One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.
Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.
__________
Morning Reading: Psalm 96 (NLT)
Sing a new song to the Lord! Let the whole earth sing to the Lord! Sing to the Lord; praise his name. Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods. The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens! Honor and majesty surround him; strength and beauty fill his sanctuary.
O nations of the world, recognize the Lord; recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong. Give to the Lord the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor. Let all the earth tremble before him. Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!” The world stands firm and cannot be shaken. He will judge all peoples fairly.
Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice! Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he is coming! He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with his truth.
__________
Morning Prayer
O Lord our God: We join with the voices of heaven and earth to praise your great Name –
+ for you are matchless in power, wisdom, and love…
+ for you made everything in heaven and earth, you made us…
+ for you are matchless in faithfulness and loving-kindness…
+ for you reign over heaven and earth with justice and truth…
O Lord our God: Give us songs to sing, arising from our experience of your saving grace –
+ refresh in us the joy of sins forgiven, and new life begun…
+ refresh in us words to express your loving-kindness and mercy…
+ refresh in us an all-pervading spirit of worship throughout our day…
+ refresh in us the commission to go into all the world and make disciples…
O Lord our God: Give us new songs to sing to welcome Jesus, our coming King. Prepare our hearts to receive him at a moment’s notice for he comes to reveal your glory, and to judge the earth in righteousness and truth. It’s in his Name we pray. Amen.
__________
” Psalm 96″ [Let The Earth Rejoice] – Robbie Seay Band
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, and protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
__________
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.
Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.
Habakkuk 1:1 (NLT) – This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received in a vision.
Habakkuk’s Complaint
Habakkuk 1:2-4 (NLT) – How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted.
The Lord’s Reply
Habakkuk 1:5-6, 11 (NLT) – The Lord replied,
“Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it. I am raising up the Babylonians, a cruel and violent people. They will march across the world and conquer other lands…. They sweep past like the wind and are gone. But they are deeply guilty, for their own strength is their god.”
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
Habakkuk 1:12-13, 17 (NLT) – O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—surely you do not plan to wipe us out? O Lord, our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us, to punish us for our many sins. But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil. Will you wink at their treachery? Should you be silent while the wicked swallow up people more righteous than they?… Will you let them get away with this forever? Will they succeed forever in their heartless conquests?
Habakkuk 2:1 (NLT) – I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer my complaint.
The Lord’s Second Reply
Habakkuk 2:2-8 (NLT) – Then the Lord said to me,
“Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others. This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.
“Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God. Wealth is treacherous, and the arrogant are never at rest. They open their mouths as wide as the grave, and like death, they are never satisfied. In their greed they have gathered up many nations and swallowed many peoples.
“But soon their captives will taunt them. They will mock them, saying, ‘What sorrow awaits you thieves! Now you will get what you deserve! You’ve become rich by extortion, but how much longer can this go on?’ Suddenly, your debtors will take action. They will turn on you and take all you have, while you stand trembling and helpless. Because you have plundered many nations, now all the survivors will plunder you. You committed murder throughout the countryside and filled the towns with violence.
Habakkuk 2:9-11 (NLT) – “What sorrow awaits you who build big houses with money gained dishonestly! You believe your wealth will buy security, putting your family’s nest beyond the reach of danger. But by the murders you committed, you have shamed your name and forfeited your lives. The very stones in the walls cry out against you, and the beams in the ceilings echo the complaint.
Habakkuk 2:12-14 (NLT) – “What sorrow awaits you who build cities with money gained through murder and corruption! Has not the Lord of Heaven’s Armies promised that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes? They work so hard, but all in vain! For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the Lord.
Habakkuk 2:15-16 (NLT) – “What sorrow awaits you who make your neighbors drunk! You force your cup on them so you can gloat over their shameful nakedness. But soon it will be your turn to be disgraced.
Habakkuk 2:19-20 (NLT) – “What sorrow awaits you who say to wooden idols, ‘Wake up and save us!’ To speechless stone images you say, ‘Rise up and teach us!’ Can an idol tell you what to do? They may be overlaid with gold and silver, but they are lifeless inside. But the Lord is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him.”
Habakkuk’s Prayer
Habakkuk 3:1-6 (NLT) – This prayer was sung by the prophet Habakkuk:
I have heard all about you, Lord. I am filled with awe by your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by. And in your anger, remember your mercy.
I see God moving across the deserts from Edom, the Holy One coming from Mount Paran. His brilliant splendor fills the heavens, and the earth is filled with his praise. His coming is as brilliant as the sunrise. Rays of light flash from his hands, where his awesome power is hidden. Pestilence marches before him; plague follows close behind. When he stops, the earth shakes. When he looks, the nations tremble. He shatters the everlasting mountains and levels the eternal hills. He is the Eternal One!
Habakkuk 3:16-19 (NLT) – I will wait quietly for the coming day when disaster will strike the people who invade us. 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! The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.
__________
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
__________
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Opening Sentence
I have come to seek You, O God, just as I am I come. I have come to be sought by You, just as I am I come.
I will wait for the Lord. My soul waits, and in His word do I hope.
Reading:Psalm 119:113-117 (NLT)
I hate those with divided loyalties, but I love your instructions. You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope. Get out of my life, you evil-minded people, for I intend to obey the commands of my God.
Lord, sustain me as you promised, that I may live! Do not let my hope be crushed. Sustain me, and I will be rescued; then I will meditate continually on your decrees.
Reading: Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT)
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Reading: Ephesians 1:3; 2:6-7 (NLT)
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.
_____
For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
__________
I knew a man who always said ‘Keep looking down,’ ‘You mean keep looking up, don’t you?’ ‘No! No! We are seated together with Christ in heavenly places!’ (Arthur Burns)
__________
Prayer – Jimmy Owens
Keep looking down, we’re seated in the heavenlies,
God’s mighty power has raised us over all.
Keep looking down, above the principalities,
for we have ‘died and risen with the Lord.’
And in His name we have authority,
and in His name we shall prevail,
And in His name we dare to face the enemy
and in His name we cannot fail.
Keep looking down!
“Before the Throne of God Above” – Selah
Blessing
May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
O nations of the world, recognize the Lord; recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong. Give to the Lord the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor. Let all the earth tremble before him. Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!” The world stands firm and cannot be shaken. He will judge all peoples fairly.
The Peanut Gallery 