Here’s a nice follow-up to yesterday’s observation that the Great Commission was given to doubting disciples…but that’s OK because they had Jesus’ power and presence.

The other day I was reviewing one of my “goal” verses, which reminds me that important work requires effort:

Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD. (Haggai 1.8, NLT)

In Haggai’s day, the temple needed to be rebuilt, but going up into the hills and bringing down timber sounds hard! I’ve had two knee replacements, and I’m always reminding myself, “rebuild the house”…physically, spiritually, mentally. The apostle Paul is clear that our bodies are today’s temple:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6.19, 20, ESV)

But the other day, I was thinking, “But I’m getting older. Things are just not what they used to be,” and I remembered another verse in Haggai that was helpful: even when things don’t look like much, God’s power and presence are available:

The LORD sent another message through the prophet Haggai. “Say this to Zerubbabel…and to the remnant of God’s people there in the land: ‘Does anyone remember this house—this Temple—in its former splendor? How, in comparison, does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all! But now the LORD says: Be strong, Zerubbabel…Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid…The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory…’” (Haggai 2.1 – 5, 9, NLT, emphasis mine)

God’s presence and power are available, and the future is brighter than the past!

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. (2 Corinthians 4.16, NLT)