How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Psalm 139:17.

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28.

Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim You, who walk in the light of Your presence, O Lord. Psalm 89:15.

Our new book and chapter, Haggai 1, is, in the notes below: “The first of the postexilic prophets. The other two were Zechariah and Malachi.” And this: “The temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed in 586 B.C. Cyrus had allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple in 538 B.C. They had begun the work but had been unable to complete it. Through the ministry of Haggai and Zechariah, the temple was completed (520-516 B.C).” In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest: This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’” Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “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 on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build My house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. “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. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew, and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” v. 1-11. And the people listened and feared the Lord. Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month. v. 13-15. Imagine. These are the people who have been allowed back by a foreign king to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. But they needed more. They needed to remember to put Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, first. What about us? Do we need the reminder that Creator God IS? Do we give thanks for the blessings He gives when we are afraid, worried, stressed? Do we put Creator God first before kings, presidents, dictators…ourselves? The greatest blessing you will ever receive is Creator God and His purpose and His will for your good in Him. I have been deeply worried for family of late. I have been deeply worried for all of us living in a world where lawlessness is celebrated and the knowledge of God’s love for all of us is pushed aside. Can we personally return to Him? Because in the end, it is deeply personal between ourselves and Creator God. We are never lost when we put God first. We are found. By the One who is Creator and Sustainer of everything that is, including us. He never loses anyone. We lose sight of Him to our hurt and then wonder why we are so lost and alone and worried. Maybe we need to rebuild what was lost, our trust in Creator God. First…stop trusting in everything but God. That’s a huge step! Then, turn to Him. He’s right here with you and He knows the way forward. He knew the way then and He knows the way now. And your life will never be the same as you begin to learn Creator God is faithful and Him we can trust always! He knows exactly where we have been and all we have experienced. That’s why His love is so personal. He won’t turn away from anyone who turns to Him. It is His love that begins to heal and restore what was lost. Let Him help you see the big picture. Creator God IS…and you are His…dearly loved! Everything false will fall away that hinders that understanding. And when it falls, as it must, find yourself standing on firm ground! Creator God IS! And we are dearly loved by Him.