King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Friday, August 21, 2020
Chapters: The Book of Habakkuk
Message: Prepared For Jesus
Hello My Friend,
Prepare; To make ready. To fit, adapt or qualify for a particular purpose, end, use, service or state, by any means whatsoever. We do not know the hour in which Christ will return to claim His own, and cast judgment upon the rest of the people, we do know that He is returning, and we need to make ourselves ready for it. Whether we see Jesus as He returns to earth or brings us home, we still need to make ourselves ready to stand before Him. The only way we can be ready for Jesus is to, one; receive Him as our Saviour, and two; keep a watchful eye out for Him.
[I Corinthians 15:50-52,56-58 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.]
If we are honest with ourselves, we really do not want to be the one to always do what is right in God’s eyes. In fact, we want to be like everyone else, especially since we seem to be the ones who get punished, even when we are doing what is right. The Book of Habakkuk contains three chapters, the author is Habakkuk and it was written to the people of Judah. The timeline for these events took place approximately between 608BC and 590BC. The purpose of the book was to awaken Judah to their spiritual needs while they were in captivity. What we are to learn from the book is that the just shall live by faith alone. Habakkuk prophesied during the time that the Chaldean’s attacked Jerusalem, during Jehoiakim’s reign, about 610BC. This was also about the time that Jeremiah was either in prison or just released and got stuck with the rebels as they were fleeing to Egypt and took him with them. Habakkuk does what all us faithful Christians do when we are facing wrongful persecution, wonders why God is judging His faithful while the wicked are the ones causing all this.
[Habakkuk 1:2-5,12-13 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! 3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. 4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. 5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. 12 Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. 13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?]
[for I will work a work in your days,] You see, when God sends judgment upon His people, it is for either correction or to prove us, when He sends judgment on the world, it will be nothing like we have ever seen. Even though we know what is going to happen, and we could never prepare ourselves enough for what is to come. We may never even see it come to pass in our lifetime, but it never hurts to be prepared as one day we will suffer no more, [Romans 8:24-27 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.]
God does not want to see us suffer while all this is going on, but since we are here, it is something we have to endure right now, as the world gets more corrupt. Habakkuk was not quite content with God’s answer, he did not want to hear that through his suffering he would do a great work, and wants to know why He does not intervene and help His faithful out. In fact, he is expecting God to afflict him more after his complaint.
[Habakkuk 2:1-5 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. 2 And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. 4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. 5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:]
[but the just shall live by his faith.] There is that phrase again, the just shall live by faith. Did you know that the just are those whom have accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour? We are made just through our faith in Him alone. And let me tell you, the suffering we go through is minimal compared to what Jesus went through to save our soul, and He did absolutely nothing at all to deserve what He got. No suffering, whether it is of our own doing or not, goes without merit, God will always bring something good out of it, [I Peter 4:12-16 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. 16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.]
And that is exactly what Habakkuk did, instead of complaining anymore, he began to praise God. Habakkuk realized that while God does allow the pain and suffering in the world because of sin, it does not last, and when we trust God, He truly is our salvation.
[Habakkuk 3:2,8,10,13,17-18 O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy. 8 Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation? 10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high. 13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah. 17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.]
[I will joy in the God of my salvation.] No matter what we go through, no matter what we put ourselves through, we belong to Jesus, if we are saved, He is our strength, and we will overcome it all through Him. We can fuss at God all we want for all the chaos that is going on, but God is standing on the sidelines here, He does not have to do anything Himself because the people are destroying themselves. Look around, especially during the election, our nation is divided, people cannot even get along within their own parties, candidates bashing the very people who are supposed to be on their side. If we do not straighten up and become united as one nation under God again, then our nation is going to fall, and will be destroyed just as Babylon was, [Luke 11:17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You, for saving a wretch like me the second I trusted Your Son as my Saviour. I know that I am prepared for Your return or You to bring me home. I may not know what tomorrow brings, but I do know that You will be there and You will see me through everything that I go through. Lord, it is not always easy to get through the suffering, but with You by my side I know I will get the victory. Lead me and guide me, keep me looking to You, let me not turn to the right or left, just keep my eyes straight on You. Give me Your mercy, grace, power, and strength to endure suffering. I will rejoice in You for You are the God of my salvation, I am nothing without You, and I know that I can overcome all things with You. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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