November 22, 2017 – Habakkuk 3:17-18

Habakkuk 3:17-18 – Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

These words show us our status on earth is not dependent on what we own – it is not the outer – but the inner status — our faith, our love, our trust are in a flow of joy and rejoicing in the God of our Salvation.

Consider sitting at your Thanksgiving Table this year, and someone asks you what you are thankful for. Your eyes drift first to the abundance or lack, or kind of food on the table. Perhaps you think about your transportation, do you think a new car is more thank-worthy than ‘working wheels’? Suppose your TV is not working and you are missing the ball game.  Is this thank-worthy?

The last sentence in verse 18 says, I will be joyful in the God of my Salvation!  Do you see an IF in that sentence, or EXCEPT?  No, it is a positive statement with the Because of God! Our thankfulness, dependent on Joy, comes from our Sovereign God! God is, God will always be, our God!

Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O Lord. Psalm 36:5-6.

For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’  There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”  Acts 4:11-12

Happy Thanksgiving!  and…Happy Salvation!

The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights. Habakkuk 3:19.