Habakkuk 3:17-18
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
This is our hope. Not that we will never struggle. Not that life will be perfect. Not that we will be always be wealthy. Not that we will never get sick. God has not promised us any of that. But He has promised us His presence in affliction during this temporary life, and He has promised us joy unending and perfection forever in eternity with Him, the magnificence of which will far outweigh our earthly trouble and pain.
Colossians 3:7-8a
In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away
This completely ties in to what our Pastor has been preaching about in church recently. Before God saved us and sanctified us, we lived as slaves to sin. But after our salvation we have become slaves to righteousness through the power of the Holy Spirit. However, that doesn't mean that we can just sit back and do nothing and expect to be transformed. God has given us His Word and expects us to obey. Yes, we are to rely on His strength not our own, but we still need to be obedient. We must actively pursue holiness. If we do nothing intentionally, our default is to drift away from God. We cannot become lax in our sanctification!
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Zephaniah 1-3; Colossians 4
3 comments:
"O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy." Habakkuk 3:2
God has revealed himself in a multitude of ways. He is the saving Lord of history, who has come to save us from our desperation and misery, and we should stand in awe of what He has done and continues to do.
Habakkuk 3:16
I hear, and my body trembles;
my lips quiver at the sound;
rottenness enters into my bones;
my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us.
It can be frustrating to wait for God to answer our prayer and deliver justice, and the writer wrote about that frustration, but here is a verse that can help us deal with the waiting, and a reminder that others have gone through this too and remained faithful.
These verses stood out for me:
“Look among the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.
12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Post a Comment