Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of Don Moen singing the old hymn Trust and Obey… declaring the reality of our need to trust in God no matter the circumstances of life, … the only way to be happy in our relationship with Christ.
Highlight Passage: Habakkuk 3: 17-18 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Habakkuk learned that no event can steal his joy as long as He trusts in his God.
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Highlight Context – Habakkuk, Chapter 3 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Habakkuk comes to faith, overcoming his fears, and trusting in His God.
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Reference Passage #1 - Isiah 41:10 [NKJV] …
10 Fear not, for I am with you; … be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; … yes, I will help you. I will lift you up with My righteous right hand.
… Trust and obey … there is no other way … especially when we’re out of control … to have faith in God’s control.
Reference Passage #2 - Matthew 11: 28-30 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus invites any and all to come to Him when our burdens are too heavy.
Reference Passage #3 - 2nd Corinthians 12: 9-10 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… We all need God’s enabling/empowering and sufficient grace to help lift us up in our moments of fear or weakness.
Reference Passage #4 - Hebrews 13: 5 [NKJV] …
5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
… Faithful and true … because God will never forsake us …
Reference Passage #5 - 1st Peter 5:6-7 [NKJV] …
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
… No mater what the circumstances, we need to humbly trust in our God.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Poh Fang Chia, teaches about trusting God and holding on to our faith, … even when we see tragedy coming. He wrote: Life had been going along so well, when it was abruptly interrupted and forever changed without warning. … Tragedy can come in many forms—the loss of a loved one, an illness, the loss of wealth or our livelihood. And it can happen to anyone at any time.
I think of an event which occurred at night on Palm Sunday in 1965 near in my home town, … when my Aunt and Uncle were driving into their driveway; and they heard a “freight-train” noise as they looked up to see a tornado obliterated their home. They were miraculously saved from death; but they could do nothing to save their home on that devastating night. Their home and farm was gone in an act of God they certainly didn’t desire but one which certainly tested their faith.
In the Old Testament, the writings of the Prophet Habakkuk carry a message with which we can all identify and from which we can all learn. And that would most certainly be true for my Aunt and Uncle in dealing with the aftermath of that Palm Sunday tornado. Habakkuk was a Prophet during the times of Jeremiah and Daniel when Jews, faithful to God, watched helplessly as the people turned to idol worship and debauchery and as the Babylonians, under Nebuchadnezzar, were about to overtake Jerusalem, which ultimately occurred in 605 BC.
And in those times, Habakkuk had a crisis of faith, … confused in seeing His covenant God allow what was going on in the Prophet’s world, … as well as seeing that God would allow such an evil people as the Babylonians to capture God’s holy temple as well as His chosen peoples. But we know from Habakkuk’s book and song that the Prophet went from worry to worship and from fear to faith, teaching all of God’s people what is sung in today’s linked song … “that there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey.”
I hope we all take in today’s teaching and meditate on the Scriptures above, … with the assurance that our God is always in control and well never forsake any believer in Christ who trusts in our Lord.
My Prayer Today: Heavenly Father, … Lift us up today, Lord … With all that is taking over our world, we need You!!! … 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, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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