Time to rebuild
Day 465, Wednesday, Nov. 19
Haggai (all)
If some of the material in Haggai sounds familiar it is because we have seen the same era—the rebuilding of the Temple—in the book of Ezra. Our next book, Zechariah, will also overlap the same period. Both Haggai and Zecharia are mentioned in chapters 5 and 6 of Ezra.
Haggai’s message from God to the people is that it is time to rebuild God’s temple.
The people have worked, God said, but not prospered. “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put clothes on, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
It is time to rebuild the temple, God said. “Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored.”
“‘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 your own house.’”

-Rev. Mark Fleming

Wednesday meditation

Psalms 29:1-11
Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon leap like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever. The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.

Prayer focus
God, may we build your temple in our hearts so that you might take pleasure in it and be honored.