The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith
Habakkuk 2:2-20- God’s second response We have now read Habakkuk’s first lament (1:1-4) consisting of the question, why is there wickedness within Israel, and what are you going to do about it? God’s first response (1:5-11) consists of the confusing but straightforward answer, “I am raising up the wicked and evil nation of the Chaldeans.” Habakkuk is then driven to his second complaint (1:12-2:1) which asks the question, how can you solve injustice with injustice? You made a covenant with Israel
Are you Not from Everlasting?
Habakkuk 1:12-2:1- Habakkuk’s Second Complaint We have looked at Habakkuk and his first lament to God, how long will you let this injustice continue (Hab 1:1-4). God’s response is simple, I will deal with it suddenly and very soon (Hab 1:5). However, it was not in the way that Habakkuk thought he would handle it. God was raising up the unexpected nation of Chaldeans or the Babylonians. The Chaldeans were bitter, fierce, and impetuous (Hab 1:6). They will come through Judah
Look and See
Habakkuk 1:5-11 As we study the book of Habakkuk, we are reminded that God’s word is living and active. The book of Habakkuk written in a different language, culture, and time still teaches us about God and addresses many issues we see in our newsfeeds or headlines. Habakkuk, whose name means embrace or wrestler, wrestles with God through his complaints. He asks real questions, not only philosophical questions from a study but questions about the reality in the trenches. Habakkuk first
How Long?
Introduction: Habakkuk Historical Setting We will begin studying the book of Habakkuk. The book was written during a very dark and depressing time for the southern kingdom, Judah. After King David's son, Solomon, passed away the kingdom was divided. The northern kingdom, Israel, consisted of ten tribes of Israel. The northern kingdom, never had any good kings. All did was evil in the sight of the LORD. The northern kingdom fell to the mighty Assyrian army in 722 BC. The southern kingdom
Outward Prayer
Outward Prayer We continue looking at some principles of prayer. We have looked at persistence and humility in prayer. Today we look at outward prayer. Praying for people in various positions. We turn to 1 Timothy. Paul, the aged man, writing his personal letter to his beloved spiritual son, Timothy (1 Tim 1:1-2). Timothy was the apprentice to Paul, like Obi-Wan Kenobi to Qui-Gon Jinn. This indeed was a beautiful spiritual bond between these two faithful servants of Christ. Paul met Timothy
Humble Prayer
Disclaimer: Throughout this devotion, I use examples of people in our modern-day society. I do so as a broad stroke not to apply this to everyone who shares those positions or character traits. All examples have their weaknesses. This is not meant to represent real people; they are only examples. We continue looking at some principals of prayer. Last week we looked at the Persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8. This week we turn to the next parable in Luke 18:9-14 on
Persistent Prayer
We have looked at the pattern of prayer given by Jesus in the Lord’s prayer found in Matthew 6:9-13. We will briefly look at three practices of prayer given in Luke 18 and 1 Timothy 2:1-8. The first will be persistence in prayer. The word persistence means “firm or obstinate continuance in the course of action despite difficulty or opposition.” The Christian life is filled with character-building moments of perseverance (Rom 5:1-5). Prayer is no different. Often the Psalmist asks
What does amen mean?
Amen simply means “let it be.” 1 Chronicles 16:36 David concludes another prayer, “Then all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the Lord.” Amen is found at the end of other passages (Dt 27:15-27; Neh 5:13; 8:6; Rom 1:25; Gal 1:5). We pray amen as an aspiration that our prayer might become reality. Charles Spurgeon said there are four things we state when we pray amen. 1) We pray “amen” as the desire of the heart. We want both the
Yours Is
This blog section has been broken down into two for lighter reading. You can read the first part here. 1 Chronicles 29:11 The prayer given by David in 1 Chronicles 29:10-19 has many aspects of the Lord’s prayer contained in the prayer. It includes references to; Our Father (1 Chr 29:10, 18), His Name (29:13, 16); His Kingdom (29:11); His revealed will to be done (29:19); His provision (29:16); His forgiveness (29:17-18); His deliverance (29:11, 15). David prays this prayer before his
Can we pray the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer?
Yours Is We complete our series on the Lord’s prayer with the conclusion, “Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.” We finish with a statement of God’s strength, not a petition. However, the interesting part of this prayer is that it is not found in the accounts of the Lord’s prayer in Matthew or Luke. Some translations include this doxology (KJV, NKJV, and NASB). Most translations only include this in the footnote with a comment
