Devotional Song: Go to this link – Please take your time to see a video of a local church congregation singing the old classic hymn with lyrics … Be Thou My Vision, reminding all Christians to strive to see the world though God’s perspective.
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Highlight Passage: Habakkuk 2: 1, 3 … [NKJV] …
1 I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, … [and God responded] … “… 3 For the vision is yet appointed for a time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come; … “
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Habakkuk 2: 1-14 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Habakkuk 3: 17-18 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …
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Reference Passage #1 - NKJV: Proverbs 3: 5-6 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …
Reference Passage #2 - NKJV: Romans 8: 28 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …
Reference Passage #3 - NKJV: Hebrews 11: 1 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK …
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Poh Fang Chia, used an interesting word picture to depict the Christians’s pursuit of a divine perspective … or what is now being labeled as a “Christians world view.”
The story is of a young man trying to get to the top of the Empire State Building to view the “Big Apple.” From the streets below, he saw the world as hectic and even troublesome; but when he got to the top of the Empire State (see attached photo), the perspective was very different … i.e., very organized and well laid-out.
That was the change which the Prophet Habakkuk found when he took his earthly perspective, i.e., his human world view to God (see Chapter One of Habakkuk’s three chapter song). He was dismayed by what he saw in the world; and he couldn’t understand why God would allow all the chaos and disobedience from God’s chosen people. But God told Habakkuk to go up to a “rampart” or “a strong tower” (the Hebrew word, pronounced “mat-sore” in Habakkuk 2: 1) so that the Prophet could have a more Godly perspective on what was about to transpire. And Habakkuk did exactly that; and when he finally got to that high place, he was able to find God’s view on things, … giving him a whole new, divine perspective.
If you go back and read the entire song of Habakkuk, in Chapter One you read of a totally confused, perplexed, and acutely depressed Prophet looking at life. That was life from the street level of New York City. Today we see all the violence and the horror of man’s injustice to man. But then, when you get to the last chapter of Habakkuk’s journal, for example in Habakkuk 3: 17-18, linked above, you see that the Prophet finally sees things from God’s divine perspective; and what he sees - though there is still the potential for bad things happening - will not take away Habakkuk’s joy, finally well-grounded in faith.
That, my friend, is the view we have when we truly believe the truth of passages like Proverbs 3: 5-6 and Romans 8: 28 and Hebrews 11: 1, all truths - linked above - which I hope we all have memorized and internalized by faith. Because if we do, we will have a divine perspective from on high, seeing the world from God’s viewpoint rather than our lowly way of looking at the world.
My Prayer for Today … Lord, help me to go to a high place today to see the world from Your viewpoint. And when I do I will have Your joy to replace my anguish. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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