new YEAR
While Matt and the majority of my Ames people were gone at Faithwalkers, I got to spend some extended quiet time with God. I shared some of my thoughts with Matt tonight and he told me that I should blog…so here goes…
During the last few weeks of the year, the One Year Bible goes through the prophets at the end of the Old Testament with the names that are the most difficult to pronounce, but I happen to really get a kick out of reading them because you can get the whole story in one sitting…In some of the bigger prophets it seems I get easily confused or forget what’s going on. So I decided to read Haggai the other day.
Haggai 1:5 “Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Give careful thought to your ways.’
Haggai 1:7 “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Give careful thought to your ways.’
It seems that God was trying to get them to stop and think. At the end of a year, it’s kind of a normal thing to stop and think back to what the year was all about. Of course that brings to mind relationships and my lifegroup girls and my relationship with God and my husband, but especially our team (our fellowship team: the subdivision of the Rock that is reaching Friley Hall for all you non-rockers). It makes me stop and think about what I want my upcoming semester to look like and what I don’t want it to end up like. “Am I really doing what I know I should be doing?” “Are we doing what is honoring to the Lord?”
Haggai 1:9 “…Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house.”
Looking back at this journal entry, I almost have to laugh…I was really super excited about cleaning our house while Matt was away…yes, folks, excited about organizing kitchen drawers and scrubbing the tub. Lots of times during the school year I find myself pulled between going to visit people in the dorms and staying home to make the house nice for my husband and I, and man, I like having a clean house!
However, I think that this verse applies in a broader sense, too. I think the Lord brought to mind His house, his body, as our team. Our team has seem some tough times. It’s easy for all of us to find ourselves putting our “own houses”/personal goals/”priorities” above our teammates, our brothers and sisters, Christ’s body. Do my choices reflect what I truly want my priorities to be?
At this point in the story, the people chose to obey the Lord and they started to fear Him again. And then…
Haggai 1:14 “So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, 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…”
Wow…I think God is doing that on our team…stirring up our spirits…and starting to “rebuild the temple”…
Dude, I want to quote the whole book…maybe you should read it!
Haggai 2:3 “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?”
Those of you who have been around since “the good ol’ days” (Angie, Dan, Paul, Em, Jules…): I know it’s easy for me to look around now and be like “People have no concept of what it’s ’supposed to’ be like!” and long for the good ol’ days. But God says…
Haggai 2:9 “‘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.
So our house…our team…might not look the same…but it seems God still wants to accomplish something…and I know that God is all about surprising us with amazing things when things seem impossible and so…
This makes me excited for this year, guys. It really encouraged my heart…I hope it encourages yours…
You know I like to study the Bible… some… but I have to admit I couln’t have told you that “Haggi” was a book of the bible… after reading the post I’m sure it’s one of the shorter prophet’s books, right???
I guess I’ll pick up that one-year-bible-blog Matt linked a little while back… ;-)
I’ve actually read less of the prophets than any other part… don’t know why… tho I did add two or three of your Haggi quotes to my quote-database.
nancy, your blog entry DID encourage me greatly…even in my 1 AM, semi-conscious state. i hope matt told you that i am fully confident that you support me, love me, and are right beside me for this rebuilding project. you rock, woman!
Hi Nancy,
I too ended the year reading the minor prophets and found it really refreshing, especially seeing all the NT references and just what fiery guys these prophets were. We just finished an Old Testament class and it helped knowing their context. You get more out of them that way, I think.
And I believe that one-year Bible blog that Dave B. references above is my church’s. Our church is committing together to read through the Bible in 2004. That blog is getting more than 100 hits a day. PTL! But nobody’s commenting so far, mainly I think because the people checking it out have no blog experience. ;).
Visit it and leave a comment. Maybe you experienced bloggers can help get the ball rolling. It’s located at:
http://friedens1yearbible.typepad.com/
Happy New Year to you and Matt,
Dan Benson
Ruth 2:12
Ooops. I meant, we’re reading through the Bible in 2005.
Very cool, Dave :) Say hi to Coie for me!