Daily Devotional

[Jack_N_The_Green]

March 12, 2004

Only One Option
Read: Habakkuk 1:1-2:4

Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith. "?Habakkuk 2:4

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If you were to ask several people to draw a crooked line on a piece of paper, no two lines would be identical. There is a lesson in this: There are many ways to be crooked, but only one way to be straight.

The Lord tells us that the righteous person has only one option"?to "live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2:4). In the chapter prior to this declaration from the Lord, the prophet Habakkuk had complained about the violence and injustice around him. It seemed as if the wicked were swallowing up the righteous (1:13).

God responded to Habakkuk by saying that His people were to be "just" and were to live by faith. They were not to be like the one who is "proud" and "not upright" (2:4). A proud and self-sufficient person will rationalize his faults and imperfections. He doesn't want to admit that he needs God. His ways are crooked.

Wickedness seems to prevail in our world. God urges us to live our lives in faith, taking to heart His assurance to Habakkuk that there will be a day of reckoning for the wicked.

The only way to please God now and to be ready for that day of reckoning is to live by faith. "?Albert Lee


Lord, grant me grace throughout this day
To walk the straight and narrow way,
To do whatever in Thy sight
Is good and perfect, just and right. "?Huisman

The only right way is the straight and narrow way.

[Jack_N_The_Green]

I really want to thank all you guys again for your support on this thread! It means a lot to me that you all take it to heart! Thanks!

[Jack_N_The_Green]

I won't be able to get on here tonight or tomorrow, so i'm gonna go ahead and put up the next 2 devotionals!

March 13, 2004

Message For All Seasons
Read: Acts 5:31-42

Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! "?John 4:35

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I'm a novice at growing flowers. But I've learned to appreciate the difference between annuals and perennials. Every spring I usually buy trays of annual bedding plants. Once in the ground, they immediately take root. Their brief life always ends with the autumn frosts, and the soil lies barren until my next annual spring planting. I prefer to plant perennial flowers. They go on living from year to year, and regularly bloom, flower, and reproduce.

Writer Eugene Harrison describes the evangelistic efforts of New Testament believers as "perennial" in nature. They didn't pour all their energies into once-a-year evangelistic efforts. Instead, according to Harrison, sharing the good news of Christ was "the supreme concern of every believer, every day in the year, in every place." In Acts 5:42 and 8:4, the scope of their witness is clear: They shared Christ and the gospel in the temple, in their homes, and in the marketplace, using the Spirit-given methods of preaching, teaching, and personal testimony.

Jesus taught that the season for spiritual harvest is always today (John 4:35). And the apostle Paul said that "now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Be assured, there's never a time when the harvest is out of season. The fields are white today. "?Joanie Yoder


Help us, Lord, to be a lifeline
To a dying world today,
Bringing hope to hopeless people
As we share salvation's way. "?Sper

Witnessing for Christ is never out of season.


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March 14, 2004

Costly Consequences
Read: 1 Samuel 13:1-15

You have not kept the commandment of the Lord . . . . Now your kingdom shall not continue. "?1 Samuel 13:13-14

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I always knew that disobedience has consequences, but it came home to me forcibly in basic training during World War II. I had traveled beyond the distance allowed on my weekend pass to be with my wife Ginny, and I returned to camp late because the train had broken down. I paid for my rule-breaking"?20 hours of extra duty washing pots and pans!

King Saul also learned the high cost of disobedience. He faced the prospect of fighting a huge well-equipped Philistine army with his small band of frightened and untrained followers. While waiting for Samuel to come and offer a sacrifice before going to battle, Saul became impatient and offered the sacrifice himself, even though he knew that God had given that right only to the priests. It was a costly mistake.

Saul had begun his reign with humility and compassion, and he gave God the credit (1 Samuel 11). And the prophet Samuel told him that God would have kept the kingship in his family if he had obeyed God's command (13:13-14). But that one act of disobedience changed the course of his life. From that point on, it was a sad downhill journey.

Never forget that disobedience has consequences. And some of them may be very costly. "?Herb Vander Lugt


O help me, Lord, to be afraid
Of disobedient ways;
And may I seek what pleases You,
What gives You highest praise. "?Sper

The way of obedience is the only way of blessing.