What is the state of the house of the Lord in your life?

Joey Crandall

Joey Crandall

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“Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Consider your ways!’”

– Haggai 1:5

There is an order to how God works in a life. And there is also a place.

Our tendency so often is to clean and build up the exterior – put on a good show for the rest of the world. But God delves into the deeper things. Where we seek to shore up the appearance, God sees through to the heart, and seeks to minister there, in the place He intends to dwell.

There is an account in scripture, after the people of Israel have returned into their land following a long captivity, where God calls the people to task.

They had been commanded to rebuild His temple, which had been destroyed decades earlier – and they got off to a great start, quickly rebuilding the altar of sacrifice and commencing work on the foundations. But then regional opposition set in, along with a healthy dose of economic hardship, and the work ceased for a period of 15-20 years.

That’s when God calls the prophet Haggai onto the scene,and calls the people back to the work of the temple. His message hinges on the words, “Consider your ways.”

They had been tending to their own dwellings – paneled houses – while allowing the house of God to sit in ruins. And God asks them, “Is it time for that?” To tend to your own dwelling while His house lies in ruin.

What is said there strikes to the heart of faith in Jesus Christ. It starts with tending to the place of God’s presence. It is not time to tend to anything else, until the heart has been settled before Him in the reconciliation and restoration provided by the blood of His sacrifice.

We read in 1 Corinthians 6:19:”Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own.”

And, that being true, the question then becomes, “What are you tending to you in life right now?”

Is it time to be tending to anything else?

Set aside the externals. Set aside the security. Set aside personal prosperity. Set aside all of the polish and sheen of the outward appearance, and tend to the heart, where God desires to dwell, and where God is deserving of your worship.

You are not your own.

Your first ministry is to God’s heart. To tend in worship of Him to the place of His presence within your own heart.

And in that, He ministers to your heart. And through that, He ministers to a great many others.

Jesus gave Himself, to have all of me. To have all of you.

He intends to use our lives – to indwell our hearts – every day, every moment and every thought. We belong to Him.

Is now the time to be tending to your paneled houses – whatever they may be – when the house of God lies in ruins?

Consider your ways!

The word “ways” there in Hebrew translates to “course of life.” Consider how you are living.

What is the course of life right now?

What is the state of the house of the Lord in your life today? Minister there and watch Him build and transform your life – and touch a great many others along the way.

 Joey Crandall is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Carson Valley.