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20250517

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Haggai 2:1-23

Haggai 2:1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of Yahveh came through the prophet Haggai:
Haggai 2:2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and to the remnant of the people:
Haggai 2:3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Doesn’t it seem to you like nothing by comparison?
Haggai 2:4 Even so, be strong, Zerubbabel — this is Yahveh’s declaration. Be strong, Joshua son of Jehozadak, high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land — this is Yahveh’s declaration. Work! For I am with you — the declaration of Yahveh of Armies.
Haggai 2:5 This is the promise I made to you when you came out of Egypt, and my Breath is present among you; don’t be afraid.'”
Haggai 2:6 For Yahveh of Armies says this: “Once more, in a little while, I am going to shake the sky and the land, the sea and the dry land.
Haggai 2:7 I will shake all the nations so that the treasures of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,” says Yahveh of Armies.
Haggai 2:8 “The silver and gold belong to me”– this is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies.
Haggai 2:9 “The final glory of this house will be greater than the first,” says Yahveh of Armies. “I will provide peace in this place” – this is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies.
Haggai 2:10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahveh came to the prophet Haggai:
Haggai 2:11 “This is what Yahveh of Armies says: Ask the priests for a ruling.
Haggai 2:12 If a man is carrying consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and it touches bread, stew, wine, oil, or any other food, does it become sacred?” The priests answered, “No.”
Haggai 2:13 Then Haggai asked, “If someone defiled by contact with an unclean throat touches any of these, does it become defiled?” The priests answered, “It becomes defiled.”
Haggai 2:14 Then Haggai replied, “So is this people, and so is this nation before me — this is Yahveh’s declaration. And so is every work of their hands; even what they offer there is defiled.
Haggai 2:15 “Now from this day on, think carefully: Before one stone was placed on another in Yahveh’s temple,
Haggai 2:16 what state were you in? When someone came to a grain heap of twenty measures, it only amounted to ten; when one came to the winepress to dip fifty measures from the vat, it only amounted to twenty.
Haggai 2:17 I struck you – all the work of your hands – with blight, mildew, and hail, but you didn’t turn to me – this is Yahveh’s declaration.
Haggai 2:18 “From this day on, think carefully; from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day the foundation of Yahveh’s temple was laid; think carefully.
Haggai 2:19 Is there still seed left in the granary? The vine, the fig, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yet produced. But from this day on I will bless you.”
Haggai 2:20 The word of Yahveh came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month:
Haggai 2:21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah: I am going to shake the sky and the land.
Haggai 2:22 I will overturn royal thrones and destroy the power of the Gentile kingdoms. I will overturn chariots and their riders. Horses and their riders will fall, each by his brother’s sword.
Haggai 2:23 On that day” — this is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies – “I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant” – this is Yahveh’s declaration — “and make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you.” This is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies.

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Haggai’s instruction was for the people to mark this day on the calendar, and watch what God was going to do. He was going to reverse the curse, and shake the nations until riches and blessing fell upon Israel. He was going to do the impossible and make Holy that which had been defiled. The work on the new temple had already been begun in obedience to the LORD’s words through Haggai. Now, the LORD says, move over, and watch this.

LORD, give us the wisdom to follow your word, and the insight to know when it is you who are working by grace.

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revival sparked by rebuke

20250516

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revival sparked by rebuke

Haggai 1:1-15

Haggai 1:1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of Yahveh came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:
Haggai 1:2 “Yahveh of Armies says this: These people say: The time has not come for the house of Yahveh to be rebuilt.”
Haggai 1:3 The word of Yahveh came through the prophet Haggai:
Haggai 1:4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”
Haggai 1:5 Now, Yahveh of Armies says this: “Think carefully about your roads:
Haggai 1:6 You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough to be satisfied. You drink but never have enough to be happy. You put on clothes but never have enough to get warm. The wage earner puts his wages into a bag with a hole in it.”
Haggai 1:7 Yahveh of Armies says this: “Think carefully about your roads.
Haggai 1:8 Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house; and I will be pleased with it and be glorified,” says Yahveh.
Haggai 1:9 “You expected much but noticed it amounted to little. When you brought the harvest to your house, I ruined it. Why?” This is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies. “Because my house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.
Haggai 1:10 So on your account, the sky has withheld the dew and the land its crops.
Haggai 1:11 I have summoned a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, new wine, fresh oil, and whatever the ground yields, on man and animal, and on all that your hands produce.”
Haggai 1:12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the entire remnant of the people obeyed Yahveh their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, because Yahveh their God had sent him. So the people feared Yahveh.
Haggai 1:13 Then Haggai, Yahveh ‘s messenger, delivered Yahveh’s message to the people: “I am with you– this is Yahveh’s declaration.”
Haggai 1:14 Yahveh roused the breath of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the breath of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the breath of all the remnant of the people. They began work on the house of Yahveh of Armies, their God,
Haggai 1:15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.

revival sparked by rebuke

This revival of interest in the things of God happened because Haggai, the messenger (Mal’ak) dared to confront a complacent people with God’s message (mal’akut), and the people came and worked (mela’kah) on rebuilding the temple. God’s Spirit moved and brought about revival, but it began with a prophet who dared to say what needed to be said.

LORD, give us more Haggais. Forgive us for wanting to say what pleases the crowd, instead of what they need to hear.

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glory guarantee

20250515

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glory guarantee

Jude 1:24-25

Jude 1:24 Now to him who can protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great delight,
Jude 1:25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before every age, now and for all the ages. Amen.

Jude’s confidence was in God — whose very infinite glory and power are what will eventually bring us into his glorious presence. His glory guarantees ours.

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mercy with caution

20250514

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mercy with caution

Jude 1:22-23

Jude 1:22 Have mercy on those who waver;
Jude 1:23 save others by snatching them from the fire; have mercy on others but with fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

Jude wanted his readers to show mercy to those who are straying, but to do so with caution because sin defiles.

Those involved in rescuing people have to be cautious themselves because they also are in danger.

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faith that is building

20250513

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faith that is building

Jude 1:20-21

Jude 1:20 But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most sacred faith, praying in the Sacred Breath,
Jude 1:21 keep yourselves in the care of God, waiting expectantly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for permanent life.

Jude was not simply trying to keep his readers from schism and heresy. He wanted them to grow in their faith. He called it building yourselves up. A faith that is not growing and living in expectancy of the second coming is in danger of being lost.

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they divide

20250512

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they divide

Jude 1:17-19

Jude 1:17 But you, dear friends, remember what was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jude 1:18 They told you, “In the end time there will be scoffers living according to their own ungodly desires.”
Jude 1:19 These people create divisions and are worldly, not having the Breath.

Jude told his readers to look out for those who try to create divisions within the church. Divisions come from worldliness and not having the Breath of God – the Holy Spirit. Jesus had warned the apostles of this sign of the age, and they passed the warning along.

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ungodly pretenders

20250511

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ungodly pretenders

Jude 1:14-16

Jude 1:14 It was about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied: “Look! The Lord comes with tens of thousands of his devoted ones
Jude 1:15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly concerning all the ungodly acts that they have done in an ungodly way and concerning all the harsh things ungodly sinners have said against him.”
Jude 1:16 These people are discontented grumblers, living according to their desires; their mouths utter arrogant words, flattering people for their own advantage.

ungodly pretenders

Jude reaches far back in time, quoting a prophecy that first saw fulfilment in the flood’s destruction. But now he applies that prophecy to the judgment of hypocritical ungodly pretenders in the church.

How can we spot such pretenders among us? They complain, seek their own way, speak arrogantly, and praise people only when it benefits themselves.

Jude’s message is that those who act this way will be judged by the Lord at his coming. We should not allow them to destroy our congregations today.

LORD, give us discernment and courage.

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irreverence

20250510

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irreverence

Jude 1:11-13

Jude 1:11 Tragedy to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, have plunged into Balaam’s error for profit, and have destroyed themselves by Korah’s rebellion.
Jude 1:12 These people are dangerous reefs at your care feasts as they eat with you without reverence. They are shepherds who only look after themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by winds; trees in late autumn — fruitless, twice dead and uprooted.
Jude 1:13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameful deeds; wandering stars for whom the blackness of darkness is reserved permanently.

irreverence

Jude pours on metaphor after metaphor to explain how dangerous it is to have these false teachers among the congregations. They are lost themselves, and being among Christians gives others the impression that this is what being a Christian is. Their missing ingredient: reverence. They do not fear the God they claim to believe in. They have no respect for the holy things of God.

LORD, forgive us for our past irreverence. We resolve to discipline our lives so that the reverence you deserve is clearly manifested in them.

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relying on errors

20250509

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relying on errors

Jude 1:7-10

Jude 1:7 Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns committed sexual immorality and perversions and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of permanent fire.
Jude 1:8 In the same way these people — relying on their dreams — defile their flesh, reject authority, and slander glorious ones.
Jude 1:9 Yet when Michael the archangel was disputing with the devil in an argument about Moses’s body, he did not dare utter a slanderous condemnation against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
Jude 1:10 But these people blaspheme anything they do not understand. And what they do understand by instinct — like irrational animals — by these things they are ruined.

relying on errors

Jesus warned his disciples to make sure that they are not misled. Jude wrote of some at his time who were doing the misleading. They were relying on their dreams instead of relying on the sure word of God. The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah relied on their passions instead of God’s word. What you rely on matters. Don’t rely on errors.

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rescued and destroyed

20250508

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rescued and destroyed

Jude 1:5-6

Jude 1:5 Now I want to remind you, although you came to know all these things once and for all, that Jesus saved a people out of Egypt and later destroyed those who did not believe;
Jude 1:6 and the angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deep darkness for the judgment on the great day.

rescued and destroyed

It is posible to have a posision that seems secure and still get lost and destroyed in the end. Jude reminds us of that by pointing to those Israelites who were rescued from Egypt, but later destroyed because of their unbelief. He also gave as an example the angels who abandoned their proper dwelling and are now reserved for the judgment and the lake of fire.

Eternal security can be comforting for those who persevere in their faith, but it is no security for those who choose to abandon it. James is writing to believers who will be challenged to rebel against their faith. His reminder is appropriate. God knows those who are his for eternity, but we do not. True faith and faithfulness are the same thing.

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