The Town

God's work in our life does not stop when He saves us by giving us faith in Jesus. His work in us continues until we take our last breath as He makes us more like Jesus. The disciple who is maturing in their faith will desire to participate fully in the plan and mission of God. They will grow in humility and worship. They will be prepared for the moments when life takes a turn. In Habakkuk we see the picture of maturity as the prophet begins the book in complaint against God but ends rejoicing in the God who lives him not matter what the circumstance.

Change is something every human being desires. We want to be better. We want to make a difference. We want to stop being ruled by that which brings us down. Idols are the good things that we have made ultimate things that when put in the place of God they bring us down and rule us. In order to bring about real change we must be able to discern what our idols are, uproot and replace our idols and ultimately silence our idols rule in our lives. Jesus is the only God who can replace the gods we love and bringing about real change.

It feels really good to be the king—to rule and reign over everything in your life. To have people serve you, and love you. But we have some problems with living like this. First, we are no kings at all. Jesus is the true King. Secondly, Jesus is passionate about ridding our life of the sin where we insert ourselves onto the throne of our own lives. When we live for the glory of our own kingdom, we devalue things around us, turning people into objects and objects into enemies. However, the Spirit at work in us can teach us to live for the glory of the true King and teach us to truly love those around us.

We all want to know if we matter. We want to matter to the world, in the workplace, in our community, to our family and to our friends. We often judge a person based on how valuable they are to us or to our objectives. Many of us find all of our value in all of the wrong places. We base our value on our job, our skills or our success. We make the good things and opportunities God has given us into main things and we fall into idolatry. Our worth is not found in what we accomplish but rather what Jesus accomplished for us and has given to us.

There is an idol from which all other idols come. This idol is responsible for bringing sin into the world. The idol of self has caused every problem in the world that we face today and yet we continually try to build up the self into the Savior it is can never be. Self-Esteem cannot help us to a better life. Self-esteem can only judge us on what we have done lately. A life built on self-esteem is empty, painful, fragile and restless. But Jesus offers us something different - he offers us a life that is not build on our accomplishments or failures, but on his righteousness and grace.

Jesus transforms greedy people into generous people. We are born with greedy hearts. Human nature is constantly moving to make good things the main things. When good things become the main things they become coveted things. Coveted things become idols and idols destroy us. They steal our time and money and ultimately our materialism will impede the flow of the Gospel. But Jesus has changed the heart of the believer from one that is overrun with idols to one that is rooting out and burning down idols.

There are many ways that humanity has tried to use to get right with God. Religion. Tradition. Morality. But it isn't until we have come to the end of our effort and ideas that we can see were it not for Gods grace there would be no way to get right with God. God has declared the a righteous person is the person who walks and lives by faith in Him. We have to come to the end of ourselves and become lost in God's live for us and be made righteous. There is no other avenue but faith in Jesus to get right with God.

Have you ever asked God to resolve a situation for you and He answered in such a way that you did not expect or even want? That is what happened to Habakkuk. He had asked God to change the ways of Judah and once he heard God's response he only had more questions. The wrath, love and action of God can often leave us wondering and confused. When this happens there are steps that we can take to understand God better, to walk in faith, and to worship God for who He is.

Habakkuk prayed with expectancy. He was honest with God and God responded. God still works the same way today. God listens to us and He responds to us. Many Christians do not pray with expectancy and live in a practical atheism. But if God really is who the Bible says He is than prayer is a powerful way to be intimate with the Creator of the Universe.

There are times in our lives when we decide it is time to get right with God. It might be a new year, a new job, a new trial or a new direction. But it is during those times when we realize our need to be right with God. If we want to get right with God we have to get real with God first. We have to get real about our struggles, our questions, our sin, our worship and our view of who God is if we are ever to get right with Him. Getting real with God means being honest with ourselves and with God and it is not an easy journey. Being honest about ourselves can be full of shame - but there is no shame when we are honest before the cross of Jesus. God was honest about how He feels about sin when He allowed His Son Jesus to die for our sins. God was honest so that we can be honest - so that we can be right with God.

Paul was a man who had experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. He claimed that he had times of owning much and times of having nothing. Paul had been through the best and the worst of what life had to offer. When he wrote to the Philippians he was in prison which most sane people would consider a pretty big low point in a person's life. And yet Paul says that he is content.

It is a well established fact that Jesus of Nazareth was born around 2000 years ago. History attests to the fact that this little child would have a grand impact on the world. But Christmas has us asking another question. 700 years before Jesus was born, a little known prophet said, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given." It is not enough to believe that that Jesus was born. When we look into the manger we must ask if the words of the Isaiah were meant for us. Was Jesus born unto me? Was the Son given to me? These questions have eternal implications for each of us.

How do we live a peaceable life? Paul says that we must rejoice in the Lord in all things and at all times. But what is the basis of that joy? Paul says, "The Lord is at hand." The basis of our joy is that Jesus is on his way back to make all things new. In the meantime, we are to do all that we can to be living in peace with others by prayer and thanksgiving. We are to think on things that are godly and pure.

Paul was in a big mess. His life was on the line. His ministry was on the line. He had enemies. He had every reason to look back on his accomplishments and faithfulness and become angry with God as he sat in prison for no good reason. But he doesn't wallow in self-pity. Instead he writes life-changing words, "But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ."

We like to brag about things that make us look good. Paul had every right to brag about his religious upbringing and accomplishments. As a Jew he had done everything that a Jew was required to do and then some. And yet he says that all of his accomplishments and reasons to brag and rejoice in himself as loss rather than gain. The only gain that Paul would rejoice in was the life, death, resurrection and reign of Jesus Christ. We have great reason to rejoice in the work of Jesus because his accomplishment has been credited to our account and we have been given all that is necessary to have a right relationship with the God of the Universe. As a result, we can echo Paul's words, "Rejoice in the Lord."

Selflessness is inconvenient. It is hard. It means we will lose a lot, maybe even our life. Jesus' life and ministry were not convenient for him. From his birth to his death Jesus was inconvenienced and was willing to give up all that he had in heaven in order to bring us great joy.

There is great joy in assurance. Paul tells the church in Philippi to live in obedience by working out their salvation with fear and trembling. If they are assured in their faith, they, like Paul in his time of suffering, will be able to rejoice in their time of suffering. Our assurance of salvation comes from the word of God. God promises that if we have trusted Jesus as our Savior than we have all that we need to be in perfect relationship with Him. There is nothing on earth or in heaven that will separate us from the love of God. This kind of assurance produces great joy in all circumstances of life.

Jesus left all that he had in order to give us all that he is. We call this the humiliation of Christ. His humiliation was voluntary. He desired to do the Father's will and in fact covenanted with God the Father before time began to become a man in order to save the Father's people from their sin. While on earth, Jesus found great joy in doing the Father's will – even when it was hard and even when it led to his own death. As painful as Jesus' last prayer in the garden was, we still sense a deep-seeded joy in Jesus. He was going to accomplish all that the Father had willed. Jesus was able to remain steadfast in joy because the Father's will was also his will. In order to have the kind of joy that Jesus had we too must humble ourselves willingly to the Father's will. We must constantly be willing to go to the places that Father has in store for us. It is in those places, whether of pain or happiness, that we can experience great joy because we are submitted to the Father's desire and plan for our life. The

Suffering and salvation are both graced by God to the citizens of heaven. This idea of suffering as being graced to the believer is a far cry from what many preachers and churches proclaim today. Many churchgoers are told that belief in Christ leads to earthly prosperity and success. When trouble comes their way they bail on their faith because they don't understand that suffering and salvation are two different sides of the same coin.

How can a mother who has lost a child sing "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!" just minutes after receiving the news that she won't see her child on this old earth again? How can a husband draw close to the Lord when his young wife is dying of cancer? How can a man sing the praises of a sovereign God when he doesn't know where the next meal for his family will come from? Paul says that his joy in prison comes from a confidence that Jesus will be honored in Paul's life or in Paul's death. We have proof that Paul was right! We are still studying his letters to this day and billions of people are changed because of his perseverance to continue in the faith.