Sit, Walk, Write

Whatever’s at the surface will fall away. What’s important is what is inside.  Sit, Walk, Write. With gratitude to God for mentors and teachers. For all that has come before. For all that is. For all that will be.

i have no recollection as to whether i have shared on Haggai or not. Either way i am still being led to selah… (pause and think on this.) God has a way of keeping me focused on the word and after i think i am done with it He brings it back. There is another reason i am coming back to Haggai. One of the group i am doing life with, is here in Haggai and so i am coming back to walk with them.

Haggai 1 Caught Up with Taking Care of Your Own Houses

Perhaps better said, caught up with taking care of self. I like this prophet as he gives specific dates and thus can be held accountable. That may tell you something about me? 

¹ On the first day of the sixth month of the second year in the reign of King Darius of Persia, God’s Message was delivered by the prophet Haggai to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and to the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak:  ²A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies: “The people procrastinate.

At this time of the year i tend to put things off till January 1st and i call them new years resolutions. Which according to statistics 87% of us do not keep. i think Haggai is a timely message. i am not to wait for a day in the future when God tells me to get moving.  ed you are procrastinating, something else has become your priority.

They say this isn’t the right time to rebuild my Temple, the Temple of God.”

ed you have been saying for some time it’s not the right time. But by virtue that Haggai is saying, i am procrastinating, it is the right time. In the same way Haggai says, they say meaning that what they are saying is the opposite of what God is saying. So they say it isn’t and God says it is. God is saying it’s time to… rebuild His Temple, the Temple of God. Today the Temple of God is me, all of us.

So God is saying it’s time to rebuild me! Oh boy! And just in case i am not getting it Haggai repeats it.

 ^3-4Shortly 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?”

Am i really in ruins? Am i that bad? Am i in such disarray? Well…. if i look at others and i look at my surroundings i think im in pretty good shape. But that could be why God says, i’m procrastinating, because i’m not seeing the bigger picture. I’m not considering all that is possible with God. i will say that every word i believe i am hearing from God has to do with growth and maturing in Him. So while i don’t like the idea that God would say His Temple, i, am in ruins i am smart enough to know that God does not lie nor speak evangelastically. He speaks His mind. So He asks the question. When did the time for you to be more important than Me come about?  

^5-6And then a little later, God-of-the-Angel-Armies spoke out again:“Take a good, hard look at your life. CONSIDER YOUR WAYS! (Amplified)

ed, consider: Take a good: morally excellent; virtuous; righteous, satisfactory in quality, of high quality; excellent, right; proper, hard: not soft, solid and firm, unyielding to pressure and impenetrable or almost impenetrable, difficult or troublesome with respect to an action, situation, person, look: to turn one’s eyes toward something or in some direction in order to see YOUR LIFE. Haggai says, just in case you don’t know what that looks like let me spell it out for you.

CONSIDER…
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.

It’s great that God never corrects us without telling us what to do to fix it. He does not abuse us with His words.

 ^8-9Then God said: “Here’s what I want you to do:
Climb into the hills and cut some timber. Bring it down and rebuild the Temple.

If i understand this right in light of me being what God want’s rebuilt, i would say He is telling me to climb into the word. Not to rely upon what i think i know. Go higher into the hills, the upper levels of the word. Cut some timber would then be for me to spend some time there and find the word that would be used to rebuild my ruins. i have cut down trees before and it is hard work and dangerous. 

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, “More people are killed while felling trees than during any other logging activity.” Safety must be of utmost concern when approaching a tree to cut.

Protective clothing should be purchased along with your saw. Cutting trees with a chainsaw is particularly hard on the eyes and ears. Always use protective glasses and ear plugs. Steel capped boots and non-slip gloves are also recommended. These requirements are for professionals who know what they are doing. A casual user should take note of this and have as much protection as a professional, if not more.

Protective clothing (a journal) should be purchased along with your saw (Bible). Cutting trees (studying the word) with a chainsaw (an open mind) is particularly hard on the eyes and ears (heart and flesh). Always use protective glasses and ear plugs (a journal). Steel capped boots (plenty of time) and non-slip gloves (solitude) are also recommended. These requirements are for professionals (true believers) who know what they are doing. A casual (once in a while) user (reader) should take note of this and have as much protection as a professional, if not more.