APRIL 29 – REMAINS AMONG YOU!

“According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remains among you; do not fear” (Haggai 2:5).

“The Holy Spirit stands among you” is the promise which God gave through Prophet Haggai to the Israelites on that day and to you today. When the Holy Spirit abides in you, you get the feeling that God of gods dwells among men.

You must meditate a little over the background in which God gave this promise to the children of Israel. God built a glorious temple through Solomon. But Solomon disregarded the love God had over him, ignored God and began to kneel before the foreign gods like Ashtoreth, Milcom, Chemosh and Molech (I Kings 11:5, 7).

In addition to this, the people also began to go for idol worship after Solomon. They turned away from the love of the living God. The temple of God remained tradition and a mere venue for them to carry out rituals. So, God, who was saddened, made the king of Babylon to rise against the Israelites. Nebuchadnezzar came and completely demolished the temple built by Solomon.

Came the days, when the children of Israel returned from the captivity of Babylon. God persuaded Zerubbabel in his heart to construct that temple again. God raised Ezra the scribe, Nehemiah, the butler of the king for the purpose. Haggai prophesied and kept encouraging them. Fourteen years passed since the foundation was laid by Zerubbabel, but there was no progress as they faced numerous hurdles. Sanballat, Tobiah and others rose and create hurdles. Zerubbabel neither had money power nor did manpower and the years ran by.

God willed to strengthen his weary children. That is why, He promised with love saying, “According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remains among you; do not fear” (Haggai 2:5).

Dear children of God, the Holy Spirit will remain in you. You need not worry over anything when the Holy Spirit remains in you. He alone will guide you to the end.

To meditate: “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19).