August 6, 2010 Listen & Do
Today’s Bible Reading: Habakkuk 1; Habakkuk 2; Habakkuk 3; John 8 (The Message)
Scripture Focus:
Habakkuk 2:20 “But oh! God is in his holy Temple!
Quiet everyone—a holy silence. Listen!”
John 8:23 Jesus said, “You’re tied down to the mundane; I’m in touch with what is beyond your horizons. You live in terms of what you see and touch. I’m living on other terms. I told you that you were missing God in all this.
John 8:29 The One who sent me stays with me. He doesn’t abandon me. He sees how much joy I take in pleasing him.”
Observation:
Habakkuk slips this little verse in among many verses of despair at what he sees happening around him. It’s as though he all of a sudden gets a glimpse of God when he takes his eyes off the current events swirling around him. And that glimpse brings him up short.
Getting in God’s presence makes you stop complaining and fills you with awe at his holiness. It makes you shut up and listen.
In John 8 Jesus says that people tend to live by what they see and touch, and so they miss God “in all this,” which probably refers to the events going on around them. Jesus was focused on his Father and was sure of one thing—God was with him and would not abandon him.
Jesus took great joy in pleasing God the Father.
Application:
Instead of focusing on the events swirling around me, keep my eyes focused on God in his holy temple, awesome in glory, totally in charge. Stop babbling and listen to him. Stop worrying and trust in him. Take joy in doing what pleases this amazing, in-charge God you belong to and serve!
Prayer:
Father God, You are in your Holy Temple. I’m quiet before you.
Scripture Focus:
Quiet everyone—a holy silence. Listen!”
