Verse of the Day 1/10

Verse of the Day 1/10

 

Habakkuk 3:2    O Lord, I have heard the report of you,
    and your work, O Lord, do I fear.
In the midst of the years revive it;
    in the midst of the years make it known;
    in wrath remember mercy.  English Standard Version (ESV)

 

I read through the book of Habakkuk at the end of the year.  Chapter 3 is a familiar one for me and I am most often drawn to it by the last verse in the book:

 

Habakkuk 3:19 The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer's feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills. New King James Version (NKJV)

 

I've seen deer run through clear cuts in the mountains traversing acres in seconds that would take me hours to navigate.  Today, we may not have clear cuts to try to walk through but there is plenty of "debris" that we have to work through with COVID19 and all of the things related to it.  Many times we may feel that we can't make it on our own.  We need help, not the type of help that a government stimulus check will offer but real hope.  We can count on God to help us through.  We have heard of how He has worked in the past and most of us are probably familiar with it from personal experience.  That is where we come back to today's verse.

 

We stand in awe of His works and we have seen His love, compassion and yes His mercy shown throughout the Bible, in history and in our lives.  The verse is a prayer for us today; in the midst of this corona virus; in the midst of the political upheaval;  in the midst of economic hardship; in the midst of injustice; we pray for the Lord to make His name, to make His will known and at the bottom of it all we pray for and count on His mercy.

 

Wonderful merciful savior
Precious redeemer and friend
Who would have thought that a lamb could
Rescue the souls of man

Oh you rescue the souls of man.

Counselor comforter keeper
Spirit we long to embrace
You offer hope when our hearts have
Hopelessly lost our way

Oh we've hopelessly lost the way.

You are the one that we praise
You are the one we adore.
You give the healing and grace our
Hearts always hunger for

 

Pray to Him, praise Him and ask Him for the grace to have "deer's feet" to navigate through today's challenges.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV

 

Habakkuk 3:1-3 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Prophet's Prayer

3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, on ^[a]Shigionoth.

² O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid;
O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years!
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.

³ God came from Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah

His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise.

 

Verse of the Day 1/4

Verse of the Day ww1/4

 

Matthew 4:4  Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"  New International Version (NIV)

 

Today's verse comes from Matthew chapter 4 which came up in the read through the New Testament plan that I follow.  This year I'm reading the New International Version in the David Jeremiah Study Bible which happens to be a "red letter" version where all of Jesus' actual spoken words are written in red.  These are some of the first words that are directly attributed to Him and point to the importance of God's Word. 

 

In this passage Jesus had been led by the Spirit to be temped by the devil in the desert.  After fasting for 40 days and nights He was hungry but still He put the importance of God's Word ahead of His basic need for food.  The words He spoke in response to the devil in all 3 temptations relate back to the book of Deuteronomy, this one from chapter 8 verse 3 where God had allowed Israel to hunger in the desert and ended up feeding them for 40 years with "manna", the bread from heaven.

 

You've probably heard it said by someone that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  As a Christian we may beg to differ on that one.  We live on "every word that comes from the mouth of God".  I'm not saying that we should skip breakfast, but we should realize that we have not truly been fed until we spend some time being fed by the Word of God to prepare, guide, direct and inspire us to go out and face the day.  Whether it be in the land of plenty or in the desert place, may we seek Him in His Word and say "Blessed be the name of the Lord".

 

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

 

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

 

Every blessing You pour out, I'll
Turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name   (Matt Redman) 

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV

 

Matthew 4:1-11 New King James Version (NKJV)

Satan Tempts Jesus

4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. ³ Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

⁴ But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' "

⁵ Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

'He shall give His angels charge over you,'

and,

'In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' "

⁷ Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not ^[a]tempt the Lord your God.' "

⁸ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, ^[b]"Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "

¹¹ Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.