The Life of Faith

The Life of Faith (Habakkuk 2:4)

I am leaving on Saturday morning for an 8-day bus trip to Branson with
44 friends of America's KESWICK. That is why you are getting two Freedom Fighters on Friday!!! Pastor John Strain will be sharing Freedom Fighters all week with you.

Have you read Habakkuk lately? It was part of my regular Bible reading schedule yesterday. Do you join me in amazement at God's ability to schedule particular readings just when we need them? I experienced that amazement while spending time with Habakkuk yesterday. Think with me about what he says: "Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith."

It's easy these days to see darkness rather than light. The economy is in trouble. Our country is in trouble. Our world is in trouble. Most of us know churches that are in trouble. Much of life seems pretty dark. It was that way for Habakkuk, too. God called him to prophesy to the people of Judah during what my Bible (in the introductory notes to this book) call the "death throes" of the nation. He asked God to help him understand what was going on. God answered him, in part, with the words of vs. 4.

The situation Habakkuk faced in Judah was worse than our situation. I don't know anyone who sees our country in "death throes." We see hard times, but not death, on the horizon. How will we handle those difficulties? We do have choices. We can despair. We can doubt. We can complain. Or, we can live by faith. One of the men at First Baptist lost forty per cent of his retirement fund in one week of October. It would be easy to despair, doubt and complain. It's better to live by faith. I believe that's what my brother in Christ is doing, even though it's hard.

God wanted Habakkuk, and us, to know that He will see all of us through whatever circumstances come our way. He doesn't promise us that everything will be easy. He does assure us that we're not alone. He does assure us that He does not forsake His own. God told Habakkuk to write "the just shall live by his faith." Faith is the better option.
Doubt, despair and complaint won't sustain us. Faith will.


How are you weathering the darkness that hovers over our world right now? Are you experiencing personal difficulties that make the world even darker? Hear God's encouraging words to a discouraged prophet: ". . . the just shall live by his faith." It was a good word for Habakkuk. It's a good word for every Freedom Fighter. - John Strain is Senior Pastor of First Baptist Toms River

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 15; Ezekiel 1-2; Hebrews 11:1-19

Think About This: "Our nature struggles fiercely against being saved without our works and tries to deceive us with a grand illusion of our own righteousness. So we may find ourselves attracted to a life that merely appears to be righteous. Or because we know we aren't righteous, we may be frightened by death or sin. Therefore, we must learn that we should have nothing to do with any other way of becoming righteous, except through Christ alone." Martin Luther

Coming soon: JESUS LED ME ALL THE WAY - Simple Piano Styles by Bill Welte. 14 Hymns recorded on CD. Cost is $15. If you are interested, respond to this email for information