We should have expected it, but many did not. Soon thereafter our finances were attacked seriously. Most people I know were struggling to bring in their pledges, but kept believing God anyway. I know that many have given to the building of God’s house sacrificially this last few months. Many, myself included, have fallen behind in our giving, but we are still committed to completing what we started. We shall not stop now. Building God a house has always been accompanied by demonic attack. Nehemiah and Ezra can testify to this. However, even though often there were delays, the work was always seen to completion because God was with his people. It is the same with us today.
The book of Haggai is only two chapters long but such a blessing at this time. It contrasts a period when the Israelites did not heed the call to build God’s house, and when they did. Chapter 1 opens up with God rebuking the people who were living large while the house of God was in ruin. God had cursed the work of their hands. The labor they put in was not equivalent to the output.
“ 6You have sown much, but you have reaped little; you eat, but you do not have enough; you drink, but you do not have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages has earned them to put them in a bag with holes in it…
9You looked for much [harvest], and behold, it came to little; and even when you brought that home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because of My house, which lies waste while you yourselves run each man to his own house [eager to build and adorn it].
10Therefore the heavens above you [for your sake] withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its produce.
11And I have called for a drought upon the land and the hill country, upon the grain, the fresh wine, the oil, upon what the ground brings forth, upon men and cattle, and upon all the [wearisome] toil of [men's] hands”.
When these people heard the word of the Lord, they turned their hearts to him in repentance and he, being the darling he is sent word that he was with them. So their hearts were stirred and they built God a house. Just like we at JCC have been busy doing and continue to do.
Chapter 2 begins to describe the changes that God was bringing to their lives even as they built the house of God. He promised them that as they built his house he would be with them and that his Spirit would be in their midst. And then he added something else to it:
6For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake and make tremble the [starry] heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land;
7And I will shake all nations and the desire and the precious things of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts.
8The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine, says the Lord of hosts.
9The latter glory of this house [with its successor, to which Jesus came] shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place will I give peace and prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.
God was saying that as they built his house, he was going to shake the earth and bring the wealth of the Nations to them. All the precious things and desired things in the earth shall come to the house of the Lord. To his people. The silver is his and so is the gold and as we are building him a house he is shaking the earth to ensure that the wealth of the wicked is brought to his children who are mindful of his honor and glory. There shall be peace and prosperity. We shall know what it means to have the shalom of God. Nothing missing and nothing broken! It is our portion as we build God a house. Blessed be the name of the Lord. The glory of this end time Church, shall be greater than that of the first church because God shall send his glory on us in a mighty way.
I hear these words distinctly in my spirit today:
15And now, I pray you, consider what will happen from this day onward. Since the time before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord, how have you fared?
16Through all that time [the harvests have not fulfilled expectations, for] when one has gone expecting to find a heap [of sheaves] of twenty measures, there were but ten; when he has gone to the wine vat to draw out fifty bucketfuls from the press, there were only twenty.
Vs 16 has been true for me on so many levels and my heart has been crying out to the Lord to bless me indeed, so that the expectations I have are fulfilled and even exceeded. There is a change in the Atmosphere!!!
18Consider, I pray you, from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was [re]laid, consider this:
19Is the harvested grain any longer in the barn? As to the grapevine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree--they have not yet borne. FROM THIS DAY ON I WILL BLESS YOU.
Of note is the mention of the grapevine, fig tree, pomegranate and olive tree. The first 3 ripen in August and September, while olives ripen from September to November. The dedication of the House of Restoration on August 1st will mark a shift for those who have given and continue to give towards the house of God.
“CONSIDER, I PRAY YOU, FROM THIS DAY ONWARD (AUGUST 1ST, 2010)… FROM THIS DAY ON, I WILL BLESS YOU.”
The blessing that we have sought, many times in tears will become ours. Our crop will ripen and the wealth of the Nations will come pouring in. In this year of distinction there has been much shaking and sifting, but now the harvest has come. I thank God for the harvest. I receive my harvest and bless the Lord abundantly for his goodness and mercy!
(All these beautiful pics of the Cathedrals of the world can be found on the sacred destinations website http://www.sacred-destinations.com/categories/cathedrals)
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