The Church That God Is Pleased with
(Haggai 1:7-9)

We live completely by the grace of God. We should live our life to glorify God giving thanks for the grace. Then we are blessed. The pathway of blessings is the church. When we have church-centered life, we are blessed abundantly by God.

1. Grace given in suffering
Although Judah, the southern kingdom witnessed Israel, the northern kingdom being destroyed by Assyria because of worshipping idols in 722 B.C., they worshipped idols as well and were destroyed by Babylon in 586 B.C. People of Judah became slaves of Babylon and treasures of the temple were moved to the Babylonian temples. However, God gave mercy on them by keeping His promise with Jeremiah. After 70-year of slavery in Babylon, Babylon was perished by Cyrus the king of Persia and Judah people were allowed to return to homeland in order to reestablish the temple. It was a miracle of miracles given that a gentle king would allow them to return home. Likewise, God gives blessings even we are in trouble because of our sins. Therefore, we should come before God with overflowing thanksgiving in any suffering.

2. Human thought and God’s will
The purpose of returning to Jerusalem was to rebuild the temple to recover the worship toward God as what God had ordered. So they laid the base for the temple as soon as they arrived at Jerusalem. However, the interrupt of Samaritan people made the work stopped and the Judah people were busy in building and decorating their houses rather than rebuilding the temple of God as time went by. As result, they faced natural disasters and poverty as punishment because their priority was shifted from God to their current life. What kind of material-related difficulties do we have? First of all, look back on your order of priority. What we have to do at first is to seek the will of God. The relationship with God is the first at all times. When we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, God will fill our need with His limitless abundance.

3. What God wants
God said to the Judah people who stopped rebuilding the temple of God, "Give careful thought to your ways. Build the house" (Hag. 1:7-8) God wants us to build the temple of the Lord first. It is not only to set up the physical temple but to set up the restoration of Love toward God though our faith and devotion for the kingdom of God. Therefore, we should serve the church, the body of Christ with our love and sacrifice and practice love for our neighbors if we love God truly. When we have church-centered and Jesus-oriented life, God will be pleased. Also we will enjoy good health and that all may go well with us, even as our souls are getting along well.