No matter what, I will rejoice in the Lord!
Please click this link for the video version of today's blog :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K390hwoBLZY
Silence
1. Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence
2. Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.
Praise and Thanksgiving
1. Think through your day, all the times that made you smile.
2. Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people
3. **Sing a song to praise the Lord
Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method)
1. Pray for the Holy Spirit to shine on you that you are able to discover your sins and be willing to repent:
“Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God and having Jesus as my Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
2. Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:
"Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sins to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gifts to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."
3. John Stott's daily prayer of Christlikeness (Christopher J.H. Wright, Cultivating the fruit of the Spirit. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017, 13)
**Please click this link to read how God used John Stott to change my life:https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/
"Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more.
Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.
Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
Today's Time with Abba: Psalm 143:1-6; Habakkuk 1:1-3:19; Revelation 9:1-21; Proverbs 30:10
Please click this link for today's Time with Abba one year Bible: http://twa.pastoralcareschool.org/
Key passages:
The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.
Habakkuk’s Complaint
How long, Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.
The Lord’s Answer
“Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.
I am raising up the Babylonians,[a]
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth
to seize dwellings not their own.
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth
to seize dwellings not their own.
I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
Habakkuk 1:1-6;2:2-4; 3:16-19
Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passages we have just read. Offer this time to Jesus as you listen to Him.
The topic I received today from Jesus is: No matter what, I will rejoice in the Lord!
Habakkuk prophesied to the kingdom of Judah between the time when the Babylonians defeated the Assyrians at Nineveh(612 B.C.) and the Babylonian invasions of Jerusalem (605-597 B.C.).
Chapter 1 to 2 record a dialogue between the prophet and God in which Habakkuk expresses some difficult questions about God's plans, and God responds with some revealing answers. Having seen so much wickedness and perverted worship practices in Judah, the prophet's first question was how God could allow his rebellious people to get away with so many spiritual offenses without being punished. God answered by revealing how he would soon use the Babylonians to punish the nation of Judah. But that immediately raised another question in Habakkuk's mind: How could God allow a nation even more wicked and cruel than Judah to punish his people? God answered by assuring the prophet that a time of judgment would also come for the Babylonians.
God gave Habakkuk an answer to his questions about why evil seemed to dominate the world and if it could be allowed to wipe out those who do what is good and right. The Lord revealed that a time was coming when all the wicked would be destroyed and the only people not shaken would be those who trust God and do what is right by his standards. Such people are related to God by their faith.
Habakkuk's declaration that "the righteous will live by his faith" (2:4) is the key Old Testament text used by Paul in his teaching on justification by faith. This refers to the spiritual truth that we are made right with God not by any good works of our own, but by accepting Christ's gracious sacrifice and forgiveness for our sins, then entrusting our lives to God's lead. Paul quotes 2:4 both in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11.
Are you living by your faith that even in today's confused and evil world and the unknown future that God is in total control and that you can be with God forever?
Now, to a deeper level of what does trusting in the Lord really means. Chapter 3 records Habakkuk's prayers in the form of a song as his response to God's answer in chapter 2. In the midst of the world's evil and God's ultimate justice and judgment, he has learned to live by faith in God and to trust the wisdom of God's methods and purposes.
Even though God's judgment was coming on Judah and they would certainly experience suffering and loss, Habakkuk chose to rejoice in the Lord.
Even though God's judgment was coming on Judah and they would certainly experience suffering and loss, Habakkuk chose to rejoice in the Lord.
It's really not easy for Habakkuk to use verses 17 to 19 to conclude his book. These three verses are perhaps the most beautiful and powerful verses in the Bible to show what does total trust in God means.
What I received from Jesus is an understanding of His being rather than His doing. Lots of time we do not understand His doing and we ask why. But, when we can enjoy being with God everyday then no matter what happen, we will still rejoice in the Lord.
Do you think you can be that kind of faithful disciple of Jesus that no matter what, you will rejoice in the Lord?
What I received from Jesus is an understanding of His being rather than His doing. Lots of time we do not understand His doing and we ask why. But, when we can enjoy being with God everyday then no matter what happen, we will still rejoice in the Lord.
Do you think you can be that kind of faithful disciple of Jesus that no matter what, you will rejoice in the Lord?
Dear Lord Jesus,
Help us to have that kind of total trust that no matter what, we will rejoice in you and be your faithful disciple. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.
Reflect on these questions:
1. What inspiration have you received from today's catch and what have you heard from Jesus now?
2. What is your next step to be more closer to Jesus, to be holy - that is to do what Jesus wants you to do and not to do what Jesus wants you not to do? Family Corner: Find an opportunity to share with your family the importance of today's message. You are welcome to join our Monday to Friday 7am-7:30am(Pacific time (Vancouver)) Worship, Devotion, Prayer
Meeting ID: 396 256 7042Passcode: 12345
Please click this link to worship with us - Open the eyes of heart
Please click this link for today's Time with Abba one year Bible four passages: http://twa.pastoralcareschool.org/
For the Chinese version of this daily blog and video, please click this link (中文版請按此連結): To know, learn and practice the method of Time with Abba, please click this link:http://twa.pastoralcareschool.org/
My first blog "Devotion on Fire" was written in English only (July 17, 2009年7月17日至November 22, 2012年11月22日). Each day one chapter of Bible, from New Testament and then Old Testament. Completed in four months and three years:http://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/blessings-from-rev-dr-john-stott.html
My second blog "Discipler 123" was written in both Chinese and English (March 6,2011to December 31, 2016 ):
https://discipler123.blogspot.com/2011/02/day-1-choose-light-away-from-darkness.html
and "Time with Abba" blog and video (January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2024):
2. What is your next step to be more closer to Jesus, to be holy - that is to do what Jesus wants you to do and not to do what Jesus wants you not to do?
Family Corner:
Find an opportunity to share with your family the importance of today's message.
You are welcome to join our Monday to Friday 7am-7:30am(Pacific time (Vancouver)) Worship, Devotion, Prayer
Meeting ID: 396 256 7042
Passcode: 12345
Please click this link to worship with us -
Please click this link for today's Time with Abba one year Bible four passages: http://twa.pastoralcareschool.org/
For the Chinese version of this daily blog and video, please click this link (中文版請按此連結):
To know, learn and practice the method of Time with Abba, please click this link:http://twa.pastoralcareschool.org/
My first blog "Devotion on Fire" was written in English only (July 17, 2009年7月17日至November 22, 2012年11月22日). Each day one chapter of Bible, from New Testament and then Old Testament. Completed in four months and three years:
http://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/blessings-from-rev-dr-john-stott.html
My second blog "Discipler 123" was written in both Chinese and English (March 6,2011to December 31, 2016 ):
https://discipler123.blogspot.com/2011/02/day-1-choose-light-away-from-darkness.html
and "Time with Abba" blog and video (January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2024):
Connecting Workshop 2025(Session 2)
Bishop Silas Ng on Three Streams
Comments
Post a Comment