Habakkuk 3:13-15
You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot. With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding. You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.
This is a picture of God’s deliverance for the Israelites from Egypt, but as I read this, the Holy Spirit showed me a beautiful picture of God’s victory over the enemy, death, and sin through His Son’s surrender and sacrifice on the cross! He came to deliver us and would not be denied. The cross was a crushing blow to our enemy and signified the beginning of the end for him – that our Savior had come into the world and conquered death through surrendering to it. The enemy stacked the deck and still couldn’t win. Jesus literally beat him at his own game.
To me, it is so encouraging to see pictures of Christ throughout Scripture – to know that God always had the victory and His name is Jesus. That we weren’t just a problem to fix but a people He desired to rescue. That though we sin much, His power, love, grace, and mercy are more.
Throughout the Bible, God’s plan has always been deliverance, redemption, reconciliation, but there is also a plan and penalty for not accepting Him and the freedom He offers, eternal separation. There will be a day of both rejoicing and sorrow, two outcomes for this life. We can spend eternity rejoicing in His Presence or spend it suffering away from Him. Please choose Christ and the life He paid for you to have!
Hebrews 2:14,15 - Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
1 Corinthians 15:57 - But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
God bless! I love you all, but He loves you more! Glory, Honor, and Praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!
Habakkuk 3:17
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…
You might be thinking, “Wow, that’s not very encouraging,” but I felt led to break the verses up today to prove a point. This verse speaks of bleakness, drought, famine, and loss. Back in those days, crops and livestock were their livelihoods, not only food and drink but currency and bartering tools. But look at the very next verse:
Habakkuk 3:18 - yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Let me tell you, I want a heart like that! A heart that is grateful and full of praise because He is God and not because of what He gives me! I want to be a disciple that praises the Lord on the tops of the mountains and in the valleys! The lower we go, the louder our praises should get! We worship Him because He is God all-powerful, merciful, just, loving Creator of Heaven and earth!
Life is a series of mountaintop experiences and valleys, with some deserts sprinkled in there, but we honestly spend more time in the valleys and the deserts than on the mountaintop. So, if we can learn to have a grateful, thankful heart in the worst of times, imagine how much glory that gives the Lord and how much that will speak to the unbelieving world around us. A world desperate for hope, desperate for love, desperate for something or, better yet, someone to save them, and we know the answer! And He is Jesus!
I’m still working on this and am nowhere near proficient at it, but I can tell you the times I have praised and worshipped Him despite my surroundings are usually the times I see the victory the quickest, and that victory is found in Jesus! Our circumstances and situations never change who He is and how much He loves us! He is good regardless of the season we are in!
1 Corinthians 15:57 - But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
God bless! I love you all! Glory, Honor, and Praise forever to Creator God, Jesus Christ our Messiah, and the Spirit of Truth the Holy Spirit!
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