God may be speaking to us today through our difficult circumstances, even as He spoke to the people through Haggai. That’s what we see as we study the people’s response to Haggai’s message from the Lord.

“Where are you headed? What are your goals in life?” These are some of the important questions we’ll ponder as the prophet, Haggai, reminds the people to work hard, avoid laziness, and obey God’s commands to put Him first.

What happens when God’s people become complacent and lazy? Dr. McGee shares the answer to this question as we hear Haggai speak some uncomfortable truth to religious and civil leaders that can be applied to our lives today.

Pragmatic. A man of action. Preacher and practicer. That’s how one might describe the prophet Haggai. As our teacher Dr. McGee says, “Haggai doesn’t have his head in the clouds, he gets right down to the nitty gritty, where the rubber meets the road.” Learn more about Haggai and his relationship to Zechariah and Malachi.

How can believers stand for God in difficult days? Dr. McGee says the answer is really very simple: “He should be Lord of our lives. We should give Him glory. We should tell how wonderful He is, of his might and power. We need to hold Him up to the world.”

In this study, Jude provides an overview of man’s threefold nature and reminds us that our best protection against apostates is studying the Word and praying in the Spirit.

“We cannot please God in the flesh. Only when we yield to Him can we come to the place where He can use us,” advises Dr. McGee. Learn to follow the example of the apostles, NOT apostates, as Jude warns us to stay away from those who cause divisions in the church and turn from the Word of God, calling it foolishness.

Complainers, those who murmer, lust, and use “swelling words.” Jude continues with these descriptions of apostates and tells us more about hell as a “blackness of darkness.”

Who can we trust today? That’s the question Dr. McGee helps us answer as we look at the apostates Cain, Balaam, and Korah and the eternity of darkness waiting for those who follow the same path.

God, our Creator, never makes mistakes, but we often question His wisdom. We need to trust that He knows what He’s doing. That’s the lesson we learn from Jude as we look to the archangel Michael as an example of those who trust God completely and to Cain, Balaam, and Korah as examples of apostates who chose differently.