I once heard a saying that God is too busy to empathize with our immaturity, and suffering is a fine wine that can only be drunk with tears! But brothers and sisters, we call God Abba Father, what would our situation be like if we were God-centered? God is busy, but He always has time to punish those who do not follow the rules!

Questions for reflection:

• After experiencing suffering, what preventive measures did the Jews take in Ezra 3:8? Is spiritual life more important, or is national defense more important?

• In Ezra 3:12, God created the heavens and the earth, and everything belongs to Him. Does God really care about our little tithe? What does God value?

• God's grace is sufficient for each of us. If we stand far away and wait, the blessings will have already been taken by those who strive for them. Should we pay the price to receive the blessings?

How Building the Temple Relates to Our Lives

We may often ask a question, especially those who do not believe, they have such a confusion: What does building the temple have to do with our lives? Chapter 3 marks the beginning of restoring worship to God and living a God-centered life. They began to offer burnt offerings and keep the Feast of Tabernacles as written in the Book of Moses, offering the daily burnt offerings, as well as sacrifices on the New Moons and all the appointed feasts of the Lord, and freewill offerings to the Lord. From the first day of the seventh month, they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord.

For those who do not believe in the Lord, it is impossible to connect these things with a person's life. But for the nation of Israel, who had experienced the pain of national subjugation, why were there some people who wept when they saw the foundation of the Lord's temple being laid? This was a group of people who had experienced painful days. Having experienced painful days, they knew how precious it was to restore worship to God and live a God-centered life. Seeing the temple of God with their own eyes, the old temple was destroyed, they were taken captive to a foreign country, and then finally, upon returning to this place, there was a renewed understanding deep within their hearts. If they had not experienced suffering, the young people who had just returned would probably just be cheering!

Today, a sister asked me many speculative questions while we were eating: Are those who do not believe in the Lord also healed of their illnesses? They are also healed! I thought about it, her suffering was not enough. People who have suffered know how precious it is to worship God, because people who have not suffered do not know many things. These Israelites, a group who knew and a group who did not know, were here building the temple, restoring a God-centered life.

Building the Temple is Closely Related to Our Lives

Starting in the seventh month, they were like one person, building the temple of the Lord. This chapter is recorded in Haggai:

In the second year of King Darius, 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, Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: 'This people says, The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.' Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins? Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways! You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes. (Haggai 1:1-6)

I want to share a concept with everyone: Building God's temple is closely related to your life, all these parts of our lives are very spiritual.

You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. (Haggai 1:9)

Brothers and sisters, we must know that our lives are closely related to the temple of God! Why have we all started to become wealthy? Because we have pleased God and started to build God's temple. Today we are building the foundation of God's temple. In the past few years, we have been building the foundation of the church. What is the foundation of the church? It is holiness, it is unity. In the seventh month, everyone was like one person, united in building the temple of the Lord God. Later, the word of God came again to Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest, saying, Be strong, and let all the people of the land be strong. He encouraged them to start building the temple of God. Even if the conditions are not mature, you must have such strength in your heart. Even if the conditions are not mature, you can definitely create the conditions, because what God wants is a choice in the heart. Later in Haggai, it says: In those days, when one came to a heap of twenty ephahs, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty. (Haggai 2:16) What's the problem? People don't have blessings! Some of us graduated from polytechnics. If you carefully compare those who graduated from polytechnics like you, are you glad! You say, Thank God! Compare those who graduated from university looking for jobs, or our own situation in the past and today, you must know one thing, whether life is blessed or not is closely related to God. Everyone must have such a concept, it is not that I am asking you to change your thinking, it is to put your thinking in a position, this is not a sacrifice, this is gaining.

So at the beginning of this year, a sister came among us, struggling with a work permit. What happened? Because of coming to church, the whole situation turned around, and she was very happy! Four years ago, a brother among us had a salary of a thousand dollars, three years ago it became two thousand, and a year ago it became four thousand. A person's salary is closely related to your commitment to building the temple. You may say that those who do not believe in the Lord also earn a lot of money. We don't compare it like that, because it is not a comparable object. Compare yourself, before and after believing in the Lord. I tell you, because of your commitment to building the temple, God will surely make you rich! There are many examples of financial turnaround among us! So everyone should not separate the matter of building the temple from yourself. The commitment to building the temple pleases God, and you will see yourself personally blessed. So Haggai says, From this day I will bless you. (Haggai 2:19)

What People Need Most is Blessing

I want to share an important concept with everyone: What people need most is blessing. A blessed person and an unblessed person live completely differently. If you want to be blessed, start pursuing God, worshiping God, and living a God-centered life! The Bible has a very good saying: Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. (Psalm 127:1) Think about it, if a person has God, it is so good that God takes care of the money he gets! And even more wonderfully, when withdrawing money from the ATM, the bank account was originally a thousand dollars, how did it become several thousand? Do we have this feeling when we believe in the Lord, that money is always more than we imagined! When we didn't believe in the Lord, when we went to the ATM, we always felt that it was less than we imagined. I remember it was five thousand dollars, how did it become three thousand dollars? Are these two examples illusions? No, they are not illusions, they are God's blessings! People really need blessings in their lives. Without blessings, a country can be destroyed and a family can be ruined. With blessings, the country is strong, the family is strong, and the needs of life are in God's hands, and He personally provides for you. Many of us have had our finances turned around! So brothers and sisters, you must know what people need most in their lives.

The Israelites kept the Feast of Tabernacles. From a human perspective, it was a waste of money and manpower. Keeping the Feast of Tabernacles means that everyone does nothing for a week or two, just sings, eats, drinks, and worships God happily in tents, offering sacrifices every day. If we go back to the time of David and Solomon, the sacrifices were tens of thousands of cattle and tens of thousands of sheep, which is difficult for us to understand. You must know that the Israelites paid such a price, and the way of believing in the Lord that pays the price is the real way of believing in the Lord. If you don't pay the price, Oh, God knows my heart, it doesn't matter whether I keep the Feast of Tabernacles, the key is the human heart, this is lying! When the Israelites returned to Israel from captivity, if we were ordinary people, the first thought would be to do some business, make money, and open a shop! This is a very fatal idea. In Haggai, it was these returnees, including Zerubbabel, who were busy building their own houses, living conditions, etc., and then they discovered a strange phenomenon: You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes. (Haggai 1:6)

When one came to a heap of twenty ephahs, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty. What is the reason? Because when the Israelites returned to this place, when they initially wanted to build the temple, they first thought, I have to survive! It sounds reasonable. But everyone must change this concept. When you arrive at a place, change from I have to survive! to I have to have God! It doesn't matter about the exam, I have to have God! It doesn't matter about work, I have to have God! What we need most is blessing. Without blessing, many things cannot be stopped. Without blessing, many bad things cannot be stopped. So what is the reason behind it? Because without God, there are demons. Without God watching over you, the devil will steal your blessings. This is absolutely true. Once I led a small group meeting for prayer, and one of the brothers had many bad habits. During the prayer, I said to the brother, Brother, I see a spirit in you that is stealing your blessings. To put it bluntly, it is a demon. But he is still not vigilant. Why? Because he has been deceived by some pastors and has been hurt, so he has become someone who doesn't trust anyone. He just prays and worships at home. Is this building God's temple? No, it is not!

Building the Temple of Jehovah Must Be Within the Church

Building the temple of Jehovah must be within the church. I tell you, today the temple of God is you and I. Why come to the church and worship and pray together with brothers and sisters? That is to build the temple of God together. Then the poor spirit, the spirit that steals people's blessings, will not approach you.

You will find that many people earn a lot of money, but put it in pockets with holes, but some people don't earn much money, but they put it in pockets without holes. Whose money will be left more? Of course, more is left without holes. If you talk about making money, you have to look at how much is left, not what goes in and out of your hand, it is useless. Look at the remaining net assets, net profit. Some people's assets will rise, and some people's assets will fall. People who speculate in stocks are trapped in stocks. Only then do they know what is losing money. Some people make money somehow, and some people start making money as soon as they sell it. They are anxious and angry, and then get a minor illness. A few minor illnesses plus a major illness, and as a result, all the money is sent to the doctor. It's really miserable.

Receiving Blessings Requires Believing with a Price

We emphasize that what people need most in their lives is blessing. So where does blessing come from? From believing with a price. I encourage everyone to learn the way of offering. If I don't let the people who often offer among us offer, I guess they won't agree. It sounds like ten dollars is more than nine dollars, but not necessarily. If the ten dollars is stolen by a ghost, it is better than nine dollars. If these nine dollars can grow, nine dollars becomes eighteen dollars, but ten dollars becomes zero, that is really far apart. So the concepts of brothers and sisters must change. These Israelites kept the Feast of Tabernacles and paid such a price. I encourage brothers and sisters to take advantage of public holidays to learn the aspirations of the Feast of Tabernacles and pay such a price. No enjoyment is better than coming to the temple of Jehovah God to worship and pray. If you have such aspirations, that is truly the grace of God. You know what we do? We take out all the public holidays in Singapore, without exception, and do fasting and prayer for 3-4 hours. After the prayers, we all go to do other things that need to be done.

Some people can't change their minds, and they ask: Pastor, should I still do my own things? I tell him that nothing is delayed, isn't it? Your own things still have to be done, why not do them? When you worship and praise God, put down what you are doing. When you have such aspirations, God will take care of all your things for you. But the problem is that some people can't turn this corner, and they like to save the days of worshiping God. I tell everyone that is not the best choice. Why does God let you put down your work? It is to test whether your belief in God is genuine. If you are genuine, then you will put it down. It's not that people don't have time, it's whether they regard the time of worshiping God as the most important thing. Some people I test him, I said that day you are moving, suddenly there is a business deal to discuss, if it is successful, you don't have to work for the rest of your life, will you move? He said he would not move, he had to discuss business. In fact, it is a matter of priority. Don't be confused, everyone. We must grasp the big ones. Always grasp the big ones in life. What do you think will happen if you live like this? Life is amazing.

Some people always grasp the small ones, not earning ten dollars, earning one dollar, not earning one dollar, earning ten cents. You say this life, if he doesn't live a poor life, who will live a poor life. Sometimes he would rather put down that one million to earn that ten dollars. Isn't that brain broken? Worshiping God and building the temple of God is our life. People who do not believe in God cannot hear what I am saying, why can't they hear it? Because their purpose of living is different. You want to go through the destruction of the country and the death of the family, people who have suffered, at this time it is a deep repentance from the depths of the heart. We have God's law, we have God's blessing, we have God's temple, we have all of this, but people do not obey, and then put down the treasure and grab the stones, how much are they worth? As a result, the fundamental is reversed.

How Wonderful It Is to Have God's Love and Grace

Verse 11: They sang to one another, praising and thanking Jehovah, saying: He is good, and his love for Israel endures forever. I think how wonderful it is for people to have God's love and God's grace in their lives. But many non-believers still live in speculation, with many ideas and many concepts. I can probably tell you that those ideas are useless. When a person encounters suffering, which of your ideas can save you from it? None. So I just made up my mind, you ask me why, I just want to, I just like it this way. Later I felt that my choice was very good, much better than when I didn't believe in God. Do you know how miserable the days of unbelief were? When I called heaven and it didn't respond, when I called earth and it didn't respond. God blessed me with a job, that job was really amazing! I finally found a job, so I worked very, very hard. Three months later, my boss held a small department party at his home. He invited everyone to go, and I was very happy to go. He said: XX, do you know? This job of yours is blessed by God, it is a miracle.

I said: I can come to work, I also think it's quite amazing. At that time I received a call saying that I was rejected, and then I received a letter saying I am very regretful to inform you... that is, I am very sorry to inform you. I was also very sorry at the time. Later, I suddenly called me for an interview. I couldn't speak English, and then I spoke Chinese. It was really miserable. I spoke so that others laughed, and I didn't know what was going on. Later, you still hired me. He asked if I knew why? He said he had a pile of resumes, from the National University of Singapore, Imperial College graduates, all very famous universities, very good universities, and spoke English very well. Then he laid his hands on it and prayed, he said: Lord, I need a capable person, please bless me with a capable person, I have many problems now, I can't solve them, no one can help me solve these technical problems now.

Then he said he heard an audible voice in his ear, and that audible voice was my name. Then he picked up the resume and saw that it was all Broken English. The English was really too bad. At that time, I thought my wife's English was very good, and she taught me. She also taught me computer knowledge. At that time, she trained me for interviews. He said, he picked up the resume and said, God, are you kidding me? The resume is really unreadable, no experience at all. Then he put it down. But, my boss is a very interesting person, because he almost jumped off the building and died before, and his wife was also, that life was really miserable! He believed in the Lord a year before he hired me as his employee, so he prayed for everything, a brother who loved the Lord very much.

The first thing he did when he entered the office the next day was to lay his hands and pray, and he heard my name again. . The third day was the same thing again, and then he hired me. In fact, he decided to hire me before interviewing me, because God told him. He persuaded HR (Human Resources Department), and then, I really came to work. Thank God, I really helped him solve a lot of technical problems. People who have experienced these things, can they not have a heart of gratitude? As a result, I walked to today with a heart of gratitude.

Summary

Thank God, God is truly a God who blesses people. Anything can be missed, even if you have the opportunity to open an Alibaba website, you have missed it, but you have not missed God, it is better than that Alibaba website. Everyone must know, because a person's good is not outside of Him. Doesn't the Bible say so: The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek Jehovah lack no good thing. (Psalm 34:10), those who fear him lack nothing.

Our family, children, all our needs in life, our purpose of living are all in Him. So our concepts must change. Build the temple of Jehovah God, lay the foundation of His temple, and lay this foundation firmly, and build in the original place, according to what is written in the book of the Law of Moses, and sacrifice and pray in this way, and we will become a blessing to this land. We not only bless ourselves, this is not the most important thing, we immediately bring God's blessings from heaven to earth. What this earth needs most is not money, what it needs most is God's blessing, and what it needs most is God. So we begin to live a God-centered life.

Our church has been constantly and gradually promoted, promoted to a God-centered life. I am also particularly grateful. A sister I used to tutor, she didn't pass the exam often before. When I worked in the Polytechnic, because I was in charge of information, I pulled out the results and looked at it, oh my god, what kind of exam is this? As a result, she is now studying a part-time degree course, and she even got an A in one subject! Thank the Lord! When she told me, I was also very excited, that is also one of the many fruits of my service. In a person's life, if there is God, many things can be completely reversed. We are all treasures in God's eyes, all gemstones, but they have not been polished to emit the light they should have. Today, as we draw closer to God, God will cause His glory to come upon us more and more.

Building the temple of God is closely related to your life,

All these parts of our lives are very spiritual.