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HABAKKUK’S FIRST DILEMMA-1

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Habakkuk 1:1-4 NLT
[1] “This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received in a vision. [2] How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save. [3] Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. [4] The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted.”

This little, seemingly insignificant prophecy from the pen of an unknown prophet, has huge implications for God’s people. if we look into it carefully, we can draw lessons and principles that will guide us through the same dilemma we face in our world today.

The first few verses reveal a scenario that is eerily similar to the reports in our daily newspapers. Violence, evil, misery, destruction, conflict, lawlessness, failure of the courts, injustice…all so evident in our own society! The only difference is that Habukkuk almost lays the blame for the escalation of wickedness at God’s door. “Things have got so bad because you, God, are doing nothing!” he accused.

Now that’s a bold claim! God had every right to swat His angry prophet…but He didn’t. He was patient and kind in His explanation of the real situation. You see, God is painting on a different canvas from the one we think we see. We see the effects of the hearts of people, and God seems indifferent. Unrestrained wickedness, rebellion, lawless…it all began in the garden of Eden.

So why should we be surprised? The same things have been going on since Adam’s decision to go it alone. When people kick God out of their lives, the rest is history…and history tells the story.

Habakkuk’s problem wasn’t so much what was happening but that God was letting it happen. After all, wasn’t God in charge? Isn’t He still in charge? Then why has He allowed things to become so bad, so unrestrained and out of hand? Has he lost His grip on humanity? Is He going anywhere with this mess? Can He turn things around, pull us out of it? Can He, will He put us back on even keel? Is He even interested or concerned about what’s happening to us? Will He eventually shut things down by obliterating the whole planet? After all, He owes us nothing!

In our world, history is repeating itself every day. God’s people are appalled at the level of wickedness and rebellion in the world around us. How and why have things got so bad?

To be continued…

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

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TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

“Now to Him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith – to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.” Romans 16:25-27.

What a magnificent doxology and ending to this superb letter! In Paul’s characteristic style, and in one long sentence, he encapsulated the gospel.

The gospel – what is it about? It is the message Paul proclaimed about Jesus Christ. He is the good news; His birth, foretold by the prophets in detail – who He was, His ancestry, the circumstances of His birth; His life, His character and His works; His death and resurrection; His rule and His coming kingdom – it’s all there in the Old Testament and fulfilled with precision and to perfection by His coming.

The good news, hidden from men’s understanding in the past but revealed in Jesus Christ, is that God’s mercy is for the whole world, not just for the Jews. The prophetic message was that the Gentiles would have a share in this salvation. The Jews thought that God was exclusively for them. The Gentiles were despised and side-lined in their estimation, but they missed the plot. They were to be the vehicle of God’s revelation to the world so that the Gentiles also should come to the obedience of faith.

The purpose of the gospel, and Paul never lost sight of this, was that God’s glory would be revealed to all of creation and, in the process, the usurper, the devil, would be publicly unmasked, disarmed and judged for who he was, once and for all – a liar, and a fraud, claiming the title of “Lord” which belonged to only one person, the Son of God.

God chose a drastic but effective way of exposing him; He put His own Son in the firing line. Jesus – as a human being – faced the worst that the devil could inspire humans to throw at Him, betrayal, injustice and execution in the cruellest way possible, without retaliating. He absorbed it all and then bounced back – alive and free to claim His title because He had earned it by the life of a perfect son, and the death of a perfect Lamb.

“In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what He suffered.” Hebrews 2:10.

Could there have been another more effective way to show God’s love for all mankind and to reveal His wisdom than by the plan He devised? He punished His own Son for guilt that was not His so that the guilty might go free. Perfect justice and perfect love!

What comfort for his readers to know, and for all readers down through the ages, that this God who accomplished this magnificent salvation, is also able to establish weak, frail and fallible humans in the truth so that they will both stand and persevere until the moment they are removed from the presence of sin into the glorious presence of God forever!

Paul’s reassurance must have meant much to these people who lived under the constant threat of death at the hands of ruthless persecutors. Like believers in the Middle East today who have the sword hanging over their heads for no crime other than claiming that Jesus is Lord, many of the faithful men and women who heard Paul’s words would perish under cruel persecution, but God had established them and they were safe anyway.

To this God, who planned salvation, carried it out and rescues those who believe in Him, goes all the glory and honour. Through the message of salvation, He revealed to all mankind who He really is – not some far off, indifferent or callous tyrant but a God who came near, lived and died and returned in victory to proclaim liberty to the captives.

To Him, and Him alone be the glory! Amen.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – GOD’S GIRLS

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CHAPTER EIGHT

GOD’S GIRLS!

“He continued according to plan, travelling to town after town, village after village, preaching God’s kingdom, spreading the Message. The Twelve were with Him. There were also some women in their company who had been healed of various afflictions and illnesses: Mary, the one called Magdalene, from whom seven devils had gone out; Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod’s manager; and Susanna – along with many others who used their considerable means to provide for the company.” Luke 8:1-3.

Luke gives us an interesting little interlude that is not included in the other gospels – some titbits of information about Jesus’ travelling companions, a group of women who accompanied Him and His disciples. This must have been quite unusual. Jewish women were normally in the background and would certainly not have travelled around the country with a roving rabbi.

Luke’s inclusion of this bit of information about the women is in keeping with the theme of his gospel. He had a special focus on the humanity of Jesus, on His dependence on the Holy Spirit, on His prayer life and on the way He treated people, and especially women.

Unlike Roman society – and Theophilus, the recipient of Luke’s story, was a Roman – where women enjoyed elevated positions, women were nothing in Jewish society. Luke takes time to point out to Theophilus that Jesus had a different attitude to women from other Jewish men. He treated them with dignity and respect as equal to men rather than as subordinates or possessions.

These women who followed Jesus all had very personal reasons for loving Him. Mary Magdalene, for example, had been demon possessed until Jesus rescued her, probably from a life of prostitution, and gave her back her dignity. From that moment on she became a loyal disciple, following Him and ministering to Him and His disciples wherever they went.

She was there at the cross, unashamedly to let him know that she cared, even though she could do nothing for Him at that moment. She was at the tomb in the pre-dawn darkness to anoint His body. She was the first one to see Him alive and to tell the glad news to His disciples.

Why did Jesus choose Mary to be the first person to whom He revealed Himself? Was it to show His disciples and the world that women should be given the honour due to them as the crown of His creation?

There has been much speculation and even stories written about the relationship between Jesus and Mary. Was there a romantic connection which the Bible carefully kept hidden? I believe it is safe to say that we can trust the Bible to reveal the truth about something as important as this.

Right from Genesis, the writers of the books of the Bible, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, were brutally honest about their characters. Nothing was put under wraps, not even the lapses into sin of its most revered characters, Moses and David. The gospel writers would certainly not have ignored or neglected to write about any romantic connection Mary Magdalene had with Jesus.

They loved Him and served Him out of gratitude for who He was and for His gracious treatment of them as people of worth who deserved the dignity and respect given to them by their Creator. That’s who Jesus is.

No matter who you are, you can be sure that the Master sees you as He saw those women, beautiful, treasured and worthy of honour because He created you in His image to worship Him and to be one with Him.

What Is The Acid Test?

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WHAT IS THE ACID TEST?

For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death (1 John 3: 11-14).

Hey, John! Haven’t you got it wrong? I thought that to have eternal life means to believe in Jesus. Isn’t that what He said?

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

The whole world knows that verse! So how can you say that loving my brother and sister is the way to eternal life? Aren’t you mistaken?

Let’s look at it this way. It’s easy to answer an altar call or sign a decision card in a moment of emotion when the music is playing softly and the preacher’s words are persuasive. But what about tomorrow when you are faced with the same irritating people at the office or the same nagging wife at home. The same disobedient children live in your house. The same teenagers who hog the bathroom when you are already late for work, still show you no respect or consideration. How do you react to them now? Has anything changed?

Believing in Jesus is much more than a religious exercise or a decision made in an emotion- charged moment. It is a decision and a choice to accept by faith God’s offer of forgiveness for all your sin. That’s the first step. The second is to surrender the control of your life to the Holy Spirit who has pledged to take up residence in you and to put you back on the path of obedience to God’s way of living. The good news is that He also enables you to do what you could not do before.

It’s actually a two-way commitment. God only responds to your decision when He knows that you really mean it and are committed to seeing it through to the end of your days. It’s a life-changing transaction. His part is powerful and supernatural. He rescues you from the clutches of the devil and his influence and transfers you to the kingdom of God where He calls the shots. His rule is underpinned by love, not selfishness, which the Holy Spirit generates in your heart. He washed you clean of all the stains of your past and puts His own nature in you, a disposition of loving obedience and trust in Him.

How do we know that this transaction has actually taken place? How do you know what kind of fruit tree is growing in your garden? By its fruit. It’s as simple as that! Jesus that the fruit will identify the tree. How do you know that the confession of your lips is true? Has the change actually taken place in your life or are you the same person you were yesterday? Do you have the same reaction to those who annoy you as you did before you made your “decision” to follow Jesus?

Of course, that does not mean that you have suddenly become perfect. You still have your old sinful nature to contend with, but somehow things are different if Jesus has responded to your sincere faith in Him. There’s a stirring in your heart towards the person whom you disliked yesterday. You are beginning to see him through different eyes. You recognise that he has his own issues which make him difficult to get on with. You find that can let go of the things that irritated you about him before.

There are the beginnings of new fruit in your life. God’s nature is starting to grow in you. You find yourself strangely moved by other people’s suffering where you were once disinterested and indifferent. You open your heart and your purse to someone in need instead of turning your back and walking away. What’s going on?

It’s the life of Jesus in you, not just a religious experience but an actual change that has happened in your heart. God is becoming real to you, not just a name that you utter when you are exasperated or surprised. You cringe when others thoughtlessly call His name. The emptiness and restlessness in your heart have been inexplicably removed and replaced with a peace that makes no sense but is very real.

How do you know that you have eternal life? Not because you signed a card or went up to the front for prayer, but because a real transformation has happened to you. You know you have eternal life because love has begun to grow in your heart.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

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A Loving Family

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A LOVING FAMILY

We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard so that we do not drift away. For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will. (Heb. 2: 1-4)

Perhaps even more treacherous to the faith and faithfulness of the believer than outright temptation, is the tendency to drift. One of Satan’s most effective ploys is to suggest that it is important for us to ‘serve’ the Lord. O yes, he comes to us as an angel of light. ‘God will be pleased with you if you are busy ‘serving’ Jesus,’ he sneers. Unfortunately, we don’t hear the sneer in his voice.

What is the message we heard? Believe in Jesus and receive Him as your personal Saviour so that you can go to heaven when you die? Really? Is that the reason Jesus came? This is not the message of my Bible. Jesus called me to follow Him, to learn from Him and to imitate Him. For what purpose? So that I might have fellowship with the Father as His daughter, redeemed and reconciled to Him through the blood of His Son.

Being a son or daughter of God was His original intention, ruined by Adam’s disobedience, and restored through Jesus the Christ. God wanted a family of humans who would resemble Him and be one with Him so that, through them, He would govern His creation. Living in harmony with Him, with one another and with the world would be a witness to the fallen angels that He is a loving Father, and not a cruel tyrant who evicted them from heaven for their rebellion.

How does a family maintain its loving fellowship? Surely it is by obeying the Father and keeping in touch with Him and with one another! The Father’s greatest pleasure is to see His family being a family. The greatest heartache for any parent is to lose touch with his children and for them to lose touch with one another. Busyness causes them to drift apart and it happens slowly and subtly.

God is a perfect Father. His family is His greatest joy and delight. He gave His people His ‘Torah’, His instructions for living in harmony with Him and with one another so that they could show the world what the true God was really like. They missed it. They were more interested in the pagan gods around them who pandered to their fleshly lusts and selfish ways.

God sent His Son to be the model of a true son who would live every moment in a loving and intimate relationship with Him so that He could know and do the Father’s will. He called twelve men to follow Him. He both taught and showed them how to be sons of God and how to live under the authority of the heavenly Father. They discovered that His way really worked. When the Holy Spirit came on them as He had come on Jesus, they also had the power to imitate their Master.

They went everywhere, living and passing on the good news that Jesus was God’s Son and that He had come to set them free from the shackles of sin so they could return to the Father and to Father’s house. They taught those who received the message what Jesus had taught them. The way to maintain their fellowship with Him and with the Father through Him was to ‘remain in Him’ (John 15: 5).

Of course that would take discipline and perseverance. The other alternative was to drift and lose their closeness to Him. The problem with drifting is that their natural bent was towards selfish and self-centred living, following and satisfying their sinful desires. If they did that, they would drift back into the ways of death. Sin leads to death. If they did not maintain their life in Jesus, they would surely die.

This salvation was no human invention. The Old Covenant, given to God’s people from Mount Sinai was accompanied by awesome signs which terrified them, Violation of that covenant was serious enough to bring judgment – and it was mediated by angels and ratified by animal blood. What of the New Covenant, sealed by the blood of God’s perfect Son? Who will escape and how will they escape if they drifted away from obeying that covenant?

Obviously there is no answer. No one will escape. God is inescapable! Why should anyone escape? God cannot treat anyone leniently who ignores or despises the blood He Son shed to bring us back to Him. The answer? Don’t drift! Walk with Jesus one day at a time, remaining in Him and in His word.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and me in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. (John 15: 5, 6)

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.