Monday, April 20, 2020

SHIGIONOTH

Today’s Reading: Habakkuk 3

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

 

A majestic Elk stands poised in Banff Alberta. Today’s reading tells us of the flock (sheep), and the herd (cattle). It speaks of God making our feet like deer’s feet so that we can walk on high places in Him like these elk on a plateau in the Rocky Mountains are doing. Let’s go for a walk today.  New life is everywhere!

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

 

Key Verses: Habakkuk 3:17-19

Though the fig tree may not blossom,

Nor fruit be on the vines;

Though the labor of the olive may fail,

And the fields yield no food;

Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,

And there be no herd in the stalls —

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will joy in the God of my salvation.

The Lord God is my strength;

He will make my feet like deer’s feet,

And He will make me walk on my high hills.

 

“Shigionoth!” (Habakkuk 3:1). No respected scholar that I can find knows what that word means. The stupendous, glorious, magnificent fact of the resurrection of Jesus out from among the dead is truly so beyond our human capacity to express that we may need words like the Apostle Paul said were the reason why he spoke in tongues more than all the Corinthian believers (1 Corinthians 14:18)… “In the spirit he speaks mysteries” (1 Corinthians 14:2b). In the very next chapter Paul writes in detail about the “Resurrection!” Paul saw the resurrected Jesus! “Last of all He was seen by me also!” (1 Corinthians 15:8a).

Our key verses speak of a “Saturday” grave-type experience when nothing seems to be going the way it should, but “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:18). Go ahead! Walk on high places! “Joy” is used as a verb here. It’s an action word! Let us express our joy to God and to all we meet today and every day. Amen!!!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, like the Apostle Paul I find that my mother tongue is unable to fully express what I feel inside. Paul said, “My spirit prays but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the result then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will also sing with the spirit and I will also sing with the understanding!” I pray for Your grace to pray and sing both with my spirit and with my understanding. In the Name of the risen Christ Jesus! Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

Sometimes I start my blog and I really don’t know where I’m going with the thoughts that spill out through my fingers onto my laptop keyboard. I think that’s a miracle of God’s grace to me. I know that the risen-from-the-dead Jesus is interceding at the throne of God for me according to Hebrews 7:25…”Therefore, He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since HE EVER LIVES to make intercession for them.” Jesus is praying for me in that great prayer meeting gathered at God’s throne. Amazing!!! True!!! The word “salvation” is found three times in today’s reading. Thank You, Lord Jesus!!!

I know personally a master mason…not the religious cultic group in which people are called “Masons”…but a man who builds with stone, concrete blocks, plaster, etc. His name is Randy Herring. Through his trade, he and his wife finance, at great personal sacrifice, a mission to needy children and teens in Honduras. Check out the “Kid’s Ark International Youth Camp” online (click here). He showed me pictures of the camp he has built, which has already impacted thousands for Christ. Randy has built, for teaching purposes, exact replicas of Biblical sites. The campers are there, so to speak, in the Holy Land, experiencing the places where Bible events occurred. Here is a link to one of the amazing visual aids created by Randy for the children of Honduras. This master mason has created his replicas in exact detail, even to the cracks in the stones as seen in Jerusalem at the Garden Tomb. Just imagine the powerful impact of the Gospel message at this camp!

Yours for knowing Him and “The power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Philippians 3:10),

David

17 thoughts on “Monday, April 20, 2020

  1. May the Lord bless the Mainse family, Ron and Ann, Renold and Kathy, who have made our journey through David’s blog so accessible to all. Thank you to the staff of Crossroads for remaining true to God’s Word and reaching out to a lost and hurting world. Thank you to the readers and contributors to this blog who continue to learn and grow in the Word and who hold each other up in prayer.
    Pray for the people of Nova Scotia and all across our wonderful country today. Pray for the RCMP and all police and first responders who have to deal with so much heartache and pain. Pray for the victim’s families and friends across this country who are not able to get together in mourning their loss.
    May God’s Spirit bring comfort and peace and protect our hearts and minds.

  2. These words from the Kids’ Ark site could also be used by our camp council:
    ” In the face of a crumbling world economy, we plan to hold on to the calling we know God has laid on and in our hearts. We know God is bigger then the world’s financial burden. We will continue to push forward no matter what the world’s point of view is for the present time. God is in control and we know that the “Souls” of the children are far more important then the “sounds” of a crumbling financial market.” That was 2008

    We are proceeding with camp as though it will open on time or delayed opening.Executive meets on Zoom tonight followed by the whole council on Sat.Already we may have to postpone some training for early May.Please pray for Camp Pagweak (Pag-we-aak).
    I just received a phone call from a member of another church,checking up on me and learned some of the victims of yesterday’s shootings were most likely from Oxford.My son’s in-laws have a cottage near there too.Two local pastors live in Great Village,the next community.
    I pray for the young mother,the Mountie killed and the other victims.We may never know “the why” of it all.God bless

  3. What a truly wonderful ministry at the children’s camp. Lifelong memories & teaching for those children. May God bless and direct all who are involved there, especially this year with the challenges the world is facing. I pray for Christian camps in all the world. This is the time plans & applications are usually underway and so much is uncertain at this time.

  4. Thank You, Lord God, for all these Your servants, for giving, sharing, serving, and ministering to the needs of others. Bless and strengthen each one. They are Your gifts to all of us, Father, and we commit them all to You. Thank You for Sally’s insight into these great needs, Lord. We lift them all up to You, Father, in Jesus’s great name, amen

  5. We pray for another tragedy in this world today the victims and families of the Nova Scotia shootings plus all who are involved in solving this case. My heart goes out to them. The scripture is very meaningful today in light of all that is taking place. Amen to all the prayers and posts above, God bless you saints and keep you safe.

    • Praying with you sister Ger and all the saints who have posted on the blog for the families of those in Nova Scotia hit by this tragedy of loss, devastation and suffering. Oh Lord God, be with them, please. We pray, in Jesus’ mighty Name. Amen, amen, and amen.

  6. Praying with all of you for the current world situation as well as for all the needs specified by Sally. We can feel overwhelmed by all that is happening around us but, like Habakkuk, we have full confidence in our merciful God. We remember all that He’s done for His people again and again! He is still the same loving God that He’s always been!
    Praying blessings on all of you!

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