The Problem Defined:

(Haggai 1:3-4) 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?" (NKJV)

The Consequences:(Haggai 1:5-11)

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." Thus says the LORD of

hosts: "Consider your ways! "Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified," says the LORD. "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. "Therefore the heavens above you withhold the

dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. "For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands." (NKJV)

“Consider Your Ways!”Haggai: Putting God First

Consider Your Ways! (Haggai 1:5, 7) • God wants you to make Him TOP priority.

1st Four are about man’s

relationship to God.

The remaining 6 deal with

man’s relationship to

fellow man.

God demonstrates that He is first priority.

Materials Used in Tabernacle (Ex. 25)• Gold• Silver• Bronze• Blue, purple and scarlet thread• Fine linen• Goats hair• Rams skins dyed red• Badger skins• Acacia wood• Onyx stones• According to a very specific pattern:

“…make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the

tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.” – Ex. 25:8-9

Tabernacle & Ark: God expects the best!

Consider Your Ways! (Haggai 1:5, 7) • God wants you to make Him TOP priority.

Matthew 6:25–34 (NKJV) 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink;

nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet

your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of

the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall

we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about

tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

What comes first?

• Money?• Degree?• Career?• Entertainment/Activities?

(Matthew 6:33) "But seek first the kingdom of God

and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

(NKJV)

Consider Your Ways! (Haggai 1:5, 7) • God wants you to make Him TOP priority.• The Bible Teaches Us To Place God First & Foremost In Our Thoughts.

Proverbs 3:5–6 (NKJV) 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own

understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Is God…- the wind that moves the boat?- the captain at the helm?- the rudder that directs the ship?

Is the crew working for their Captain?Do we follow the Captain’s orders during the storm?

Consider Your Ways! (Haggai 1:5, 7) • God wants you to make Him TOP priority.• The Bible Teaches Us To Place God First & Foremost In Our Thoughts.• God wants to be a priority in the lives of families.

Deuteronomy 6:1–2 (NKJV) 1 “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and

judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess,

2 that you may fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your

grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.

Consider Your Ways! (Haggai 1:5, 7) • God wants you to make Him TOP priority.• The Bible Teaches Us To Place God First & Foremost In Our Thoughts.• God wants to be a priority in the lives of families.

Deuteronomy 6:5–7 (NKJV) 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul,

and with all your strength. 6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the

way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

Consider Your Ways! (Haggai 1:5, 7) • God wants you to make Him TOP priority.• The Bible Teaches Us To Place God First & Foremost In Our Thoughts.• God wants to be a priority in the lives of families.• God must come first in matters of worship (Hebrews 10:25–26).

Exodus 20:3 (NKJV) 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.

Consider Your Ways! (Haggai 1:5, 7) • God wants you to make Him TOP priority.• The Bible Teaches Us To Place God First & Foremost In Our Thoughts.• God wants to be a priority in the lives of families.• God must come first in matters of worship (Hebrews 10:25–26).

Colossians 3:5 (NKJV) 5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication,

uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

“greediness n. — the excessive and immoderate desire of acquiring more and more (wealth).” It means “the state of desiring to have more than one’s due, greediness, insatiableness; consuming ambition; to have more, want more,” – Logos, A Greek-

English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature, Theological lexicon of the New Testament

Consider Your Ways! (Haggai 1:5, 7) • God wants you to make Him TOP priority.• The Bible Teaches Us To Place God First & Foremost In Our Thoughts.• God wants to be a priority in the lives of families.• God must come first in matters of worship (Hebrews 10:25–26).

Matthew 6:24 (NKJV) 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love

the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Consider Your Ways! (Haggai 1:5, 7) • God wants you to make Him TOP priority.• The Bible Teaches Us To Place God First & Foremost In Our Thoughts.• God wants to be a priority in the lives of families.• God must come first in matters of worship (Hebrews 10:25–26).• Making God a priority before even your own family.

Matthew 10:34–37 (NKJV) 34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring

peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-

law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves

son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

Consider Your Ways! (Haggai 1:5, 7) • God wants you to make Him TOP priority.• The Bible Teaches Us To Place God First & Foremost In Our Thoughts.• God wants to be a priority in the lives of families.• God must come first in matters of worship (Hebrews 10:25–26).• Making God a priority before even your own family.• Making God a priority before even your own personal wellbeing.

Matthew 10:38–39 (NKJV) 38 …he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My

sake will find it.

What Jesus Said One Must Do To Be Saved

• “…he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life…” (John 5:24)

• “…if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.“ (John 8:24)

• “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3)

• “…whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in

heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in

heaven.” (Mat. 10:32-33)

• "He who believes and is baptized will be saved…” (Mark 16:16)

• “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you…” (John 15:14 – live a faithful life)

• “…Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10)