Monthly Archives: July 2023

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM Continued

Christian Life, ,

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM Continued

3. LIVING THE LIFE – THE KEY TO GROWTH

Working out what God is working in us.

“Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”

Philippians 2:12-13 NLT

“For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 14:17 NLT

Access into God’s kingdom is the first step into living our lives here and now under God’s rule. This means that we are to pursue righteousness and holiness in this life in response to the Holy Spirit’s work in us.

Paul made it clear that people who continue living their old sinful lives despite their confession of salvation, have not entered the kingdom of God. They will have no part in His kingdom in the life to come.

“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

Galatians 5:19-21 NLT

4. THE GOLDEN KEY – ROOTED IN GOD’S LOVE

Paul recorded many of his prayers in his letters to the churches. These prayers reveal his heart for God’s people and his partnership with the Holy Spirit in opening the doors of understanding and participation into God’s kingdom.

However, I see his prayer in Ephesians 3:15ff as the Golden Key to everything that has ever been revealed about our lives in God’s Kingdom.

Jesus had something important to say to the Ephesian church, the same church to which Paul penned his letter, which makes it even more important for us to understand this key.

“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”

Revelation 2:4-5 NIV

What is this “first love” which the Ephesian Church had forsaken?

It was not the warm, fuzzy excitement we felt when we first believed in Jesus, as many have preached. In fact, it isn’t our love for Jesus at all. Our love, at best, is feeble, frail, and fickle, and often crumbles under pressure.

Our response of love for Jesus depends entirely on His love for us. It is the fruit of the root which feeds and produces the fruit.

“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God…. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

1 John 4:7, 9-10 NLT

If we remove God’s love from our experience of His rule and control of our lives, especially when stuff happens that makes no sense, we end up with being nothing but pawns in God’s hands.

God’s love gives colour, meaning, sense, and hope to all our life experiences, good and bad. Since God is love and, since God is utterly reliable and trustworthy, we can commit ourselves unconditionally to His love in everything because we know that He works in all things for our good. We also know that He has a plan… to restore the image of His Son in us.

I have come to realise that God has used even those times when I, as a believer, have trespassed into sin, for my good. I’ve learned the meaning of true repentance and learned to hate the sin I was involved in.

Even more than that, the precious Holy Spirit has revealed to me that my pursuit of love led me to drink at the wrong fountain. Like the woman at the well, I tried to quench my thirst at the fountain of human love only to be betrayed by human failure. Only when I realised that Jesus alone is the pure fountain of perfect love was my thirst quenched and fully satisfied.

So, to grow roots deeply into God’s love for us is to anchor our lives in the most secure place to be held fast and kept steady as we navigate all the ups and downs of our lives.

Without the awareness of the greatness of God’s love for us, living in His kingdom would be just another set of rules to obey. This love of God binds our hearts to Him in a powerful union of trust, submission and obedience which are the hallmarks of a true son.

“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.”

John 15:9 NLT

“But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.”

Jude 1:20-21 NLT

Can you see how important it is that we understand that all we experience as believers in Jesus must be filtered through this love of God? His love underpins everything that has happened and will happen to us because He is “passing by”, to reveal Himself to us, in each situation, according to our need.

To put our trust in and root our lives in God’s love means that NOTHING can get between His love and us. Paul assures us, based on everything God did for us through Jesus…

“I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:38-39 NLT

God’s love for us didn’t begin when we came to faith in Jesus. God loved us before He made the world.

“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.”

Ephesians 1:4 NLT

God was watching and intimately supervising the formation of the unborn child and setting out the days of its life before it came into the world.

“You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”

Psalms 139:15-16 NLT

He loved us even when we were living in sin in our unregenerate days.

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

Romans 5:8 NLT

The Old Covenant was an interim covenant given to Israel to teach them that God is holy and that sin separates sinners from a holy God and is punishable by consequences. To apply the consequences of sin, which Jesus atoned for by His death, to believers in Jesus in the New Covenant is to cancel what Jesus did on the cross.

This is the reason that any teaching and practice regarding “generational curses” in the New Covenant context, are utterly false. Believers cannot be rooted in God’s love and be subject to generational curses at the same time.

Isaiah prophesied that Messiah would set His people free…

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the broken-hearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.”

Isaiah 61:1 NLT

Jesus confirmed that He was the Anointed One…

“The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

Luke 4:17-21 NLT

… and that it was His role to set captives free.

Free from what?

Free from the lies Satan sows in our minds about God, us, and sin and all its effects.

Jesus is passionate about setting His people free from everything that opposes, contradicts, or attempts to replace God’s grace and that has any control over them other than the Holy Spirit. God gives His grace freely to those who realise they are nothing and depend on Him for everything that enables them to live free… from sin, and from self – effort.

Jesus sets us free when we realise that real freedom us living in the absolute confidence of God’s love for us revealed and confirmed in the death of Jesus.

“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?”

Romans 8:31-32 NLT

“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”

Colossians 2:6-7 NLT

Can you now see how important it is that any ministry in the name of Jesus must teach people how to live rooted in the love of God. This IS the golden key to the whole of life here and now, in this fallen world.

Jesus mirrors for us the pinnacle of our lives rooted in God’s love in His example as He suffered and died at the hands of ruthless murderers.

“For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God…. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, HE ENTRUSTED HIMSELF TO HIM WHO JUDGES JUSTLY. “

1 Peter 2:19, 21-23 NIV

When we are rooted in God’s love, we, will interpret everything that happens to us through the lens of that love. We can then entrust ourselves to Him who judges justly.

“We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So, we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”

1 John 4:16-18 NLT

There are other keys that are of great value and influence in our lives as we live in God’s kingdom in the darkness of this world.

We are always going to be affected by the sin that attracts the old nature in us. Ungodly people affect us by their attitudes and behaviour. We often act and retaliate out of our own old, ungodly nature, adding our sin to theirs and compounding the rifts between us.

Living in union with our fellow believers also sometimes brings out the worst in us. In our eagerness to defend, protect, or vindicate ourselves, we forget God’s instruction to trust in Him to be our defence.

THE KINGDOM OF “PAY IT FORWARD”

Christian Life, ,

THE KINGDOM OF “PAY IT FORWARD”

Many of you have watched the movie “Pay it Forward” and were moved by the idea and the sacrifice Trevor made to carry out the idea that cost him his life.

Did you know that “pay it forward” is built into the very fabric of our lives as believers in Jesus?

God’s people in the Old Covenant were constantly reminded to show their gratitude to God by ‘paying it forward” to their fellow Israelites and the strangers within their borders in response to God’s mercy to them.

Jesus confirmed the same principle in the New Covenant when He gave His “new commandment” to His disciples shortly before His death. “Love one another as I have loved you.”

However, it must not stop there.

God’s love is a giving love. He gave us Jesus and, with Him, everything we need for this life and the next. We show our love and gratitude to Him when we “pay it forward” by taking care of the needs of His children.

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38

Let me share a testimony with you. As the Holy Spirit began to impress on me the responsibility of being a faithful steward of God’s goodness to me, He identified a little family that needed help. I began to give towards the support of a precious little girl whom a dear granny had been given to care for and raise.

The family went through very difficult times during lockdown. By God’s grace, I continued to have enough and to share. We limped through the hard times and, when lockdown was eased, a new opportunity opened for this loving granny, together with a new home and a lifting of the financial burden.

I was delighted, when I received confirmation of my monthly contribution, that this “pay it forward” principle is now a part of their lives as they share their blessing with another family in need. This news made me even more determined to continue my support because it frees them up to help another family by paying it forward.

“Paying it forward” sets up a current that keeps God’s provision flowing and opens the way for more of His goodness to come back to us so that we can continue to share our resources with others.

So, no matter how tough life is at times, we always have something for which to be thankful. As we express our gratitude to God in tangible ways, the current of God’s goodness will carry on and will also come back to us and enable us to keep that current flowing.

Apart from our tangible gifts to bless others, what is the greatest treasure we can share that costs us nothing in rands and cents but cannot be measured in terms of eternal value? God’s Word is that treasure and the insights the Holy Spirit gives us to put that Word into practice.

God’s Word is a seed. As we sow it into other lives, it takes root and bears fruit in the good soil of those who believe. What greater blessing can we impart as, we “pay” God’s Word “forward” and nourish the souls of those around us!

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM

Christian Life, ,

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19

What I am writing is a simple, step-by-step explanation of our participation in God’s kingdom now. Then we will be ready to take our place and function in the role God has prepared for us in our life to come in His eternal kingdom.

Jesus promised His disciples that He would give them the keys of the kingdom and that He would send the Holy Spirit to them to give them understanding of the meaning of His life, death, and resurrection as the Old Testament foretold.

The Holy Spirit left man when Adam disobeyed God. He only appeared and worked sporadically in people in the Old Testament era. However, Jesus died to atone for all sin, giving God the freedom to send the Holy Spirit to earth on the day of Pentecost. He is present on the earth permanently and in the hearts of believers and will never again be removed.

Jesus came to earth as a human to deal with sin and to usher in God’s kingdom. Those who believe in Him are no longer under Satan’s control and influence but under God’s power and loving rule.

“For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son… ”

Colossians 1:13 NLT

Since keys open doors, the keys of the kingdom relate to what we do to access what God has done for us through Jesus and given us to make this life in the kingdom of God possible here and now,

For anyone to enter the spiritual realm of God’s kingdom, there are certain doors to go through for us to benefit fully from that rule now which prepares us for our place in His eternal kingdom then.

1. FAITH – THE KEY TO TRUTH

Faith in the gospel message.

Faith in what God has said is a necessary first key into God’s kingdom. Faith is kindled in our hearts when we hear or read the message about Jesus. Without faith, the Holy Spirit cannot work in us to bring about what the next key does in us.

“For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

Romans 1:17 NLT

“For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them (the Israelites). But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God. For only we who believe can enter his rest….”

Hebrews 4:2-3 NLT

2. NEW BIRTH – THE KEY TO ENTER THE KINGDOM

New birth into the kingdom through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said to Nicodemus that no one can see or enter the kingdom apart from the Holy Spirit.

“Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” … Jesus replied, “I assure you; no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.”

John 3:3, 5-6 NLT

New birth happens through saving faith in Jesus. By this I mean that faith in Jesus implies absolute commitment to Him as our supreme authority, based on our acceptance of the truth that God raised Him from the dead.

“And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved…. So, faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.’

Romans 10:8-10, 17 NLT

To be continued…

THE FOUNTAIN OF GOD’S LOVE

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THE FOUNTAIN OF GOD’S LOVE

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” John 4:13-15

I have been circling around the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman once again. This story fascinates and inspires me because of the many layers it reveals of Jesus’ character and His way, as the Son of God, of dealing with an immoral woman.

Since this woman remains nameless, we can place ourselves in her shoes (sandals), and receive the same diagnosis and the same remedy today as Jesus gave her on that memorable morning.

Her body language spoke volumes of her demeanour, her defiant attitude, her seductive eyes, betraying the aura of a provocative and seductive temptress on the outside, but weeping inwardly of her loneliness and frustration.

She, of all people, should have been condemned and shunned by the Holy Son of God but, instead, Jesus peered deep into her soul, read her heart and gave her the perfect solution to her need.

“Woman, you are thirsty, but you are drinking polluted water at the wrong fountain.”

Thirsty for what? What was this “water” for which she was craving? It’s obvious that her longing was to be loved… loved for who she was, not for what she could do or give… loved despite her flaws and failures… loved unconditionally and unceasingly.

She longed for a love that was not fickle, would not grow tired of her or give up on her when her beauty faded and her body took on the condition and shape of increasing years.

She longed for the love that looked into her soul and recognised the growing beauty of wisdom and maturity, of inner peace and contentment, and faith in a love that would never fail her to the end of her days.

Five times she tried, but each time the fountain delivered only selfish, abusive or demanding water, only eventually to fail, leaving her thirstier and more desperate than ever.

Then Jesus came, a man who looked at her, not with lust but with compassion and kindness. There was warmth and understanding in His gaze. She was startled, repulsed because of her shame, yet drawn to Him at the same time by His genuine interest and His simple request.

“Why are you talking to me?” she burst out. She was anticipating yet another outburst of loathing and contempt from yet another Jewish man. Jesus ignored her outburst…He had a much more important issue to deal with.

He came straight to the point. “I can give you the love you crave, not the love of a man for a woman but the love of your Creator God for His beloved fallen daughter. This love will lift you up, wash you clean and recreate you in His own image, the image of pure love. This love will never give up on you, never fail you and never run dry.”

She was intrigued. “Where will I find this love? Is it possible that I can be loved like that?“

“I am this love,” He replied. “To receive this love, you must turn your back on all other loves. You must run from the polluted fountain which has never satisfied your thirst, and drink only at the fountain of my love for you.”

In that encounter with Jesus, she lost her guilt, her shame, her fear. She ran back to her village, her load gone, to share with the very people from whom she shrank, the wonder of a new love. She saw, beyond the human Jesus, the Messiah of God’s promise, the One who could satisfy her longing heart forever. Human love, feeble, frail, fickle, and failing, may come and go but divine love endures forever.

Every human heart, no matter what colour the skin that covers the outside, craves a love that is…

“… patient and kind… not jealous or boastful or proud or rude…does not demand its own way… is not irritable, and… keeps no record of being wronged…does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out…never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT

Jesus called this love “a fountain”, refreshing and quenching the thirst of everyone who drinks of it.

“On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!  Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”

John 7:37-38 NLT

Why is Jesus the fountain from which we must drink? He is God, and God is love. It is God’s love alone that can satisfy the longing of our hearts.

Why?

Life is uncertain. We live in a fallen world, full of evil people and the uncertainties and insecurities of an unknown future. How can we live in peace, without fear, and secure in a love that will never fail us and will carry us through every test and trial to the end of our days? How can we endure the hardships, trials and tragedies that hit us out of the blue?

God’s love is our only guarantee. If God loves us, with a love that is utterly trustworthy, nothing can overtake us that is bigger than this love.

How do we know that God truly loves us?

“God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

1 John 4:9-10 NLT

“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

John 15:13 NLT

How do we respond to this great love of God?

Jude said: “But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.”

Jude 1:20-21 NLT

Keep yourselves safe in God’s love!  When tragedy strikes, drink of that love. “In all things God works for our good…” When resources run out, drink at the fountain. When relationships fail, believe in the love of God. When children disappoint, take courage and hope in Jesus’ love.

When you wake in the morning, take a deep draught of God’s love before you drink your first cup of coffee.  Fall asleep at night secure in the arms of that great love. Navigate your day, whatever it brings, in that secure and unfailing love. Never allow a single thought to cross your mind that doubts that God is in charge.

God will never permit anything in your life that does not come through the filter of His love.

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:38-39 NLT

THE CUP

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THE CUP

The use of a “cup” in Scripture helps to throw light on God’s dealings with individuals and nations, giving us insights into both His sovereignty and human responsibility.

Some time ago, I asked the Lord why He has not stopped the war in Ukraine in response to the prayers of many people around the world. His answer shocked and surprised me, because it is in the Bible, because it makes sense to me, because it takes the long look at the present situation, and because it throws light on God’s sovereignty and the absolute justice of His justice.

The Holy Spirit, the supreme Teacher, took me to Genesis 15:16, where God told Abraham about the future of his descendants and the fate of the Amorites who occupied the land God would give to the descendants of Abraham.

“In the fourth generation, your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

Genesis 15:16 NIV

God would not destroy the Amorites until their cup of God’s wrath against their idolatry and wickedness was full. In the fourth generation, Abraham’s descendants would go back to Canaan, wipe out the Amorites (Canaanites) because of their wickedness, and take possession of the land. God fulfilled this prophecy under the leadership of Joshua.

It seems to me, then, that the Bible is telling us, from the many references to a cup, that God has a cup of destiny for every individual and nation. The cup is simply His way of saying that He has determined a destiny for every individual and every nation for either mercy or judgment but…

It is the responsibility of every person and nation, through its leaders, to fill that cup by living in a way that confirms that destiny. In the end, they will drink the “wine” of God’s wrath or mercy when their cup is full.

If I understand God’s Word correctly, God has given the nation of Russia a cup of wrath, but also the opportunity to change its destiny by turning to the Lord in repentance, as Assyria did for a time through the preaching of Jonah. However, Russia, through its leaders, has chosen to fill up the cup of God’s wrath by its indescribable wickedness to the people of Ukraine in particular and the world in general by it policy of socialism and its accompanying cruelty. When that cup is full, He will cause Russia to drink it to the dregs…. and so with every nation that defies God’s Word and harms other nations.

Take Egypt, for example. God chose Pharaoh for wrath but gave him the opportunity to change his destiny and that of Egypt by treating the Israelites kindly, but Pharaoh chose to fill up God’s cup with wrath…and paid for it.

“For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.” So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.”

Romans 9:17-18 NLT

Paul explains this aspect of God’s dealings with people that we often question because we think that God is being unfair by choosing some for wrath and others for mercy.

“Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?” No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.

Romans 9:19-24 NLT

What Paul is saying is this: we look at election from a human perspective. We think God is being unfair by arbitrarily choosing some for wrath and others for mercy. However, from God’s perspective, all are under wrath. When God pours out wrath in individuals and nations, He is being perfectly just because, as Paul said, “There are none righteous, not even one.”

God also has a purpose even for those whom He has destined for judgment. In the end, both His wrath and His mercy reveal His true nature and bring glory to Him.

When God chose Pharaoh for wrath and poured out judgment on Egypt and Egypt’s gods, He was bringing glory to His name because it was the destiny Pharaoh chose for Egypt, confirming God’s “cup” for that nation. So, God’s wrath brings Him glory by justifying His righteous judgment on ungodliness.

Likewise, God shows mercy to others to reveal an aspect of His nature which we could otherwise never know. Only through the sin of mankind and the sacrifice of Jesus can we know the mercy of God.

As our Creator, He has the right to do as He chooses with the clay. The clay cannot decide what it wants to become. Whether He chooses some for wrath and others for mercy, He is glorified in the outcome of His dealings with both people and nations.

In the end, the revelation is about who is Lord. Those who are destined for wrath are those who reject God for some other false deity they choose to worship. Those who receive mercy do so only because they obey the gospel and bow to Jesus as Lord.

“And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people—praise from all who believe. And this includes you, for you believed what we told you about him.”

2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 NLT

This is a huge subject. This password, “cup” opens a treasure chamber of revelation about the nature and ways of God, too big to write about here.

The little prophecy of Habakkuk, which is often just read for its titbits of truth, gives us some insights into the ways of God and what our response should be to what He is doing in the world today.

Habakkuk also asked God a question. “Why are you not doing something about the wickedness of your own people?” God’s answer shocked and surprised him. “I am,” God said, “and if I tell you what I am doing, you will not believe me. I am raising up the Babylonians!” 

Wow! It’s as if God were saying to us, in answer to our question in the past, “God, why are you not doing something about apartheid?” “I am. I’m raising up the ANC!”

The Babylonians were a cruel and vicious nation that would destroy Judah (Israel had already been conquered by the Assyrians) and take its people captive to Babylon as punishment for their stubborn disobedience and idolatry. Why did God do that?

God allowed Babylon to fill up its own cup of wrath so that He could destroy it for its wickedness for conquering Judah. Babylon was eventually wiped out by the Medes and Persians.

What about God’s people who suffered at the hands of the Babylonians army? Once again, what God revealed to the prophet shows us how He deals with every individual in every nation, no matter what choices the leader makes for each nation.

God not only raised up a wicked nation to inflict punishment on His people for their wickedness, but he judged that nation for doing to Judah what they did. However, there is another side to what God told Habakkuk. He also deals with individuals in wrath or mercy. Every person will stand before Hin to answer for their response to the gospel.

“For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.”

2 Corinthians 5:10 NLT

“And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds…. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Revelation 20:11-13, 15 NLT

For those within the wicked nation that is under God’s wrath, who are destined for mercy, there is a way to deal with the revelation God gave to Habakkuk.

WONDER

“I have heard all about you, Lord. I am filled with awe by your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by. And in your anger, remember your mercy.”

Habakkuk 3:2 NLT

Habakkuk recalled God’s works in history. The prophet was overwhelmed with awe and amazement at the things God revealed to him. He responded with a wild song and dance of worship, recalling, in extravagant language, what God did to Egypt.

WORSHIP

Habakkuk was not only filled with wonder as he recalled and reflected on the way God rescued his people from Egyptian tyranny, but he also declared his absolute confidence in God no matter what His punishment of His own people would bring. Babylonian invasion might mean great suffering for the people of Judah, but he would rejoice in God anyway.

WAIT

“I trembled inside when I heard this; my lips quivered with fear. My legs gave way beneath me, and I shook in terror. I will wait quietly for the coming day when disaster will strike the people who invade us.”

Habakkuk 3:16 NLT

Habakkuk was reassured that God would act to revenge those who destroyed his people. He would wait for God to do as He promised.

WALK

“The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.”

Habakkuk 3:19 NLT

Finally, as the prophet affirms his trust in God, no matter what, he also expresses his confidence in God’s grace to enable him to navigate the steep and rocky places that God’s judgment would bring.

In all this startling and shocking revelation, the prophet has only one request… “In wrath, remember mercy.”

Perhaps we should take a leaf from Habakkuk’s book. Instead of praying long prayers, giving God advice, and telling Him what to do, as we contemplate the disasters that are happening all around us, we should WONDER at what God has already done in His sovereignty to deal with sin in the world, culminating in the death of His Son.

We should WORSHIP Him for who He is despite the terrible things that are happening and WAIT for Him to act for His own glory. Then we will WALK in His grace, no matter what, because He is God and worthy of our love, trust, and praise.

Our response should be David’s response when he considered all God’s goodness to him…

What shall I return to the LORD
for all his goodness to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD. Psalms 116:12-13