Then Haggai responded, “That is how it is with this people and this nation, says the LORD. Everything they do and everything they offer is defiled by their sin. Look at what was happening to you before you began to lay the foundation of the LORD’s Temple. When you hoped for a twenty-bushel crop, you harvested only ten. When you expected to draw fifty gallons from the winepress, you found only twenty. I sent blight and mildew and hail to destroy everything you worked so hard to produce. Even so, you refused to return to me, says the LORD. [Haggai 2.14-17]
This passage is very similar to the passage in Haggai discussed in Look At What Is Happening To You!
The Lord, through Haggai continues to point out in today's One Year Chronological Bible reading that Israel's troubles were not random, but were the just reward for their rebellion.
All it takes to understand their circumstances is the simply look at them! That's it. Period. The problem with this however is that myself and nearly everyone I know would necessarily need to be repenting all the time! And so, we come to the pivotal apex of our belief... "Am I as bad as my circumstances say I am?"
We must be careful how we answer the question above. Everything in us wants to deny the obvious. But, curses don't lie:
Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim. [Proverbs 26.2]
In fact, no living human being, past of present, save the Incarnate Son of God, has, or ever will live a life worthy of blessings. Our "righteousness" is compared to filthy rags:
We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. [Isaiah 64.6]
It is nothing but the lie of Satan planted in our mind that says, "I deserve better." It all started in the Garden of Eden with the cunning and manipulative question, "Has God really said...?"
Let's get to the crux of it though, shall we? Can a person walk in God's blessings? Absolutely! But it will only be as that person has genuinely taken up their cross and followed Jesus. Fallen man deserves no blessings ever. Christ in man, by faith, deserves every blessing. The Bible is NOT UNCLEAR! So, we still come to the same question not realizing who is whispering it in our ears, "Has God really said...?" And, upon hearing these deceptive words, we reason that we or another person has not really been bad enough to deserve whatever curse they have experienced, and we blatantly disregard God's Word in stiff-necked refusal to repent. We go so far as to proudly craft religious doctrines to support our alleged innocence justifying ourselves by declaring the all-out lie that bad things happen to good people.
Satan's only tool to prevent anyone from entering heaven is to deceive them to NOT REPENT.
The beginning and the "working out" of salvation on earth is repentance. Jesus said it like this:
Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. [Luke 9.23]
Faith, without repentance is presumption. Faith works by love and in the love of God, there is not one ounce of pride - it has all been nailed to the Cross. Faith, genuine faith, cannot say I deserve anything but curses and death. Genuine faith understands that Christ deserves blessings and life and ONLY as I hold to Him in humble (repentant) faith may I experience those blessings. But, the moment I feel slighted by a curse or hardship, I must understand I have listened to the voice of the devil... "Has God really said...?"
Every blessing on any person's life is purely the result of Jesus' atonement for them. Every curse upon any person's life is purely the result of sin.
Having said all this, the real lesson for us is this: intercession. On the Cross, where Jesus said we must follow Him, He prayed, "Father forgive them, they don't know what they are doing." It is not our place to judge people, but to seek forgiveness on their behalf. In so doing, we find forgiveness for ourselves. When curses come, repentance is necessary - why not just get to it instead of listening to Satan's infamous question, "Has God really said...?" When we see curses on our lives or the lives of others, our job is one and the same... "Father forgive them, they don't know what they are doing." Again, the moment we even begin the thought process of justifying ourselves or another person before God, as if a curse was undeserved, we have fallen in step with the father of lies, Satan.
This understanding makes the work of Jesus Christ paramount - the way it should be. The instant we question, "Has God really said...?" the importance of Jesus Christ is brought in question...
Father, may we not be found questioning our circumstances, but be found in humble repentance - for ourselves... and for the world, and faith in Jesus ALONE. May we understand that this is our salvation.
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