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Read through Habakkuk this weekend and was reminded again how truly amazing life is when we see it through the eyes of God.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

We studied the men of faith in my Sunday School class last week and I was struck by the circumstances in which these people were in. Much worse situations than I can possibly imagine, but they had a hope, a conviction of something that was beyond their circumstances. They believed God. And because they did, the persecution, the suffering, the killing, the poverty… paled in comparison with the knowledge of where they were going and who was waiting for them at the finish line in the race of life.

They endured hardship for the sake of knowing Christ, the Messiah. The lives of the OT saints ended without them ever seeing the coming of the Messiah, and yet they believed. I find that remarkable. We live in an immediate gratification culture where RESULTS and PRODUCTION are the indicators of success. For the Christian success lies not in those indicators, but where your heart is and in whom are you putting your trust in all circumstances..

The end of Habakkuk points to a similar understanding: (3:17-19)

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,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.

Even in the midst of DEEP ECONOMIC DEPRESSION, the prophet Habakkuk looks not to the impending DOOM, but rejoices in the LORD.

My recent prayer is for our eyes to be set on the LORD, that we can rejoice in the LORD and that with Christ we too may endure the hardships of life with JOY in any and all circumstances. May we be known for our joy.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

AMEN.

Jesus gives an old command in a new way. In John 15 Jesus reminds us we need to be connected to the source in order to bear fruit. There is no love without abiding and there is no abiding without love.

John15:1″I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5″I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

9″As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.

Been thinking of this lately:

Luke 15:3-7 Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

I know this is another marketing ploy to get churches and christians to spend money on a new bible, but it does have its merit in that it encourages people to read the Word of God.

After listening to Bryan Chappell’s talk in the Gospel Coalition on

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, I decided that it would be good to re-read the bible again.

Like a marathon runner wanting to improve his personal best through running and strength training… we can’t hear God or even know God unless we hear the preaching and reading of his Word. So if anyone is interested in joining us, we will begin June 1 and read through August 31… That comes out to be about 12 pages a day depending on your bible or about 30 minutes a day.

You can follow on this RSS Feed or follow this 90 day bible bookmark Schedule.

When Eliana was still in the womb, our old pastor introduced us to Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Ted Tripp. It’s a parenting book that talks about raising children, discipline, roles of the parents, etc.

We’re at that stage in life where a lot of our friends are married and starting to have children, so we meet two kinds of expectant parents… The first one is the clueless type (which I think is the category we fall into) and the other is the nonchalant, “we’ll be fine type”. We are the clueless type (and still are), so we read a whole lot. Some of the books we read concerning children rearing includes: Baby Wise, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, the above mentioned Shepherding a Child’s Heart, Home Grown Kids…. and a bunch of others.

Anyways, there’s so much out there, differing philosophies, differing attitudes towards parenting, preparing for children, etc… that maybe the nonchalant types are right. Each child is so unique you can’t prepare for them all… but then again, maybe there are some basic truths that can be applied to parenting, stuff that can help you when the time comes….

Anyways, Shepherding is the latter. It presents parenting from a biblical perspective. One of the main points in the book is not to correct behavior through behavior modification, but to appeal to the heart of a child. It looks at the heart of a child as both something made by God yet has been corrupted by sin. What that means is that one needs to be aware of both the dignity and depravity in children (and even ourselves) that must be dealt with. In that sense, the heart of a child needs to be shepherded towards wisdom or else will end up in folly…

We read it (and liked it) and it helps us to see parenting from a biblical perspective. It’s not for everyone (so be warned), but the main thesis of the book involves acceptance in a few presuppositions about the reality in which we live. Even if these aren’t your basic assumptions in life, you might still find this book to be helpful.

And if you are not into reading, you can listen to some of Tripp’s lectures he did recently at a conference entitled Shepherding a Child’s Heart.

And also check out the sequel: Instructing a Child’s Heart