A Faithful Love, An Everlasting Love

Psalm 115:1-18

‘Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to Your Name be the glory because of Your love and faithfulness’(Psalm 115:1). We thank You, Lord, that You love us. You love us with a faithful love, ‘an everlasting love’, a ‘love that will not let us go’. Your love ‘never comes to an end’. Nothing can separate us from Your love (Jeremiah 31:3; Lamentations 3:22-23; Romans 8:38-39). What have we done to deserve such love? Absolutely nothing! We are ‘sinners’. We do not deserve to be loved by You. We have done nothing to earn Your love. Love begins with You, Lord. It comes from You. How do we know that You love us? Have we proved ourselves worthy of Your love? No! - ‘God shows His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us’(Romans 5:8). ‘To God be the glory!’

Lord, You are with us – even when we feel that You are far away from us.

Genesis 21:22-22:14

Lord, You are with us – even when we feel that You are far away from us.

We think about what’s going on in our life – and we get it all wrong!

We look at what’s happening – and we think that You’ve gone away and left us.

When will we learn? – It’s us who’ve gone away and left you!

We start thinking, ‘You need to come back to me, Lord.’

You’re saying to us, ‘No! You’ve got it all wrong. It’s you that needs to come back to Me.’

Even in our darkest days, You’ve never gone away and left us.

You’ve always been there – all the time.

You’ve always been there – for us.

Thank You, Lord.

God's Revelation And Our Response

“The divine revelation that the prophet Habakkuk saw” (Habakkuk 1:1) – This is a Word from the Lord. It is given to Habakkuk. It is given to God’s people, Israel. It is given to His Church in every nation and every generation. God’s Word is to be received by God’s people. God’s Word is to be passed on to God’s people. “Didn’t You exist before time began, O Lord my God, my Holy One?” (Habakkuk 1:12). God does not speak to us from the standpoint of a human observer. He’s more than someone who belongs to time alone. He is the eternal God. When we listen to the voice of God, we are listening to the voice of the One who is eternal, the One who is calling us on to eternal life.

“I will stand at my guard  post. I will station myself on the wall. I will watch to see what He will say to me…” (Habakkuk 2:1). When we speak about God’s revelation, we’re emphasizing that God speaks to us. Here, we’re emphasizing our response to God’s revelation. God’s Word is heard by us when we listen to Him. “Write the vision. Make it clear on tablets so that anyone can read it quickly” (Habakkuk 2:2). When we have heard the Word of the Lord, we are to share it with others, We are to pray that they will be changed by it. “The vision… will certainly happen…” (Habakkuk 2:3). When the vision comes from the Lord, it will be a true vision, a vision that will be fulfilled. “The righteous person will live because of his faithfulness” (Habakkuk 2:4). These great words are quoted by Paul in Romans 1:17. When Martin Luther read these great words, his life was changed by the power of God. Luther’s conversion led to the Reformation of the Church. “The Lord is in His holy temple. All the earth should be silent in His presence” (Habakkuk 2:20). When the Lord speaks to us, in power, from His Word, what are we to do? The first thing we must do is this: Bow before Him in worship – “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

God Is Calling Us To Return To Him.

God takes sin very seriously. He sends his judgment upon sin. The unleashing of His fury turns the sinful nation into a wasteland (Ezekiel 5:13-14). When we read of such things, we wonder, “Is there any hope?” When we are reading so much about sin and judgment, we must not lose sight of the love of God. In love, He calls men and women to return to Him.

In Ezekiel 6, we have a message concerning divine judgment. Note the emphasis - “you (they) will know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 6:7,13-14). If we are to appreciate the greatness of God’s salvation, we must see the greatness of our sin and the greatness of the judgment from which we are delivered through God’s mighty work of salvation.

“The end is coming” - We read these words five times in Ezekiel 7:1-6. These are words of judgment. Ezekiel 6 ends with the words, “Then they will know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 7:27). In His judgment, the Lord is known as the holy God. If the people refuse to return to the Lord, there will be judgment. This is the word of warning. It comes as a call to repentance, a call to walk with God in obedience.

In Ezekiel 8, we have a description of sin - “very disgusting things”, even more disgusting things” (Ezekiel 8:6,9,13,17). When we read such “bad news”, we wonder, “Is there good news?” The answer of God’s Word is “Yes”! God does not leave us in our sin. He sends His Son to be our Saviour. This is the Good News, for which the prophets paved the way. Their ministry exposed sin, so that sinners might see their need of the Saviour.

If holiness is to be preserved, there must be a divine judgment upon sin. We cannot grow in our love for God, if we continue to have love, in our hearts, for the ways of the world. “Abba, Father, let me be Yours and Yours alone” (Dave Bilbrough, Mission Praise, 3).