Devotions

Habakkuk 3:19: “The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.” [NIV]

One last thought from Habakkuk’s prayer. No matter what we may face, as individuals, or corporately as the Church of Jesus Christ, the Sovereign LORD is our strength. He will enable us to not just endure, but mature, grow and thrive. Just as the mountain deer can climb seemingly impossible places, so we will be able to climb the mountains in front of us.

And there are mountains in front of us.  The way of a disciple of Christ is not usually smooth and level.  It is not a pleasant stroll along well-worn paths. Often, we are walking where others have never gone, or where only a few have been. Sometimes we must move through opposition and resistance, sometimes through danger and strife.

Yet, as Habakkuk realized, whatever, wherever, whenever, the Sovereign LORD was his strength.

The Sovereign LORD is our strength too. Praise His Holy Name. Amen

Habakkuk 3:17-18: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”  [NIV]

We have been looking at Habakkuk’s prayer following his conversation with God about the discipline God was about to minister to the nation of Judah, the people of Israel. Habakkuk had initially been appalled that God would use a nation, Babylon, even more unrighteous than Israel to bring about that discipline. God promised Habakkuk that Babylon would also be judged when her time came.

Habakkuk wrestled for a while in his prayer, but eventually came to settle things in his spirit. He decided he could wait patiently for Babylon’s judgment to happen. He also decided that even while God’s discipline fell upon Israel, Habakkuk would rejoice in the LORD and be joyful in God his Savior.

That was no easy commitment. He was looking on difficult times. He described them by using terms that describe a famine…fruit trees that don’t produce, vines that are barren, pasture and stalls empty. Famine in the natural as invasion ensued.

But I think that Habakkuk also understood that there would be a famine in the spiritual as well. When Israel fell victim to Babylon and was carried off into captivity, Solomon’s great temple was destroyed. The priesthood was scattered. The daily sacrifices and singing and offerings were gone. Still, Habakkuk grew to understand that he could still rejoice, he could still be joyful because God had not abandoned them. He would be with them in Babylon just as He was with them in the Promised Land.

The writer of Hebrews expressed it this way, “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”  [Heb 13:5 NIV]

Thank you, Father, for Your Promised Presence with us always. Amen.

Habakkuk 3:16: “I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.”

I cannot imagine how awful the sounds of gunfire in Las Vegas when one evil man rained down automatic weapon fire upon those gathered peacefully and unaware below. One radio station played a segment of it that someone recorded and hearing it—even after the fact—knowing the devastation it brought was shocking.

Habakkuk not only had a vision, but he heard the awful sound of God’s judgment upon his own people for their idolatry and unrighteousness. He heard not the violence of one evil man, but the violence of an army coming against his own nation. It shook him to his core.  But it did something else also. He took God at His word that there would be an end. One day God would judge Babylon even more harshly. Habakkuk would wait patiently for that day.

I am not a harbinger of gloom and doom. I am a preacher of grace. I know that when God judges His own, no matter how severely, He does it in mercy and love. He disciplines us always with the goal of restoring us to holiness in His presence. The writer of Hebrews reminds us of that fact. “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves.”  [Hebrews 12:5-6 NIV]

Father, I trust in Your love. I trust that even as You discipline Your beloved, You do it with the goal to restore not to harm. Remove every spot and wrinkle from us, we pray. Amen.

Habakkuk 3:2 “LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.”  [NIV]

Habakkuk and the Lord had just had a long conversation regarding what God was doing in using a nation (Babylon) that was even more evil than Israel to chastise Israel for her idolatry and unrighteousness. God’s promise was that he would also judge Babylon for its own evil when the time came.

Habakkuk’s prayer to the Lord begins with a remembrance of what God had done for Israel in the past. Habakkuk had not seen it, but he had heard of it. As he thought about it, he was awed and showed his respect with the words, “I stand.” He also pleaded with the Lord to now show Himself strong on behalf of Habakkuk’s nation one more time. He asked that even as God poured out wrath on the ungodliness found among God’s people, He would remember mercy.

The writer of Hebrews thought a lot about God’s judgment also. He reminds his readers that God’s people, those who have found grace and salvation through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, cannot go on sinning.  He makes the profound proclamation: “’The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” [Heb 10:30-31 NIV]

Church, we are standing on dangerous ground. We cannot allow the world’s values to invade the church. I believe in God’s grace and mercy, but I also understand that God will not put up with our foolishness forever. We may find ourselves praying with Habakkuk, “In wrath, remember mercy.”

Father, we stand in awe of You. We repent of our ungodliness. We plead for mercy for your beloved church.

A video went viral last week showing one young man shot in the leg in the Las Vegas shooting standing with difficulty when the President and First Lady entered his hospital room. It got millions of views. It also got a plethora of comments across all media.  Some adored it. Others vilified it.

The young man in the video said that he would always stand for “his country, his flag, his President.” He also warned his family that they would be the recipients of a lot of hateful comments. He was right in his prediction.

There has been a great deal of focus on standing, sitting and kneeling lately. Lots of posts, blogs, talking heads on television and voices over the radio have offered an opinion, sometimes forcefully.

I was taught decades ago that standing is a simple sign of respect. We were taught to stand for our “elders” and those who held public office, among others.

I choose whom I will respect. My respect is mine to give. I understand the social norms are not what they used to be, but I still have a choice. I also understand that others have the right to choose differently.  As I say that, I remember the chorus of a song we sing in church … “I stand, I stand in awe of You. I stand, I stand in awe of You. Holy God to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of You.”

There is One before whom I will always stand. “Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD; I will sing praises to your name.” [Ps 18:49 NIV]

Exousia (ex-oo-see’-ah) – it means authority jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength.

Dunamis (doo’-nam-is) – it means force, power, ability, strength.

We were discussing Matthew 10:1 in last week’s Bible Study. “He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” [Matt 10:1 NIV]

Some translations say Jesus gave them authority, some say Jesus gave them power. The Greek word used is exousia. I heard a minister describe the difference between exousia and dunamis this way:  A policeman meets a criminal on the street, both have a gun. Both have power, dunamis. But the policeman carries a badge and has the weight of the law behind him, that’s exousia, authority.

Jesus delegated His authority over evil spirits, disease and sickness to His disciples as He sent them out. Mark tells us the outcome. “They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.” [Mark 6:12-13 NIV]

We’ve noted in these last weeks that discipleship has a cost, but we should also note that discipleship has a delegated authority to function in the name of Jesus Christ. We are not perfect vessels and do not always operate in that authority. We don’t always hear distinctly what Jesus commands us to do. But we should be aware that when we hear Jesus tell us to pray a certain way or speak a certain word, His authority is with us to do so.

The events of last Sunday night in Las Vegas were despicable, people murdered and injured attending a concert below because a lunatic had the desire to kill high up from a hotel window. He fired down into the crowd and then cowardly took his own life when he knew the police were close. People were injured by gunfire. Some were trampled as the crowd fled in fear.

There were many acts of bravery. People stayed with the injured and tried to help even as the bullets continued to rain down upon them. They worked to get others out of the line of fire. One young man told the press that another young man he didn’t know died in his arms and he wanted the family to know that he didn’t die alone.

But, the injured were barely removed to hospitals when the rhetoric began. Once again there are calls for gun laws; once again people arguing against same.

I was thinking of what the devil told Eve in the Garden when he approached her with the temptation to disobey God … “For God knows that when you eat of it [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” [Gen 3:5 NIV]

Those in the Garden chose wrong.  Now our eyes are certainly open and we know both good and evil. We, however, can choose correctly – God gave the invitation to Israel and it is still valid for us today. “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life.” [Deut 30:19-20 NIV]

I have today, tomorrow and Monday off work. A three-day weekend. A holiday weekend!  The holiday? Columbus Day.  Columbus Day? What are we celebrating on Columbus Day?

Actually, I don’t really care. I am sure the holiday has rich meaning for some, but it has no particular import for me at all.  All I care about is that I don’t have to go to work on Monday.

This month has another event that has no particular significance to me, but apparently has great significance at the office where I work.  Halloween. They have a big party on Halloween. Everyone dresses up in costumes and they do a pot luck.  I think for them it is a stress reliever as their most stressful season of work begins the next day, November 1 and goes through the end of the year.

I haven’t dressed up in a costume since I was a child – well, except for that clown costume I wore to the convalescent home when we ministered there once on Halloween. This year the group I work with have chosen to be minions. That costume consists of jeans, a yellow shirt, and suspenders.

Though not a fan of Halloween, I am a fan of laughter, cheerfulness and joy. If dressing as a minion brings laughter and cheerfulness and joy to these lovely people I work with, then minion it is!

Proverbs 15:30:  “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart ….”  [NIV]

I just looked at the bottom of the Word document where I write my devotions and what caught my attention was that fact that since I began this second half of the year’s devotions on July 1, I have written 28,489 words. Make that 28,496 words now …. That’s a lot of words! And that is only since July 1! There were 59,274 from January 1 through June 30. Wow.

In church, we sing a song written by Matt Redmond, “Let My Words Be Few.” It begins this way, “You are God in heaven / And here am I on earth / So I’ll let my words be few / Jesus I am so in love with You.”

That beginning verse comes from Ecclesiastes 5:2: “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” [NIV]

I think I will take that good advice and today let my words be few. And I can’t think of any better words to utter today than…

Jesus, I am so in love with You.

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.”  [Phil 1:9-10 NIV]

Don’t you just love it when you are reading in Scripture and suddenly a phrase or thought captivates your attention.  Happens to me all the time.  I’ll try to read further, but I just keep coming back to that one phrase that seems to resonate with my spirit at that moment.  Today it was the phrase in Philippians, “able to discern what is best.”

I like the way the NKJV says it, “that you may approve the things that are excellent.”

Every day we make choices.  Some of them are simple choices, eggs or cereal for breakfast, which brand of something to buy, what color shirt to wear. Some of them are more serious or complicated, put the money in savings or take that vacation, continue to date this person, opt for treatment or let the disease run its course.

Paul’s prayer for his beloved Philippians is that they might have the ability to look at all the choices and pick the most excellent one. And I would think to Paul the most excellent choice is the choice that has eternal factors, the choice that leads toward God and not away from Him. How will this affect my relationship with my beloved Savior? What are the eternal consequences? Knowing that it would take more and more knowledge and spiritual insight, Paul prayed for them.  That is my prayer for you and for me today.

Father, may our love grow in knowledge of You. May we have deep insight through Your Spirit so that we might always choose what is best eternally. Amen.