Tuesday, April 16th - Sandy

Today's scripture focus is: Habakkuk 3:3-19
Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is: Joshua 23,24; Psalm 76; John 8

David Legge's sermon

God came from Teman,
    and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covered the heavens,
    and the earth was full of his praise.
⁴ His brightness was like the light;
    rays flashed from his hand;
    and there he veiled his power.
⁵ Before him went pestilence,
    and plague followed at his heels.
⁶ He stood and measured the earth;
    he looked and shook the nations;
then the eternal mountains were scattered;
    the everlasting hills sank low.
    His were the everlasting ways.
⁷ I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
    the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
⁸ Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord?
    Was your anger against the rivers,
    or your indignation against the sea,
when you rode on your horses,
    on your chariot of salvation?
⁹ You stripped the sheath from your bow,
    calling for many arrows. Selah
    You split the earth with rivers.
¹⁰ The mountains saw you and writhed;
    the raging waters swept on;
the deep gave forth its voice;
    it lifted its hands on high.
¹¹ The sun and moon stood still in their place
    at the light of your arrows as they sped,
    at the flash of your glittering spear.
¹² You marched through the earth in fury;
    you threshed the nations in anger.
¹³ You went out for the salvation of your people,
    for the salvation of your anointed.
You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
    laying him bare from thigh to neck. Selah
¹⁴ You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors,
    who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,
    rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.
¹⁵ You trampled the sea with your horses,
    the surging of mighty waters.

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.

Habakkuk Rejoices in the Lord

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.
¹⁹ God, the Lord, is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the deer's;
    he makes me tread on my high places.

Ah!  What a change from the beginning of the book, no?  We've gone from complaints of, "What's going on?  Where are you?  Why aren't you...?" to songs of praise and delight in the works of God.  

I was looking at Matthew Henry's commentary on this and the bit under "chapter contents" amused me greatly:

The prophet beseeches God for his people. (1,2) He calls to mind former deliverances. (3-15) His firm trust in the Divine mercy. (16-19)

Obviously, that's not the complete commentary :D...but the succinct summary of what the chapter contains speaks volumes even on it's own.  
It's really the same summary for most of the books, isn't it? We ask God for mercy, we remind him of his promises, we stand firm in the faith.  At least, that's how it should be.  It's doesn't always work that way.  

For example: 
There is a wife who is bitter.  She is struggling in her faith, and unsure of who she is in Christ. She battles anger, bitterness, and confusion about who God is daily.  There are a lot of complaints.  It's easy to forget his past deliverance when one is so entrenched in the bitterness. 
The tides have been turning for awhile, and it seems that the darkest of times is past.  The future is brighter.  But a hiccup trips the husband and wife in a common way, money.  A whole week to payday and no money in sight.  The husband stands fast and reminds the wife of God's past provision, but she really doesn't care to see it.  She sees only the same thing in front of them.  "When will God deliver us?", she thinks.  
Naturally, he already has.  Before the bitter words escape her lips completely, his provision arrives in the form of two small, yet wholly unexpected forms.  

The point is: Complaint.  Beseeching.  Reminders.  Steadfast faith.  We can complain as much as we choose really.  We can harrumph and be sorry about our poor state of affairs, of which some seem so trivial in the light of the endless suffering of this world.  But, don't forget the faith.  DO NOT FORGET.  Steadfast faith.  Remind God of his promises if you wish, it for ourselves that we do it.  He has not, nor will he ever, forget.  

Monday, April 15 - Habakkuk 3:1-2

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Joshua 21,22; Psalm 75; John 7

Today's scripture focus is Habakkuk 3:1-2

 

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.

² Lord, I have heard of your fame;
    I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.
Repeat them in our day,
    in our time make them known;
    in wrath remember mercy.

 

I don't know about you, but I've prayed this prayer.  In my life, it has been a prayer of resignation.  "Ok, God, I get it.  This has to happen, and I'm not excited about it, but I know you.  I know your works and I stand in awe of them.  Do it again!  Remember your mercy and show your awesomeness in my life."

 

Matthew Henry states in his commentary that this prayer is an act of devotion.  I agree.  Sometimes prayer, when its the last thing you want to do, must be the first thing you do.  Be devoted to God, keep praying.  And call upon His mercy, which is far greater than anything we can do.

Tomorrow's scripture focus: Joshua 23,24; Psalm 76; John 8

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Habakkuk 3:3-19

Friday, April 12 ~ tammi

Today's Bible In a Year reading: Joshua 15-16; Psalm 74; John 6
Today's scripture focus passage: Habakkuk 2:5-20
Accompanying Legge sermon: The Welcome Woes

So now we come to the part of God's response to Habakkuk that COULD just be seen as judgment on Babylon.  And truthfully, that's how I generally read it.  I mean, that's who He's specifically talking about here, right?

But then I listened to David Legge and his WONDERFUL Irish brogue present a very different perspective and an eye-opening message.  These five woes aren't just promises of judgment for Babylon after God uses them to punish Israel.  They aren't just warnings for the Israelites either.

They're for us.  Reminding us how seriously God views sin.  Legge points out that every single prophetic book in the Old Testament opens with the promise of judgment for sin.  Every. single. one.  And he shifts our attention from gleefully thinking Babylon has it coming to asking ourselves a pointed question: where is MY anger towards sin?

"If there's anything wrong with Gospel preaching today - and there's plenty wrong with it, but if there's one thing wrong with it, it's this: that the anger of God is no longer preached. The anger of God, the wrath of God, and that is depicted in the law of God. Whenever the law is not preached - and let me say: when the Gospel is preached, we are not saved through the law, but the law is the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. If we do not preach the law, death will not be realized by the person we are preaching to. If they don't hear that they have broken every law of God, that they have fallen short of God, that they have angered God, that the condemnation and the wrath of God is upon them, they have no hope of being saved!"  (emphasis added)

He goes into detail in describing the heart of the matter with each of the five woes and describes how each represents an idol in our lives, something just a little more important than God and His will is to us.  And before we're too quick to say, "'Of course I don't have idols in my life, David, what do you think I am? A pagan?' - let me ask you this question: has Christ got all of you? For that's the same question.

Do you have [idols]? Do you know what the word of God says, and I want us to think about this for one minute. It says this - you've been listening to five woes - do you know what the word of God says? Judgment begins in the house of God, with you. Do you want a revival? Do you? I would love a revival, but it will never happen if we don't deal with our sin - won't happen! ... Charles Finney said: 'Take a pen and a paper, and write on one side of a page sins of omission - the things that you don't do - and sins of commission - the sins that you do do. Write them down before your eyes, think about them, try to recollect them, and look on them, and weep upon them, and confess them before God' - that's breaking up the fallow ground, mourn and confess your sin!"   (emphasis added)

I used to feel a twinge of smugness, some superiority, at the judgment God promises in this passage to Babylon, the representative of all who turn their backs on God.

But not so much now.

Now I find myself simply marveling once again at the amazing grace of God, knowing that the ONLY reason He sees me as holy and perfect is because my life has been bought and paid for, redeemed by His Son's ultimate sacrifice on the cross.

And asking Him to make me more angry at the things that anger Him, to be more grieved by the things that grieve Him:

The sin in the world around us...

The sins tolerated within the Church...

MY sin.





Tomorrow's Bible In a Year reading: Joshua 17-18
Monday's scripture focus passage: Habakkuk 3:1-2

Thursday, April 11 ~ Miriam

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Joshua 13-14; Psalm 73; John 5.

Today's scripture focus is Habakkuk 2:2-4

2 Then the Lord answered me and said,
“Record the vision
And inscribe it on tablets,
That the one who reads it may run.
3 “For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
For it will certainly come, it will not delay.


4 “Behold, as for the proud one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the righteous will live by his faith.

So, the last couple of days' verses talked about how God sometimes uses means beyond our understanding to bring about His purposes.  In this case, that the Chaldeans are going to come, it's going to be a terrible thing, but rest assured it's going to happen.  Habakkuk doesn't understand.  He's confused and upset and he just can't believe that this is the method a just God would use to turn Judah away from idolatry and back to Himself.

We've talked before, often, about how we don't see the big picture but so often we feel we know better than God what the problem is and what the best solution to that problem might be.  The trouble with that is - #1 we see only a very limited perspective and can't possibly predict all the far-reaching ramifications of our solutions; and #2 it's pretty arrogant of us to think we know better than the God of the entire universe.  Can you imagine what would have happened if human beings had been in charge of creation?  I shudder to think.

From Matt Chandler's sermon, Discipline or Wrath?

If God is infinite, sovereign, all-powerful, all knowing and can do whatever He pleases, then what do we do with pain, suffering, loss and hurt? What do we do with those things since God is good and He is sovereign and those things exist? Well, the last time I was with you, we unpacked the first part of that, and that’s that the Bible says we’ll have one of two reactions to that kind of thing. The first way is we will be proud. We will believe if it was just done our way, if that just wouldn’t have happened, if we would have done this instead of this, then things would have worked out right. And the Bible says that’s a heart of pride that believes it knows better than God. The second way we respond according to Habakkuk 2 is that the righteous will live by faith. That means that we don’t always have an answer for the “why” but we trust that, even in the darkest of days, God is good, He is loving and He is at work to redeem and reconcile all things unto Himself. So the righteous live by faith in the face of tragedy. We live by faith in the face of loss. We live by faith in the face of devastation and disrepute. We live by faith.  (emphasis mine)
I know this seems like a pat answer.  When we are in the middle of tragedy, it can make us angry to hear those platitudes.  I really can't predict how I would handle some of the things that happen in the world that are terrible beyond imagining, were something like that to happen to me or my family.

I think, though, that if we live our lives having a relationship with God and striving to walk with Him, that if terrible tragedy does come we will be better able to experience the comfort that God is in control and does have a plan, even if we are incapable of understanding it.  Sometimes, perhaps, it is more difficult to have that faith if we only seek God in times of trouble and ignore Him when things seem to be going well.

Have a great Thursday!  Wishing you warm sun, melting snow (if applicable), and as Spring FINALLY begins to arrive, let us remember that just as Spring always follows Winter (slowly as may be), God always keeps His promises.


Tomorrow's scripture focus:  Habakkuk 2:5-20.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage:  Joshua 15-16; Psalm 74; John 6.

Wednesday, April 10th

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Joshua 11-12, Psalm 72, John 4

Today's scripture focus is Habakkuk 1:12-2:1

¹² Are you not from everlasting,
    O Lord my God, my Holy One?
    We shall not die.
O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment,
    and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.
¹³ You who are of purer eyes than to see evil
    and cannot look at wrong,
why do you idly look at traitors
    and remain silent when the wicked swallows up
    the man more righteous than he?
¹⁴ You make mankind like the fish of the sea,
    like crawling things that have no ruler.
¹⁵ He brings all of them up with a hook;
    he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his dragnet;
    so he rejoices and is glad.
¹⁶ Therefore he sacrifices to his net
    and makes offerings to his dragnet;
for by them he lives in luxury,
    and his food is rich.
¹⁷ Is he then to keep on emptying his net
    and mercilessly killing nations forever?

2 I will take my stand at my watchpost
    and station myself on the tower,
and look out to see what he will say to me,
    and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

David Legge's sermon: Watching and Waiting

So far we've seen that Habakkuk was absolutely distressed about the sin and violence that had taken over his people, and he was absolutely burdened by it, and he was desperately begging God to do something about it.

And God says, yes, I have seen it and I am doing something about it.  But then God gives Habakkuk the answer he did not want to hear.  God said that He was bringing the Chaldeans (the Babylonians) to destroy the Israelites.

And our passage today is Habakkuk's response.

He is shocked.  This is not the answer he expected at all.  He was wanting God to tell him that a revival was about to sweep the land, or that he would raise up a new king like Josiah had been, who would bring the people back to worshiping God.  He was not expecting judgment via Babylon.

And Habakkuk questions God.

God, You are eternal.   You exist outside of time, and You can see all of time right now, and so You know what will happen if the evil Babylonians come and attack us.

God, You are a holy God and they are even more sinful than we are, so why are You using them?

God, You cannot look upon sin with approval and yet You're going to watch them come annihilate us? What's going on?

God, our Rock, You are our stable rock of refuge, the cleft in the rock.  How could You destroy us?

Habakkuk knew the Babylonians would be judged.  He knew that.

Habakkuk knew that he and the rest of the Israelites were God's chosen people, as he calls God, "my God", "my Holy One".  And deep down he knew that God would draw His rebellious people back to Himself.

But he didn't see this coming.  He was unable to look at it from God's perspective.  And from Habakkuk's perspective it looked like abuse.  But from God's perspective it was discipline.

He felt like God was leaving His people to fend for themselves (v14) and that when the Babylonians came and swept them away (v15) they would praise themselves for the victory (v16) not knowing that they were actually pawns in the hand of God.

Habakkuk couldn't see past the rod of discipline to the love that was behind it.

But Habakkuk brought all those doubts, all those questions to God.  And then he said he was going to watch and wait until God answered him.

The truth is, we cannot understand God and His ways.  If we could, what a puny god that would be!  But we try to bring God down to our level.  We try to fit Him in a box and say this is the way it's supposed to be.  We need it to make sense.

The truth is, it doesn't matter who sins more, the Israelites or the Chaldeans, me or you.  We all sin.  The issue is, who repents?  The issue is, who turns to God to save them?

The truth is, sometimes we will feel forsaken.  That doesn't mean we don't know God.

Jesus knew God the father.  Jesus knew the plan of redemption.  Jesus knew that He would be born to die a horrible death on the cross. Jesus knew that the full wrath of the Father would fall on Him, in order to pay the punishment for our sin.  And yet, knowing ALL of that, when He actually experienced it He cried out - My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?!

Jesus felt forsaken by His Father.  He WAS forsaken by His Father.

We will feel forsaken too.

But then what will we do?

What were Jesus' next words?  Into Your hands, I commit my spirit.

Will we commit ourselves to God? Will we trust Him with our souls?  Will we lean on Him through the trials there are no answer to?  Will we trust Him?  Will we watch and wait?


Tomorrow's scripture focus: Habakkuk 2:2-4

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Joshua 13-14, Psalm 73, John 5

Tuesday April 9 2013 - Sandy

Today's scripture focus: Habakkuk 1:5-11

Today's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Joshua 9-10, Psalm 71, John 3

The Lord's Answer

 “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.
 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter and hasty nation,
who march through the breadth of the earth,
to seize dwellings not their own.
 They are dreaded and fearsome;
their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
more fierce than the evening wolves;
their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
 They all come for violence,
all their faces forward.
They gather captives like sand.
 At kings they scoff,
and at rulers they laugh.
They laugh at every fortress,
for they pile up earth and take it.
 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
guilty men, whose own might is their god!”

 Here are we are seeing God's response to Habakkuk's complaint from yesterday.  Habakkuk complains that there is nothing but evil around him and yet he (and we) wait for God's justice.  A valid complaint no?  Looking at the state of affairs when this was written and today, evil seems rampant and in control.

But God's response is pretty interesting.  He has a plan.  A plan Habakkuk would not believe if told.  A plan to punish evil by using and evil people.  Seems odd?  It shows that God uses all for his purpose.  God here is telling Habakkuk about using and evil people to smite an evil people.

Can we accept that?  Can we accept that God's plan is many times, simply too much for us to grasp?  Can we accept God's purpose in evil?  That's a pretty heavy thing to consider.  A quote from a very wise man (mine): "If we assert that evil is not from God, then not only do we make God less-than, but we also make evil meaningless and so we are right to feel hopeless in our trials with said evil."

But where does that leave us in our complaints like Habakkuk?  Our valid lamenting against the evils of this world, and overwhelming sadness at seeing them committed?

We have faith in:  The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The God whom has made numerous promises of our salvation and numerous promises to see justice done against those who are not for Him.    The same God who became flesh to die on the cross for our sins.  Our faith isn't blind, but is faith that is  grounded in the promises of the Word, and the works He's done for us and in us.

We certainly aren't to accept or ignore the evil around us.  We are to be salt and light, spreading the Gospel and sharing the hope within us to all those who are trapped in the dark of evil.  But we also have to accept, that in the end, God is God, and His will is His will.  We must do our best to be servants and ambassadors of that will, all while accepting that His plan may be something we don't expect.

Monday, April 8 -by Pamela

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Joshua 7-8, Psalm 70, John 2

Today's scripture focus is Habakkuk 1:1-4

New Living Translation (NLT)

1 This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received in a vision.

Habakkuk’s Complaint

² How long, O Lord, must I call for help?
    But you do not listen!
“Violence is everywhere!” I cry,
    but you do not come to save.
³ Must I forever see these evil deeds?
    Why must I watch all this misery?
Wherever I look,
    I see destruction and violence.
I am surrounded by people
    who love to argue and fight.
⁴ The law has become paralyzed,
    and there is no justice in the courts.
The wicked far outnumber the righteous,
    so that justice has become perverted.

Isn't this the same complaint we have today?? It seems that everywhere we turn, we are confronted with evil and monstrosities that exceed our worst nightmares.

 "Violence is everywhere"

Children and teachers are gunned down in an elementary school.

Children are killing each other.

Children are killing themselves.

Robberies.

Abuse.

...and it never seems to end.

We can't help but wonder how much worse it can get ... and then it does. You can't watch the news, listen to radio, or login to yahoo to get your email without seeing horrific and terrible news stories that make you shudder with despair and wonder how things like this can happen. It seems Habakkuk's time, he was burdened by wondering the same thing.

David Legge gives us a little history about the book of Habukkak:

Let's begin looking at the book of Habakkuk: Habakkuk is a lament, it is a Psalm, it is a weeping Psalm - it's not a public address, it's not specifically a message of preaching that was given by this prophet Habakkuk to the nation of Judah, but as we read chapters 1,2 and 3 we find that this little book is a discourse, it's a dialogue, it's a speech, a debate, between this man and God. It seems that there was no one else speaking within the book. What is the time of this book? ... it's just shortly before King Nebuchadnezzar, before he came and he ravaged the cities of Assyria, he went through Nineveh, you remember how Jonah prophesied that. This prophecy, this little book of Habakkuk, is just before Nebuchadnezzar came from Babylon and went right through eventually to Jerusalem - he destroyed the temple, and the children of Israel and Judah were taken to the land of Babylon for 70 years captivity. This little book is written just before that.

To give you a summary of this book tonight, it can be split up into three chapters, the chapters that we have. The first chapter deals with a burden, the second chapter deals with a vision, and the third chapter deals with a prayer. If you like: chapter 1 is sighing, chapter 2 is seeing, and chapter 3 - finally and exultingly - is the prophet Habakkuk singing. This whole book is about Habakkuk's journey of faith - and isn't that what we're all in tonight? We are in a journey of faith, we have been born into the faith, and given as a gift the faith of Jesus Christ the Son of God - and we're all on an adventure, we're all on a journey that has started in our lives when we were born-again. But that journey has bumps, that journey has plains, that journey has difficulties and barriers, that journey has traps, booby traps - it has dangerous wild beasts upon its path, there are many dangers, pitfalls, there are many joys and exaltations. But as we look at Habakkuk's journey of faith, I believe tonight and the weeks that lie ahead, we see in chapter 1: faith - this man's faith, and our faith, grappling with problems. Chapter 2 we find: faith grasping at the solution, and then in chapter 3: faith glorifying in its assurance.

Our faith journey is exactly what God has planned for us. However, we question God, we wait on God to reveal His plan, and we struggle with not knowing. 

Sometimes...we lose hope. We think there is no possible way God could recover, renew, or remedy a problem so big. We are reluctant to hand it all over...to give it all to Him...to surrender to ourselves. We think there is only "destruction and violence" and "the wicked far outnumber the righteous" and it is, to say the least, depressing and something that will definitely weigh you down.

David Legge suggests that Habukkak means "embracer of God" which is an incredible testimony of faith: 

"embracers of God are burdened by God. This man Habakkuk, his name means 'embracer', it says: 'The burden of Habakkuk' - the burden! He had a burden because he was so close to God, because he held onto God, it's almost as if he felt the feelings of God. God was imparting to him His feelings, His convictions, what He thought, His viewpoint of the nation of Judah at that particular time. God was sharing it with His friend Habakkuk - because he was an embracer of God, he was burdened by Him. If you're here tonight, and you seek to embrace God, maybe you are an embracer of God tonight, and you're well burdened, and you know all about it - and if you are, you will know about it! But maybe you're not, and you think this sounds great to be like Habakkuk, and to be an embracer of God, and to hold onto God - no matter what life, no matter what Satan throws at you, or your family - to hold onto God. Listen tonight: make sure you know what you're getting into, because embracers of God will be burdened by God. They will receive a burden that is almost - almost I say - too heavy to take, only that the Lord knows what you can bear. He will burden those who embrace Him.

The Hebrew word 'burden' is the word 'massah' (sp?). It's the word that is used within the Old Testament, there's many words for burden, but this particular Hebrew word 'massah', it means 'a load', it means 'cargo' - something that has to be lifted from one place to another. It's the Hebrew word that is used of the Levites when they carried the Ark of the Covenant, they bore a burden. I could turn you to other Scriptures, Deuteronomy 1 and verse 12, Job 7 and verse 20, where men use this word as a burden of the soul - but they describe it in such a way as carrying something, as if the burden that they bear (and the idea is this) is a responsibility. Something that they have been given, not to chide, not to harm, but it's a responsibility given for them to steward and for them to use - they are responsible for it.

The Hebrew word 'burden' is the word 'massah' (sp?). It's the word that is used within the Old Testament, that suggests that it means 'it's to be lifted up'. Some translations of the word of God say this: that Habakkuk lifted up the burden, he lifted up! The idea here is that it's not something to be hidden - as the Lord Jesus Christ said, you don't get light and then you take a bushel and put it over it, you don't do that! You let your light shine before men, that they may see it and that they may glory in your Father in heaven. What was it that Paul testified to Festus in the book of Acts? What did he say? Paul was standing describing the Gospel, he was testifying like a lawyer of why it was true, and why a Christian should not be put to death, why they should not be punished for their beliefs. What did he said to Festus? He said to him: 'This thing was not done in a corner'! Friends tonight, the burden that we have for souls - or we ought to have - the burden of the Gospel, the deposit, the guarantee that we have been given by the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles themselves, it's not something to be kept within these four walls - it's something to be lifted up that the world may see it and fear, and that many may trust in the Lord!

May it be our desire too to be burdened because we are an embracer of God. May He use us to His honour so that we may be what He wants for us to become.

Tomorrow's scripture focus: Habakkus 1:5-11

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Joshua 9-10, Psalm 71, John 3

Friday, 5 April 2013 ~ Roxie

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Josh 1,2; Psalm 69; John 1

Today's scripture focus is Jude 1:24-25

Jude 1:24-25

24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-- 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

I was thinking about this verse all week, wondering what I should write. It is a beautiful benediction, a shout of praise, an affirmation of our faith...and, for this weary heart, it is a reminder that it is not through any of my own works that salvation is mine...it is all because of Jesus. 

I must confess that this week has been really tough. My heart has become full of resentment and bitterness, defeat and doubt. Weariness clouds my judgement and colours my reactions. In my testimony, I shared that I moved from a city onto a cattle ranch. Working a full time job here on the farm as I help with calving and then working my half time job at the health centre is sapping my energy, leaving me with little enough grace for my dear husband (who is just as tired and far more stressed)...and little heart for all else.

...and then this verse... “to him who is able to keep you from falling”...

Only You, Jesus, have the ability, the strength to not only keep me from falling, but to lift me back up after I've jumped right out of Your hands into the mud and mire...only to find that I am stuck, sinking deeper with every writhing effort to get myself out...

...until I realize I can't...until I lift my hands back up to the only One who can draw me back out, brush me off and set my feet back on the solid ground. 

And even after all that, He still desires “...to present you before his glorious presence without fault”...

...without fault, blameless. All of my short-tempered outbursts; my curt, unfeeling responses; my guilt-inducing sighs and moans; my bitter thoughts; my resentments all washed away. 

I am clean. 

Clean enough to be presented before our perfect, Holy God “with great joy”!!!

All because of Jesus. His blood washed away my sins. His hands healed me. His love lifts me out of the darkness and into the light so that even in the tough, seemingly unfair, energy sapping, tension filled moments of our lives, we can still cry out:

“to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

We are saved. We are washed clean. We are lifted up by One who draws us forward into the presence of the Holy Father God and with great excitement, pleasure, joy, says, “Look here, Father, here is the one I love. Here is Your beloved child!”

All because of Jesus. 

He is our everything.

Amen. Amen.

Monday's scripture focus is Habakkuk 1:1-4

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage is Josh 3,4

Thursday, April 3 ~ Miriam

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is  Deuteronomy 33-34; Psalm 68; Luke 24.

Today's scripture focus is Jude 1:22-23.

²² And have mercy on some, who are doubting; ²³ save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

So, yesterday's verses were talking about what we need to do to protect ourselves.  Build ourselves up in faith (read the Word of God), pray in the Holy Spirit, keep ourselves in the love of God, and wait anxiously for the 2nd coming.  In today's verses, Jude moves on to what we do for those who have been led astray.  Judging by the context of the entire chapter, and according to David Legge's sermon, Jude is talking here about other believers - others who profess to share our faith or were at one time on the right path, but have gotten off into the ditch, possibly without realizing it.  From the sermon:

We are to look after one another in the household of faith - and as James says in verse 20 of chapter 5 of his epistle: 'He which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins'. We are to look out for one another, we are to love one another - and to love one another is to come to one another, and to speak to one another honestly about our lives, about our problems, about our sins - and we are to draw one another back to Christ!

He goes on to divide these people into three categories, based on the verse.

Category 1 - Argumentative disputer:  Those who differ argumentatively with what we teach, with what we believe about everything concerning the Gospel. We have those who take the name of Christ that do not believe in the virgin birth, we have those who take the name of Christ that genuinely and sincerely in their own heart of hearts have come to the realisation, they feel, that it is impossible for Jesus Christ to atone for sin. They feel it is impossible for a corpse to rise from the dead, it is impossible that Jesus should ascend to heaven, and that one day there is the promise of Him coming back again - and they will argue their case sincerely before you, they are argumentative disputers of the truth of God.

And what do we do with these people?
God says, 'Convincingly refute them' - don't bury it over, don't forget about it, and in the spirit of the age of tolerance in which we live say, 'Live and let live'. But it literally means: 'Convict them while you dispute with them' - they can only be rebuked, and we ought to pray that God will change them. Can I ask you: how do you convincingly refute an argumentative disputer if you do not know the word of God? You cannot. That is why Jude tells us, build yourselves up in your most holy faith - you cannot pray that someone will come back to the faith, and the light of the Gospel will dawn upon their soul, if you do not pray in the Holy Ghost! We are to convincingly refute, not just pray, but rebuke! We must point out when wrong is wrong - and it may cause controversy, but it is necessary to be faithful to God. 

Oh, this is an answer I did not like.  This is so, so difficult for me.  I am very much one to "live and let live" or to feel that no amount of arguing will change their mind any more than their arguments will change mine, so why waste my breath?  Or I lack confidence in backing up what I believe and I keep my mouth shut for fear of sounding foolish.

Category 2 - Seriously endangered:  They are seriously endangered, they are in the fire, and we have to go actively and snatch them out of the fire! These are the seriously endangered, they are in more imminent danger, therefore they have to be snatched away before the false teaching grips their soul and kills their heart for God, before the wicked living of these apostates gets hold of them, and they go into their sensuality and their licentiousness. And if we don't save them - and I'm not talking about salvation, they're saved! - but if we don't save them from apostasy, who will?  

There needs to be a spirit of urgency in our preaching, in our prayers. There needs to be that spirit, whereby the Puritan, learned and scholarly, as he would preach in his pulpit would turn his back as he was gripped and burdened with the burden of the people before him, and he would turn his back on the people and shout to God, 'Oh, Spirit do Your work!'. Is that the earnestness and the urgency that you have, believer? Preacher, is that the way you preach? As someone has said, 'We should preach as though Jesus died yesterday, rose today, and is coming tomorrow'! It is urgent, for the time is short and there are those who are in the fire of this apostasy - whether they be believers or non-believers - and they need to be plucked as brands from the burning!

Category 3 - Sinfully degraded:  They are sinfully degraded, they won't listen to arguments, they can't be convicted, they can't be snatched - but they are to be pitied by you, the children of God, but they are to be pitied cautiously. You are to pity them, conscious of their weakness, conscious of their simplicity, conscious of the sinfulness of their sin - my friend, if we could get a vision today of the sinfulness of sin! If we could see sin as God sees it! If we could see sin as Christ felt it!
...we are to cautiously pity them, we are to realise that we can be contaminated by their garments spotted with the flesh, their inner garment that's close to the flesh, contacting defilement. We need to be careful, that when we go to win the sinner, the sinner does not win us! 

So, so hard.  It is so much easier for the Christian to be pulled down into the old sinful nature than it is to pull the "sinfully degraded" person up.  I find it hard sometimes because we spend a lot more time with my husband's family and friends than with mine, and his family and friends are not Christians.  It is all too easy for me to slip into using some bad language (when the kids aren't around), or having a couple too many drinks on a Saturday night, for example.  Generally speaking, I don't, but occasionally I catch myself, and it's not always easy to take that step back and say "OK, time to call it a night," or whatever the case may be.

Anyway, this post has turned out longer than anticipated (again), but I suppose the main thrust of the whole thing is that we ARE responsible for each other in God's family.  We can't just say "let him go his way and I'll go mine" and expect that to be good enough.  But I think it is important to note the order in which Jude gives us these reminders.  First, look to our own spiritual health, as our verses yesterday said, and THEN we can rebuke or confront (in love and compassion) and have confidence in our knowledge of the truth and the foundations of our faith when it is necessary.

Happy Thursday!

Tomorrow's scripture focus:  Jude 1:24-25.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage:  Joshua 1-2; Psalm 69; John 1.