Author Archives: Steve

The Latter Glory Promise – Haggai 2:9

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“The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.” Haggai the prophet encouraged the repatriated Jews, the remnant from the Babylonian captivity who had returned to Judah, to start rebuilding the temple. The Lord told the people to “Be strong” and “Work” because He was with them beause they were His covenant people (vs. 4). And as His covenant people His Spirit remained with them (vs. 5). God promised that He will once again fill the temple with His glory and adorn it with treasures of silver and gold so that its future glory will be even greater than when Solomon first built the temple, and it will be a place of peace–Hebrew shalom, meaning well-being or peace with God. While the ultimate fulfillment of this prophetic verse may be found in Christ’s first and second comings, it has inferences for the individual lives of God’s covenant people in the present, who are the temple of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 3:16; 6:19). Contained in this verse is the promise that you have the potential to be more productive for God’s Kingdom as you grow older if you work and be strong in the Lord because His Spirit remains with you! Be encouraged that the physical aging process is also a spiritual strengthening process for those who have God’s Spirit.

Reorganizing Your To-Do List – Haggai 1:9

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“You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.” The work of rebuilding the temple by the returning Jews ceased for about ten years by order of King Artaxerxes of Persia (Ezra 4:24). Near the end of this ten-year cessation period the word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet to stir up the repatriated Jews to complete the rebuilding of the temple. Haggai told the people in no uncertain terms that their priorities were out of order and as a result, nothing was working right in their lives. They sow much but harvest little; they never have enough to eat or drink to satisfy themselves; they can’t hold on to the money they earn (vs. 6). Why does nothing go right? Because their lifetime To-Do List was out of order. They were building their own houses when the Lord’s house lay in ruins (vs. 4). God tells them to look at their priorities and put Him first: “Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord.” Nothing will go right in your life until your priorities are in the correct order. First build God’s house and then your own. Reorganize your lifetime To-Do List: First God, then everything else! When building God’s house is the main priority of your life, then you can be assured that He will help you accomplish everything else on your lifetime To-Do List.

Cosmic Conflict – Daniel 10:12

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“Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.” At the end of Daniel’s time of fasting he encountered or received a vision of a heavenly being. The revelation of God’s glory shining through this mighty being was overwhelming, crushing Daniel to the ground and sending his companions scurrying for cover (vs. 7). The angelic messenger was delayed on his way to Daniel twenty-one days–the period of time Daniel had been fasting–by the prince of the kingdom of Persia, an evil angelic being associated with the Persian Empire (vs. 13). The awe-inspiring messenger encouraged Daniel by telling him that he was “greatly loved” by God (vs. 11) and that he had been sent to Daniel in answer to his prayers to give him insight and encouragement in response to his mourning and constant concern about the situation in Jerusalem. There are several spiritual principles we need to recognize in this passage. 1) Conflicts on earth are of cosmic proportions and reflect conflicts in the heavens and this will continue to the end of time when God will ultimately triumph. 2) Satan and his cohorts continually attempt to thwart God’s plans and purposes in both the spiritual and physical realms. 3) God hears and answers prayers, but in His own time. You are greatly loved by God and God wants to reveal Himself to you in more powerful ways as you endeavor to know and understand Him and His plans and purposes for you.

A Spiritual Wake-Up Call – Revelation 3:1-2

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“You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.” According to the Apostle John the church in Sardis was in a spiritual state that was near death–the church had no spiritual vitality. But there was still hope the church would awake from its spiritual coma and revitalize itself because it had not accomplished God’s plans and purposes. The differing salutations to each of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 forewarns the failure and/or poses a subtle hint at the solution for the failure identified for each church. In the case of the church in Sardis, the salutation says: “The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars” (vs. 1). The “seven spirits of God” is figurative language for the Holy Spirit and the seven stars are the angels for each church–a personification of the identity of each church as if concentrated in its angel or messenger. Thus, the Lord informs the messenger of the church in Sardis that it needs a spiritual wake-up call–it needs a refilling of the Holy Spirit so that its works can be complete in God’s sight. So how does this Holy Spirit revitalization take place? “Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent” (vs. 3). The Lord tells the church in Sardis that what it needs is a Holy Ghost revival! It needs to repent of its spiritual apathy and indifference for the gospel, get back to the fundamental truths of the gospel, re-ignite the passion with which it first received the gospel, and go out and actually live out the gospel. If you need a spiritual wake-up call, then try this recipe for revival and let the Holy Spirit revitalize you with a new zeal for the gospel that will enable you to accomplish what God has planned and purposed for your life.

The Kingdom Where All Are Priests – Revelation 1:5-6

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“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.” The roles of kingdom and priests now belong to those of all nations who are freed from their sins by Jesus’ blood. Now all believers are citizens of God’s Kingdom and are like priests, meaning each believer is consecrated by the blood of Christ to approach God directly on his or her own behalf. John’s declaration is reminiscent of Exodus 19:6: “and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” which Moses spoke to the people of Israel when God freed them from slavery and brought them out of Egypt. What God told the people of Israel–that if they obey His voice and keep His covenant they shall be His treasured possession among all the peoples of the Earth (Exodus 19:5)–is now fulfilled through Christ and those who believe and follow Him. Therefore, exercise your priestly role before God each day by making the sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving, by obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit, and by sanctifying your life to His service by studying His word and keeping His commands and covenant.

We Shall Overcome – 1 John 5:4-5

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“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” The Apostle John reiterates what Jesus told His disciples in John 16:33. Jesus said that He has overcome the world and so John says that everyone who has faith in Jesus also overcomes the world. Our faith in Jesus is the basis for a right relationship with God and, therefore, directly connects us to His overcoming power. We overcome the world because Jesus already did. Although we encounter adversity in this world, we enjoy victory over the adversity because we now live in a right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

No Bullying Allowed – 1 John 4:4

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“You are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” According to the Apostle John, there is a bully in this world who actively works against God by threatening, intimidating, tempting, and deceiving people including the children of God with his evil influences: “This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already” (vs. 3). Fortunately, we have a Big Brother who is bigger and stronger than the bully who thinks he controls this world. In fact, our Big Brother, Jesus, has already overcome and defeated this bully. Therefore, the Spirit of Jesus who dwells in us is more powerful than the evil spirit, Satan, who controls this world. You have nothing to fear from this bully. Whenever this bully threatens or intimidates you, you can call on your Big Brother, Jesus, who is always near because His Spirit dwells in you to help you take on and defeat this bully.

We Shall Be Like Him – 1 John 3:2

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“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” The Apostle John indicates that Christ is the prototype for our own resurrection. In other words, our resurrected bodies will take the same form as the resurrected Christ. Although Christ has been raised from the dead, we have not yet been raised. So we have hope for being resurrected from the dead and having resurrection bodies like Jesus, but, as John points out, “we are God’s children now.” So the redeemed of God have one foot in eternity and one foot in this present world. But the power of Christ’s resurrection is already at work to purify us so that we start becoming like Christ now: “And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (vs. 3). John goes on to say that God’s chidren do not make a practice of sinning (vs 4), but instead practice righteousness (vs. 7). You are enabled to practice righteousness because you are born of God and have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you and working through the Word of God to empower you to refrain from sinning and to practice righteousness (vs. 9-10).

Successful Service – 2 Chronicles 31:21

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“And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered.”

During his reign over Judah, King Hezekiah cleansed the temple, restored temple worship, and organized the priests.

In other words, he made serving God his personal and professional responsibility and he was successful at it.

Hezekiah’s formula for success in serving God was simple:

  1. Align your service to God with His commands;
  2. Seek God’s will in everything you do for Him; and
  3. Make serving God your main priority.

You can be successful for God if you will follow this simple formula for serving Him.

Truth Professionals – 1 John 1:6-7

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“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” The Apostle John says in the preceding verse (vs. 5) that God is light. Therefore, those who walk in darkness are not walking with God, no matter what they say. John says that if you are walking in darkness then you are not practicing the truth. By contrast, those who walk in the light reflect God’s glory; they walk in the same way Jesus walked (vs. 2:6). The light in which they walk includes both correct doctrine (truth) and God’s moral law (holiness). If you “walk in the light” then you practice the truth and your behavior is consistent with your doctrine. When you live your life each day according to God’s redemptive love and moral law, then you are living the truth. You are like a practitioner of the truth, a truth professional. Just as doctors practice medicine and attorneys practice the law, Christians practice truth. As a practitioner of truth, when you “walk in the light” then your life is known to others: “You are the light of the world…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). Be a truth professional and let the way you live your life and the way you say you live your life be one in the same and to the glory of God, and the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse you from all sin.