True devotion

In John 10:1-18 Jesus identifies Himself as the good shepherd. I have a hard enough time being an average under shepherd. I look back over my walk and all those times when I've failed and concerned myself with what was mine and nothing more. In 2008 China went all out and it was claimed that they have spent 42 billion dollars to make that the most expensive Olympic games in world history.
During the procession down the street walked a 7 foot 6 man by the name of Yao Ming who is a famous basketball player, and right next to him was a 3 foot tall 9 year old kid holding a torch. The kid's name is Lin Hau, and the interesting thing about him is this: In 2008 earlier in the year there was an earth quake that rummaged through the sechuan portion of china that killed 75,000 people. Lin Hau managed to unearth himself, and immediately dug out 150 schoolmates. When he was asked why he did what he has done, his response floored me. Young Lin Hau stated that he was the hall monitor, and that it was his duty to make sure that the other kids were safe. All this was done while the tremors were still going on  which made the effort all the more courageous. Jesus is the good shepherd- what's interesting about this statement is -as courageous as Lin Hau's efforts were, they were for children that would eventually grow up and go to college, get married, and make a mark on society  which would make them understandable. The shepherd gives his life for the sheep! Sheep not children sheep-the ones that have a reputation of being dumb confused animals, and the best that they could ever be is a coat that you may wear 3 months out of the year! If we truly believe the claims of Christ wholeheartedly, imagine the fruit that would come with this kind of devotion, and reckless abandon like this to his will. Lord I believe, forgive my unbelief!

Further than what I want to be

Hosea 7:1–9 (AV)

¹ When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without. ² And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face. ³ They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. ⁴ They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened. ⁵ In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners. ⁶ For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire. ⁷ They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.

⁸ Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned. ⁹ Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.

Today we are going to look at something that I've realized could sneak up on anyone. We are going to look at an apostasy that can come upon you unawares.

Waking up one morning and realizing that we are much further away from the shore than we've expected to be. It wasn't something that we've planned or deliberately did but all of a sudden we look up and just like the when the Lord said to Ephraim - you're losing strength and don't even know it. There are signs of old age and even death upon you, and you don't even know that it's there - everyone else can see it except you. I want to talk to you today about how far we can drift without even knowing it.

I remember as a child, one of the things that I've remembered hearing about was a rash of drownings. I've remembered hearing about my childhood neighbor Robert Fields getting a stomach cramp and drowning although he was an expert swimmer. Another friend, Alex Keventzel, had died drowning. What this had done to me was give me a healthy fear of the water that it stunted my learning how to swim at an early age. One thing I remember learning about was something called an undertow, has anybody ever heard of the word undertow? To understand how an undertow works, think about what happens when waves break on shore. The water obviously has to go somewhere, and this is what causes an undertow: as waves break, water from previous waves runs underneath them, creating a gentle current which runs back out to sea. When there is heavy wave action, the undertow may not be able to get out, and as a result the water builds up and looks for a weak point in the breaking waves. When the water finds a weak point, it pushes out to sea, creating a rip current. The important thing that I want you to take from this is the result of the undertow. If you are a swimmer - you can be going along fine, but at the same time not realize where you are or how far you are from the shore. This can lead you to a place that you've never intended to go in the first place.Hebrews 2:1 (NASB95)

Give Heed

1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.

It's not just attention but closer attention - which means that there has to be this diligence with it. And this deliberate observing of our lives with Jesus in order to make sure we are in line. Because there is always this undertow that is looking to take us away from the center of Christ.

We are living in a world/society that if there is not a deliberate effort to serve Jesus-this world will drag you away. There are things and forces that are present of wickedness on this world that if you are not beginning to move toward Christ - these things become like an undertow that will bring you away from Christ. That's why the Bible says,2 Corinthians 6:14–18 (NASB95)

14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?

15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?

16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,

“I will dwell in them and walk among them;

And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

17 “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord.

“And do not touch what is unclean;

And I will welcome you.

18 “And I will be a father to you,

And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,”

Says the Lord Almighty.

But what he tries to show in the very beginning to this prospering nation, was that there was an undertow that was coming. Trying to show the people that though things were going well on the outside, something was starting to move their heart from serving God as the very center and focus of their lives. What Hosea does in the first few verses of chapter 7 was - paint a beautiful clear picture of the very images that he begins to see for the people that were there. In fact his overriding image in the whole prophesy is this image of marriage. Hosea the prophet married a woman that bore him three children, then left the marriage and became a prostitute. Gomer his wife became a prostitute and He literally had to go out and buy his wife back, and God was going to use Hosea's life and lesson for the entire nation of what actually was happening Spiritually to the people who were there. And he was trying to speak to them before they divorce God as their  husband. He was starting to bring them back from what they may perceive as everything being OK. They had everything set in their heart but they never realized that their heart was being taken away by an undertow, which brought them further and further away from God. And that's where we come to chapter 7 of the book of Hosea. It's as if the Holy Spirit stops, and begins to speak to this undercurrent that's beginning to take place , and begins to go after this very thing that took place among their people. And he begins to notice 3 things that we've got to go after, that we have to deal with.

The first thing that he does is declare that they have to beware of a superficial consecration.

Hosea 6:4 (AV) O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.
God said your goodness and your wanting to live holy is as volatile and disappearing as the morning dew, it shows up-and as quick as it comes is as quick as it goes.
There is no abiding holiness in your life. You can be holy in the morning and unrighteous in the evening. In this verse God says what shall I do unto thee - it sounds as if God was bewildered with this people. It's almost like schizophrenia - reading the Bible in the morning, cursing someone out in the afternoon. What we see is a superficial consecration that begins to come upon you, and it literally bewilders me is what God says.

The second thing is a partial consecration: Hosea 7:8 (AV) Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people - Ephraim is a cake not turned. Think about what that statement means. It's burnt one one side and doughy on the other. It's inedible, it's totally useless. Overdeveloped on one side deficient on the other, overboard with one thing and don't even have the other thing together. He says there is no balance in your life Ephraim. When the fire of the Holy Ghost comes He doesn't just want to affect one part of you, but he comes to go over every single area of your life. God wants our mouths as well as he wants our wallets, our Mondays as well as our Sundays. But if all you have together is your church lingo on Sunday and Ebonics on Monday through Saturday-you've become a cake unturned. If you know how to speak to people in the church but don't know how to speak to your spouse in the car you've become a cake unturned. Every single part of our lives need to be touched by the Holy Ghost. Every part has to be exposed not just so we can sing some worship songs, but so we can sing when we don't have any music. Because God wants to be there to bless your life everyday. Don't just expose yourselves on Sunday, but everyday-God hit every single area of my life.

And He  warned them of their partial separation v.8 Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people- there was a wrong association with the world that takes away our voice, so that we lose our witness. The bible is clear that we are not supposed to be isolated from the world Jesus would eat with the pharisees and associate with the tax gatherers. He associated with those who everyone considered  to be castaways and those that the Jewish people would consider as pagans. But, what God is telling Ephraim here is that there is a right mixing and a wrong mixture. When I'm with unsaved people it ministry - when I'm with the lost I'm thinking how can I get them to Christ? And that becomes the difference between the word "ministry" and the word "fellowship." You minister to the world you have fellowship with believers. What God is saying over here is that you've blended in and lost your voice of authority. The power of God is no longer present in your lives. Nobody even knows that you are a believer anymore. You've mixed right in- they may know that you go to church, but that's all they notice. They see that you only have one day that's committed instead of a life committed to Christ. God help us - I don't just want to be known as someone who just goes to church - I want to be known as someone who surrenders his life to Jesus. I've seen a play by Tyler Perry called "Meet the Browns", and something really hit me about what Tyler had said about the lead actor and actress in the play, David and Tamela Mann. He said that they don't only play Christians on the play, but they live it on the set, off the set, and throughout their lives. There is a consistency in their walk. I don't want to be known as somebody that just comes to church on Sunday or someone who has a fake metal fish in the back of my car. I want to be someone who is sold out for Jesus Christ. There's a big difference between going to church and serving Jesus. In Hosea what God was talking about was a people with a partial separation - they have mixed themselves among the nations, but yet are still called the people of God.

Finally what He tells them about is this unconscious deterioration which we've read in verse 9: Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not. - Yesterday I was working at the Home Depot store in Mill Basin and I saw people I haven't seen in over 5 years. One of the people was a young guy in the paint section who remembered me very well and when he saw me he said wow you got gray hairs poping up all over the place. I wanted to lay hands on him like Sanballat and Tobias. He was right though, what I've began to realize is that you don't ever think about it, I never thought about how many grays come out, the change is so gradual. Nobody notices the transition of hair from brown to gray, it doesn't show up in a night - they are not there in one day - it's just this unconscious thing that begins to happen. Gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not. It's almost as if he's showing us that backsliding is usually unintentional, it's something that you begin to start drifting away and don't know it's there. People begin to see it and they begin to take note of it. All of a sudden there is a little bit of a fervor that is lost, the effort of being in the House of the Lord is lost, and all of a sudden it just happens - and everybody notices it but you! Over the years someone can see you and say wow you've gained weight or gotten gray - because you haven't seen them.You don't notice the aging, gray hair, or weight gain. The image that Ephraim is living under is the image that something is happening to you and you don't even notice it. It's a Spiritual decline that everybody is noticing as the gray hair. This happens because we are not even looking in the mirror of His word like in James 1 says. And because we are not looking in the mirror of the word daily we don't even know the decline that we've undertaken. God says to Ephraim - although every thing looks fine on the outside your righteousness is becoming as quick as the dew - here in the morning and gone in the afternoon. You are involved in a holy mixture and you are losing all the voice of authority.

You have found that you can play games and get away with it because nobody will ever know - go on the Internet, look at questionable sites, hang out with that friend who plays the whore - nobody will ever know. Like Ephraim you have mixed yourself with the nations, but nobody sees a distinction with your life anymore. You've become a cake not turned - you don't yield over every single part of you. You justify the things or attempt to justify the things that you don't want exposed to the fire of God. That Elicit relationship, that dirty movie or the R rated films that you sit to watch. Do you realize that the more you look at that stuff the more insensitive you get? 1 Timothy 4:1–3 (AV)

¹ Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; ² Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; ³ Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

Romans 1:28–32 (AV)

²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; ²⁹ Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, ³⁰ Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ³¹ Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: ³² Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Lord don't leave me unturned, deal with everything in my life-mind/heart/motives/tithes/me as a spouse - don't let me get so religious that I know all the traditions of the church, but lose the freshness of being in your presence. God let the fire of the Holy Ghost even touch that area - touch every single area. Because if all I'm doing is singing songs, but lost the joy of my salvation-shine upon that area.

God don't let me miss it when you are beginning to speak to my heart - I don't want to be the one who walks into this place and people notice a change in my walk, how I carry myself, devotion where somethings missing, declension in my spirit. And everybody else sees it, but I can't even tell that it's upon me. When the worship stops the image of the gray hair that shows that everything is slowing down and in my walk and eventually dies - and I don't even notice it! And I am asking you lord to come and examine me again - don't let me drift Holy Spirit. Don't let me drift from the shore.

Now look with me in Hosea 14 - I thank God that He doesn't just reveal the problem and leave you to your own devices. But He shows the way to victory.Hosea 14:1–3 (AV)

¹ O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. ² Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. ³ Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

The first thing that God provides is repentance in verse 2 turn to the LORD. See the problem with Saul and Pharaoh was that instead of doing 180s they did 360s. They'd take a few steps in the right direction, but go right back to their ways. Just turn to the Lord and He will take away all iniquity. The word iniquity is the bend or your natural tendencies which are at enmity with the Lord, that natural tendency to sin.

Lord take away not just the bad thing but everything that brings me to the place that I am predisposed to sin in. That's the old friends that I used to have, the old places that I used to go, that old music that made me in the mood to do something nasty or get angry, Lord take away everything but Jesus.

And then watch this in verse 3 there is not just a repentance but a renouncing of things.³ Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. Do you see what he says here?

He says you declare to the thing that have drove you away you are not my God, but I have a God that will be a father to the fatherless. Your hands will not get me through - its the hands of God that will get me through. Theres not a people/career/finance or job that can do what God can. He says you need to learn how to renounce the things of this world and realize-we have no other person but God Himself.He says Everything else will fail you one day/not be there. Jobs will leave you - everything will go away, but there is a God in heaven who will be there every step of the way. Hosea 14:4 (AV)

⁴ I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

When you repent and you begin to turn, the result is this - God promises to bring a freshness to your life. Hosea 14:5–7 (AV)

⁵ I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. ⁶ His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. ⁷ They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

Fragrance - is a distinctness, something different about you. You are not the same as everyone else. Hosea 14:8 (AV)

⁸ Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.

I have nothing more to do with the stuff ,I've heard Him- now fruitfulness has come into my life, and I'm productive.

What difference does the church make?

We always hear about our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.But, God judges whole cities for lack of relationship with him. If God were to say over Sold out ministries that the people lost their first love,from Jesus' perspective -He would look over people who were at one time on fire for God. There was a desire and passion for God, but now there is a pulling away and a lack of remembrance of what God has done for us in our lives. There comes a little slipping in of immorality, which causes divorce, strife, factions as well as other things that keep us from operating in the Spirit of unity -which God's anointing flows through. There are many things that can keep our eyes off of where they are supposed to be. We have HBO/the TV/music>all those things teaching us about immorality. But we have a choice as to what we will take heed of. We could follow that or we can follow what the bible says - to be holy as I am holy. That's how you gain a reputation as a church-the church at Sardis had a reputation that they were alive but God saw them as dead. Could you imagine that? God saw them as a dead church in the corporate setting. But whats even more amazing to me is that God is able when he speaks to this dead church and tells them to wake up. Being all powerful he can tell what is dead to wake up. The church that was dead corporately can come back alive at the word of the lord.

We are going to address two particular chapters that are very powerful in my life this morning. As I've looked at it again last night there were two things that particularly stood out to me. What you have here in Haggai chapter 1 is an interruption and if you turn back with me to the book of Ezra 3 let me just show you the historical setting the timing of this book here. Because its so powerful to see how God relates to his people in this time period. What we have here is the Israelites, the community of God, have just come out of the exile-being captive for seventy years when the first group of people have just come out. So think of it seventy years they've been enslaved and in captivity-what would 70 years do to you and I as a church having to be subject to the laws of pagans-you can read more about the seventy years in the book of Daniel. And you could see what they were subjected to (the different culture) they weren't able to worship and pray and do all the things that they were supposed to be doing in serving the Lord. The 70 years are over and they are beginning to come out they are coming to Jerusalem. They are returning back to their home and when they get there,(what happen is this- Just like anyone who has been held captive for 70 years) as you would think. They come back and they are just excited, they are free- they are free people once again. Immediately in Ezra chapter 3 they start thinking corporately-70 years of captivity individually. As I've thought about this, what many of us would have done is now that I'm free I got to go and establish myself, my home and all the things that are there. I got to get everything situated for my family, but when they come out of captivity back to Jerusalem, what you see is that there is such a cohesiveness, such a longing and desire, that what begins to take place in chapter 3 is that when they get out of there they begin to rebuild the things that have been destroyed, and right away go after restoring the alter. And shortly after they complete that which is about a seven month period. They began to shift and go after rebuilding the temple. And addressed the need that was in the house of the Lord and go into relaying the foundation again. Look with me in Ezra chapter 3.

Ezra 3:1

Altar and Sacrifices Restored

     1     Now when the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.

They were unified they were operating as one man, trying to restore God's name and His glory back to Jerusalem. And how He should have been displayed to the whole world. And things were going so well for the first year. and one year later after the captivity, with everyone walking together with one mind one heart and one purpose. Something drastically changes. Now all of a sudden what takes place with the Israelites- with God's community is that they go from captivity(being in fear,and bondage ,and bound with no freedom, just being there trying to survive) to a liberated community with the ability to make choices and decisions and they decide to choose to build the house of the lord, but comes year number two, and something starts to take the whole people of God on detour. What happens is there begins to be an attack from the enemy- look in your bible in Ezra chapter 4:

Adversaries Hinder the Work

 1.Now when the enemies of Judah (I love the play on words over here, what Judah means is praise- so this is the enemy of praise. So what's happening is the year goes good and then the enemy of praise started to attack-those that were the enemies of Judah. Who were the enemies of Judah? Who they were-were the people [while Israel were in captivity] living in the city- they were the co-inhabitants. Now when they came back there was God's community and there were this mixed community that were there. And the dilemma arose as to what to do! ) The bible talks about that there was a fear- and the reason they had a fear of restoring the altar of God was because the enemies of praise were all around them. So when they start focusing on the kingdom and the corporate work of God- The enemy comes with this discouragement, watch this

          

     2     they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.” (they were basically saying all the right things, they were acting spiritual- there was no reason for you to question them. But there was people who got into the community physically, who were not walking in the same spirit that they were. And what begins to happen is you get these individuals who have the wrong spirit, but are in the right place, saying the right things. And now you have a problem which arises that the people of God quickly recognize and say no these people are not to join with us on what God is doing with us in the Israelite community. And what happens when they say no you can't help us they begin to attack.Ezra 4:4

     4     Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah (to discourage the people of praise, and they hired counsellors to work against their corporate relationship and puts it into their personal necessity and frustrate their plans. And so you see this attack from the enemy come from with in the city and with in the community-I want us to keep in mind the body of Christ as we are going to see how God begins to do this in Haggai-How God begins to take the focus off personal necessity and puts it into corporate relationship. ) He takes the focus from it's all about me and what I want, and my schedule, and he makes a shift in their mindset, and puts it to the kingdom as a whole. But see what happens is the opposition comes against them in the form of discouragement. I believe that God wants to do something great over here in this ministry. And every time I see growth seeming to occur, something occurs. When I was looking at this scenario last night is has occurred to me.What the enemy will look to do to attack the Spirit of the camp is to attempt to bring discouragement to you and I. There are going to be individuals that you will see coming through the doors sit in these seats that's a joy to be around that while everything is going good- they have a great spirit about things because they are building kingdom things. Because you are thinking corporately you are not just thinking personally, you are focusing on all the things that God is doing. Beloved that's when the enemy is going to send people into your life to try to discourage you. Why because he's not trying to stop you he is trying to stop us. So you have to be mindful that everything is not all about you. When an attack comes against you, it might not be just to attack you. But it's there to attack you in order to keep everything from going forward in the body. Remember it wasn't until the disciples were in one accord that the Spirit came down and filled these men who eventually turned the world upside down for Christ.

That's what took place when these people began to oppose and to discourage-they began to bring false accusations and wrote a letter to the king and said- these are rebellious people. These are the people that work on the house of God.

Look at Ezra 4:23     Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes’ document was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force of arms.

     24     Then work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

70 years of captivity,1^st year out-rebuild the altar/temple>boom all of a sudden attack from the enemy, discouragement- instantly all of a sudden work completely stops and comes to a stand still. They work for a year in unity, working as one man, God is beginning to restore every thing and it stops. That's why it's so important to be around people that will speak life into your spirit. Now I'm not talking about positive thinking-

I'm not talking about Tony Robbins type of thing that is sweeping through the church.

I'm talking about faith inducing words that will bring you into a place in which come what may- God is able to bring you through what ever you are going through.

Now after this stoppage in the work of God – fifteen years goes by and nothing is started up again. Fifteen years because of a little bit of discouragement. Turn with me to Haggai chapter 1 and I'm going to go through this real quickly. When you get to Haggai what's happening is this- God is trying to get the community back on track. They were doing good for that year and everything stops-people throw in the towel. Now you have an alter that was built, you have the temple unfinished, and it's just lying there just started. And now for 15 years the community exists and there are no thoughts about completing what was started. Something settled in there was a change in the attitude, the change that took place within the Israelite community on a corporate basis, and what you get here is this in chapter 1 .

Haggai 1:1     In the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,

     2     “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘This people says, “The time has not come, even the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.” ’ ”

     3     Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying,

     4     “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?”

     5     Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways!

     6     “You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.”

     7     Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways!

     8     “Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord.

     9     “You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?” declares the Lord of hosts, “Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house.

You have here a people who when they 1st come out of persecution there was a unity- the amazing thing that I have to acknowledge is that when we are in persecution there is a tendency to pull together in order to get through what is happening in our lives. After this we get into a life that is dominated by schedules, and we lose that community in our lives. Things start to go into wrote and repeat instead of flowing out of our lives because of a passion for the Lord. What Haggai begins to go after is this issue in their lives. These people started to be focused on themselves instead of honoring the Lord. When I've read this I could see that God wanted His house built. God wants this church (this community) to build this house. But there's more- go up to verse 7 Haggai 1:7-8

     7     Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways!

     8     “Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord.

#1 you got to see this, God doesn't just want us to build the house. He does but we also have to understand the why. Because if we don't have the why, do you know what we are doing? We'll be just getting caught up into number games and create our own big world. We just begin to be this machine that's just driven by the next great event, the next great out reach, the next great thing, and we just begin to focus in on the numbers instead of the real focal point which should be Jesus.

What he says is this, the reason why this house needs to be built- is because it pleases God. Not only does it please Him but it gives Him honor- God is saying I want to be honored. So that means, if we keep living individually like it's said in those first verses-Haggai 1:6

     6     “You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.”

God's saying I'm not getting honor when you are only concerned with your own lifestyle. Lets take a second to go back to the individual life for a second in verse 5     Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways!

We see the phrase “Consider your ways” said three times and what I believe is this: Some of us could be living and missing what is happening in our lives. He's telling them stop and give careful thought, look at your life right now. And he goes on and basically encourages them to take inventory. And what the Lord did throughout Haggai is He begins to direct his people to give special attention to certain things.

1-You've planted much but you've harvested little-He's got the church the community planting a lot but wheres the return? He's saying maybe somethings off? They are unfulfilled in their lives-because if that is taking place there is something not right.

He says once again -you put on clothes, but your not warm. I don't know about you but that's plain out frustration-think about it it's cold outside and no matter what you put on you can't get warm. Your just constantly cold-that seems to me to be a miserable life. Always frustrated that whatever I put on I'm never going to get warm. You try to pray through it but God is calling you to consider your ways. We think problem is just the situation but the fact is, the problem lies within us.

Next level- you make wages and you put them in a purse with holes in it. You just seem to financially making enough money but you don't know where it's going?The solution in this passage is not to go and try to work longer hours, buy more clothes , get more food, get a bigger nest egg- it has nothing to do with that. What God wants you to do is getting back to glorifying and honoring God.

God wants to show up and be with us. He wants us to experience His presence- How do we get his presence in this house?

1-It starts with a priority shift we've got to start thinking us instead of me. When we look to serve others God is pleased.There has to be a balance between the personal and the community.

2-go to chapter 1:14     So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,

They started to put into practice that shift in priorities and functioned in the spirit of the community. God began to deal with the leadership, and bring them into focus as a body to start to build up His house, and they received the word to shift from personal focus to corporate focus and then the work starts again.

3- Go to chapter 2:

Haggai 2:1     On the twenty-first of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet saying,

     2     “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people saying,

     3     ‘Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison?

     4     ‘But now take courage, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord, ‘take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ declares the Lord of hosts.

     5     ‘As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!’

     6     “For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land.

     7     ‘I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts.

     8     ‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of hosts.

     9     ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace,’ declares the Lord of hosts.”

After doing what they said they were going to do -God said that He would pour out his Glory in this place. And it's going to be greater- but the promise didn't come to pass until after they've started the work. It didn't come on day one, it came three weeks later.

‘and in this place I will give peace,’ declares the Lord of hosts.” How many of us need peace in this place. It starts with prioritizing God's will. There is no greater stress reducer because if anything fails it's now in His hands and it's His responsibility taking you off the hook. We couldn't do it anyway.

Finally we are going to look at verse 18 for out final point Haggai 2:18-19

     18     ‘Do consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month; from the day when the temple of the Lord was founded, consider:

     19     ‘Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree, it has not borne fruit. Yet from this day on I will bless you.’ ”

All of a sudden God's blessings begin to come-Where? To the individuals that are part of the corporate community. Theres something that God desires to do in this place- the peace,to honor Him, the joy,the glory, it comes when we lock arms together. I'm going to challenge you to think corporately. The shifting of our thinking from individual to corporate. In every revival you never think about your personal responsibility. Theres never a moment of complaining. Because complaining reveals the spirit of selfishness and individuality in the church today.It comes when we prefer our brother above ourselves.Amen

Will I have character in crisis?

Daniel 6:1-7

¹ It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; ² And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. ³ Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. ⁴ Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. ⁵ Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

⁶ Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. ⁷ All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. (if he kept his conviction he'd be killed.We can't make him fail with  a Prostitute or drugs-but let's see if his faith is strong enough >so that we can make him fail with his convictions! If we can allow prayer to be a capital offence we can then trap him.

Understand that the enemy knows how to switch his plan of attack on you-if you are not going to fall with the spirit of the world, you are then going to have to find out how strong your convictions are. Because that's what the enemy is going to tempt you with. He wants to see what you will do when prayer and walking in obedience cost's you something. Would you continue walking in righteousness or Would you fall by the wayside)

.Daniel 6:8

⁸ Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.

( It can not be changed once he makes this decree> there's no way out. when you sign a contract in NYC you have three business days to take everything into consideration, and if you change your mind you can cancel any contract .You have The time to investigate, ask around, and do your due diligence. In the ten commandments movie Yule Brenner's favorite line was it is written so let it be done and that's the situation we see here once the decree is signed.)

Daniel 6:9-10

⁹ Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. ¹⁰ Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

Now as soon as the decree was done immediately Daniel want up into his room and did what he has always done and go before the God of the universe in prayer-He sought the face of God! There's not an edict or law that can change what God has done in my life.

Daniel 6:10

¹⁰ Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

There's something about a man that is attacked and beset on every side in apparently overwhelming odds and everything is against you but he maintains this quiet dignity, this persistence in faith, and goes on with God. That no matter what situation you put him in he maintains his walk with God.I know people that before they go to bed they have to check everything three times because there is a fear that something will happen while they are asleep.why are we so afraid- Daniel wasn't afraid! He was committing a capital offense. But it didn't alter his routine. It was business as usual with Daniel- he was unmoved. It didn't matter what was happening around him, he didn't change or alter his life.

(ex. Same sex marriage coming) with everything that is coming down the pipe-our integrity and perseverance and obedience will be put to the test>on Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand! Everything that is coming up in the future is going to go against your biblical and moral values, take my word for it you will be called a bigot if you stand against Gay marriage. You are probably called narrow minded already if you say that Christ is the only way. Right now we are faced with the potential to have sharia law passed in the U.S.! What sharia law is-is if you go against or say anything about Islam or Mohammad you can go to Jail- it would give a Muslim the right to have his wife killed if she has committed adultery! This is the amazing double standard that is going on today. What are we to do What are we to be? I suggest to you that we are going to be the people that we actually are today.

How do you know that pastor Chris? Look at verse 10 with me> Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
He didn't change when tribulations came, the word aforetime makes all the difference in the world. The new american standard bible uses the word Previously. When crisis hits the person you are right now is the person that you’ll be when everything seems to go out of control.

If you want to be a Godly person the time to do that is now. Not in the midst of the fire!

Not when the fight is about to happen! A boxer doesn't go into the ring with a jump rope!

 The ring isn’t a place for preparation- it's a place that reveals. It's a place that shows that you've cheated on your diet,t's a place that shows that you've that you've ran your laps, It's a place that shows that you've  run your miles, its a place that shows that you’ve done your reps, it's a place that shows that you've if you’ve done your bag,  It's a place that shows that you've stuck to your regimen. The ring reveals it doesn't begin to give you a place for preparation. If you are waiting for the ring to come before  you are going to be Godly then you are going to miss the boat. You will not pray if you are not praying now. In Daniel the food issue was resolved before it even came to pass. They knew what they could eat and couldn't eat. So it wasn't even an issue when the king has approached them with his delicacies. The decision was already made that we will not bow down to any graven image. In Daniel 3 they weren't deciding whether they should stand or kneel. They knew before the Idol was erected that these legs shall stand firm, I'll not bow -it's our 1^st commandment. Daniel knew that not an edict could be signed that would stop him from serving the Lord. I'll be a man of prayer regardless. It's been established from aforetime. Nothing changed him. You can't pray in school- Who's to stop you? How do they know that you are praying? You can walk and pray in tongues and they'll just think that you are foreign person talking on the cell phone.

• Unbelievers can go what we go through, but can't go through it like we go through it.
  Unbelievers can go through what we go through , but can't go through it how we go through it. There's something that happens when God puts his hand upon his children in the midst of battles. Unbelievers can go through the same things we go through, but they can't go through it how we go through it. This issue of suffering/persecution-folks always have the question-How can God exist if there are suffering and evil in the
  world? And the whole premise is this: If God is good and God is all powerful; How can God exist if He has the power to stop it. If He loves the world, how can He exist? The true question behind the smoke screen is; either He doesn't love or He's not all powerful.
  (ex. Charles Templeton) This doesn't challenge God's existence, because there is human evil. It's a misdirected argument- they are attacking God because there is evil/suffering-they are stating that God must not exist. The existence of Evil and suffering proves the depravity of man. The lie that men are getting better as the years go on. The existence of Evil and suffering is not a product of God but of the fall of man. You ever see how aggressive and progressive sin is. The main issue is how different classes of people go through the situations at hand. How someone goes out of the fire proves that there is a God. The unbeliever comes out deformed, but the believer comes out formed- It rains on the just and the unjust(the bible says). The unbeliever comes out deformed with anger and bitterness towards the world and God, but the believer comes out conformed into the image of Christ.

There's just something that happens when God puts his hand upon his children

in the midst of battles. We recognize that we wouldn't get through if it weren't for the hand of God that's there.

Remember the fiery furnace? The Bible says that there wasn't anything that was upon them that has been singed, there's no smoke upon them nor anything out of place. But the men that threw them into the fire the unbelievers were consumed! The men that serve the Lord are more protected than the people that are not.

• Habits are created before crisis and not during crisis. Your commitment to sexual purity has to start before the steamy back seat. It doesn't mean that you will not be tempted, but you ll be victorious.
• If you don't pray in your home you ll not pray in school/work/situation.
• Daniel turned from critic to intercessor. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he keeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. He was looking at a people that were so backslid den and fallen. But he didn't become a judge but he became an intercessor. We can always find something wrong with the church. We are fallen people. It's easy to criticize, but it's a different story when we lift up out hands and pray. One day your people ll be like you. Believing that God's able to do great things. When you are righteous the hope that we have in Jesus is that we will be changed into His image. We are one day closer to perfection/righteousness being fulfilled. I believe it was GK Chesterton who preached in the book of Psalms.
  Psalm 98:4-9

⁴ Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. ⁵ Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. ⁶ With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King. ⁷ Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. ⁸ Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together ⁹ Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.

• Psalm 96:7-13

⁷ Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength. ⁸ Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. ⁹ O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

¹⁰ Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously. ¹¹ Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof. ¹² Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice ¹³ Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.
Judgment is not just the payment of the wicked, but it's when God comes and puts all things right.

He knew that God was able to put all things right. Even when you are wronged. Hallelujah
There takes no gifting in criticizing, but it takes faith to trust in God. Judgment is bad for the unbeliever, but it is good for the believer.

Going back to where you are supposed to be

All over the world I'm hearing about people coming to the Lord in Muslim dominated countries, and I would normally applaude, But I've realized that- that wasn't the time for clapping-but the time to intercede. Because when we go home from the church we can live in peace for the most part,but for them who get saved from the Muslim faith it's the beginning of the battle. You could be in the middle of a battle when you came into this place today. I know you probably are disappointed that I am not doing a Mothers Day message. But I've stood up all night and some of the morning to seek the face of God concerning what he wants to say to the church today. Amen?

Luke 17:22-37

Second Coming Foretold

     22     And He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.

     23     “They will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go away, and do not run after them.

     24     “For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day.

     25     “But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

     26     “And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:

     27     they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

     28     “It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building;

     29     but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.

     30     “It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.

     31     “On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back.

     32     “Remember Lot’s wife.

     33     “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.

     34     “I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left.

     35     “There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left.

     36     [“Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.”]

     37     And answering they said to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.”

        I believe that this is not only for that particular application but also for the body of Christ.

        Where there are true believers there will also be vultures to side track you. Here is the answer in the very next chapter
 Luke 18:1  Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart,

I believe that this is the key in the end times, in the tumultuous times thst we will be entering into -we need to keep vigilant in the discipline of prayer because there are vultures out there waiting for some one to die.We need to be before the throne of God in order to make a dent on a society inundated with hellish activities. Death is constantly circling our homes, death is constantly circling our  Schools, and death is constantly circling our work places. In this verse Jesus begins to open up an option, and ultimately you must choose only one of the two options that are available for us today.-verse 1. they ought to pray and not to lose heart-we are either going to pray or lose heart, does everybody see that? There is no other option-either praying or fainting-if you are praying you are not fainting.
One cancels out the other-if you are not fainting you are praying. You can't be into one with out the other. I can't be into marriage with out being into communication. Likewise you can't be a Christian with out being into prayer.
One of the most amazing things about being a home owner is the ability and freedom to go into the back yard at any time of the day or night. We have different birds that come and visit us at times, we do crazy things like naming them-we have Mr & Mrs. Cardinal and Blue jay so on and so forth. But I've read something very interesting about birds. Each bird can only understand it's own kind of song or call as long as they are in the same family or species. The cardinal can't understand the blue jay and vice versa.What happens is because they are part of a different family they can tell that something is being said, but they don't understand what it is . That's why I get concerned when believers understand some of that secular music too well. I get nervous when I see someone worshipping on Sunday but doing questionable things during the week. How do I know? Look at face book, It seems that whatever is important to someone is on their face book page.However an individual wants to be identified by is what's going to be on that page. How do you know about that music, or that horoscope, or that damnable heresy called gossip? The day that I became born again I began to hear His song, I began to hear His voice, I began to hear His heart, I began to hear His thoughts, I began to hear His concerns. I speak a new language, God brings us into a new place, the language of a Father and Son in relationship. All of a sudden there is an interaction that I've enter into. Whenever I get into a counselling session I always start with the question "how is your prayer life".Because we do not want to get away from the Giver of Life, the Lord Jesus Christ! Church ultimately that is the biggest issue. We must recognize that certain things can not be true if you are actively part taking in a prayer life. That doesn't mean that you are not attacked spiritually because "what God backs Satan attacks." Let's face it, if you go to a hornets nest and shake it you will have a whole lot of hornets coming after you, but God knows our frame and that we are but dust. Listen to what I am saying over here> He doesn't go into how many Christians there are in your family or if you go to church. He says if you pray you'll not faint and if you faint you are not praying. I don't ever remember hearing a man that's praying an hour a day saying that he can't shake pornography. I'm not saying it's impossible but it's not common in my small sphere of influence.You never hear a man that's praying an hour a day saying that he can't shake anger or a drug issue of some sort-he says if you are praying you are not fainting. I remember hearing about a preachers son-in a park having an outing-who as soon as it was threatening to rain he immediately went in to prayer and said God hold back the rain. And it didn't rain. When his grand mother came to him being shocked and said to him good job-it didn't rain-his response was "it wasn't me it was God".
Those that pray aren't surprised when the answer comes, it's those that do not pray that are surprised when there is an answer. In all the years that I've been a Christian one thing I've discovered is that it isn't the people that know how to preach that change nations, but the people who know how to pray. The rain didn't need a preacher, the rain needed an intercessor. When I read about the lives of John Wesley and George Mueller and they weren't profound speakers, they were rather simple in their message, but they were powerful through prayer. We can preach a message and feel like we've done a wonderful thing, but that doesn't mean that we shook hell like these men did! From time to time, we can feel like we've touched the lives of those who've listened to us, but in actuality all we've done was entertain them for an hour REMEMBER EZEKIEL 33:31? But don't miss this> there are many great preachers out there in this city, If you want to move into the realm of full time ministry or serving God more effectively don't learn how to preach, learn how to pray. When you pray an authority comes to your words. I want to learn how to reach God, so that I can move in the power of the Holy Ghost and touch your lives.
Prayerlessness is being away from where you are supposed to be. If I'm praying I'm a better husband, If I'm praying I'm a better pastor, If I'm praying I'm a better neighbor, If I'm praying I'm a better person, If I'm praying I'm a better salesman. When I don't pray I'm going away from where God wants me and I get overwhelmed at the smallest thing.

Psychologists and sociologists like to say this person did this to you and that person did that and that's why you are messed up today. Oh you got bumped in the womb. If you need help don't find a preacher, find an intercessor. If you can't seem to get over the issue you are struggling with in your life don't look for a preacher, look for an intercessor. Emmit Smith one of the greatest running backs in football. Ran for thousands of yards. And the interesting thing is if you were to add up all the yards you would get a total of 9 miles-but here's the thing, can you imagine going for a 9 mile run and getting knocked over every 4.5 yards? How would you like to get knocked over and tackled every 4.5 yards in the supermarket or going to do the laundry? Do you want to know the most phenomenal thing about this? In the huddle after getting hit and tackled by 300lb guys trying to knock his head off, he's saying OK give me the ball-he gets hit again and again and again and he'll go into the huddle and ask for it again. The christian should be saying after getting tackled by Satan OK give me my bible again-Bam!, OK let me speak to that person again -BAM! knocked down, OK let me get into that prayer closet again-BAM! knocked down, OK let me get to that fellowship again BAM.Because no matter what I'm going to glorify him, no matter what I'm going to give him all the honor, no matter what I'm going to give him all the praise and worship. Some of you need to get off the sideline and ask for the ball to give God glory because you are more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus, although the game is not over and you are in the midst of battle today church we already know the outcome of the game hallelujah! I've been knocked down from time to time, but some of you have been knocked down more than 4000 times-today let's make a determination according to the power and grace of God that I'm finishing this race. I'm not going anywhere-I'm finishing this race1 I want to hear well done good and faithful servant.1 Corinthians 9:24 says,     "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win".

Church we are in a race that all who are in Christ Jesus wins.
Hebrews 12:1 says    "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,"
I don't want to get all the way to the finish line and fail. I know of a young man that had a dream his whole life to be a firefighter. He was consumed with everything to do with firefighting while he was  growing up. Finally the test came out and he aced it. The mental test came out and he aced it, finally the physical exam came out and he was the best in his class, and then he sat down and fainted from exhaustion! Subsequently he was disqualified from entering the department! I don't want to be disqualified at the very end of the race! I know that we are going to fall from time to time, Proverbs 24:16 says  "For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of calamity.
Church listen to me! with this we will be closing> when you are knocked down there is a danger of staying down. Your body can take but so much, your mind can take but so much, your emotions can take but so much >I've heard it said that when you are hungry in the physical- you get more hungry as time goes on, but it's not the same with the spiritual. In the spiritual realm, the further away you get from Jesus and the battle that you must engage in, the less hungry you are, and less likely to get back in. If you have been down for some time and you've walked into this place today I know every other church in America has a Mother's Day message going on. But you are not here by accident. I believe that the Holy Ghost is wanting to do a work in your lives today. Will you stand please.