File: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread/db940803.txt
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OUR DAILY BREAD                         Wednesday, August 3, 1994
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READ:  Habakkuk 3:8-19

                        "Faith That Works""

               Though the fig tree may not blossom, ...
                yet will I rejoice int he Lord.

                        Habakkuk 3:17-18


I read about a family who lost three children to diphtheria in the same 
week. Only a 3-year-old girl escaped the disease.  On the following 
Easter morning, the father, mother, and child attended church.  Because 
the father was the Sunday school superintendent, he led the session when 
all the classes met together.  As he read the Easter message from the 
Bible, many were weeping, but the father and mother remained calm and 
serene.

When Sunday school was over, a 15-year-old boy was walking home with his
father.  "The superintendent and his wife must really believe the Easter
story," said the boy.  His father answered, "All Christians do."  "Not 
the way they do!" replied the young man.

How we react under trial demonstrates the depth of our convictions.  
This is not to say that a true Christian will not weep at the loss of a 
loved one. However, knowing that all believers who die go into Christ's 
presence, we need not "sorrow as others who have no hope" (I Thess. 
4:13).  We can say, "Thank You, Lord," because we know He can be trusted 
to do what is best.  The prophet said it well:  "Though the fig tree may 
not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; ... yet I will rejoice in the 
Lord" (Hab. 3:17-18).

              - RWD

   The sweetest fragrance often flows
     From those who feel life's pain;
   They firmly trust in God's great love
     And in that love remain.

                            - DJD

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
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Faith in Christ knows that the best is yet to come.

The Bible in One Year:  Habakkuk 1-3

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