On this “Labor Day” Debbie labored as she worked on call with her hospice patients. After a fitness center work out, I got a lot of work done outside thanks to the assistance of our house guests Norm and Heather Edwards.<\/p>\n
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…<\/strong>\u00a0“I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, My servant\u201d\u2014this is the Lord<\/span>\u2019s declaration\u2014\u201cand make you like My signet ring, for I have chosen you.\u201d<\/em> Haggai 2:23 HCSB<\/p>\n The short Book of Haggai closes with this promise from the Lord to Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was God’s chosen leader to rebuild the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. However we see that the opening verses of this prophecy contains words of correction to get Zerubbabel’s attention and to compel him to action.<\/p>\n “…the word of the Lord<\/span> came through Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah…<\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cThe Lord<\/span> of Hosts says this: These people say: The time has not come for the house of the Lord<\/span> to be rebuilt.\u201d… The Word\u00a0<\/span>of the Lord<\/span> came through Haggai the prophet:<\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cIs it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house\u00a0<\/span>lies in ruins?…<\/span><\/em>\u201cThink carefully about\u00a0<\/span>your ways…”<\/em> (Haggai 1:1-4 HCSB)<\/span><\/p>\n As the Lord speaks to His people, He addresses the leaders. God’s leaders are the ones who are accountable to the Lord for accomplishing God’s purposes. When the people fail to act, it is because the leaders have failed to act. That is at least what we see in this situation.<\/p>\n But the right response, brings the Lord’s blessing. We read, “Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the entire remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the\u00a0Lord<\/span> their God and the words of the prophet Haggai…”<\/em> (Haggai 1:12 HCSB)<\/p>\n It was Zerubbabel who lead the people in obeying the voice of the Lord and completing the work of rebuilding the Temple. As a result we see the Lord speaking through the prophet Zechariah these words of encouragement: \u00a0\u201cThis is the word of the Lord<\/span> to Zerubbabel: \u2018Not by strength or by might, but by My Spirit,\u2019 says the Lord<\/span> of Hosts.<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/sup>\u2018What are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. And he will bring out the capstone accompanied by shouts of: Grace, grace to it!\u2019\u201d<\/em> (Zechariah 4:6,7 HCSB)<\/span><\/p>\n The project is completed and in the end the words of correction to God’s leader, change to words of commendation and blessing.<\/p>\n My “take away” as I consider this is related to the challenge of leadership in the work of the Lord. God works through “chosen” leaders. We see the Lord’s instruction and challenge to the people of God coming to the leader. In the Book of Revelation, the Risen Christ addresses, the “angels of the churches” which are viewed as the “pastors” or leaders of the churches. Leaders carry a sacred trust but they are not perfect in the execution of that trust. When the “church” needs direction, it will come to the Leaders. The Lord in His faithfulness will bring correction, prompting and providing instruction as it is needed. What is important is an open heart and a willing response.<\/p>\n Zerubbabel was God’s chosen leader when the Lord used the prophet Haggai to get his attention and the attention of the people. The word of the Lord spurred them to obedience and action. The Lord worked with them by His Spirit and power and in the end we see the Lord affirming his “chosen” status with words of commendation and exaltation.<\/p>\n Prayer for today… \u00a0<\/strong>Lord thank you that correction does not equate with rejection, failure or diminished status in Your eyes. Your Word reminds us, that you correct those you love and have chosen. Allow us all to open to Your voice and responsive to Your instructions, not doubting our calling from You.<\/em><\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On this “Labor Day” Debbie labored as she worked on call with her hospice patients. After a fitness center work out, I got a lot of work done outside thanks to the assistance of our house guests Norm and Heather Edwards. BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…\u00a0“I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, My servant\u201d\u2014this is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3486"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3487,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions\/3487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}