Habakkuk 2

Then the Lord replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Our Soul Waits


Psalm 33:1-5 ESV

Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
    Praise befits the upright.
Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
    make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

For the word of the Lord is upright,
    and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

In this world of ours, where evil reigns, and where the church (for the most part here in America) has gone the way of the world, and is in a massive moral and spiritual decline, we who are following Jesus with our lives need to be proclaiming him and his truths out loud so that all can hear.

We need to be shouting out his holiness, his righteousness, his goodness, his mercy and his grace to us. And, by shouting I don’t mean being obnoxious or getting right in people’s faces or being hypocritical and legalistic, either.

What I mean is that we need to be bold in our witness, and not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ or of our Lord Jesus, either. For, so many, many people, including so many who profess faith in Jesus Christ, are living in immorality, impurity, unfaithfulness, idolatry, and spiritual adultery, and they are walking according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit. And, many of these people are pastors and leaders within our churches, too.

So, we need to be teaching that the Word of the Lord is upright. It does not coddle people in their sins. It makes no room for the flesh. It does not look the other way while God’s people live in moral decay and spiritual adultery, either. God’s gospel of salvation saves people from their slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin, not just from the ultimate punishment of sin.

The gospel of our salvation, thus, demands repentance, obedience to Christ, and submission to the cross and to the Word of God. For, if we proclaim Jesus as Savior of our lives, but we live (conduct our lives) according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit, we will die in our sins, not have eternal life with God (Lu. 9:23-25; Jn. 6:35-66; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 5:19-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14).

Psalm 33:6-9 ESV

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
    and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
    he puts the deeps in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the Lord;
    let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
For he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.

We have to realize here that our God is not sleeping. He is not ignoring what is going on in the world. He is also not powerless to act, either. But, he has his timing for everything, and when it is his timing, he will do exactly what he has said all along that he will do. He will bring his judgments on this earth, and many will die, and many will die in their sins who thought they were going to heaven, too, and because they believed the lie and because they refused to believe the truth and so be saved.

When I read this part about the Lord gathering the waters of the sea as a heap, what immediately came to my mind is a tsunami. Now, I realize this is most likely a reference to God parting the waters of the River Jordan and the Red Sea for the children of Israel to cross over, but it also represents God’s judgments against His enemies, too, who were drowned in the Red Sea (See: Joshua 3:13 and Exodus 15:8 – see whole chapter).

Psalm 33:10-17 ESV

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
    he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
    the plans of his heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

The Lord looks down from heaven;
    he sees all the children of man;
from where he sits enthroned he looks out
    on all the inhabitants of the earth,
he who fashions the hearts of them all
    and observes all their deeds.
The king is not saved by his great army;
    a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
    and by its great might it cannot rescue.

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. Amen! Hallelujah! For, there are so many liars and deceivers who abound these days who are leading God’s people astray. Our government leaders are pretending one thing while they are doing another. Nothing from their mouths can be trusted, though not saying they never tell the truth. But, they twist the truth to their own advantage and to our disadvantage, and in order that they may conquer the peoples and nations and Christians of the world (via the beast).

Our church leaders… so many of them have gone the way of the world and have departed from following their Lord in surrender to his will for their lives. Many of them, too, are wolves in sheep’s clothing who are thieves and robbers who are out to destroy the church and the gospel of our salvation. And, they have largely been temporarily successful.

For, they have diluted the gospel message and turned it into a license for lasciviousness. They teach that God requires no repentance, no obedience, and no submission to his Lordship, and then they vilify the true gospel and its messengers, proclaiming that the true gospel is a lie and that it is teaching works-based salvation. And, so many have believed this, and that is why the church is in the mess that it is in spiritually and morally.

But, this cheap grace gospel that they proclaim saves no one, for it does not bring people to cross of Christ in humility and repentance and in obedience to Christ and in submission to his Lordship. So, instead of delivering people from their bondage, it coddles them in their sin and it entertains them.

Psalm 33:18-22 ESV

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
    on those who hope in his steadfast love,
that he may deliver their soul from death
    and keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
For our heart is glad in him,
    because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
    even as we hope in you.

Amen! The eye of the Lord is most certainly on those who fear him. And, to fear him means to honor, respect, value, uphold, obey, and submit to him and to his righteousness, and to his holiness, and to his truth.

For those of us who truly put our hope in him, we walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, not in absolute perfection, but in practice, in lifestyle, and in consistent and persistent conduct which is honoring to our Lord and to his holiness. And, we have the confident assurance that one day we will get to be with him forever. Amen!

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.


Tuesday, February 5, 2019

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