with money. To place our trust in our own resources. To find our security in our wealth. This is especially true in a capitalistic society which prizes the pursuit of wealth and the accumulation of resources above just about everything else. Again, the issue isn’t money per se nor is it wealth per se, it’s what the accumulation of these things does to our hearts that puts us in grave spiritual danger. And this is why God is so quick to remind us that He owns it all. He owns all the silver and all the gold. He owns all the money and all the stock and all the bonds and all the banks on the earth. He is the one who holds all the resources of creation in His hands.

When we adopt this understanding, we are set free. Free to give generously and sacrificially of all we have to help those around us. Free to offer all we have in service to the Lord for the expansion of His Kingdom. Free to place our trust in the Lord for our provision rather than worry and fret over the state of our 401k. This is how God wants us to live and it is why He claims all things - including our money - as His own.

Readings for tomorrow: Zechariah 1-7