Morning Moments

Habakkuk 3:2 (HCSB)
2 Lord, I have heard the report about You; Lord, I stand in awe of Your deeds. Revive Your work in these years; make ?it? known in these years. In ?Your? wrath remember mercy!

The Southern Kingdom had already been taken captive by the Assyrians, as Nahum reveals. Now Judah is facing her first of three deportations to Babylon by the Chaldeans. The prophet writes in such poetic terms, his writing is comparable to the Psalms. He moves from woe to worship; from misery to majesty; from gloom to glory; from insult to insight, as he ponders how God could possibly allow such pagan people to conquer God's peculiar people.

We in America have had it so good for so long. But there is a mighty move of Islam to intimidate us into intellectual impotence and spiritual sterility. In other words, in the name of freedom we have failed in responsibility and are rapidly headed down the path of cultural captivity. Politcal Correctness has shut us up and is shuting us down.

Oh, you say, look what we did as a result of 9/11! Yes, but we have already given way to much apathy and indifference about terrorism as seen in our confusion regarding Israel's attacks upon the Arabs. Our country is so concerned about why a man like Hasan, the American psychiatrist would kill and wound so many at Fort Hood. The Bible is clear about it, "From the heart proceeds murder..." Our world is in confusion and chaos and the Church is steeped in callousness and carnality. Can we now relate a bit more to Habakkuk?

When we are oppressed with the state of the Church and the world, as was Habakkuk, there is no resource but to turn to God. It is of no use to say to our brother, What shall we do? We must at once get into the presence of the Almighty. All conferences with flesh and blood are wasted breath, all services for services sake are wasted time, unless there is a meeting with God, Himself. No one can do that for you - you must meet Him yourself - on His terms.

In the third chapter of Habakkuk we discover a prayer song which should be written indelibly on every believer's heart. Having laid hold on the faithfulness of God, the prophet moves from quest to conquest, from doubt to determination, from repentance to real revival.

How each of us should long for that kind of experience among us, our church, community, country, and civilization.

If we are to get what the Lord is so willing to give, we must put aside our pride, prejudice, and pettiness, and petition our God for mercy. The Bible says there is a wideness in God's mercy. My dear friend it is God's mercy we need and it must be for mercy we plead. It was true of the prophet and the people then; it is true of the preacher and the people now. May our heart cry be as the prophet's - "In wrath remember mercy."

Hab 3:2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech, [and] was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.


A rabbi was asked a question by a pupil, referring to Deuteronomy 6:6-- "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart." "Why is it said this way?" the pupil asked. "Why are we not told to place them in our heart?" The rabbi answered that it is not within man's power to place the divine teachings directly in his heart. "All that we can do is place them on the surface of the heart so that when the heart breaks they will drop in."

Too often our hearts must be broken before we gain -

Recognition of the Word of God "thy speech"

Ecstasy is no guarantee of orthodoxy or that Christian fruit will result. We have created a generation of "feel good" Christians as oppose to "find God" Christians. We jump high but refuse to walk straight. God has spoken

He speaks regarding Purity, but we remain Polluted.

John Milton said, "We read not that Christ ever exercised force but once, and that was to drive profane ones out of his temple, and not to force them in."

Let a man preach hard against pollution and for purity and more often than not he will find himself packing. Today we put halos on the corrupt and pray hailstones upon the consecrated. We show compassion on demons and contempt for dedication. We favor the weakness of the Samsons over the wisdom of the Solomons. The betrayal of a Judas is more accepted in our day than the behavior of the Just. We'd rather watch soaps than win souls; laugh at perversion rather than lament over it. We need MERCY!

He speaks regarding Doctrine, but we remain Divided.

Richard Baxter wrote, "We need to keep close to the ancient simplicity of the original Christian faith, and build our foundation on its original unity. We must abhor the arrogance of those who harass and tear apart the church of God under the pretense of correcting errors and holding to "the Truth." The sufficiency of Scripture, of course, must be upheld; but do not let others add anything to it."

The early church continued "steadfastly in the apostles doctrine." It was not open to debate, dialogue, nor disobedience, for it was the teaching they had received from both the Logos, the Living Word and the Rhema, the written Word. They received OT pictures of how to apply NT principles. They did not merely "lip" the truth, but they lived it too."

It is the recognition, respect, and response of heart to the Word of God as our sole authority of life and faith that unites us. Any deviation from that distracts us, detours us, and divides us. We need MERCY!

He speaks regarding Babies, but we remain Butchers.

Kenneth Guentert in an article entitled, "Is there any room for discussion in the abortion debate," said, I don't understand how some of my friends can get worked up about the death of a dolphin, forest, veal calf, or lab rat and not care about a being who, if given a chance, will grow up to look just like them.


I am convinced that the single most significant cause for the butcher of babies in American and particularly among so called Christians is pride, the most subtle of sins. We don't want to admit that we have failed to teach our children morals. We have fed them to magazines, movies, and media which devalue life and value lust; promote appetite rather than abstinence; which scorn the sacred and the secular. We have left the prayer closet for the personal computer and intercession for the Internet. We need MERCY!

He speaks regarding Power, but we remain Puny.

A fellow who had been reared in the city bought a farm and several milk cows. In the feed store one day he complained his best cow had gone dry.
"Aren't you feeding her right?" asked the store owner.
"I'm feeding her what you've been selling me," said the man.
"Are you milking her everyday?"
"Just about. If I need six or eight ounces of milk for breakfast, I go out and get it. If I don't need any, I don't get it--I just let her save it up."
The feed store owner had to explain it doesn't work that way. With cow's milk, like God's presence, you take all that's there, or you eventually have nothing. Asking for God's power in six-ounce doses, or asking sporadically only at our convenience, may mean that for us, the source dries up.

It often seems that our decisions lack dedication; our converts lack change; our church members are deficient in Christian ministry and maturity; our "church houses" become "club houses," and with a world in chaos, we remain carnal. What we need is MERCY!

Response to the Wrath of God "was afraid"

On Tuesday, September 11th, 2001, America felt fear for the first time in many a day, but it wasn't "fear of the Lord," but fear of man. God said through Hosea "there is no fear of God in the Land." It is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom. How foolish we have become!

We have replaced "fear" with fun.

We have replaced agony with apathy.

We have replaced the trembling, souls with trendy styles.

Return to the Work of God "thy work"

What indeed is the work of God? It is no more nor less than evangelism and discipleship. That is what He left us here for. We are spending millions on programs because we lack power. We have such extensive studies on the gifts and neglect the Giver.

When He commissions us, He also equips us.

What He has Promised, He will Provide

Where He Guides, He will Guard.

Realization of the Way of God "mercy"

Any revitalization of faith in this country will have to start with prayer, in which we gain a sense of the living presence of God. It is not money we need, but mercy! It is mercy that one needs when caught and convicted. We need to stop begging for miracles and start begging for mercy. Our text contains a plea for mercy.

God's mercy brings Hope to an hopeless humanity.

God's mercy brings Salvation to a sin sick society.

God's mercy brings Revival to repentant religion.

The Great Awakening of 1735 successfully met and overcome the deadly spiritual indifference of that day. The Revival of 1800 enabled this country to triumph over infidelity and skepticism. In 1845 this nation staggered over the slavery issue and desperately need a revival of spiritual strength to carry through. In 1857 God did it again. He brought His people to revival.

In a day when many of us are educated to the hilt, we need the fire to fall from heaven so that we might shake the very foundation of hell. Today's Christianity calls for conversion without change and commitment without consecration, and Christians without character. We are more impressed with cleverness in the pulpit than we are crying in the pew. There will be more knocking on doors when there are more disciples on knees.

May God grant us once again, that old time religion that shuts down the porn shops and shows, that keeps our necks out of the noose of the net, that puts righteousness back into religion, prayer back into the hearts of pupils, power back into the lives of preachers, and conviction back into the life of every Christian. O Lord...Remember Mercy!

BLESSINGS!