Read Habakkuk 3

Sometimes, you’ve just got to tell God how awesome He is.

And that’s exactly what Habakkuk does at the end of the book that bears his name.

He had argued and wrestled with God long enough. He had asked all his questions.

And now, he does something rather unique. He sings a prayer.

Habakkuk gets a glimpse of God’s greatness and begins to sing a worshipful prayer to God. It’s interesting because Habakkuk began this book with such gloom. It began with Habakkuk crying out, “Everything is going to the dogs.”

But now notice how it’s ending.

He says, “I will be joyful. I will wait, I will be patient, I will be silent, I will pray, I will trust.”

That’s the focus of the God follower in a turbulent time.

Even though life looks terribly difficult and nothing seems to be coming to some kind of resolution, our sovereign God is still on the throne, and we can have hope.

Read Jonah 1

God will use whatever it takes to get our attention.

He will use whatever is necessary to get us to listen.

In Jonah’s case, He used the weather.

The Bible says that “Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.”

In other words, God threw an inside fastball at Jonah.

And I don’t think that God sent a storm to be unusually cruel. I don’t even think he sent the storm to pay him back for his disobedience.

I believe that God sent the storm to get Jonah back on the path of obedience.

He was not trying to pay him back, but to bring him back.

And there’s a big difference.

And what God did for Jonah, He still does today.

I’m not saying every “storm” that comes into your life is the result of God trying to restore you back into a greater relationship with Him, but I do believe that many of them are.

And sometimes, the best way God shows us His undying love for us is by sending a storm our way.

Read Joel 2:12-13

We must never be guilty of allowing something to become an external practice rather than an internal passion.

We dare not turn our meaningful faith into a meaningless ritual.

At the same time, if we don’t make it a priority to keep our faith alive and fresh, then that’s exactly what will happen.

It happened to Israel.

It’s happened to countless followers of Jesus throughout history.

And it can happen to you and me.

So, let’s not wait any longer. Let’s follow God with our hearts. Let’s be passionate in our pursuit of Him.

And let’s do it now!

Read Hosea 6:6

Authenticity is so important to have in any relationship. It’s so important to be as real as possible as you relate to and interact with the people in your life.

And it’s even more important that you be real and authentic in your relationship with your Heavenly Father.

I don’t know if you noticed, but it seems that more and more “followers of Christ” are just going through the motions.

And it frustrates me, because anyone can “act” like a Christian.

Anyone can show up to a worship service.

Anyone can drop a few bucks in the offering plate.

Anyone can say that they’re going to pray for you.

But God expects and desires so much more than our lame attempts to do what He asks us to do.

He expects us to know and love Him.

And that’s what we need to do!

Read Daniel 10

Our enemy hates it when we pray and will do anything to stop it.

For instance, in Daniel 10, we find Daniel in mourning. He has just received a troubling revelation/vision and as a result, he enters into a time of deep fasting and prayer, hoping to hear from the God of Heaven.

Three weeks go by and Daniel is still wondering why God hasn’t answered.

And then all of a sudden an angel shows up and says, “Daniel you are very precious to God, so listen carefully what I have to say to you.  Stand up, I have been sent to you”

And then the angel adds these startling words, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer.”

And it’s at this point that I’m sure Daniel must wondering, “Then what took you so long? I haven’t had a bath in like three weeks! I’ve been starving myself to get God’s attention! So, why has it taken you so long to come down and answer my prayer?”

And then the angel goes on to explain, (and I’m sure you already noticed this) that he had been locked up in hand to hand combat with the enemy, some sort of demon guardian where Daniel lived, to the point where he finally he had to call for backup. And the angel explains to Daniel that when backup arrived, he was able to finally find a way to get to him.

Isn’t that just wild?

Now, I’m sure if that happened to Daniel today, there would probably be some religious people who would advise him to have more faith.

But the reality was, and I think the text makes this perfectly clear, Daniel’s faith had nothing to do with the lack of a response. The enemy hates the work of God and will do whatever he can to stop it.

Your prayers are heard. God is listening.

And while there are lots of reasons your requests may not be answered the way you want them to be, I think it’s important for us to remember that we have a real enemy who hates us and will do everything in his power to interrupt our relationship with God.

So, keep talking to your Heavenly Father…no matter what!

Read Daniel 1

Stand up for what you believe in.

But as much as possible, do it without being a jerk.

I appreciate and respect Daniel’s desire to “not to defile himself with the royal food and wine”, but I admire him even more for asking for permission “to not to defile himself this way”.

There was no sense of entitlement.

There was no attitude.

There was simply a request on his part to live a certain way, a way that was contrary to the Babylonian way.

And his request paid off in more ways than one.

First of all, “they looked healthier and better nourished” than those who ate the royal food and wine, but more than that, God gave to Daniel the ability to “understand visions and dreams of all kinds.”

Read Ezekiel 34

This devotional probably applies to me as much as anyone reading this.

I am, after all, a shepherd of God’s people.

I am a pastor.

And so, as I read the prophecy given to Ezekiel through multiple times, I kept asking myself, “Am I taking care of the flock like I’m supposed to?” I wondered aloud, “Am I strengthening the weak and encouraging the downtrodden?” I couldn’t stop thinking about whether or not I was ruling too harshly, or if I was searching for the lost sheep hard enough.

I’m not saying that this prophecy doesn’t apply to you, but it is clearly directed to the spiritual leaders of God’s people in Ezekiel’s day, and I think it’s a warning to all those who are spiritual leaders in any day and age.

I am a pastor.

And I have a huge responsibility to lead God’s people.

My prayer is that I will fulfill my responsibilities to my very best.

Read Ezekiel 16

Israel’s story is my story.

Actually, it’s more like our story.

Just like Israel, we have this tendency to turn away from the worship of God and begin to worship anything and everything but Him.

And I’ve got to tell you that this never worked for Israel.

It only brought embarrassment and shame, as well as, pain and suffering.

Of course, it occasionally brought death as well.

I’m sure that some of you are thinking that you are nothing like Israel, that you’ve never created and worshipped false gods nor sacrificed your children to them.

And it’s true that you’ve probably never rebelled to the extent that they did.

But last time I checked, rebellion is still rebellion.

So, stay faithful to the One who made you, saved you, and loves you!

Don’t cheat on God!!

Read Ezekiel 12:1-2

I wonder if God would say the same thing about us that he said about His people so long ago.

I wonder sometimes if he looks at us and sees a rebellious people.

I would like to think that He would say to me, “Matthew, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people”, but I’m afraid that I might be among the rebellious people.

I’m not saying I live in outright rebellion or blatantly worship false gods like the nation of Israel did so many years ago.

But I am saying that I have my moments of rebellion. I am saying that I don’t always pursue a relationship with God in the same way that He is pursuing a relationship with me.

And you don’t either.

In fact, I think if we’re being honest, we all have our moments when we’re not loving God the way we should, we’re not pursuing a closer relationship with Him when that’s exactly what He wants us to do.

So, right now, take a step in God’s direction. Take a minute to listen to His voice.

And make sure you have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Read Lamentations 3:52-58

This devotional was written by Children’s Pastor, Drew Cook

In this unusual passage, Jeremiah tells the people that God is going to let their enemies take them over. As a result, the people throw him in a deep pit. As he is sitting in this pit, covered in mud, he begins to lose hope:

I’ve spoken with many people who have felt this way. A relationship ends badly, a friend stabs them in the back, a marriage breaks up, parents that become bitter at their kids/kids that become bitter at their parents, etc.

“Enemies with no reason to be enemies” often times are those who have been closest to us. Sometimes close, dear friends. Boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, moms, dads, etc.

We can’t understand why they have turned on us, but they have and often times they are mean and aggressive with their behavior against us, especially if we are doing right in our lives. With deep betrayal, we often feel like we are in a pit, with water slowly rising over our heads. We feel deeply hurt/wounded, sometimes to the point that we think our lives are over.

But just like Jeremiah, we simply need to call out to God during those difficult times.

He listens and He cares!