Daily Devotional

Lynn and I both lived at home all our lives until we were married at 22 years old. Our first place was modest, but we were thrilled! Our own address! Our own phone number! It was in Harvard Arms Apartments in Clovis, near Fresno State. $80 per month.

It was no more than a kitchen, living room, bathroom and a bedroom. A few hundred square feet. But we did not care. We were young and in love, and on the way to our own life of adventure and discovery. We did not have much, either – bricks & boards for a bookcase, a thrift store table & chairs in the kitchen, a bed and a smattering of other hand me down items. We actually had one purchased treasure for the house, our beloved stereo system! Love & music, a job and a home! What more could a newlywed couple ask for?

When the Jews returned to Israel after exile, they took effort to make houses to live in. But they failed to build God’s house. The prophet Haggai rebuked them saying, “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?” (Haggai 1:4). So they took courage and worked, putting their hands and hearts into rebuilding the temple. As they did so, God made several promises to them about His temple (house) and His support of them. Consider one portion.

 "‘As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!’ 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. 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." Haggai 2:5–7, NASB

God’s promise to them was that He would fill His house (temple) with glory. It was a word for their time, and also a word looking toward the day of the new heaven and new earth.
But in our time, we see that there is no temple in Israel. Why not? Because we live in the church era, in which God declares that He does not live in temples (houses) made with hands (Acts 17:24). He lives in the temple which are the lives of born-again believers. (1 Peter 2:5).

How does the hope of God’s glory filling our “house,” our hearts, help us? How does it encourage or strengthen us? I think we can rightly conclude that having God’s glory in our house exceeds all! His peace, His joy, His love, and His life all growing and prospering in our inner beings -- how could anything on earth compare?

Since that is so, and if we can accept that God wants to fill us this way, what do we do? I think we could do three things: We could let Him do it, we could ask Him to do it, and we could pursue it—His glory! Jesus expressed a similar pattern in this way, recorded in Matthew 7, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). We can each make this part of our ongoing life process.

Then, when His glory is there, it will shine for all to see. When His peace and joy are there, we will experience it repeatedly and in depth. When His love is there, our hearts, our eyes and our hands will continually move in it.

Remember this statement from Haggai, “I will fill this house with glory.” You are such a house! Let us rejoice and be glad over this our great blessing!

ASK    SEEK    KNOCK

Read: Haggai (the book), 1 Peter 2:1–12, Hebrews 3:12–4:3
Sing: It Is Glory Just to Walk with Him, by Avis B. Christiansen (Haldor Lillenas), and Redeemed, by Fanny J. Crosby (Wm. J. Kirkpatrick).

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
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