One of my favorite books in the whole bible is Habakkuk.  Our son Ryan, knowing that told me about a man named Matt Chandler who is pastor over a church in Dallas Texas who preached a sermon series on Habakkuk.  I dialed it in and listened and....WOW....so good!   I love Matt Chandler, I had listened to him before this sermon series and he not only cracks me up, he drives me crazy and he spurs me on to go deeper with Jesus. Not because he tries to incite some sort of emotion (he's a baptist preacher...don't hate on that, he believes in the Holy Spirit) but because he stays true to the Word and preaches the Word, and...he's real.

This morning I listened to one of the final sermons on Habakkuk (he did this series in April 2011 shortly after having battled against malignant brain cancer)  and just got so many truths out of it. I was glad I had my journal handy to write notes down as I listened.  Here are the points that just reached out and grabbed me and you may chuckle because if you are reading this you likely know that I have been walking with the Lord a long time and should maybe have gotten these points a LONG time ago but it seems the Lord delights in taking us to a place we have already been and going down into an even deeper layer, even if the initial revelation of that truth was many years ago, eventually, you come full circle and get to learn an even deeper, bigger, more amazing truth about something and then guess what?  You haven't learned it all yet!!!

Here goes:  oh, and if you want to listen to these sermons, go to www.thevillagechurch.net and click on resources and then on sermons and then on topic and then go down to Habakkuk.....and guess what? You can download transcripts and study guides of the sermons too!  I think I will do that with this one!

"Remember and Rejoice"

The bible is not about me, its not a self help book!!!!  okay, first revelation!  Seriously you'd have thought I KNEW that but for some reason this morning it struck me right in the middle of my forehead!!!

JESUS IS THE POINT OF THE WHOLE THING!!!!!!!!!!!

Things to Rejoice and Remember:

1.  God Saved Me!!!  Eph. 2:13 Col 2:13-15
      I was BROUGHT near because of Christs blood.  That day when I asked Jesus into my heart, it wasn't because of me, it was because of Him..He drew me, I just responded

2.  God is Sovereign and over all things...I AM NOT ABANDONED....Matt. 28-19 and 20 and Gal. 5:15-17

3. God started this and He will finish it.  If I believe that I saved me, that I had ANYTHING to do with my own salvation then I can get very discouraged when things are difficult.  The more I think I am the point the more I will despair.  Philippians 1:6 and Romans 8:28

I know, I know, this is elementary, this is basic and yet, if you consider it in a new and deeper way, you can certainly see how you can get a whole new revelation....

My suggestion?  Listen to the sermon and you will see what I mean!

www.thevillagechurch.net