What does it mean to be successful?

How do you measure success in your life?

Haggai is addressing the people of Israel when they weren’t having much success.

Things weren’t going well for them and they weren’t sure why.

Has that happened to you?

Let’s take a look at God’s principles of success.

Don’t Be Selfish
The mission was to build God’s house, but that wasn’t happening, because it had slipped to the bottom of the people’s to-do list.

The people were making excuses.

They were prioritizing their own comfort/material well-being ahead of what God had told them to do.

They didn’t have the time or resources for God’s priority, but they had enough to do what THEY wanted to do for themselves.

Do you ever wonder why you’re not succeeding despite all your work?

If you take care of God’s priorities, you can trust God to take care of you.

Get moving on God’s mission.

It’s not just about the building, what’s really at stake was the honor of God.

When we focus on the things we want to the exclusion of what God wants, that is dishonoring Him.

Something else will always come up and be a temptation to NOT do what God has told you to do.

Perhaps today is the day to change your priorities.

Don’t Be Discouraged
What is God calling you to do for Him?

Has you become discouraged because the effort doesn’t seem that important?

That’s what happened to the Israelites.

God says: don’t play the comparison game → don’t get discouraged!

God gives us what we need to overcome discouragement and empower action.

God also lets the people in on a little secret.

Although this temple wasn’t as big as Solomon’s, it’s going to be used in a mighty way by God.

When you’re serving God, even in the smallest way, you’re part of something far greater than you realize!

You are building more than you know!

We each need to be willing to evaluate our lives, think about life in terms of your relationship with God.

Also, don’t be clueless about God’s promises.

The greatest success in life is to accomplish God’s purpose by God’s power.

Learn to prioritize God first.
Decide to invest in what matters to God.
Maybe like Israel, it’s time to get to work doing the work of the Lord!

Talk About It...

1. Read/Review Haggai 1-2 and highlight or mark the words or phrases that stand out to you.
2. Share a time in your life when you failed to make time for the work God called you to.
3. Could it be that some of our economic problems are related to sins?
4. Why do we struggle to put God first?
5. Are you too busy pursuing your own priorities over God’s priorities?
6. What is God calling you to do for Him?
7. Share a time you struggled with discouragement while serving God. Were you comparing yourself to others ?
8. God is always with us, and offers the encouragement we need to keep going. Look up some verses that show us this truth.
9. Spend time thinking & praying about something God has asked you to work on for His glory.

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The people were making excuses.

They were prioritizing their own comfort/material well-beingahead of what God had told them to do.