Worship
Scripture
“‘Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?’” -Haggai 1:4
“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,’ says the Lord.” -Haggai 1:7-
“Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: ‘I am with you,’ declares the Lord. So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God … .” -Haggai 1:13-14
A Modern Haggai Moment
I woke up Aug. 8, 2020 with these words in my spirit: “It’s a Haggai moment!” I love those minor prophets of the Old Testament but needed to dive into the little book of Haggai to see what God was saying to us. It’s a beautiful word of redirection, correction, hope, and vision for us today! Much in the Church is being shaken, shifted, and flipped right side up. The Bride is actually getting her voice back. People are seeing harvest fields and stepping into personal revival. The Church is beginning to decide how strong (in faith and resolve) she will swim across the current of culture and stand for the truth of God and His Word. It’s hard and glorious and eternal.
God’s Heart of Correction
The goodness of the Lord is revealed to Haggai in His words to this prophet, spoken to the remnant (about 50,000 people) who had just returned from Babylon. They were a people who had lived in a culture for 70 years whose motto was, “I am, and there is none besides me.” They were facing a drought at the time ,and so perhaps God had His people’s attention. There they were, generations later back in the Promised Land and being called to throw off building their own kingdoms to build His Kingdom. But what He was asking them was wrapped in the promise of what was yet to come: His coming glory.
The words of God don’t come with condemnation but rather correction through Haggai, causing the people to pause and reflect. The people had been building beautiful homes for themselves, focused on their own individual lives and pursuits. Meanwhile, the house of the Lord— the place where God’s presence and glory dwelt—was in ruins. But what does God remind His people of? He has the heart to heart with them but reminds them of His presence with them. He wasn’t forsaking them in their double-mindedness or self focus. He wasn’t going anywhere. “‘I am with you,’” He says.
The Power of Sacred Silence
After He speaks, the people begin to work, and while they work, the Lord continues to be with them. But there is silence for a month. Some things needed to settle in their hearts perhaps; a redirection needed to happen in their focus and desire. Silence isn’t rejection; sometimes it shapes noise. Things had to be set right in God’s people. They were being asked to forsake the things they had known culturally from Babylon and return to the Lord to build His house so that His glory could come. How He longed for intimacy with them and for them to know their God and to partner with His purposes. So He sent a prophet of purity to redirect the people in the MORE of what He had for them.
I penned these words in my journal as I sat with the Lord:
I am looking, watching, and waiting to find those whose hearts are entirely devoted to Me. I don’t want a divided heart in My people. I want a heart whose purposes are in direct alignment with Me. I am the foundation of their lives—nothing else but Me. Will I find those burning ones? Will My people emerge from the fire, refined and delivered or covered in soot? Will these ones set their faces like flint toward Heaven or sit in self-pity and self-consumption, bitter and ungrateful. Each one is given a choice to return to Me, but not all will. I know that many do not want My fire to burn in them. They want comfort, and they want the world. Those who build their life on Me will see Me with them, and my Spirit will come. My blessing will come. If Christ is not the foundation, the foundation will crumble.
Those who remained in Babylon were still God’s people, but only the remnant left and followed God into His greater purposes. Everyone received the invitation, but not everyone responded.
“Jesus replied: ‘A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, “Come, for everything is now ready.” But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, “I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.”
“‘Another said, “I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.”
“‘Still another said, “I just got married, so I can’t come.”
“‘The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, “Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.”
“‘“ Sir,” the servant said, “what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.”
“‘Then the master told his servant, “Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.”’” -Luke 14:16-23
Today’s Urgent Call
Beloved, there is urgency with the reality that Jesus will come back for us one day soon and the fact that there are many who haven’t been invited to the banquet yet. It is with urgency that I write to you to build the house of the Lord because all we bring to Heaven with us is people. But there are some of you who the Lord is tapping on the shoulder and asking if you’ll shift your perspective from building your kingdom to building His. It comes with invitation, vision, hope, expectation, and wonder! He would only ask you to do this if there was great reward and abundance ahead. Will you be one who picks up her lamp and asks the Lord to fill it with the oil of His Spirit?
A Prayer for Purpose
Lord, I ask You to shore up our resolve for YOU. Hem us in on every side, Jesus, and protect us from the evil one, who would love for us to be about our own lives and our own kingdom. I pray for this new wave of worship to crash over my sisters, that they would be overcome with Your goodness and Your glory. I pray that the things that entangle any of us would be untied so that we could run with fervor and passion for our finish line, which is Christ Jesus. Lord, let us be part of the remnant—just like in Haggai—who hear the invitation of the Lord, stop everything, and turn toward Your voice. I bless my sisters today with even deeper passion for You, Lord!
