Meditation from Habakkuk 2:3

      For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
      it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
                  If it seems slow, wait for it;
      it will surely come; it will not delay.

Reread the verse understanding that it is talking about judgment. There verse is a scary verse to read. God's plan for judgment will come and it will accomplish. Starting in verse 6, 4 "Woe to him" against the army that God is building up for judgment of Israel.

Though this is for a particular people, it still speaks today. God has promised a final judgment of the wicked and of the saints. His judgment will not terry. Like a thief in the night, so will God come in judgment. That is why Paul tells his readers that today is the day of salvation. These verse should also drive us to start witnessing our faith. We do not know the day that Christ will return. We cannot share the gospel with people in hell so the time is now. Even when the apostles were focus on Christ's kingdom, he told them to be His witness throughout the land. That is the same call today. Will you go?

Meditation from John 2:19-28

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 

Here in verse 19, John moves to the testimony of John (the Baptist) as he connects it with 1:6. This is the first witness that John (the Baptist) would have towards Christ. D.A. Carson notes that the fact John did not deny shows a positive look towards Jesus as the Christ. The rest of the story unfolds as the priests and Levites question on who John is and why he is baptizing? John is showing us that John (the Baptist) is doing testifying towards Christ. He does not deny that the Christ is coming but that he is preparing them before he comes. Here is what we are called to do also. Christ will return and we should shout "[m]ake straight the way of the Lord" as John did. When Christ came after  John, he did not come to kill but bring peace. When Jesus returns, we will destroy the ungodly. The time is now to act. God will come like a thief in the night and we must be prepared for His coming. Like John, our testimony points to the one that is greater than us.

SO, what are you doing to spread the danger to come? Everyone that is without Christ will perish in hell. Yet God stands ready to save those that come to him in faith and repentance. So Christian, if you have failed to obey God now, (like I have) seek forgiveness and go out preach the gospel to a lost and dying world.

1 John 4:7-10

Beloved, we might love, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been begotten from God and is knows God. ⁸ Everyone who does not love is not known by God because God is love.⁹ In this the love of God is manifested in our case, because God sent His only son into the world in order that we might come to live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he has loved us and sent His son as a propitiation for our sins. (My translation)

John continues to drive home that love and the Christian's life are together as one. Verse 7 gives the substance of our own love. Those that are in Christ love because God loved them. His is the one that gives us love. Also notice that love characterizes the one that is "begotten" and "knows" God. This relates to John 14, where Jesus mentions that love for him is equal to obeying Him. The action of loving others identifies one as a Christian. Private devotion does not shows one to be a Christian. This is not to neglect these things because that is what God uses to help Christians grow in love. The negation in verse 8 just repeats what is said in verse 7.
Lets not move to quickly past this. The way we act towards others show much. In Lane and Tripp's book, "How People Change," they explain that how people react in situations reveal their hearts. Other people and situations do not case a person to act in certain ways. As Christians, when we act in a not loving way it reflects bad on the goodness and love of God. Now, this is not a excuse for those that do not believe. A life that is characterize as not loving shows that they are not really from God. This is noticed in the difference in verse 7 and 8. The verb "knows" and "known" are the same verb is different tenses. For the sake of simplicity, the first is present and the second is past tense. This difference in the tenses show a great deal. It is the difference is one knowing God and the other never knowing God.
Finally verses 9  and 10 starts with a common phrase in 1 John, "in this." John uses this phrase to connect different arguments. It is used 14 times in 1 John and it means from this past information this next set of information is also true. So here,  John is saying that we know this love of God because of He sent His son on earth. This was done so that Christians can have life. Verse 10 then gives us an explanation of this, using "in this." God's love is demonstrated in the sacrifice of Jesus as a "propitiation for our sins."
What does this mean for our life? We love as a continuation of His love to us. Our love reflects the love of Christ. This love is based on the new life that we have in Christ. Christ who acted loving all the time, is our example of what love looks like. It is not a self-seeking love but a love of others. Christian life is not about me but about Christ. As we learn more about God, it should cause us to love others more than self. It is seeing Christ as the one that bore our sin and then living accordingly to others. Love is not seeking revenge for sins committed against us but forgiving others. Love seeks to bring life and forgiveness restores the broken life we have with others. 

1 John 3:1

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Our circumstances don't cause us to act as we do. They only expose or true condition of our hearts, revealed in our words and actions." Lane/ Tripp's book How People Change.

Mediation for the day.

In my Greek class, we are working through 1 John. I started reading it more throughly from the Greek. I was in 1 John 3:14. The ESV reads, "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death."

The last part the verse struck me. I translated the Greek, "He who loves not remains in death."He remains there because he has not crossed over, or as the ESV reads pass over, from death. The one who does not love is still in their sins. Verse 15 confines the thought with "everyone who hates their brother is a murder." This connects hate with Cain. Those that hate are like Cain. This is a powerful statement and one that we should not pass by to quickly. As Christians, the way we treat other Christians show our devotion to God.
In what ways to we hate each other? This could be as simple was trying to be better then a fellow members. It could be seen as easily as not helping when someone is in need. Remember of you have hated, Jesus stands to forgive you (1 John 2:2).

Why Death is Better than Birth?

Today in my devotions, I was reading Ecclesiastes 5-8. As I was reading felt the need to understand better what Solomon is telling is in Ecclesiastes 7:1-5. He writes,

1 A good name is better than a good ointment, And the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth. 2 It is better to go to a house of mourning Than to go to a house of feasting, Because that is the end of every man, And the living takes it to heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, For when a face is sad a heart may be happy. 4 The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, While the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure. 5 It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise man Than for one to listen to the song of fools. (NASB)

This is not a up lift piece of the Bible but it does spread light into how we should look at our lives. Solomon ended chapter 6 talking about wisdom and fools. This leads to the 7:1 in say that a name is better that ointment and death is better than the beginning of life. This asks the question of why a funeral is better than a birth? This question is answered in verse 2b, "Because that is the end of every man, And the living takes it to heart." It is when someone dies that we realize that life ends. One day, we will be like the one that has not breath in their lungs. Psalm 90:12 connects this notion of realizing our days. The Psalmist says "So teach us to number our days/ that we may get a heart of wisdom." It is this reality that makes people more effective for God. It is understanding that I can not get caught up wasting time. This also means that taking a day of rest will help sustain life in the Lord. To stop work and rest in Lord to be refreshed until the final rest comes when Christ brings the new heavens and new earth.