https://esv.literalword.com/?q=hag+2%3B+rev+10
Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Wednesday, 13 December 2023:
Haggai 2:4-9 – Yet now be strong…. Be strong…. Be strong, all you people…. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts…. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not…. I will shake the heavens and the earth…. I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts.
God’s plans are God-sized and will be impossible for you to accomplish through your own power and resources. God will ALWAYS ask you to do what you cannot do so that He can reveal His power to the world rather than your power, leaving no doubt who did the work, and bringing glory to Himself. It takes complete faith and obedience to follow God, but He will provide beyond your wildest imaginations in ways than can only be described as miraculous. The Spirit will empower you if you keep in step with the Spirit and do not quench the Spirit.
Haggai 2:17 – I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord.
In hard times, God expects you to consider your ways to see how you might be sinning against Him. God brings glory to Himself by forgiving sin, but not by blessing sin. God forgives graciously and then demands justice, righteousness, and obedience to follow.
Revelation 10:4 — Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.
God has not revealed everything to us about End Times. Be very warry of those who say they have it all figured out.
Revelation 10:10, 11 — And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”
God’s judgment is bittersweet – The prophet rejoices in God’s righteousness and hungers for God’s sweet word but finds no joy in seeing the sinner reject God’s word and face condemnation. So, God’s word is bittersweet. It proclaims grace and eternal life for some but also eternal damnation for others. Christians should mourn deeply over those who will reject God, and we should do everything within our power to reach the lost. A loving heart has a passion for evangelism.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 13 December 2023: Today, lovingly proclaim God’s truth through His word to all people, whether they profess faith or not, that they might draw closer to Jesus through repentance and faith in Jesus, a faith that surrenders and obeys. All the while keep a humble repentant heart as you measure your own life against the plumb line of God’s word. God is the judge, you are the messenger.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 