Ironing Out The Details

O. T. #2262 "Ironing Out The Details"

August 22, 2022

Haggai 2-Part 3

LET IT GLOW

Hang onto your hat folks, for this gets good. Look at verses 6-9. The word shake is repeated twice, and again in verse 21. Not only did God promise to have His Spirit remain with the Jews at that time, He also told them to not be afraid. Is God shaking up your little world?

Shake means undulate (to form or move in waves) as the earth, the sky, a field of grain; quake; make tremble.

What does God, the LORD of Heaven's Armies, say He is going to shake up?

• the heavens, earth, oceans, and dry land-That pretty well covers all the physical things.
• all nations-They will bring treasures to this Temple. 

I like how Tony Evans explains this:

Shaking refers to God's intentional interruption of the natural order of things. He intended to shake things up to turn things around so that glory would come to His house. (verse 7) In chapter 1, God shook things up so that Israel would put Him first. and often once we learn to do that, He'll shake things up "once more" to remind us that we are in an unshakeable kingdom. 

God puts people in uncomfortable situations just before He does something that has never been done before. There is a worldwide shake-up taking place now. The tragedy is that while we see the things going on, we don't make a spiritual connection-we don't realize that God is at work to take us to another place. 

On what are our eyes focused, dear one? Are we still looking for another world, kingdom, heaven? Or are be bogged down with the worries of this world? 

LET IT GROW

Often, I iron my clothes before going to church services. I want to look nice. The crooked and wrinkled get straightened out. Heat and steam are applied to accomplish the desired result. Similarly, God will apply heat to our situation just long enough to straighten our thinking. He wants to look good in us when we represent Him. (Tony Evans)

Will we trust God to iron out the details for us?

LET IT GO 

 Straighten out our attitudes, hearts, wills, so they are in accordance with Yours, God.

When You shake up our little world, may we turn to You for directions.

We can trust that You are up to something, so help us to let go of what is holding us down or back.