Tuesday: Do Not Fear!
Haggai 2:1-5 presents an interesting development in the great revival taking place among God’s people.
Image © Janet Hyun from GoodSalt.com
About a month after the temple work began, God sent an encouraging word through Haggai to the remnant who had determined, without adequate resources, to rebuild God’s house as directed by the prophets. Haggai asked the elders how the temple’s current state compared to its appearance before the exile. Clearly, the present appearance did not match the former glory. People may have been discouraged because they had no chance of duplicating the splendor of Solomon’s temple that once stood in the same place.
The prophet encouraged the people to keep working because God’s Spirit was with them.He called on all members of the remnant community to be strong and to work hard because of the presence of God Almighty in their midst. Haggai’s words to the leaders “Be strong! Do not fear!” sound like the Lord’s words to Joshua after the death of Moses (Josh. 1:5-9). The smaller and weaker were Israel’s own resources, the greater their need for faith in God. The prophet declared that, in the end, the Lord would make the temple’s latter glory greater than its former glory. That became true, however, only because One greater than the temple had come (see Matt. 12:6).
The presence of the Spirit confirmed the continuity of God’s kingdom in Israel. The Spirit of God, who had guided Moses and the elders and who had sent forth the prophets with inspired messages, was in the midst of the remnant. The godly response of the leaders and the people testified to the spiritual reformation that had taken place. The Spirit was present in renewing them and in bringing them closer to their God. The presence of the Spirit also guaranteed an abundance of blessings. The prophet encouraged the community members to work out the divine promises to their fulfillments.
Haggai ministered God’s Word to people who knew the harshness of life and the disappointment of unfulfilled hope. He turned their attention to God, who is faithful and who counts on the new community to be responsible citizens of His kingdom, persevering in doing good, and thus finding true meaning and purpose in their lives.
A 35-year-old man who had given up on belief in God wrote a 1,900 page suicide note before killing himself. In his note, he wrote: “Every word, every thought, and every emotion comes back to one core problem: life is meaningless.” How does not only our belief in God, but our willingness to obey Him, give our life meaning?
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As we step out in faith and follow God, our hearts grow lighter because we are uplifted in hope. The positive and focus on good helps us gain hope. Mainly, the presence of God and His Spirit give us joy and love. These gifts are meaningful, and the significance of life enlarges in our thinking.
Fear and insecurity in life is the absence of God's perfect love in the soul. Jesus in His Holy Word encourages us to be Doers of the Word and not only just Hearers of the Word. The perfect love of God will drive away all fears and insecurities in the soul. We must exercise the Will of God in our lives and not just knowing about His Will. We must have an experimental knowledge of God's Will and not just an informative knowledge of God's Will. The poor soul who took his own life never experience the goodness of God in his life, and so life became meaningless and hopeless to his perplexed soul. The words of the song titled; "People Need The Lord" comes to mind;
I must experience the Hope of Glory in my life for then i will become a beacon of light to every perishing souls in this dark gloomy world. We must have a true living experience of God's Love and not just a form of Godliness. Thank you Jesus for the Hope of Glory. Is my prayer that this knowledge of His will be renewed and refreshed every morning and for the Holy Spirit to empower us to be constantly receptive of His Will. Cheers!!!
Amen,Jay! That was nice. I understand what you said. People do need the Lord, and you said that nicely. Thank you for encouraging people. Your sister in Christ Jesus. May God bless you!
life can offer some very discouraging moments often self-induced. at other times, circumstances arise, such as death or tragic death, that can knock us flat on our backs. God Created us and cares deeply for us to live our lives in accordance to His Higher Statutes which will ensure that we can live with Him, along with those that served Him and are no longer with us, Eternally. I JOHN 4:18 love perfected cast out all fear...also, ROMANS 5
when life pulls us down..reach toward Heaven, through prayer, and God will Pull of up!
Amen, hi I'm Reniel 24 y.o. from Philippines, I hope I can express my feeling this way. I realize that if Christ is in your heart and in your life there will be love. As it says in the scripture "God is love". So nothing to fear or to be afraid of, because God is here for us. If you have perfect love, it will cast out all fears as it says in 1 John 4:18.
Thank you for the encouraging words. God bless us.
Yaah it is true that those who do the work of God must not fear anything due to the presence of God to them.
We are the people of God let us not fear anything because Lord God is with us now and forever more.
I am much like the man who wrote the long note. I have also given up hope. My world and marriage are crumbling and all hope is lost.
Mr. Robinson,
Please hold on. Try to look to God moment by moment and not worry about the past or the future on earth. Once there is life there is hope. Remember that God is with you.
May God comfort you.
Charles, I can relate to your current condition right now. I've gone through a 30yrs divorce last year and my mother went into hospice and passed away at the same time, and at the same time going to court to remove my tenants who i worked with them for six months dishonestly trying to use the system to their advantage. It took a little over a month to finally prevailed in court. All these and more were all caving down on me and I was immediately reminded by the Holy Spirit to turn to Christ and put all my trust in Him. I was reminded that Jesus promised, He will not allow any trials or temptations to come upon us that is beyond our ability to bear and with the trials and temptations, He will also provide a way out. I was leaning and wholly trusting is Christ at His Word every single day. I experience a very mild stroke in the process but that stroke made me to started on a Vegan diet which today made a big difference in my health and a clear mind to better discern Christ's mercy love and joy. I have a forgiving heart towards everyone that keeps blessing me with abundance of joy and peace that surpasses all understandings. Charles, go to Jesus in prayer and fasting and He will truly take your load on Him and bare all your burdens and before you completely realize it, it was all not that heavy when you first encountered all your challenges. I am praying for you right now and i believe many are pouring out their hearts onto the Throne of Grace on your behalf and you can confidentially walk with your head up high for Christ have you in His hand. Here's my phone #209-247-8176 if you need a live voice conversation to share how God love respond to your situation. Cheers!!!
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Mr.Robinson your story is an all to familiar one. But you need to remember that our trials only come to make us strong. The words of an old hymn says 'Must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free. There is a cross for everyone and there's a cross for me.' God is our burden bearer and He will help you carry your cross. So like Job hold on and don't give up because God has a plan for your life. And His promise is that He will not give you more than you can bear. I will keep you in my prayers because we need to pray for one another.
Mr. Robinson, when my marriage crumbled with no hope, I found comfort and encouragement in Psalm 42. It is an honest cry to God from a heartbroken soul who had cried "day and night" who decides to still "hope in God." Please read it and pray through it, for God still loves you and he cares so much about what you are going through.
Another text that I hold onto is Psalm 51:8-12 which calls to God, asking Him to "restore joy" and "make me to hear joy and gladness."
Recently it has been Psalm 71 that has strengthened me. "O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste for my help." verse 12. "I will go in the strength of the Lord God." verse 16. "Thou shalt... comfort me on every side." verse 21. "But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more." verse 14.
Be encouraged. Hold on tight to God, and He will take care of you, and He will restore hope to you. He will take the meaningless emptiness of your life and fill you with purpose and joy.
With Christian love, Harmony
Amen! So cheering to that God is with us whenever we rely on His strength and might in order to do His will. If our lives are wholly surrendered and devoted to Him. We need not fear for the future.
Charles, I am praying for you. Satan wants to overwhelm you with the problems of the world to the point of no return, but just hold on. You are not alone. Others are praying for you.
Brother Charles, I share your sentiments and experiences and so I understand what you are going through. Am not here to say that God is permitting bad things to happen to you so as to carry out His plans for you. However, when I look back at my own life I am beginning to understand the saying that "the hot crucible is what is required to refine gold and make it valuable". Sure your circumstances are painful and overwhelming right now. Please take heart. I pray that God will lift you up and provide you with that little strength required to reach the finish line because I know His plans for you will begin to unravel once His blessings start pouring in. It is only then that you will understand why you have to go through these gruesome situations. This is when our adversary begins to taunt you also trying to put doubt in your mind about God's goodness. Hard to see how God's grace is sufficient when you are in the mist of the storm. Yet it is. Am praying for you right now. Just hang on, He is right there going through the pain with you. He hurts when you hurt. He understands but also knows you must go through it just like when Jesus hung and cried on the cross and He said He had to let it happen even when He could have stopped the pain. The end is all worth the pain. May His love soothe your broken heart. Lots of love I extend to you. God Bless
Brother Charles, please hold on a little longer. Yes, looking at things there might be no hope at all but our God is great, even when He is four days late, He is still on time. He will fix everything for you and just like Lazurus, He will call you out of that situation.
Just give all your cares to Him, He knows exactly how and when to fix that.
God really cares!
Dear Brother Charles, I urge you to hold on to Jesus. I know you are not alone in your present travails, He is also in it with you; you only need to turn your eyes upon Him, look full in His wonderful face, and your troubles and trials will all grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace! Try to focus on and think of past situations out of which He brought you by His mighty hand. Allow me share with you something that E. G. White once wrote which always helps me to keep going whenever I experience hard times: "We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history". Weeping may endure for the night, but surely joy comes in the morning! Hang on my brother, your morning shall soon come! This too shall pass in Jesus' name.
Brother Charles, I do believe that all people specially the faithfuls, while here on earth and waiting for the coming of the Lord will still be subjected to many challenges in life. But challenges sometimes are allowed by the Lord to bring out the best in us and bring out the best of who we are. These challenges are the defining moment of our faith in God..so consider it as an opportunity to exercise our faith in Him. Let us also realized that there are challenges in life that God is the One and only One who can resolved. So, let us stop acting like God! Empower God! Let God do the fighting for us! Remember we are not fighting here... is not flesh against flesh and blood but principalities, against powers, rulers of darkeness and host of wickedness (Ephesians 6:12). No matter how God present life as beautiful and marriage as enjoyable gift to humanity. Satan being the great deceiver will continue to deceived the world making us victim of his wickedness. The only way we can prevail against satan, is by clinging to the righteous hand of God and claim the victory of Christ! Let us always recall and refresh in our minds the victory of Christ against satan in Calvary...because that victory is also our victory! But prior to that Victory... Christ undergone series of uncomparable challenges...He was betrayed by disciples, abandoned by friends, humiliated by people he loved, misjudged by authorities, mocked, beaten, scourged, pierced and crucified to death. Despite the affliction... Christ never lost His focus, He never gave up on us! This time, whatever challenges we are facing... let us not give up on Him...because every challenges we overcome... is a victory with Christ!