So says the Lord:
From this day on I will bless you.
Haggai 2, 19

The first temple had been destroyed and the people had been led into exile. Now they were back in their homeland, but everyone took care of themselves and their house. Not one thought of the temple. The motto of the day was to look after oneself first, and only then see if there was enough left over for a temple. But God does not like being abused in this way, and so the Judeans wallets were full of holes. There was never any  money, no grain grew, the wine was bad … in short, nothing really ever succeeded. And Haggai, the prophet, explained the situation to the people: “You run only for your own house, while my house lies in ruins! Therefore I held back the rain and called the drought into the land. Go to the mountains, bring in timber and start building!” – And the Jews did indeed begin. They let Haggai speak into their conscience and confessed: Yes, we thought only of ourselves, never of the LORD. Now we want to change that and build the house of the LORD!
God then promised His help and presence. HE wanted to help the people to build the temple and remove all resistance, and then also to make sure that the people would once again harvest enough and that their wallets would have no more holes. – “From today on I will bless you!”
And what does this word tell us as Christians in the New Covenant? Our temple is Jesus. It lies in ruins. There is little life and the churches are  weak. This is due to our selfishness. We prefer to take care of ourselves, spend our money on our families and hobbies, spend our time on hobbies instead of taking care of the house of God. God does not want passive “Sunday-sitters” in the pews, but people who actively build His congregation inside and outside the churches. We sacrifice money and time and energy for our Lord Jesus, and HE takes care of our needs; – a good exchange for us, I think. Let us look for a place in the Kingdom of God where our gifts and talents are needed and where we can work for Him. HE is worth it!

Thank You Jesus for taking care of me. You never let me down, even if the need is great. Lord, I will live for You and my money shall be Yours. Help me to live generous and carefree! Because You are with me!