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Today’s Devo is going to be about kingdom dreams. It’s a great to be a disciple in God’s Kingdom. May be you have joined recently or you have joined from day one in either case God wants us to have dreams for the Kingdom and not dreams for ourselves.
In the book of Haggai, God talks to us through him about building God’s house the Kingdom of God.
We are going to look at three points what is it takes to build God’s house.
1. Busy with the house of God
Haggai 1:3-11
3 Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai:
4 "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?"
5 Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways.
6 You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."
7 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways.
8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored," says the LORD.
9 "You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the LORD Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house.
10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops.
11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands."
In this passage people say the time has not come for God’s house to be build and even today some of us say the same thing.
But God Almighty says now is the time. God also says how come you are so busy with your own house but not my house.
Today many of us have dreams to build our own house. We are busy serving the family, paying marriage loans, getting a T.V or V.C.R or a Car, find a life partner.
Today I want to challenge you to spend more time in God’s house by being busy making disciples, loving people and bringing back the fall-aways. Share Personally…
2. Promised glory of the new house
Haggai 2:1-9
1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai:
2 "Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them,
3 'Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?
4 But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,' declares the LORD. 'Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,' declares the LORD, 'and work. For I am with you,' declares the LORD Almighty.
5 'This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.'
6 "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.
7 I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty.
8 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty.
9 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty."
Here God reminds us to be strong and reminds us that God is with us. Lot of times in life we get distracted and loose sight of heaven.
I want to encourage the young Christians at this time not to leave God but to stand strong with God.
God promises us the glory of this present house will be greater than glory of the former house (Vs. 9.) I know for a fact that back in 1987 even though we had a few churches around the world and it was awesome, but now in 1999 we have around 350 Churches with over 1,10,000 disciples.
3. Blessings for the new house
Haggai 2:10-19
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Haggai:
11 "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Ask the priests what the law says:
12 If a person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, oil or other food, does it become consecrated?'" The priests answered, "No."
13 Then Haggai said, "If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?" "Yes," the priests replied, "it becomes defiled."
14 Then Haggai said, "'So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,' declares the LORD. 'Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.
15 "'Now give careful thought to this from this day on --consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the Lord's temple.
16 When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty.
17 I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not turn to me,' declares the LORD.
18 'From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid. Give careful thought:
19 Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit. "'From this day on I will bless you.'"
In this passage God tells us to we give careful thought to our ways. We’ve got to be pure in our relationships with one another.
We’ve got to be righteous regarding money, committed to the meetings, also not get defiled by the world and its desires.
Conclusion
Let us have kingdom Dreams to see our nation India to be evangelized in our generation all it takes us to be busy not lazy. Secondly let us believe the promises and finally let us return to God a 100 percent.
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