Author: pjimgallagher

Return 

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Zechariah 1:3
“Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,”’ says the Lord of hosts.”

After seventy years of captivity Israel was allowed to return to the land and begin to rebuild their broken down Temple. Millions had been taken captive and only a fraction returned to get the task started. Even those who returned had become discouraged and had forsaken the work. It is in this setting that Zechariah declares,
“Return to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,”
For some, returning to the Lord actually involved a change of their current location. If they were going to be obedient, they would need to pack up their stuff and make the long journey to Jerusalem. For others, returning meant getting back to the work in which they were once involved. Life had taken precedence over serving the Lord, and it was time to get things back in their proper order.

What about you? If God’s word is going to have its proper place in our lives, we need to examine how we should respond to its exhortations. In this case, we are exhorted to return to God. For some, that means we need to get back to the work in which we were once involved. I have noticed, over the years, that many families start out serving the Lord together, but as the kids grow and life gets busy, they begin to wane. Soon they are not only neglecting service, but even begin to neglect fellowship all together. Don’t wait until tragedy strikes, before you will reevaluate your spiritual leadership in the family. Take the necessary steps today to return to the Lord.

Pastor Jim

 

Fly Away

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pjimgallagher's avatarJim Gallagher

Proverbs 23:4-5 “Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease! Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.”

Riches are not evil in themselves. The Bible does not teach that money is the root of all evil, but that “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1Timothy 6:10). Throughout Proverbs, Solomon listed instructions that will increase our chances of being successful. He speaks of honesty, integrity, and diligence, while warning against folly, laziness and getting involved with the wrong people.

That being said, Solomon also warns against thinking that money will solve all of our problems. He writes poetically of the inability of riches to really meet our deepest needs. He states that riches make wings and fly away. Have you ever watched a…

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Greater Glory 

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Haggai 2:9
“‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

The sermons from Haggai and Zechariah stirred the people to return to the work of rebuilding the Temple. Because of their dedication, it did not take long before walls were erected and priestly ministry restored. The completed Temple had a dual affect upon the people. Some celebrated, while others wept. Those who wept did so because they remembered how glorious Solomon’s Temple had been, then they looked at the rudimentary structure they had built to replace it. Haggai’s message was directed to them. He declared,  this new Temple was actually more glorious than the one it replaced. It’s glory was not in the expense required to build it, or in its intrinsic value, but in what would take place within it.

Five hundred years after Zerubbabel completed the Temple, Jesus was born. It was this refurbished Temple upon whose steps Jesus taught. It was from here, he declared that anyone who comes to Him will have living water flow out of them,  like a spring of everlasting life. It was just outside this Temple where he would be arrested, beaten and crucified. And it was the veil of this Temple that was torn, giving us access to God when we receive Christ.

As glorious as the first Temple may have been, the glory of the second outshines it in every way. What a joy to know that we no longer need a building in order to access God. It is through the work of Christ, that we can have an intimate relationship with God.

Pastor Jim

 

Consider Your Ways 

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Haggai 1:5
“Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Consider your ways!'”

Seventy years after Judah was defeated and Jerusalem was burned to the ground, a remnant of Israelites, led by Zerubbabel, made their way back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. After an initial period of success, they were met by strong opposition that caused the work to cease for a period of fifteen years. During that time, the people who were once involved in the ministry, became distracted by life and the Temple remained an incomplete work. It was at this time  God raised up the prophet Haggai to exhort the people. His initial message was both simple and clear. He told them it was time for them to consider their ways. The needed to take the time to examine their lives and see if they were, in fact, living for the Lord. This is the first step in getting our spiritual life back on track.

For the remnant, it was not sin that led them away from the Lord. They do not seem to have returned to idolatry or to have forsaken the Lord. Instead, they were distracted from the things of God, by life itself. Haggai declares, they claimed not to have time to serve God, because they were busy paneling their own houses. They claimed not to have resources to give to God, because they used them on their own projects, while the Temple was being neglected. It is quite common for believers to be distracted by life. We get busy with school, job, career, relationships and children, and if we are not careful, these things can occupy all of our time, causing us to lose sight of the Lord and His call on our life.

Haggai gives us the first step in toward the resolution of the matter. He tells the people to simply “consider their ways.” They needed to examine their lives, see if they were truly serving Christ, and follow up by making the appropriate changes. This is good advice and we should take the necessary time to apply it to ourselves. Ask yourself a few simple questions.

First, am I serving the Lord? If so how? If not , why not?

Second, am I giving to the Lord? If so what? If not, why not? (Keep in mind that you can give time, talents and treasures to God.)

Third, have I allowed things into my life that disqualify me from serving God? If so what? And what am I going to do about it?

Consider your ways. Time is short, eternity is forever, and only what we do for God has any lasting value.

Pastor Jim

 

Walk This Way

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pjimgallagher's avatarJim Gallagher

Proverbs 22:3
“A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself,
But the simple pass on and are punished.”

Prudent means to be wise or even shrewd. The prudent man is the one who looks carefully down the road he is walking, in order to avoid falling into sin and away from the Lord. The simple, or foolish man, keeps walking, never aware of the danger he is in until after it has overtaken him. Obviously, Solomon is exhorting us of the need to be watchful. The Greeks were expert story tellers. They had established a vast system of gods, heroes, and villains, to help explain the unexplainable, and instruct the generations to come regarding morality. One of my favorite stories is of a man whose name means forethought, who was given guardianship of a box that contained all the evil of the world. On one occasion, he left the box in the…

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Meekness 

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Zephaniah 2:3
“Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the Lord’s anger.”

Many things that are highly esteemed in our world have little value in the kingdom of God. We put such a high price tag on appearance, when God tells us that He looks past our temporal frame and into the heart. It use to be, countries were assessed financially by the amount of gold they had in reserve, but God uses that for asphalt in the new Jerusalem. Conversely, much of what is lightly esteemed by man is of the highest value to God. Here we are told of the great emphasis He places upon meekness and humility, two character traits that are not highly valued in our world today.

Meekness is often defined today as a form of weakness. In fact, one dictionary defined it as “spineless”, while another referred to the meek as “lacking strength or courage.” Biblical meekness is not a character flaw, but a strength exemplified in the life of Christ, and developed in the believer, as a fruit of the Spirit. It is perhaps best defined as strength under control. A few years ago I heard a friend of mine illustrate meekness this way. He described a time when he was sitting on a ferry, and across from him sat a man with a Great Dane. This massive creature was sitting quietly at his masters feet, watching him eat an ice cream cone. The man offered it to the dog and its massive tongue consumed the entire thing with one lick. A few moments later a woman approached carrying a little dog in her purse. No sooner had she sat down when the dog jumped out, ran toward the larger dog, and began to yip incessantly. Without a sound the Great Dane, whose head alone was larger than the other dog, leaned forward and blew in the face of the intruder, who turned, ran and hid under the safety of its owners purse. Certainly, in that case, strength was kept under control. We exercise meekness when we do not let our emotions control our lives, but keep them in check by doing the right thing.

Humility comes from a word that means low. It is choosing to take the low place by exalting others above ourselves. It is thinking of the needs of another, above our own. In our world we are told to follow our dreams and not to let anyone stand in our way. I recently saw a post that read “19 reasons to follow your dreams and ignore everyone else.” In the economy of God we are encouraged to do the exact opposite and look out for the interest of others by exalting them above ourselves. This is one of the chief traits seen in the life of Jesus. The Son of God was ever the servant of man. Whenever we see Jesus in the gospels, He is lowering Himself for the sake of others. It is not even surprising that He gets down on the ground and washes the feet of the twelve. By the time we read that story, it is almost expected.

Let’s seek to follow the pattern of Christ and have lives marked by meekness and humility. Certainly those traits will make us stand out in a culture which glorifies self above all else.

Pastor Jim

 

Personal Devotion 

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Zephaniah 1:5
“Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops; those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, but who also swear by Milcom”

Zephaniah was commissioned by the Lord to warn the people of coming judgment. In order to prepare the people for what was ahead, he explained the reason they were facing judgment. His message was both clear and simple, they must change their ways if they were to avoid what was ahead.

The first infraction the people were guilty of was worshipping the hosts of heavens on their rooftops. In ancient times rooftops were considered a part of the house and were used for family gatherings. It was on a rooftop where Bathsheba bathed, Peter rested and had a vision from heaven, where husbands are exhorted to flee from a contentious wife, and where the people of Judah were practicing idolatry.

Zepheniah’s ministry took place during the reign of King Josiah, who had brought about great reforms in the nations. Much of the idolatry that had plagued Judah for generations had been removed from the public sector. The problem was, while these idols had been removed publicly, they still remained in the private life of the people. God’s judgment would come because public reform was not affecting private living.

We are told the people continued to worship Baal, the sun, moon and stars, and Milcom, the false god of the Ammonites. Essentially, they were turning worship into syncretism by blending the worship of the true God with idols. Tragically, this is a common practice today. Many who claim to be followers of Christ, seem to pick and choose verses they like while ignoring others. By doing so, they are essentially creating a god of their liking, rather than submitting to the God of Scripture. This synchronistic idolatry ultimately caused Judah to turn back from following the Lord. When public commitment does not change private living, we will ultimately turn our backs on the Lord as well. It is in private where the real roots of the Christian life are developed.

What you do with your early mornings will chart the course for your entire day. Jesus rose a long while before daylight, departed from others, and spent time alone with the Father. His life was a pattern set for the rest of us to follow. It is important to begin each day with the Lord, in His Word, allowing Him to remove from your private life anything that does not belong.

Pastor Jim

 

Troubles In Marriage

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pjimgallagher's avatarJim Gallagher

Proverbs 19:13
“the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping.”

Proverbs 21:9
“Better to dwell in a corner of a housetop,
Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.”

Proverbs 21:19
“Better to dwell in the wilderness,
Than with a contentious and angry woman.”

Solomon seems to be an expert on dealing with a contentious wife. He speaks of living with her as being like a dripping faucet, or a leaky roof. He suggests that it is better to find a corner of the housetop to live on, rather than be in the house with her. He later states, you are better off homeless and living in the wilderness, than remaining in the home with her continual nagging. Solomon’s statements serve as a good illustration of what not to do in a marriage.

First, we find clear application for the wife. Simply put, do not be contentious. The…

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Prosperous

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Habakkuk 3:17-18
“Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls— Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”

It is not uncommon today, to hear messages in the church making it sound as though walking with Jesus will mean we will no longer face difficulty, and our life will be filled with increase. This teaching is referred to as “prosperity doctrine”, and while catchy, it is clearly not Biblical. The saints of old did not expect to walk through life without trial, difficulty or opposition. Instead, they expected that in he midst of whatever life threw at them, they would find help, comfort, consolation and strength from the Lord. Perhaps no one more clearly expresses this than the prophet, Habakuk. He paints the darkest picture a farmer could ever imagine and declares, in spite of it all, he would continue to rejoice in the God of his salvation.

Clearly, the prophet considered life to be much more than the temporal successes or failures we experience here. He looked beyond the hardships of life into the face of eternity, and celebrated the fact that a day would come when this life would reach its end and he would be face to face with the God of salvation. Often, we lose sight of God because we are focused only upon the here and now. We forget, the real reason Christ came was not to make this life better, but to prepare us for the life to come. The trials and triumphs we experience here are only truly understandable when we keep in mind, we will soon be standing in eternity.

If we are only following the Lord in hopes of larger flocks and crops, we are on a course   destined for disappointment. We are certain to become disillusioned the first time we face a trial, or come up against a hardship that is designed to get our eyes on eternity. Instead of looking to Jesus to make you more successful, look to Him to make you more holy.

Pastor Jim

 

Stand Watch

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pjimgallagher's avatarJim Gallagher

Habakkuk 2:1
“i will stand my watch
And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected.”

Even for those who have committed themselves and their ways to the Lord, life can be tricky. We face difficulties that create confusion in our lives, and even darken our view of God. Hymn writer Edward Mote wrote of times when the darkness veils God’s lovely face. Habakkuk was experiencing one of those times. The conditions of life were causing him confusion, and he did not know how to reconcile what he was experiencing, with what he knew to be true of God. He writes this book to explain what he did in his trying times and what he learned from the Lord.

First, let’s notice how Habakkuk responded when life confused him. We read, he set himself…

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