Haggai 1:5-6 “Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.

“‘You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands.’” (vs. 9-11)

Because God’s people forsook the task that the Lord gave them we see the consequences. God says: “Give careful thought to your ways.” We see the consequences in Haggai’s days, but what about ours?

Look at the economic downturn in the Western world. Runaway debt that we are drowning in, inflation (hidden tax) that leaves us with little left (wages in a purse with holes in it), and we never seem to get ahead or keep our heads above water. “Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house.”

Because the house of the Lord was being neglected in Haggai’s time we see the result upon nature – no dew or rain for the crops, drought that affects all crops, animals (cows, sheep) and people – their livelihood. What do we have in the West today? Out of control unemployment, government entitlements that will eventually sink the Western countries, and calamities that have come upon us costing billions of dollars.

Haggai gave God’s message to God’s people in his time and I think that is also relevant for us today. “Give careful thought to your ways.” What Haggai was bringing out is that the reason all of these things coming upon the nation of Israel was “because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house.”

So what does this mean today in the 21^st century? We come back to 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Since we are building the temple out of living stones, so that we are each a part of the temple, we need to ask ourselves: Are we ready to be fitted into the temple?

Remember when the Old Testament temple was being built there was no sound of any building tool heard within the building. “In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built.” (1 Kings 6:7)

Since we, the church of born again believers, are the living stones are we allowing the dressing (cutting and polishing) to take place? Could this be what Chronicles 7:14 means by humbling ourselves? Are we allowing the Divine tools that the Lord uses to cut us down to size, polish us to get us ready to fit in just like it was with the Old Testament temple? Are we individually moving towards sanctification, working out what the Lord has worked in us? Are we humbling ourselves before Him?

We are told to seek His face, but again what does that mean practically? Could it be what Haggai told the Jewish people 2500 years ago?  This is what the Lord Almighty says: “‘Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,’ says the Lord.” (Haggai 1:7-8)

It would seem to me that if I am seeking His face that it means I would be seeking His will, His desire, etc. What is His will? First, His will is to believe in the One that He has sent – the Lord Jesus Christ, and secondly, it means to GO. Where? To go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the to the ends of the earth. In seeking His face He will show and reveal to us where to go. For me it was to go to the ends of the earth, but for others it might be their neighbors, fellow workers, or students, etc. But, we are each commanded to GO with the good news of His Gospel, teaching the Word of God and making disciples after Him!

If we fulfill our part, the Lord will fulfill His: “I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” May we see this happening in our own lands for His glory and coming Kingdom. May we have Kingdom Thinking!

2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Kingdom thinking understands the tremendous responsibility that is upon the church when it comes to the welfare of a society, community, state and country. This verse makes it very clear that it is God’s people who are called by His Name that hold in their hands the responsibility in seeing the Lord forgive their sin and heal the land. We do our part and God will do His.

I have been thinking about this and asking the question: What is our part? I know it’s about humbling ourselves, praying and seeking His face and turning from our wicked ways, but what does this mean practically? This is the question that I have been asking myself and searching Scripture to find the answer for.

This is where the prophet Haggai comes in. I believe that his message is for God’s people today and in the next few weekly letters we will deal with this in bringing to a close this series on “Kingdom Thinking.”

King Cyrus of Persia let the Jewish people come back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Upon returning they undertook the task, but soon opposition and obstacles came and the work slowed down and eventually stopped as complacency and apathy began to set in. With this God was not honored. The people then went to build their own homes, worked their crops and basically forgot about the House of God.

For eighteen years this was the case until Haggai the prophet came on the scene with a word from the Lord. It is this word from the Lord that I think is very apt for us today. 

In Ephesians chapter 2 we are told: “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-22)

We see that we too are building a holy temple, according to Paul. We learn from Peter: “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5)

When we look at the scene in heaven we see that there are people from every tribe, tongue and nation worshipping the Lord. “And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”’ (Revelation 5:9)

So when I put these verses together what does it tell me? The church, God’s people, like the Jewish people of old in Haggai’s time, are building a temple – a holy habitation for the living God. The stones that we use are not made out of granite, but are living stones made out of flesh and blood and these stones must come from every tribe, nation and people group in the world.

The question in my mind is this: How are we doing in building this temple? To finish the temple there must be stones from all of these different groups I mentioned. It is estimated that in the world there are still between 2,000 – 3,000 people groups where the church needs to be established, where living stones need to be gathered, polished and fitted into the temple.

When we think of the obstacles, the opposition from governments and evil people, this task is very daunting and the work of world evangelism is slowing down and in some places it has even stopped.

We are now beginning to see complacency and apathy settling in on the people of God especially here in the Western world. We find ourselves very busy building our own homes and thinking of ourselves so that God’s house is not being built and God is not being honored. What should we do?

In the next few weekly letters we will deal with this.

ARE WE FLOURISHING?

Psalms 92:12-15 “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.  They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, ‘The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.’”

Simple definition for the word ’flourish’ is: to grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, to develop rapidly and successfully. God wants us (His people) to flourish in the midst of a world that is filled with sin and decay. To flourish in this way will be a testimony to the world that what we have and what we believe in is real and that it works. Paul said: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” (2 Corinthians 4:13) He knew that what he believed in was real and so he spoke with confidence and authority.

In a blog by INSTITUTE FOR FAITH, WORK AND ECONOMICS a Christian think tank out of Washington DC – said the following about flourishing: “In the Old Testament, the concept of flourishing is best described by the Jewish word shalom. Biblical scholars note that shalom signifies a number of things, including salvation, wholeness, integrity, soundness, community, righteousness, justice, and well-being. Shalom denotes a right relationship with God, with others, and with God’s good creation. It is the way God intended things to be when He created the universe.

Most English Bibles translate shalom as “peace,” but it means much more than just an absence of conflict. The idea of flourishing (shalom) in the widest sense of the word is a significant theme in the Old Testament. When the Lord brings “shalom:”

• There is prosperity (Psalm 72:1-7).
• There is health (Isaiah 57:19).
• There is reconciliation (Genesis 26:29).
• There is contentment (Genesis 15:15, Psalm 4:8).
• When the shalom of the Lord is present, there are good relationships between the nations and peoples. God’s shalom has a social, as well as a personal, dimension (I Chronicles 12:17-18).

Shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight. It is the way things ought to be.

We might not know the fullness of this “shalom” until Christ comes, but to me kingdom thinking means that this is what we are to work towards where ever we might be that God places us: our work place, school, arts, government, media, business, etc. We work towards life’s shalom.

In order to flourish our lives must have meaning and purpose. When Christ gave us one of His last commands to go into all the world and teach all nations before His ascension, He gave us the means to flourish. I would dare say that our lives individually, or corporately with our church, will have no real flourishing unless we are working towards this goal. This does not mean that everyone must go, but all can be involved in giving and praying, but also involved in reaching those around us.

Part of this flourishing is being good stewards in fulfilling the cultural mandate God gave us. How are we doing? Are we maintaining God’s creation? Are we making the best of the talents, gifts, resources that God has given us? The blog that I mentioned above brings out some important truths that flourishing in a society will be seen in areas like life expectancy, infant mortality, at levels of poverty and corruption, with civil liberties and the environment.

Kingdom thinking will ponder or consider these things and will look around in the world to see what can and should be done. I am working with brothers now who want to see how we can create jobs; work is important. This is one of the best ways to alleviate poverty. There are some who are unable to work, but God ordained work and not living off the generosity of others or hand-outs from the government (tax-payers).

When Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was teaching the churches through his letters, he shared how we need to take care of those in our families first. He used the example of widows. Paul said: “Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.” (1 Timothy 5:3-5)

I am not saying that governments are not important in helping with relief, but only after other means (like family) have been exhausted. The problem that we have in Western Europe, and that we are closely following in the States, is in thinking that our government needs to take care of us from the cradle to the grave. But, that can last only so long because like Margaret Thatcher said: “We soon run out of other people’s money.”

Kingdom thinking will also see the importance of ‘giving.’ James and John bring this out in their admonition to us all. “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:15-17

“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” 1 John 3:17

God wants us to “flourish” in every way so that we can help others, both physically and spiritually, as well as enjoy our lives with our families.  Are you flourishing?