OIKONOMEO | DR EMMANUEL NGUBO

Devotional

Day 1: Offer your whole self as a living sacrifice.

You are called to present your entire being to God as a living, ongoing sacrifice — not a one-time act but a daily yielding of body, mind, and will. Bring the parts of your life that you usually hide or defend to the altar, and stay there until the fire consumes what must die and refines what must remain. Sanctification is a process: bring the whole summa of you and let the fire keep burning until morning. [17:22]

Romans 12:1 (ESV)
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Reflection: What one habit, attitude, or secret pride will you deliberately take to the altar this week, and what specific action will you take each morning to keep that offering on the fire until it is fully consumed?

Day 2: Consider your ways; prioritize God's house first.

God calls for a hard look at priorities: when His house lies in ruins while personal comfort grows, a course correction is required. The lack of fruit, the leaking bag of wages, and the stalled dreams can be traced to misordered priorities; going up the mountain to bring wood for God's dwelling is a practical act of repentance and realignment. Choose to reorder time, treasure, and talent so the altar is tended and His house is honored. [57:34]

Haggai 1:5-11 (ESV)
Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.
You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.
Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord.
You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts; because of my house that lies in ruins, while every one of you busies himself with his own house.
Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.
And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on men and on cattle, and on all their labors.

Reflection: Where are you spending your best time, money, and energy on personal comforts while the altar or spiritual disciplines lie neglected, and what one concrete priority will you change this week to rebuild what God has asked of you?

Day 3: Build wisely as a master builder for God's glory.

Each person called to build — whether a ministry, family, business, or character — must build with wisdom, measuring materials by eternal worth rather than convenience. There is a spirit of wisdom to steward the vision and to lay Christ as the only true foundation; how one builds will be tested by fire, so choose gold, silver, and precious stones over wood, hay, and straw. Take heed how you build today so that what remains will stand and bring reward. [01:02:31]

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (ESV)
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.
For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.
If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Reflection: Identify one project or relationship you are building upon Christ’s foundation; what one change will you make so your work increasingly resembles gold, silver, or precious stones rather than wood or straw?

Day 4: Return with identity; rebuild altar and resume worship.

When God brings His people out, He restores more than freedom — He restores identity, prophecy, and the call to worship; the first act on return was to set up the altar and resume offerings even before the temple was rebuilt. Reestablishing the altar is a first-step obedience that declares dependence on God's Word and the intention to live according to what is written. Begin again with the altar in your life — the simple acts of worship and obedience that re-center identity in the Lord. [43:57]

Ezra 3:2-6 (ESV)
Then Joshua the son of Jehozadak and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
They set up the altar on its bases, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings in the morning and in the evening.
They kept the Feast of Booths as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the rule, as the duty of every day required,
and afterward offered the regular burnt offering, together with those for the New Moon and for all the fixed festivals of the Lord that were consecrated, and for all the votive offerings to the Lord that people presented.
From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, though the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not yet been laid.

Reflection: What immediate, tangible altar (a regular time of prayer, confession, scripture reading, or worship) will you set up today so that your return is marked by worship and your identity is declared in the Lord?

Day 5: You are a chosen, royal priesthood; offer sacrifices.

Being a priest is not convenience; it is a call to costly stewardship — offering time, sacrifice, and vigilance for the house God has placed in your care. The priesthood requires offering what costs you something: the inconvenient hours, the surrendered comforts, the disciplined watch over your temple so that the Creator may dwell and be glorified in you. Rise to the stewardship entrusted to you and offer the sacrifices that honor God. [24:11]

1 Peter 2:9 (ESV)
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Reflection: As one of God's royal priests, what specific sacrifice of time, comfort, or resource will you commit to this week in order to steward the temple God entrusted to you and tend His dwelling place?

Sermon Summary

Why does God choose people? Not because of our greatness, but because He is sovereign and delights to display His power through the least, so no one can boast. So I call us to humility: boast only in the Lord. Israel’s story reminds us—God raises deliverers from among the people. He puts a mark on a life that says, “You will not remain here.” Many of us survived what should have broken us; that is the hand of God equipping us with courage to end cycles and break yokes.

When God brings us out, He never brings us out empty-handed. He calls us to host His presence, not occasionally but residually—the Mishkan, His residence. That means we build our lives “according to pattern.” The first thing in the tabernacle was the brazen altar: the smell of burning sacrifice. If we are God’s temple, what do people smell when they step into our lives? Romans urges us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Sanctification is not two minutes; the fire must remain on the altar. We are priests, and priests keep the fire burning—daily, deliberately, despite the wind.

History matters. Judah went into exile, and God brought them out by a word of prophecy, with resources and identity. Back home they rebuilt the altar and laid the foundation, and the enemy responded—hiring counselors to frustrate them. Sixteen years passed. They used God’s timber on their own paneled houses. So God sent Haggai: “Consider your ways.” Not to shame them, but to realign them. Misordered priorities produce leaking bags. God says, “Go and build.” Build your inner life. Build the house of God. Build as a wise master builder, according to the pattern and with the Spirit of wisdom. Stir the embers, place the wood, keep the flame. Steward the promises you carry until they yield a hundredfold. And by His grace, build again.

Key Takeaways

1. Boast only in the Lord True humility isn’t thinking less of yourself; it is seeing rightly that everything you have—breath, gifts, resources—belongs to God. When boasting shifts to Him, your confidence is no longer fragile because it rests on His unchanging character. This frees you from comparison and anxiety, and anchors your identity in the One who chose you. [03:43]
2. Keep the fire on your altar Living sacrifice means continual surrender, not a one-time moment. The priest’s work was daily—add wood, tend ashes, protect the flame from wind; so is ours in prayer, repentance, and obedience. When the fire burns, there is power to consume what hinders and warmth to sustain what is holy. Guard the flame or your gifts will cool. [21:54]
3. Build according to God’s pattern Vision requires pattern, and pattern requires obedience. Ask God not only for resources but for the blueprint for your family, work, and calling; then submit the process to His Spirit of wisdom. Zeal without pattern wastes strength; obedience with pattern multiplies fruit. [14:22]
4. Consider your ways; reorder priorities Haggai exposes a quiet drift: comfort first, God later. Misaligned priorities create holy resistance—bags with holes, efforts that evaporate—because God loves us too much to bless our neglect of His house. Realignment releases clarity, provision, and presence; put His house first, inside and among us, and then go and build. [56:59]
5. Steward prophecy through resistance The enemy often attacks at the foundation because he fears what will stand upon it. Promises must be guarded—watered with prayer, protected from distraction, and held through delays—until they grow to full yield. Stewarding a word means fighting forgetfulness with faithfulness. [43:04]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[02:14] - Chosen to boast in the Lord
[05:41] - Learning God’s ways to see deliverance
[08:20] - Courage to break generational cycles
[12:33] - Mishkan: God’s residence among us
[14:22] - Build life and family by pattern
[16:18] - Brazen altar: what do we smell?
[21:54] - Keep the fire on the altar
[26:13] - Priests offer costly sacrifices
[32:00] - Israel’s fall and exile explained
[42:31] - Stewarding prophecy in resistance
[49:54] - Enemy attacks the foundation
[54:58] - Haggai: Consider your ways
[62:31] - Build as a wise master builder
[63:41] - Prayer: grace to build again

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

- Deuteronomy 7:6–8 — "For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your fathers that the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt." - Romans 12:1 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." - Haggai 1:5–8 "Now therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.' Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified,' says the LORD."

Observation Questions

In Deuteronomy the people are chosen though they are the least of nations. What reasons does the passage give for God’s choice, and what is the practical effect on human boasting? [02:14]
Romans calls believers to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice.” What concrete actions are implied by that phrase in the ritual image of the altar (burning, ashes, constant fire)? [17:42]
Haggai confronts the people with "Consider your ways." What specific symptoms of misordered priorities does Haggai name, and which of those are visible in people’s lives today? [56:59]
The returned exiles rebuild the altar and lay a foundation, then enemies and legal challenges stop them (Ezra/Haggai background). What point in a project or season usually attracts the fiercest opposition, according to this account? [49:40]

Interpretation Questions

How does God’s choosing “not because you are many” reframe the disciples’ or an individual’s identity and confidence in mission? [03:43]
What does the image of the altar that must be kept burning "all night until morning" teach about the difference between one-time decisions and ongoing sanctification? [21:54]
When Haggai asks the people to "consider your ways," how should one weigh external obstacles (enemy opposition, delays) against internal responsibility (neglect of God's house, misplaced comfort)? [57:57]
What does it look like to steward a prophetic promise so it becomes "60, 80, 100 fold" rather than withering—what practices protect a promise from being plucked or choked? [43:04]

Application Questions

Boast only in the Lord. Where do you most easily shift from boasting in God to boasting in your own gifts, achievements, or network? What one change will help you re-anchor confidence in God this week? [03:43]
Keep the fire on your altar. What is one habit you will start, restore, or protect (prayer time, confession, fasting, accountability) so that the “fire” in your life does not go out? How will you measure whether the flame is burning? [21:54]
Build according to God’s pattern. What vision or project has God given you that needs a blueprint or wisdom (family rhythms, business, discipleship)? Who can you ask for Spirit-led wisdom to help you draw the plan and begin building? [14:22]
Consider your ways; reorder priorities. Where have you been comfortably investing resources in your own "paneled house" while neglecting the Lord’s house (inner life, church, kingdom work)? What is one concrete reprioritization you can make this month? [57:57]
Steward prophecy through resistance. Identify one promise, dream, or word you carry that has been delayed or attacked. How will you intentionally steward it (prayer schedule, record of testimonies, guard against distractions) so it is preserved and grows? [43:04]
Live as a priest who offers sacrifice. What is something costly (time, money, comfort) you will offer this week as a sacrifice to God—something you wouldn't give if it were easy—and how will you follow through? [26:13]

Sermon Clips

God often times he picks the lowly and the despised so that none may boast in his presence. What do you want to boast about? No deep it. What do you want to boast about? Is it your beauty? He made the DNA that made your face. Is it the coins in your account? The silver and gold are his. Is it your intelligence? He says my thoughts are higher than your thoughts. My ways are higher than your ways. Is it your network? Who do you know? [00:01:56] (33 seconds) #GodChoosesTheLowly

``If you must boast in something. Boast in the Lord your God. Boast in the fact that he's your healer. And your deliverer. And he's your soul foundation. If you must boast in the Lord. Boast that he's your refuge and your strength. That he's the one who lifts you up. He lifts the poor. Boast in that. That he's your soul foundation and your rock. I will boast in the Lord. Say to myself I will boast in the Lord. [00:03:34] (27 seconds) #BoastInTheLord

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OIKONOMEO | DR EMMANUEL NGUBO | THE BROOK PLACE