From: "Phil Rembleski" <PHIl@rescuechurchofchrist.org>

To: "1111RESCUEMEMBERS"

Cc:

Sent: Fri, Sep 29, 2023 at 5:43 AM

Subject: 9-29-23 THOUGHTS

9-29-23   THOUGHTS

The Haggai warning needs to be remembered often.  It is the threat of our day and culture.  It is our tendency to take care of what’s mine instead of doing the Lord’s work.  The words..."The time has not come,”  betray procrastination in its simplest form.  We are prone to efforts to bless ourselves.  We have a hard time getting out of our own way!  Ps 37:23   “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way.”  The words “Consider your ways” ought to thunder in our ears!  Please God  FIRST!  Let Him bless us!  Matt 6:33  "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  This process is “an easy yoke”, and a “light burden”,  if we can but see!  “Rejoice in the Lord!”

Hag 1:1-9    In the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,  2  "Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘This people says, "The time has not come, even the time for the house of the LORD to be rebuilt."’" 3  Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying,  4  "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?"  5  Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider your ways! 6  "You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough;and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes." 7  Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider your ways!  8  "Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified," says the LORD. 9  "You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?" declares the LORD of hosts, "Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house.”

My Prayer:
Lord, teach us each day to set proper priorities.  Reset our hearts each morning to focus on You and Your things and ways.   Help us then, moment by moment, to live in Your presence. Help us to know true blessing from You, and not the cheap stuff of the world.  May we seek properly, O God, with our whole heart.  May this prayer be more than words on a page, Lord, may it become who we are.  Knowing the right dear God, may we practice Your truth with joy.  Help us to seek diligently the good life, in right places, and in right ways.   In the name of Jesus,     Amen.