Habakkuk is a compelling example not only of prayer, but also of patience. He says, "I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us" (Habakkuk 3:16). God has promised to discipline His people, He has promised to judge the Babylonians, and He has promised to fill the earth with the knowledge of His glory; therefore, Habakkuk will wait humbly and quietly for the fulfillment of each promise, be it judgment or blessing.
Remember that Habakkuk knew nothing about God's timing on all this. He didn't know the hour or the day, he didn't know the month or even the year - and normally, neither do we. Though we find the promises of God throughout Scripture, they don't come with specific dates and times. Therefore, when our circumstances contradict God's character and promises, we're tempted to supply God with a time frame and demand that He fulfill His promises according to it.
Habakkuk's example is different. He quietly waits - and that takes faith. It takes faith to wait tranquilly for something for which we have a promise from God, but no date.
What promise has gone unfulfilled in your life so far? Marriage? Pregnancy? Healing? A particular promotion or position? Salvation for a loved one? Will you, like Habakkuk, quietly and humbly wait for God's fulfillment of His promise? If Habakkuk can wait quietly for divine action on the grand scale he had in view, then surely you and I can calmly yield to God's timeline in our relatively little lives.
Please don't misunderstand this. Waiting is not resignation; waiting is an active trust in God to provide fulfillment in His perfect timing, according to His ultimate purpose of glorifying His Son.
Yes, the righteous person shall live by faith - and that faith requires waiting.
- C. J. Mahaney, Humility: True Greatness
Links: Wait Patiently (20 Oct 09), Houseparty 2010 (2 Feb 10)
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Friday, 9 July 2010
The Old Testament and the People of God
The law was given to mark Israel as God's people. It is important to remember how it did this: it took the various human institutions of the time, and transformed them so that Israel would reflect the character of her God. Thus Israel could be a nation like the nations around her, but everything about her would show that her God was not like their gods.
All this was, says Paul, temporary: Israel needed this religious framework only until both she and the other nations could be transformed through her Messiah.
- Ida Glaser, The Bible and Other Faiths
All this was, says Paul, temporary: Israel needed this religious framework only until both she and the other nations could be transformed through her Messiah.
- Ida Glaser, The Bible and Other Faiths
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Jul 1 to 7
Jul 1: "He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever." - Psalm 78:69 (NIV)
Jul 2: "Help us, O God our Saviour, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name's sake." - Psalm 79:9 (NIV)
Jul 3: "While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, "This disaster is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?"" - 2 Kings 6:33 (NIV)
Jul 4: "Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved." - Psalm 80:3 (NIV)
Jul 5: "So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man." - Acts 24:16 (NIV)
Jul 6: "But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence." - 2 Kings 13:23 (NIV)
Jul 7: "Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?" - Acts 26:8 (NIV)
Jul 2: "Help us, O God our Saviour, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name's sake." - Psalm 79:9 (NIV)
Jul 3: "While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, "This disaster is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?"" - 2 Kings 6:33 (NIV)
Jul 4: "Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved." - Psalm 80:3 (NIV)
Jul 5: "So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man." - Acts 24:16 (NIV)
Jul 6: "But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence." - 2 Kings 13:23 (NIV)
Jul 7: "Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?" - Acts 26:8 (NIV)
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
The Knowledge of the Holy
I'm reading the Bible in one year and the New Testament reading for Jul 18 is Romans 4:16-5:11.
"Yet [Abraham] did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." - Romans 4:20-21 (NIV)
Doesn't this apply to all of us?
"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." - Romans 8:22-25 (NIV)
"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." - Romans 8:26-27 (NIV)
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." - Romans 8:28-30 (NIV)
"Based on what you know, trust God for what you do not know." - Ravi Zacharias
*****
6 months ago, I wrote on my blog that
Faith is not opposed to reason. On the contrary, faith is founded on reason.
Faith is "blind" in the sense that we put our faith in something we do not see. After all, 'faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see' (Hebrews 11:1, NIV). However, faith is not blind in the sense that we are not certain of what we do not see. We ARE certain of what we do not see.
My faith that England will win the World Cup in 2010 is a blind faith because I cannot be certain of it. Indeed, my faith that England will win the World Cup in 2010 is a blind faith even if England does end up winning the World Cup in 2010.
Of course, England is not going to win the World Cup in 2010. Maybe in 2014!
Link: Prophecies, Predictions and the Will of God (11 Jul 10)
"Yet [Abraham] did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." - Romans 4:20-21 (NIV)
Doesn't this apply to all of us?
"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." - Romans 8:22-25 (NIV)
"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." - Romans 8:26-27 (NIV)
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." - Romans 8:28-30 (NIV)
"Based on what you know, trust God for what you do not know." - Ravi Zacharias
*****
6 months ago, I wrote on my blog that
Faith is not opposed to reason. On the contrary, faith is founded on reason.
Faith is "blind" in the sense that we put our faith in something we do not see. After all, 'faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see' (Hebrews 11:1, NIV). However, faith is not blind in the sense that we are not certain of what we do not see. We ARE certain of what we do not see.
My faith that England will win the World Cup in 2010 is a blind faith because I cannot be certain of it. Indeed, my faith that England will win the World Cup in 2010 is a blind faith even if England does end up winning the World Cup in 2010.
Of course, England is not going to win the World Cup in 2010. Maybe in 2014!
Link: Prophecies, Predictions and the Will of God (11 Jul 10)
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Do Not Forget the LORD
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.
Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.
You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.
- Deuteronomy 8:10-18 (NIV)
Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.
You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.
- Deuteronomy 8:10-18 (NIV)
Monday, 5 July 2010
The Genealogy of Genesis 5
I first heard of this from yesterday morning's sermon at York Baptist Church.
Hebrew (English)
Adam (Man)
Seth (Appointed)
Enosh (Mortal, Frail)
Kenan (Sorrow)
Mahalalel (The Blessed God)
Jared (Shall come down)
Enoch (Teaching)
Methuselah (His death shall bring)
Lamech (The despairing)
Noah (Rest, or comfort)
From Adam to Noah, man was appointed to walk with God, but sinned and became mortal, frail, causing sorrow. Yet the Blessed God shall come down, teaching, and His death shall bring the despairing rest, or comfort.
Hebrew (English)
Adam (Man)
Seth (Appointed)
Enosh (Mortal, Frail)
Kenan (Sorrow)
Mahalalel (The Blessed God)
Jared (Shall come down)
Enoch (Teaching)
Methuselah (His death shall bring)
Lamech (The despairing)
Noah (Rest, or comfort)
From Adam to Noah, man was appointed to walk with God, but sinned and became mortal, frail, causing sorrow. Yet the Blessed God shall come down, teaching, and His death shall bring the despairing rest, or comfort.
Sunday, 4 July 2010
Jesus the Great High Priest
Jesus is the one and only Priest. If there is any other priesthood, it is found not by addition but by inclusion: not by other people being priests as well, alongside Jesus, but by other people being priests within his priesthood.
- N. T. Wright, The Glory and the Prayer (26 Jun 10)
"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." - Hebrews 4:14-16 (NIV)
- N. T. Wright, The Glory and the Prayer (26 Jun 10)
"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." - Hebrews 4:14-16 (NIV)
Saturday, 3 July 2010
Give Thanks
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." - Job 1:21 (NIV)
Give thanks for what the LORD has given and trust that He will provide where He has taken away.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." - Colossians 3:12-17 (NIV)
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ His Son
And now let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us
Give thanks
"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" - Romans 8:32 (NIV)
Give thanks for what the LORD has given and trust that He will provide where He has taken away.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." - Colossians 3:12-17 (NIV)
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ His Son
And now let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us
Give thanks
"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" - Romans 8:32 (NIV)
Friday, 2 July 2010
God raises the dead
I'm reading the Bible in one year and the New Testament reading for Jul 7 is Acts 25:23-26:23.
"Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?" - Acts 26:8 (NIV)
Why indeed. If God created the world ex nihilo (out of nothing), how much more will He be able to create something out of something!
"By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death." - Hebrews 11:17-19 (NIV)
Instead of considering it incredible that God raises the dead, we should consider it not only incredible, but impossible that God would not raise Jesus from the dead!
God would be an unjust God if He did not raise Jesus from the dead, because Jesus did not deserve to die (for our sins). Therein lies our justification in Christ - not through the cross, but through the resurrection!
"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." - Acts 2:22-24 (NIV)
"And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." - Romans 8:11 (NIV)
"By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also." - 1 Corinthians 6:14 (NIV)
Link: Rely on God (26 Aug 10)
"Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?" - Acts 26:8 (NIV)
Why indeed. If God created the world ex nihilo (out of nothing), how much more will He be able to create something out of something!
"By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death." - Hebrews 11:17-19 (NIV)
Instead of considering it incredible that God raises the dead, we should consider it not only incredible, but impossible that God would not raise Jesus from the dead!
God would be an unjust God if He did not raise Jesus from the dead, because Jesus did not deserve to die (for our sins). Therein lies our justification in Christ - not through the cross, but through the resurrection!
"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." - Acts 2:22-24 (NIV)
"And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." - Romans 8:11 (NIV)
"By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also." - 1 Corinthians 6:14 (NIV)
Link: Rely on God (26 Aug 10)
Thursday, 1 July 2010
Jun 22 to 30
Jun 22: "As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been." - 1 Kings 11:4 (NIV)
Jun 23: "So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite." - 1 Kings 12:15 (NIV)
Jun 24: "He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands." - Psalm 78:5-7 (NIV)
Jun 25: "A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones." - Proverbs 15:30 (NIV)
Jun 26: "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." - Acts 17:11 (NIV)
Jun 27: "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." - Acts 17:26-27 (NIV)
Jun 28: "Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return." - Psalm 78:38-39 (NIV)
Jun 29: "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." - Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)
Jun 30: "Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified." - Acts 20:32 (NIV)
Jun 23: "So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite." - 1 Kings 12:15 (NIV)
Jun 24: "He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands." - Psalm 78:5-7 (NIV)
Jun 25: "A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones." - Proverbs 15:30 (NIV)
Jun 26: "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." - Acts 17:11 (NIV)
Jun 27: "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." - Acts 17:26-27 (NIV)
Jun 28: "Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return." - Psalm 78:38-39 (NIV)
Jun 29: "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." - Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)
Jun 30: "Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified." - Acts 20:32 (NIV)
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