If we are to see what God sees and know what HE is saying in and around our live, our lives need to be “tuned in” to HIS heart, in order to sense what is important to HIM. If not, we do not truly desire to know what HE says, nor truly care what HE sees..and we fail to see what HE sees and we are far from knowing what HE may be saying to us. HE wants us to hear HIM & see what HE sees...for our good...for our protection! When we fail to know these things the result is that we miss HIS expressions of love and protection, and we have lives that are “built on sand”, a foundation that eventually fails us. Zechariah7:11-14 is God pleading with us to listen to HIS Word for our own good, so that when enemies & challenges of all kinds confront us we will know HIS wisdom, discernment, and HIS power that is capable of sustaining us through all challenges (“But they refused to pay attention: stubbornly they turned their backs & stopped up their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint & would not listen...to the words that the Lord Almighty has sent...When I called they did not listen...This is how they made the land desolate”). Jesus says the same thing in Matt7:33-27, ”Everyone who HEARS these words of mine & DOES THEM will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock...the rain fell, & floods came...winds blew & beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock (Trust in Jesus Christ and HIS Word(s) ) And everyone who HEARS these words of mine & DOES NOT DO THEM will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand...the rain fell...floods came...winds blew...that house fell...”! We will have severe storms in our life. A promise of Jesus’ Word is that we will “survive” the storms if we “HEAR & DO” according to His Word. Dear Jesus, there are so many times that I have known what You were saying/pleading to me & I did not listen. Much of my life “is on sand”….Show me these areas of my life, and help me to replace the sand w Your Rock/Your Word, as the foundation for every area of my life.

In the 3rd chapter of Zechariah, our Heavenly Father is having a Dad-child serious conversation...letting us know in no uncertain terms that our eternal enemy Satan, and his minions, his thoughts, his plans, his temptations, his only motivation relating to us is Satan’s personal  hope that he can stand beside The Lord one day to recite all our sins as our ACCUSER. Our Father, in Heaven, motivated by HIS Awesome Love for us, is reaching out to us in the book of Zechariah to warn us about the deceptions and tactics from Satan that we will face, to give us hope through HIS Grace&Mercy if we follow HIM. After the first 3 visions that God gives Zechariah, the Lord now gives him a vision that is the foundation on which to build our lives so that these 3 visions are “for us”, and so we will have the Protection of the Lord from the tactics & deceptions Satan has for us. Zechariah3:1-2 tells us about the true motivation of Satan and his “temptations/tactics”, and how Jesus snatches us from the accusations of Satan. In one way or another, Satan is behind every idea that leads us away from following the Lord. Sometimes Satan doesn’t need to be “personally involved”, because of how good a job he and his minions have done of seeding sin into our minds/hearts/lives/environment/etc., all motivated by his wicked plan to “keep a record” of our sins so that  one day he can stand beside the Lord as our ACCUSER (Zech3:1”Satan standing at his (Jesus) side to accuse him (us).”). Every time we stray a bit, Satan is keeping notes, and once in a while he gets “his jollies” by throwing these up to us so that he can fester guilt during our lifetime. BUT, in verse 2 Jesus stops the Accuser before he has time to run his mouth against us! The Lord rebukes Satan & tells him that Joshua (those saved from sin by Jesus “taking care of” all Satan could ever bring against us(Zech3:8-10)) has been “snatched from the fire”! Jesus is “standing up for us” so that everything Satan could ever say about us has been washed away by Jesus (Zech3:3-4). Jesus washes away absolutely everything that could ever be “brought against us” by any accuser! After our “washing”, Jesus gives us instructions about how we can keep away from the “dirt” the Satan wants to continuously throw at us. The Lord encourages us to “walk n my ways & keep my requirements, then you will govern my house & have charge of my courts, & I will give you a place among those standing here.”(Zech3:6-7). Jesus is giving us a perspective that is not only for our current lives, but one that includes eternal promises! Jesus’ plan for our lives is for us to not only have His “defense” against our accuser, but for us to have a place among the hero’s of the Bible in Heaven, throughout Eternity. And since HE is the ONLY person that will one day stand up against Satan’s accusations, we should trust Him now with what HE encourages us to do- “walk in His ways/instructions for our own good, & keep HIS Word/precepts/requirements n our hearts/minds/lives”! Dear Lord! This truth of one day having the Accuser stand before You to condemn me does not have the impact on my “thinking&living” that it should have. May YOUR “Standing Up for me” be one of the many things You have done for me, and are doing for me...that changes my heart/mind/life and gives me true perspective of what is important & how I need to be living every moment of my life.

Zechariah’s 3rd vision (Zech2:1-13) tells of God’s ZEAL for His people, and how HE is “fired up” by HIS Great Love for HIS people. You can also see the ZEAL & the LOVE for The Abba Father God that the spirit of those in Christ calls out for in these verses of Zechariah (& in Galatians 4:6 ,”Because you sons & daughters, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ’Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave but a son/daughter; and since you are a son/daughter, God has also made you an heir.”). These verses are also about our Abba Father God restoring our RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with Him through Christ, and Christ being our Eternal Defender & Protector (Zech2:5, ”I myself will be a wall of fire around it, declares the Lord, and I will be it’s glory within (Eternally Secure Relationship with the Lord). The Lord is also making us aware of the threat that sin has on our relationship with our Abba Father, when verse 6-7 urges, ”flee from the land of the north....Escape, you who live in the Daughter of Babylon..”, or “flee from sin and the influences of sin!” We who are children of the Abba Father will have all sorts of influences in this world (“land of the north...land of “the Daughter of Babylon”) that strive to steal us away from the Love of our Abba Father. So, The Lord is warning us to “steer clear & away” from these. In vs 2:8-12, the Lord tells about HIS Protective Love (4 those that trust HIM) when He says, ”....for whoever touches you the apple of my eye-I will surely raise my hand against them...Then you will know that the Lord almighty has sent me (Jesus)...Shout and be glad...For I am coming, and I will live among you, declares the Lord...” If we truly know God as our Abba Father, then we will come to know HIS Great ZEAL & Great LOVE for us, when we take heed to His warnings & flee from sin & cling to Him as our Abba Father. Dear Lord, I NEED to know You as my Abba Father!!!! Help me to flee from those things that are hindering me from knowing You this way...and clear my heart from things that r stifling Your Spirits cry in my heart that calls out to You, ‘Abba Father’!

The Lord gives Zechariah several different visions, each addressing “symptoms of the heart” that reveal the true “condition of the heart/devotion of the heart”. The 1st vision (Zechariah1:8-17) talks about that part of our heart where “security influences” effect the condition/devotion of our heart. N this vision the angel of the Lord sends spirits out 2 report back about the current “state/condition” of the people around the world. These spirits report that the world is “at rest & peace”, even though God’s people r oppressed & under foreign domination (Zech1:11-12). When the world is at rest & peace, those that belong to the Lord r oppressed & under foreign domination. The problem is a false sense of security that everyone “feels” when the world is actually at odds w The Lord & His people (Zech1:14b, ”The Lord Almighty says: ’I am very jealous 4 Jerusalem & Zion, But I am very angry w the nations that feel secure...”). God’s Heart aches because of people being fooled by a false sense of security n the middle of an environment that is riddled w rejection of God’s principles & precepts for life...a life that God’s principles & precepts can protect from the influences of sin/arrogance/greed/selfishness. W/out The Protection that God provides 4 us n His Word (His principles&precepts 4 our own protection), we will b lured n2 a false paradigm of what we “see&enjoy” as “rest&peace”...a false sense of security. Just as the people n Zech’s time. And w/out even knowing it we allow our hearts 2 b dominated by foreign influences-influences that r at odds w The Heart of God. We must ask ourselves, ”what r the elements that define our sense of security”? And, ”how do these line up w our personal framework 4 security? (Zech1:16b ”And the measuring line will b stretched out over Jerusalem (God’s intended dwelling place among His people)”). When we do not ask these questions, & do not true our paradigm of security up w God’s Heart 4 our Eternal Security through Christ, we run the risk of being fooled n2 false & dangerous ideas that may b disastrous 2 our hearts! Dear Lord, open the eyes of my heart 2 c where, & with what I build my sense of security, & identify those areas where I am allowing myself 2 b fooled. Then, help me 2 correct my trust & security 2 b built in nothing but Your Principles & Precepts. - Your Great Love expressing Your Wisdom & Discernment 4 my personal protection...Your protection for my heart through Christ only!

Within each one of us is an inherent awareness of our lives having a “reason&purpose” that transcends what we typically perceive as “reason&purpose” for our lives.Sometimes this manifests itself within by a few questions rattling around in our mind relating to ”what really matters to me?”; “what else is there?”;”why am I not satisfied!”; and many more.These thoughts can be swept away by “mundane” rationalizations that are lies about our existence being nothing more than this life, or put away to worry about later. Or even worse, we seek in all the wrong places for answers that are unable to sustain themselves with TRUTH. God is addressing this in Haggai1:2-11, ”These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” And God asks, ”Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house (Temple of The Lord in our Lives; i.e. our Personal Relationship w The Lord) lies n ruins?...consider your ways. You have sown much & harvested little...you eat but never have enough, you drink but never have your fill..you clothe urself but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them n a bag w holes....Because of MY house that lies in ruins (our personal relationship w The Lord), while each of you busies himself with his own house (temporal life stuffs)….Therefore the heavens above have withheld the dew & the earth has withheld its produce.” In these WORDS God is encouraging us to be honest with ourselves, & wonder why we have these feelings of lack of contentment, even when all our “efforts” may be ambitious/industrious & even covered w good intentions...yet we “feel” there is a lack of something...&/or a need for more.The “MORE” we fee a need for is a vibrant relationship with The Lord! Thist is the only WAY to a life with TRUE “reason&purpose” that transcends all time with Eternal Meaning&Purpose (i.e., “the Dew from Heaven”!). We all get overwhelmed by the cares&desires that aer far from Eternal Reason&Purpose. God knows this, and He promises the people of Haggai’s time, and us(Haggai2:7-9) with the coming Glory (that is the REASON&PURPOSE of ALL CREATION)...and Peace (through Christ) with Eternal Reason&Purpose for life ->the dew from Heaven, when we just turn our desires, plans, and hearts toward a living breathing TRUST in HIM and HIS WAYS. Dear Lord,I so easily get sidetracked in my days by “the mundane” & things that are not the touch points that Your Wisdom would have for me throughout my day...& I invest my time in things that are not lasting, nor with reason&purpose that reach beyond the here&now...& I veer from a vibrant relationship with You. I pray for my heart to respond to Your Spirit’s call...the same call You make w these people that Haggai is speaking about...and for my life to have a vibrancy in YOU, & through YOU!