Steps of Faith~ 33rd Sunday of ordinary time

Hag. 1:15b-2:9: The Lord of heaven's army gives messages to his messenger, Haggi to give to Zerubbabel the governor of Judah, and Joshua who was the high priest. The message said, " It is now time to rebuild the temple of the Lord. You have been working on rebuilding your rich houses and my temple is still in ruins. This is why you have planted seeds but little grows. This is why you eat, but are never full. This is why you drink, but remain thirsty. This is why you put on clothes, but are still cold. This is why you work to earn money, but it is never enough.This why you are in a drought. Go now and rebuild my temple. So the people got excited about rebuilding the temple. Then God promises them that  he would be with them, and that the new temple will be more beautiful then the old one was. 

Ps.145:1-5,17-21:A song of praise to God for all that he has done including miracles. With love God takes care and protects those who truly prays to him.He  stays close to those people. But he will destroy those who are evil. 

2 Thess. 2:1-5,13-17: You should pray for all people. Such as ask for things that people need & give thanks when they come. You should also pray for those who rule over you in government. Pray for all your leaders, so that you may live a quiet and peaceful life full of worship and respect of God. This is what pleases God. God want all people to be saved and he wants everyone to know the truth. The truth is that there is only one God and we can only get to him through Jesus Christ who gave himself to pay for all people sins. What Jesus did, shows us that God wants all men to be saved from their sins. Then Paul goes on and gives instructions on the chain of spiritual chain of command. Which is the Husband, wife, and then children. This is because Eve was tricked by the snake in the garden. Then he goes on and says that women will be saved by continuing in the faith, love, holiness, and self-control. 

Luke 20:28-40:Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey as king.The Pharisees tell Jesus to make the people to stop singing praises to him. Jesus tells them that if the people stops singing that the stones will cry out.

As Christians we should pray. What sort of things should we pray for, you ask. Pray for the salvation of others, for it is God's will for all to be saved. We should also pray for the things that people need and then pray and thank God when he supplies it. We should pray for the leaders over us. Depending on who you are that could be praying for a parent, husband, bosses, preachers & board member of a church, government leaders, even kings or presidents(2 Thess. 2:1-5,13-17). 

Why should we pray for them? Because they have to carry heavy loads of responsibility while leading us, and that involves making decisions that will affect our lives in ways that will or will not allow us to live quiet and peaceful lives. We see this in Haggi 1:15b-2:9, when Haggi,  the prophet has the responsibility of taking a hard message to Zerbbubbabel, the governor, and Joshua, the priest.Who in turn had the responsibility of taking the message to the people that they served. We too have people over us who has very hard decisions that they face daily that affects our lives. So pray for them remembering that Jesus is the one they have to answer to since he is over them.

So let us pray for all people and give thanks for answered prayers and all the good things God has brought into our lives (Ps. 145:1-5,17-21). For if we do not praise god for his goodness, the stones will cry out for us.Which will take the joy of doing so away from us (Luke 20:27-38).

Challenge of the week:

This week pray for those that God has put over you.  This may not be easy if you really don't like them, but pray for them anyways. Then make sure that you thank God when he answers your prayers. 

Accomplishment of the week:

So how did you do this week? Did you pray for your leaders?