Quote for the Day
“And in this place I will grant peace…”
Today's Prayer
This week ask God to give you the peace He has specifically for you. Pray this week for those traveling that they will seek peace in the arms of God alone as they are separated from their families.
Haggai 1:12- 2:9
Haggai 1:12- 2:9 (NIV)12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.13 Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,” declares the LORD. 14 So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of , and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius.Haggai 21 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 , 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 . 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.”
Message
Once Haggai tells the people of God’s displeasure in their self-focus, they immediately respond and begin to rebuild the temple. Verse twelve shows one of the great mass turnarounds in history. After being told to change, we see “…the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God…And the people feared the Lord.” What is great about this is that while they had been told why they were being punished, God had not yet told them of the reward for their obedience. They obeyed because of Haggai’s sermon (and their fear of God), yet God did have a reward for them. The reward is what they were truly seeking and what we seek: Peace. Peace can be found through God alone. In verse 11 we see that God grants peace in His temple. This is as true today as it was then. The only true peace we will find is that peace which God grants us. If we continue to seek peace in this world and in material things, we will continue to be in a drought. Once we seek God’s peace, with Him we will have true peace in abundance.