“The latter glory of this house [the Temple] will be greater than the former,” says the LORD of hosts, “and in this place I will give peace,” declares the LORD of hosts. Haggai 2:9.
Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God says:
Never forget who you are. Or do you not know that that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from Me, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify Me in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. You are Mine. I made you, saved you, and bought you. You are precious and infinitely valuable in My sight.
You are the elect. For the sake of the elect I have shortened the days of the tribulation. Mark 13:20. And then I will send forth the angels and will gather together My elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven to be with Me forever. Mark 13:27. For who can bring a charge against My elect? I am the one who justifies. Your relationship with Me is more important than anything else in your life. The time you give to Me is more important than any other activity in your life. Yet many are so caught up in their works and human relationships that they never even give Me a glance. They have more fear of men than of Me. They will cower under a bully at work and curry their favor, but they will openly sin and not so much as have a qualm about it before Me.
When I am for you, who can be against you? There is now no condemnation for you are in Christ Jesus. You are My elect. What you could never have done on your own, I did for you. I justified you, sanctified you, and glorified you and cleansed you of every stain of sin in Jesus. I seal you in Him when you believe and the Holy Spirit is given you as a pledge, making you a partaker of My very nature, making you a house of God and a temple of My Spirit.
And Jesus is even now at My right hand interceding for you to present you holy, blameless and beyond reproach before Me. In Him I have chosen you and made you a member of His Body on earth. You are My elect. You have special privileges to come right to My throne of grace at any time you need an answer, help, grace and mercy. I am with you and for you at every moment of your life forever. I gave you the Holy Spirit to be with you and in you forever. All you have and are comes from Me. Why are you so anxiously looking about and not looking at Me?
The elect. The little flock, those who hear My Son’s voice and follow Him. The chosen. I have called you all to My eternal glory and Christ has paid the ransom for all, but though I have given the invitation to the wedding feast there are many that are too busy to come. Busy with things that have no lasting value or fruit that will remain. Do you remember the parable My Son told about the wedding feast? “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.’ But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.” Matthew 22:1-6. And that crowd all came to a bad end. But this is what is going on with so many today. They make time for everything in their day but Me.
You who believe in Jesus are My elect. But even though I give you the invitation to come to My throne and receive mercy and grace in time of need, there are many of you that keep frantically trying to solve your problems and bear your workload on your own. Though you really can do nothing without Me, but the good news is you don’t have to. I never planned for you to be operating your life of dominion without Me as your source and ultimate authority. You are not sovereign though you have dominion on earth over the works of My hands, it is a delegated authority that comes from Me, as does everything for life and godliness. And I am love. You are empowered by love.
You can do all things with and in and through Me. I have not left you orphans. You have direct access to My Kingdom within you by the Holy Spirit which I have poured into your heart through Jesus.
I have drawn you out of the depths of the miry swamp and placed your feet on a height and put a new song into you mouth. A song of praise, deliverance, and victory. Let Me cause you to triumph. Come to Me all who are weary and find life burdensome and I will refresh you. Stop carrying your burdens alone. Cast all your cares over on Me because I care for you. I can make your life extraordinary if you will see Me in all the ordinary.
I told the prophet Haggai, “‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace,’ declares the LORD of hosts.” I was speaking of the Temple, My House, which had been burnt up and left in ruins that they were supposed to be rebuilding with funds from a pagan king. But they had been too busy about building their own homes and left My house in ruins.
I am a God of restoration. My temple looked destroyed and as if the glory would never return to it. When they looked at My temple in ruins they thought it impossible to restore it. But it was not. Like the stump of Jesse. I take you from devastation to restoration. There is always a way out of devastation and destruction to restoration and victory. I rebuild the ancient ruins. It is never over until you win.
I turn things around. I did for Joseph as a slave and prisoner in Egypt, I turned everything around and put him in a palace. No matter what devastation you are in, whether it be physical, emotional, spiritual, or financial, My Word is at work to heal you and deliver you from your destructions. But you have to declare it with faith.
If you return to Me and obey Me with all your heart and soul according to My Words then I restore you from captivity, for I have great compassion for you, and I will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, as I rejoice over you for good. Whatever devastation you are in just turn to Me with all your heart and soul and I can do wonders for you. But it is of utmost importance that you demonstrate faith in My ability to rescue you and turn your captivity into freedom, the freedom of My children, that you make your thoughts conform to My Word and not give in to fearful thoughts and admonitions of the evil one and of the world, and that your words agree with My Words. This is aggressively resisting the devil and when you do, he must flee.
And the latter glory of your “house,” that is, the body in which you dwell, and your soul and spirit within it, will be greater than the former (when I restore it is better than before), and in you, in the inner man of your heart, I will give peace. The peace that surpasses all understanding. Let it be the umpire of your heart, do not let your heart be fearful, do not let it be afraid.
I love you. I have given you peace. I speak peace to My people. So agree.