Haggai 2

4-5 “‘So get to work, Zerubbabel!’—God is speaking.

“‘Get to work, Joshua son of Jehozadak—high priest!’

“‘Get to work, all you people!’—God is speaking.

“‘Yes, get to work! For I am with you.’ The God-of-the-Angel-Armies is speaking! ‘Put into action the word I covenanted with you when you left Egypt. I’m living and breathing among you right now. Don’t be timid. Don’t hold back.’

Being a Christian does not stop at believing in Jesus.  We have work to do on God's behalf to build his kingdom.  Its says work, not play.  So its going to take effort and its not always going to be fun, easy or fair.  But the word work also implies that the effort expended produces something of value.  Building his kingdom by executing on the plans he has given us in his word seems like a pretty decent objective for a days work.

so off to work we go, have a great weekend!

Knut

Haggai 1

5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.

He repeats this phrase twice so I'm guessing he means it.  He is clear that neglecting their relationship with him has caused their hopes to come up short.

But my take away is back to the phrase itself.  If it were easy for us as humans to follow God's instruction this chapter wouldn't be needed.  He is helping us recognize our sinful nature and telling us you need to be careful to follow his instruction its not easy.  When I think careful I think deliberate, studying the instructions and moving more slowly to ensure no mistakes--each move is intentional.

Study the bible in detail to understand his instructions, then work very deliberately to ensure my actions match his instructions.  Measure twice, cut one.  

knut

Zephaniah 3

eeeehhhhhh......not much to say about this one.
I do like how it ends on a high note......first a lot of fire and brimstone, and then wrapping up with the restoration.  I like a story that has a happy ending.  It seems that God can't help himself, but give us his grace in the end......no matter what we've done.  There is always grace there for those who are willing to recognize it and seize it.

tp

Zephaniah 2

3 Seek God, all you quietly disciplined people
    who live by God’s justice.
Seek God’s right ways. Seek a quiet and disciplined life.
    Perhaps you’ll be hidden on the Day of God’s anger.

Like yesterday there are many illustrations of what is to come, but tucked in this chapter is again a single verse of instructions.  Seek God.  Don't look for recognition in the world but live a quiet life disciplined and seeking God.

It made me think of your Dad today, I think he does this well.

short and sweet have a great day!
knut

Zephaniah 1

7  Be silent before the Sovereign Lord,
    for the day of the Lord is near.
The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;
    he has consecrated those he has invited.

I read through this a couple times, it appears this is a prophecy of the very end of times.  As far as I could see every verse was explaining what will happen and to whom, except this verse.  This is the only one with an instruction for us...Be silent before the Sovereign Lord.

How often I do I follow this instruction...I can answer that not very often.  This is possibly my one time in the day and even it is short and can be interrupted with thoughts of work or a quick check on some scores on the internet.

We have the creator to ourselves anytime we want yet the noise of the day is always in the way.

knut

Habakkuk 3

19 Counting on God’s Rule to prevail,
    I take heart and gain strength.
I run like a deer.
    I feel like I’m king of the mountain!

We talk about this often, being in control and making decisions for ourselves vs. totally trusting and having faith in God.  Here it is again, said yet another way how swift I could run and feel like I'm on top of the world worry free if I have complete faith in God.  

We are searching for a new Director/Pastor of Discipleship at my church.  The candidate we are pursuing fits this perfectly.  He has such a great calm about him, he is a little over 50 but completely willing to up root his perfectly safe life and move to Des Moines if thats what he discerns God wants him to do.  He is so calm and at peace at all times.  I truly admire him and his confidence to count on God.

knut

Habakkuk 2

⁴ “Look at that man, bloated by self-importance—
full of himself but soul-empty.
But the person in right standing before God
through loyal and steady believing
is fully alive, really alive.

 

Not much more needs to be said about this one.  The chapter talks a lot about the self- important, and the hunger for riches.  Neither approach is one that leads to satisfaction in life. 

 

Easy to write......difficult to live in our society.

Habakkuk 1

4 Therefore the law is paralyzed,
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
    so that justice is perverted.


I can't say that I am taking many clear directions or learning away from the minor prophets but I do find little bits spread throughout that are very relevant or parallel today.

Its interesting how our culture in the US now seems to try to twist the words of the law and make out Christians to be bad guys--hem us in.  Separation of church and state translated to mean keep God out...of everything.  Marriage...not of God...etc.  Our laws do feel paralyzed.

knut

Nahum 3

18-19 King of Assyria! Your shepherd-leaders,
    in charge of caring for your people,
Are busy doing everything else but.
    They’re not doing their job,
And your people are scattered and lost.
    There’s no one to look after them.
You’re past the point of no return.
    Your wound is fatal.
When the story of your fate gets out,
    the whole world will applaud and cry “Encore!”
Your cruel evil has seeped
    into every nook and cranny of the world.
    Everyone has felt it and suffered.

Makes me think of our US government.  Busy doing everything but caring for Americans.  No real takeaway today.  what do you see?

knut

Nahum 2

4 The chariots storm through the streets,
    rushing back and forth through the squares.
They look like flaming torches;
    they dart about like lightning.

As I run through the movie I think is in your mind, since Im not creative enough to have a movie in my mind I see a modern day Nahum maybe located here in suburbia US.  people milling about enjoying the fruits of their labor maybe a nice day off work oblivious to anything going on outside of their own little world.  they have everything they need and want and the resources to get more of it, they don't need anyone and they are good with that.   their iphone tells them to pull over to the custom coffee shop on their right in their decked out SUV.  texting their spouses to get their order of fancy coffee and bagel.  surfing the web checking their fantasy league results, posting on facebook, shooting some shots out on instagram.  

suddenly the streets are filled with military vehicles rushing up and down gunning down people left and right.  their world is turned upside down chaos surrounds them.  screams for help their suv is crushed, their iphone reads no signal, their coffee is cold. they dont no where to turn or who to turn to.

They don't know God and like a rock drifting in space they are now completely alone.

Conclusion--I need God with me at all times.

knut

Nahum 1

3 The Lord is slow to anger but great in power;
    the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.
His way is in the whirlwind and the storm,
    and clouds are the dust of his feet.

Nahum tells us God is pretty patient but that if you are guilty, punishment is certain--and we are all guilty of sin.  Fortunately His Grace has no bounds if we know and love Jesus.

knut

Micah 7

Not much to say today.

The first section is describing the downfall of Israel.  But, like we've said several times while reading thru these minor prophets......it reads like its current.  Everything in there could be written about the US in 2014.  Its like seeing a promo for dateline or 20/20.
Luckily there's the 2nd and 3rd parts of this chapter to show the grace of God, and to highlight the fact that he will never give up on us. 

tp

Micah 6

8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly[a] with your God.

This is another chapter chalked full of references to other passages in the bible, which I recognize but admit i don't remember all of each of the stories referenced.

I like the end of this simple straightforward verse.  He has done so much for us through time, and asks so little--you'd think it would be a simple act to obey his request.

knut

Micah 5

2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clans[b] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times.”

Micah wrote these words about 700 years before Jesus was born.  Comforting and amazing to read how perfectly connected it is from beginning to end.  I enjoy seeing all the connections that are revealed when you study the bible thoroughly, i need to continue to make time to truly dig in--I'm never disappointed when I do, yet too often I let the busy lifestyle so many of us lead get in the way.  shame on me.

knut

Micah 4

12 But they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
    that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

I find the visions in this chapter fun to think about being able to see unfold.  This particular verse is comforting because while it may seem like the world is falling apart and that God is being pushed out, I know in the end He has a plan and those who believe in Him will prevail.

knut

Micah 3

12 Because of people like you,
    Zion will be turned back into farmland,
Jerusalem end up as a pile of rubble,
    and instead of the Temple on the mountain,
    a few scraggly scrub pines.


If you are in a position of leadership and you lead in a way that is selfish and not true to God it will ultimately lead to your destruction and hurt of those you were leading.

As we both become the old guys, we will probably find ourselves more frequently in positions of leadership both within work and our church and with that comes a responsibility we best take seriously in both our daily way of life and actions and our direct and intentional statements from roles as leaders.

knut

Micah 2

13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before them;
    they will break through the gate and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
    the Lord at their head.”

Micah seemed to be pretty clued in and have a direct line to God.  We have a famous prophecy from Micah yet to come, but I wonder how people in his day took his message?  Did he have credibility or was he a crazy man?  Often it seems like it would have been easier to understand the bible living in the day, but in this instance it seems we almost have an advantage today seeing things that have unfolded as prophesied.  Our faith today should be strengthened by the knowledge that the Bible is true and our human minds can see proof of it in fulfilled prophecy, giving us even more comfort in the truth of yet to be fulfilled prophecy.


Have a great weekend.
knut

Micha 1

I read thru Micah 1 this morning.  I don't have a good take today.  It reads like many of the other minor prophets.  It speaks of inpending doom for several cities that have turned their back on God.
One line did catch my attention in relation to some stats I recently heard.

7 Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,
as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.

I'm reminded of how evil and wicked our society is, every time I read thru one of these books.  I can't help the comparison.  This line made me think of how much technology is driven by the pornography industry in the US.  I've heard shocking estimates about how much porn has driven internet advancements, in terms of video, streaming, web cams and such.  Sounds a lot like the verse above.

food for thought

Jonah 3-4

Ch3 10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

Ch4 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

I found it interesting in these chapters that initially it seemed Jonah had concern for the people of Nineveh.  But yet when God changed his mind about Nineveh, Jonah actually appears disappointed, not so much because he wanted bad things to happen to them but it was more selfish because of what he had gone through for nothing.  There is a hint of the prodigal son in this message too.

By our nature we are selfish, it seems to be a characteristic of humans that we need to guard against.  Why should the good fortune of someone else have any impact on my feelings?  I don't think I have this problem too often but if I'm completely honest with myself I know there are times in my heart am rooting against success for another (at work, in competition like racing, etc)...with no good reason but my own selfishness.  Like some how their success reflects negatively on me.  kind of childish.

knut