God Is My Strength; He Will Do What Is Right

Scripture: Habakkuk 3: 1-2, 19

A prayer of Ha-bak’-kuk the prophet upon Shig-i-o’-noth. O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.(1, 2) The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.(19)

Scripture Commentary: Live in the strength of God, confident in his ultimate victory

Habakkuk praised God for answering his questions. Evil will not triumph; God is in control. God is our strength; trust him to vindicate the faithful. God will give his followers surefooted confidence through difficult times.

Sometimes nothing makes sense. Sometimes we cannot hold the weight of our troubles. Remember that God gives strength. God is alive. He’s in control of the world and its events.

The spiritual war we are in today is for a reason. We cannot see or understand all that God is doing, and we cannot see or understand all that God will do. We just know he is God and will do what is right. God will bring about peace in his justice. He will completely rid the world of evil.

God’s people need to live in the strength of his Spirit, confident in his ultimate victory. Knowing this can give us confidence and hope in this confusing world. Take your eyes off your difficulties and look to God.

Read the Entire Chapter:
Habakkuk Chapter 3

Have We Polluted Our City with False Praise?

Scripture: Zephaniah 3: 1-4

Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the Lord; she drew not near to her God. Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the marrow. Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.

Scripture Commentary: Have we rejected God in our hearts?

Have we polluted our cities, churches and lives, by not living the way God has told us?

Zephaniah had predicted the destruction of the nations surrounding the city of Jerusalem. He turned to the sinning in Jerusalem.

Are our cities becoming defiled and sinful as the pagan cities of yesterday? Are we pretending to falsely serve God? Have we rejected him in our hearts? Are we continuing to be complacent about our sins? Do we no longer care about the consequences of turning from God?

God has given us the way out. The Bible, His Word, His Son, Jesus Christ is the way. We experience events that tempt us to destruction or salvation.

God sent his Son to die on the cross for all our sins. He rose on the third day and went to heaven to prepare a place for us. God has given you the way. Are you going to take it?

Read the Entire Chapter:
Zephaniah Chapter 3

The Promise of His Coming

Scripture: 2 Peter 3: 3-4, 8

Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, And saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the father fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” (3, 4) But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day.(8)

Scripture Commentary: We have the promise of His coming

What are you afraid of? If this world was to end today, this second, why would you be afraid? Only those who do not know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will have fear. Be assured of his coming. Those who have Christ in their life, who live for Him, have no fear.

Neither Man nor woman know God’s timetable, only He knows. We are to live for God everyday of our lives, and do His work everyday while we are here on earth.

When the day comes that you are not here, or can not do the work of our Lord, that can be your last day. What will you say when He asks, “What have you done in my name?”

Do not fall asleep without working to spread his Word to others. These are our last days, and this is the time between Christ’s first and second coming. Thus we, like Peter, are living in the last days. Be ready to meet our Lord Jesus Christ anytime, even today. If you serve Him, you will meet Him.

Read the Entire Chapter:
2 Peter Chapter 3

Live By the Faith of the God Who Loves You

Scripture: Galatians 2: 19-21

For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Scripture Commentary: Live by the faith of the Son of God, not by your own efforts

Obedience to God’s laws alone cannot save you. Sin is an everlasting epidemic. It plagues us all and prevents anyone from keeping God’s laws perfectly. You must “live by the faith of the Son of God,” as it says in Galatians 2: 20.

God has provided a way of salvation that depends on Jesus Christ, not on your own efforts. Accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior brings salvation in his crucifixion. In such salvation you will rise from the dead and be freed from sin.

This new life gives you the power to fight sin. You must guard against the temptation of using service, good deeds, charitable giving, and any other earthly effort as a substitute for faith. You cannot earn God’s favor. Believing in your own ability means you don’t fully trust in what Christ did on the cross.

By struggling to appropriate God’s power to change you (sanctification), you are not resting in God’s power to save you (justification). If deeds were the key to salvation, Jesus’ crucifixion would not have been unnecessary. He died on the cross to save you from yourself and gift to you salvation.

Read the Entire Chapter:
Galatians Chapter 2

Turn From Your Sin, Do What is Right

Scripture: Ezekiel 33: 14-16

Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shall surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

Scripture Commentary: Past good deeds will not save you if you are living in sin today!

We are all born into sin, but we are not born into sinners.

In this chapter Ezekiel is telling us that God is warning us about our sinful living. God is telling us He will forgive us of our sins if we repent and live the life that is wholeheartedly full of love and obedience to God.

Those who persist in rebelling against God, take warning. Do not think because you lived a Godly life in the past that you will be saved. We cannot live a portion of our lives for God and think that is good enough for God.

Don’t appear to be following God, if in your heart you are following yourself. We are weak, but God will give us the strength if you have the faith. God looks at what we are and will become, not what we have been. Past good deeds will not save you if you are living in sin today!

Read the Entire Chapter:
Ezekiel Chapter 33

Worship the Creator, The One True God

Scripture: Romans 1: 21-22,25

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him, not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.(21-22) Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.(25)

Scripture Commentary: Creator vs. Creature: Who are you worshipping?

Are you worshipping God, our creator, or idols of your own making? Do you make up your own ideas of what your god should be and do; so your greed, hatred, envy, gossip and strife can manifest in your mind? This manifestation will grow to a point where you hate God and encourage others to follow your example.

God does not cause this steady decline toward evil. He gives you a choice. God permits you to experience the natural consequences of your sin. In worshipping the god you make, you are misrepresenting the One True God.

The True God is the first in your life. He will not lie or mislead you. We sinners must trust Christ alone to put us on the right path. When we worship the creature instead of the creator, we lose sight of our identity as followers of Jesus Christ, Our Creator.

Does life without God look like freedom to you? Freedom is having our Lord Jesus Christ in your life every step of the way.

Read the Entire Chapter:
Romans Chapter 1

God is the Foundation

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3: 1, 9, 11, 16

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.(1) For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.(9) For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.(11) Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?(16)

Scripture Commentary: The Gospel of Christ is the foundation leading to the promise of eternal life

The beginning of our Christian life was infantile. We quarreled like children and acted immature. We are still that immature child. If you have not accepted God fully in your life, to the point that Jesus is your way of living, then you are a child in God’s eye.

Jesus is the foundation. Accept his watering Spirit and you will feel your spirit grow in His love for you. Everything we are and do must fit into the pattern provided by God. The Gospel is the foundation. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the promise of eternal life.

We are not victims of nonbelievers who fear death. We hold no terrors because Christ has conquered all fears. We must do what God tells us to do in the Bible and through his Holy Spirit each and every day. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior then you have no fear in your life.

Read the Entire Chapter:
1 Corinthians Chapter 3

Not All Prophets Are True

Scripture: Jeremiah 23: 1, 11, 16, 21

Woe Be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.(1) For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord.(11) Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.(16) I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.(21)

Scripture Commentary: True and false prophets are as different as night is from day

Be careful about what people say, do, and how they live. We like to be told things that make us feel good, even if it’s wrong. Jeremiah told the people what they did not what to hear. He told them what God had said to him: these people are evil.

True prophets and false prophets are as different as night and day. If we are to be nourishment to our people we must live as God tells us to live. To share and teach the gospel is a great responsibility.

The way we live will show and encourage people either to accept the Word or reject it. People are looking at you, especially if you’re talking about God’s place in your life. If the word hasn’t changed you, why should others let it change them?

Read the Entire Chapter:
Jeremiah Chapter 23

You Cannot Please God Without Faith

Scripture: Hebrews 11: 1, 6

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.(1) But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.(6)

Hebrews 11: 1,6

Commentary: Faith means trusting God for what he will do for you … without faith it is impossible to please him

Faith, belief; trust; confidence; and conviction are words, that are meaningless if what you say and do are not in God’s way of living. Believing in the existence of God is only the beginning.

Noah and Abraham’s life were filled with faith in God. At God’s command they obeyed what he told them to do without any questions. Do you listen when God tells you to do something?

God wants a personal, dynamic, responsive, relationship with you that will transform your life. Faith means resting in what Christ has done for you in the past. It also means trusting him for what he will do for you in both the present and future.

Acts 17:29 says, “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.”

Remember God is the creator of all of us, not the creation. God is sovereign and in control, and having faith in him is trusting in him.

God has faith in you. Accept his salvation. Have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Read the Entire Chapter:
Hebrews Chapter 11
Acts Chapter 17

The Destroyer Flees from the Voice of God

Scripture: Isaiah 33: 1-6

Woe to you, O destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, O traitor, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed. O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress. At the thunder of your voice, the peoples flee; when you rise up the nations scatter. Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts; like a swarm of locusts men pounce on it. The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness. He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.

Scripture Commentary:

In this passage, the “destroyer” is Assyria, and Assyria continually broke its promises, but demanded that others keep theirs. It is easy for us to act the same and demand our rights while ignoring the rights of others.

Broken promises shatter trust and destroy relationships. Attempt to keep your promises; at the same time, ask for forgiveness for past broken promises. Treat others with the same fairness that you demand for yourself. Only when God’s Spirit is in you, can you have and ask for forgiveness.

Read the Entire Chapter:
Isaiah Chapter 33