Habakkuk 2:4. Behold, his soul which is lifted up (proud) is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
Oh Friends, another God-sent day is on the horizon. But whether it’s going to be hot and sunny, like the past two days, or cold and rainy, I can’t tell you, because I’ve seen two different forecasts in the last few hours. Around 10 p.m. last night, it said 31 degrees and rain, but at 2.30 this morning, it’s saying 24 and sunshine, and that’s after rain, thunder and lightning last night. So you go figure nuh!
The weather forecaster’s job right now is one of the most unpredictable in the world. But my brethren, regardless of what happens with the weather, believers in Jesus will stand strong, steadfast and upright because of their enduring faith, as our Bit so wisely declares: ‘Behold, his soul which is lifted up (proud) is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.’
And I guess you’re wondering why there’s no wandering preamble? Well I have plenty stuff to share, and I want to get it all in today, while keeping the Bit at a reasonable length. So right away, let’s get to some scholarly explanations re our Bit.
‘2:4. Two classes of people are contrasted (1) the proud, haughty Chaldeans who will be the victors in the forthcoming conflict; and (2) the righteous ones of Judah who will appear to be defeated in the forthcoming conflict, but in reality will be the victors because of their faith in the Lord.
The just shall live by his faith is often quoted in the New Testament in support of the doctrine of justification by faith. (See Rom.1:17; Gal.3:11; Heb.10:38) Thus, this Old Testament prophecy anticipates the New Testament gospel which shall ultimately conquer the nations and bring them to Christ.’
And that’s exactly what the New testament Gospel has been doing Friends; conquering both individuals and nations and having them kneel at Christ’s footstool in true repentance to receive His ultimate gifts of salvation and eternal life! What can be more pleasing to our heavenly Father eh? Nothing, except for the whole, entire earth to believe and receive salvation, not losing a single soul to the enemy Beelzebub!
But just remember my fellow believers, that our most important job here on earth, our bounden duty, is to help bring those lost souls to Jesus. So if we don’t do right, that’s LOVE God, LIVE our Faith, and SPREAD His Word, then we’re part of the problem and not of the solution.
Oh, and by the way, I hope you all checked out the reference from yesterday, Daniel 5:30-31, where Habakkuk’s prophecy came through in the middle of the night. Belshazzar, the Chaldean king was slain and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom.
And today’s certainly your lucky day Friends, sorry blessed day (smile) because I’ve planned to quote all the scriptures the scholars referenced above, including this one from John.
‘The Father LOVETH the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth (remains) on him.’ (John 3:35-36)
Yes my people, those who don’t believe in the light and life of the Son, darkness, death and destruction will continue to dog them forever. And as Bruh Paul said to the Roman church, when he talked about the power of the gospel and the guilt of mankind.
‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.’ (Rom.1:16-18)
Ah mih breddren, the gospel of Christ is so powerful that it can propel you from the very demonic gates of sin, death and Hades right to the golden arches of heaven, through salvation, so you can enjoy life eternal.
Wow! I say it every day: what a mighty and LOVING God we serve my people! Everyday we should just be falling all over ourselves to live for Him, to give Him the thanks and praise He so worthily deserves!
But instead we foolishly resist His entreaties and advances, push Him aside, and live with hate, bitterness, anger and revenge as the prominent emotions in our lives, rather than those of Peace, LOVE, Mercy and Forgiveness which flow from Him.
And then we wonder why life is so rough. Hn! The answer is so simple; we’ve turned away from Almighty God. We no longer obey His commandments, so how do we expect to receive His blessings and LOVING-kindness eh?
Oh Friends, I think I have to change my plans here yes, because I’ve just seen some explanations from the scholars re the last two verses above, which I believe will help us understand those scriptures better, so here goes.
‘1:17. Righteousness, God’s essential attribute is revealed. It is not man’s invention; it is God’s revelation. Left to himself, man would never have thought of it. From faith to faith: It’s source and end are the same. To those who possess God’s righteousness Paul pronounces, The just shall live by faith. What one believes does make a difference. If he believes the gospel he has life (union with God); otherwise he has death (separation from God).
1:18. The wrath is not the revelation of a future judgement of God or of the Great Tribulation, but a present revelation that parallels the present revelation of God’s righteousness (cf.1:17). This revelation comes from heaven.
Ungodliness is failure in the religious realm. Unrighteousness is failure in the moral sphere or injustice toward man. Who hold (lit. “hold down,” “suppress”) the truth in unrighteousness. They received the truth concerning the wrath of God but hindered it and prevented it from completing its work.’
Oh my fellow believers, I do hope that brings a clearer understanding of those scriptures. So we’ll end there, and if God’s willing, will continue this topic tomorrow, for we all know that the best laid plans of mice and men usually go astray, (smile) and it’s the Lord’s plan that carries the day.
Till we meet tomorrow then, may we walk in the sunshine of God’s countenance, may peace and LOVE guide our footsteps as we continue looking to Jesus for strength and faith to face this evil, ungodly world. Much LOVE!
…if you don’t believe in Jesus…then you’ll pay the price…just like Lucifer is doing…
SCRIP-BITS 
Today’s Scrip-Bit 18 May 2019 John 3:16.
18 May 2019 Leave a comment
by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a certain sure belief, a dealer in hope, a leader, Achilles heels, affirmation, Anselm, believers in Jesus Christ, believing in jesus, colour commentary, condemn the world, delusion, discipline, don't find fault, eternal life, eternal living, exalt His name, faith, find the remedy, fleeting treasures, forgiveness, friend, God anointed Jesus, God so loved the world, good to be alive, goodness of jesus, great expectations, have everlasting life, he gave his only begotten son, hope, how high you've climbed, Immanuel, Jesus Christ, justification, long weekend, Lord, making a positive difference, Master of Hope, mercy, name that's higher than any other, part of the problem, part of the solution, prince of peace, promises, Redeemer, sanctification, saviour, should not perish, success, the blame game, the greatest, the world might be saved, to whom all knees must bow, Triune God, Victoria Day, went about doing good, whosoever believeth in him, words have power
John 3:16. For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life!
Oh friends, how good it is to be alive on this Saturday morning in May, the Victoria Day long weekend! Brother, life might not always be great, but it sure is good to be living with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, our Leader, Redeemer, Prince of Peace, our Immanuel, and the many other things He means to us! Glory to His holy name! The Name that’s higher than any other name in the universe, and the one that all knees will eventually bow to!
Wow! That’s our Jesus! Give Him much praise and glory my people! Exalt His name in all the earth, as Bruh David so rightly says! Oh, I guess the ole fella is really feeling it this morning! (smile) But why not eh? Life might not be fair, but our wonderful God is Good! That’s all we can ask! And as the man said: ‘Don’t ever confuse life with God, cause they are two entirely different things!
Now let’s see if I can get my head around these quotes that our friend Anselm sent us this week, as he sincerely aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. (smile) It’s not always easy. And we’ll begin with this one: ‘Don’t find the fault, find the remedy.’
And oh, are we ever so good at finding fault in this modern day society. It’s known as the blame game, and we play it so well. But as the saying goes too, ‘If you’re not a part of the answer, then you’re a part of the problem!’ So let’s just remember that today nuh, and act accordingly.
And then there is this: ‘Affirmation without discipline is the beginning of delusion.’ I don’t know if it’s the beginning of delusion or not, but I do know that you will get nowhere in this earthly life without discipline…and plenty of it too. For everything you attempt to do down here on earth requires discipline to some degree or other.
So mouthing a lot of proactive words but not doing what it takes to put them into action, is a useless exercise. Remember friends, though our words have power, they don’t manifest themselves without some kind of action on our part!
Now hear this: ‘Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.’ And that is ever so true my fellow believers in Jesus Christ! The evil and ungodly world in which we dwell considers success as rising high in power, politics, wealth and other worldly things.
But in Jesus’ economy, those things are mostly colour commentary. What He considers important is what you’ve done to help your fellow man, how you’ve tried to pursue peace and LOVE in His name! That’s because all the things the world considers important are but fleeting treasures which you can’t take with you to eternal life!
But the peace, LOVE and goodness of Jesus go with you till eternity! So please, let’s stop trying to run down the things of the world nuh, because we’ll only kill ourselves in the process, then have to leave it all to others here to waste and fight over.
And then we have this interesting quote: ‘If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.’ Now there is a lot of truth in that. If you inspire others to rise above their current station in life, be it for good or evil, then you do have some leadership qualities.
Jesus just wants you to inspire others to do good and not evil, as the Good Book says of Him. ‘How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.’ (Acts 10:38) Oh my people, there is no better example in God’s great world for us to follow than that of Jesus!
And that brings us to our last quote which encapsulates all the others that have gone before. It seems like our friend Anselm was on a leadership kick this week. (smile) But this last one says: ‘A leader is a dealer in hope.’ And that’s no lie! Else why would you follow someone if they don’t give you hope in whatever area you’re choosing to follow them in eh? No reason whatsoever! You might as well just do it yourself!
The sad part though is that leaders are also human and thus have Achilles heels so they can sometimes fall apart or lead us astray. But friends the greatest Leader in this universe is our one and only Leader, Jesus Christ! Talk about being the Master of Hope! Hn! He has that name so cornered that it’s impossible to ever take it away from Him!
Just look at the things He’s done for us nuh! Coming down from His comfortable perch in heaven to die for a bunch of ungrateful sinners! Going to the cross with nary a whimper, like a lamb being led to innocent slaughter, suffering the ultimate in humiliation, shame and ‘sufferation,’ just because the Father asked him to.
So that we could have hope for a better tomorrow; a tomorrow not wrecked by sin, shame and eternal damnation, but one securely and sincerely rooted in peace, LOVE, mercy, grace, forgiveness, redemption, reconciliation, justification, sanctification, salvation and eternal life!
Wow! Which other Leader has ever promised that kind of stuff eh, much less given it like Jesus has? NONE!That’s why Jesus is the GREATEST: because He gives us the most HOPE of any Leader that this unfortunate world has ever known! Listen to these immortal words of His: ‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life!’
Now where else is it possible to find such HOPE like that eh friends? Nowhere else but in Jesus! And He didn’t end there either: ‘For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.’ (John 3:17)
Oh my people, don’t those fateful, faithful and true words just lift your spirits and give you a feeling of peace and HOPE, that you can’t find anywhere else in this world? It surely does for me! And what really is HOPE eh Friends? Merely a longing for something, preferably something good!
And the long and short of the story is that God promises, if we believe in His Son, have HOPE in Him, that feeling of great expectations, which lead to faith, a certain sure belief, and which grows ever stronger, as we see His awesome promises come true, that our lives will be filled with wonder and amazement, leading to days of beautiful, exhilarating, eternal living with our Triune God!
Now what can we long for that’s better than that eh, what better HOPE can there ever be? NONE whatsoever! Much LOVE!
…the beginning of true HOPE…begins with believing in Jesus…