{"id":252,"date":"2016-12-04T18:54:13","date_gmt":"2016-12-04T18:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/?p=252"},"modified":"2016-12-04T18:54:13","modified_gmt":"2016-12-04T18:54:13","slug":"give-careful-thought-to-your-ways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/?p=252","title":{"rendered":"Give Careful Thought to Your Ways"},"content":{"rendered":"

5\u00a0<\/span>Now this is what the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0Almighty says: \u201cGive careful thought\u00a0to your ways.<\/span>6\u00a0<\/span>You have planted much, but harvested little.\u00a0You eat, but never have enough.\u00a0You drink, but never have your fill.\u00a0You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages,\u00a0only to put them in a purse with holes in it.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Haggai 1:5-6<\/p>\n

Does this sound like you life? Let me be clear here. I am not talking about tough times, what someone might call a season where you’ve not had a day off work for two weeks and you blow a tire on the way to work and your friends aren’t being much like friends right now but it is all clearly temporary (even if very painful in the moment). I am talking about a prolonged pattern to the point where someone who knew you in the past and saw you now would say that you’ve fallen down on your luck. You just can’t seem to get ahead. Instead all of your efforts seem to fail. An apt\u00a0word would be\u00a0futility<\/em>. For\u00a0this situation, God gives us a case study in the Israelites. We should turn over in our mind\u00a0what\u00a0He told them in order to gain insight.<\/p>\n

7\u00a0<\/span>This is what the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0Almighty says: \u201cGive careful thought\u00a0to your ways.<\/span>\u00a08\u00a0<\/span>Go up into the mountains and bring down timber\u00a0and build my house, so that I may take pleasure\u00a0in it and be honored,\u201d says the\u00a0Lord<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a09\u00a0<\/span>\u201cYou expected much, but see, it turned out to be little.\u00a0What you brought home, I blew\u00a0away. Why?\u201d declares the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0Almighty. \u201cBecause of my house, which remains a ruin,\u00a0while each of you is busy with your own house.<\/span>\u00a010\u00a0<\/span>Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld\u00a0their dew\u00a0and the earth its crops.<\/span>\u00a011\u00a0<\/span>I called for a drought\u00a0on the fields and the mountains,\u00a0on the grain, the new wine,\u00a0the olive oil\u00a0and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Haggai 1:7-11<\/p>\n

God tells us here that there are times when\u00a0physical and material circumstances are a result of our attitude and action (or lack thereof) toward spiritual matters. In the historical time, the temple was a physical place. While we have physical places of worship today, in the age we live Jesus Christ has brought about a new thing.<\/p>\n

\n

16\u00a0<\/span>Don\u2019t you know that you yourselves are God\u2019s temple\u00a0and that God\u2019s Spirit dwells in your midst?<\/span>\u00a017\u00a0<\/span>If anyone destroys God\u2019s temple, God will destroy that person; for God\u2019s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

1 Corinthians 3:16-17<\/p>\n

Think about this carefully. This phrase does not tell us we must be fitness freaks, though we should care for our bodies. It does not tell us in any way that we are equal to God. It does not tell us that we have no need of fellowship with other believers, to raise up disciples, to engage in ministry, to worship, or to spread the good news. In face, notice the emphasis on you together are that temple<\/em>.\u00a0Let’s continue to get the fuller message.<\/p>\n

\n

18\u00a0<\/span>Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise\u00a0by the standards of this age,\u00a0you should become \u201cfools\u201d so that you may become wise.<\/span>\u00a019\u00a0<\/span>For the wisdom of this world is foolishness\u00a0in God\u2019s sight. As it is written: \u201cHe catches the wise in their craftiness\u201d;<\/span>\u00a020\u00a0<\/span>and again, \u201cThe Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

1 Corinthians \u00a03:18-20<\/p>\n

Ah…it is becoming clearer now. We, as spiritual beings, cannot think to behave in worldly ways and have healthy souls. God tells us to do things that seem crazy by the world’s standards. The world says\u00a0you deserve it<\/em> (so go buy that new shiny thing). The world says\u00a0be young<\/em> (so get those implants or that tuck or…). The world says\u00a0look out for number one<\/em> (so stomp on your coworkers to advance your position and certainly don’t give to that needy person on the street). The world says…well, you get the idea.<\/p>\n

What you hear from God’s word instead are things like\u00a0First seek the\u00a0counsel of the Lord<\/em> and we find examples of disaster where people followed their own best judgement instead of seeking God’s wisdom. In talking about these outward, material needs God is quite blatant.<\/p>\n

\n

32\u00a0<\/span>For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.<\/span><\/span>\u00a033\u00a0<\/span>But seek first his kingdom\u00a0and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Matthew \u00a06:32-33<\/p>\n

Do you remember our first scripture? The seeking after the material things ends you in (spiritual, mental, and physical) poverty. God tells you instead to place you devotion above all on him. He brings up crazy ideas like the tithe. Do you feel that you don’t have enough money? God says that 90% with Him is more than 100% on your own. Do you feel that your schedule is out of control? God says that spending your time in fellowship with other believers, discipleship, worship, evangelism, and ministry profits much more than overtime at work and much much more than hours in front of your television, favorite streaming service, or social media.<\/p>\n

While I cannot take the time here to expand on all that is said in Matthew 6, I encourage you to take some time there because it is full of excellent lessons for living. However, let’s take another moment to see what goes on in Haggai and in 1 Corinthians. In Haggai 2, despite all of the ill God explains to the people, he says, “From this day on I will bless\u00a0you.” Blessing\u00a0is destination for those\u00a0who hear His word and obey. We get more detail in the New Testament.<\/p>\n

\n

10\u00a0<\/span>By the grace God has given me,\u00a0I laid a foundation\u00a0as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.<\/span>\u00a011\u00a0<\/span>For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.<\/span>\u00a012\u00a0<\/span>If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,<\/span>\u00a013\u00a0<\/span>their work will be shown for what it is,\u00a0because the Day\u00a0will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person\u2019s work.<\/span>\u00a014\u00a0<\/span>If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.<\/span>\u00a015\u00a0<\/span>If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved\u2014even though only as one escaping through the flames.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

1 Corinthians \u00a03:10-15<\/p>\n

Giving your first and best to the glory of God results in great reward. Giving out of obligation, giving from\u00a0your leftovers, and giving to the wrong cause all result in ultimate failure. A great fire is coming that will remove the material. The spiritual will remain. The foundation must be Jesus Christ for every effort and our first and best must follow. Our first and best applied anywhere else results in failure. Shoddy, halfhearted work for Jesus Christ will not result in loss of salvation but hear God’s heart. He wants to reward us. He instructs us how to obtain great reward. The very backward-seeming life of service in the name of Jesus Christ where we become missionaries–giving ourself to the physical, mental, and spiritual needs of others in God’s strength and for His glory results in great reward. Self service creates a collection of things that break and fade and burn as well as a trail of broken relationships and hard feelings.<\/p>\n

In the Bible, directly after Haggai is Zechariah whose first chapter gives a great example of the right action and right attitude that brings about healing and abundant life. Here is it for you, quite abbreviated.<\/p>\n

3\u00a0…<\/span>This is what the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0Almighty says: \u2018Return\u00a0to me,\u2019 declares the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0Almighty, \u2018and I will return to you,\u2019\u00a0says the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0Almighty.<\/span>\u00a04\u00a0<\/span>Do not be like your ancestors…they would not listen or pay attention to me,\u00a0declares the\u00a0Lord<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a05\u00a0<\/span>Where are your ancestors now? …do they live forever?<\/span>\u00a06\u00a0<\/span>But did not my words\u00a0and my decrees, which I commanded …, overtake your ancestors?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen they repented and said, \u2018The\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve,\u00a0just as he determined to do.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Zechariah 1:3-6<\/p>\n

Hear the truth. Confess your failure. Turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you fail in this process, return to the crisis and start over again.<\/p>\n

From this day on I will bless you.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

5\u00a0Now this is what the\u00a0Lord\u00a0Almighty says: \u201cGive careful thought\u00a0to your ways.6\u00a0You have planted much, but harvested little.\u00a0You eat, but never have enough.\u00a0You drink, but never have your fill.\u00a0You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages,\u00a0only to put them in a purse with holes in it.\u201d Haggai 1:5-6 Does this sound like you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=252"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":256,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252\/revisions\/256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}