Shalom,
Psalm 95:2:
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!
The phrase "let us come before" is the Hebrew word "qadam", which is a verb meaning: to project oneself; to anticipate; to hasten; to meet; to confront; to come in front of; to be in His presence; to meet Him face to face! When we come into His presence, it is to be with a heart of thanksgiving for Who He is and what He's done for us! Then we are told to "make a joyful noise" which means to SHOUT!!! Then we are to SING to Him psalms of praise! In case you haven't caught on yet, Heaven is a VERY, VERY noisy, joyful place to be! I am so looking forward to living there when my work here is done!
Luke 16 is addressing wealth and riches; and the proper attitude toward them. I found this quote in the Bible Exposition Commentary: Anonymous: "money is an article which may be used as a universal passport to everywhere except Heaven, and as a universal provider for everything except happiness"! The Bible speaks a great deal about money, wealth and riches! Every bit of wisdom we need to be prosperous (in control and successful). Our definition of success is: Being where God wants you to be, doing what God wants you to do! Our definition of prosperity is: Being in control in every situation so that when God says "Move", we are free to do so! Verse 13:
13 No servant is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (riches, or anything in which you trust and on which you rely).
To be a servant or slave, you must be submitted to your master. Do you REALLY want money and things to be your master? I KNOW you don't, or you wouldn't be reading THIS blog! When you submit yourself completely to the One, True, Most High, Living, Almighty God of the Bible, in every area of your life, HE will cause you to prosper and be successful in EVERY area of your life! AMEN! He is the MUCH better MASTER! AMEN!
Habakkuk was a prophet who questioned God about all that was happening and what God was doing in chapter 1. Then in chapter 2, God answers him and commands him to write it down! Chapter 3 is a psalm of praise to God. Some of the most notable and remembered verses are found in Habakkuk 2:2-3:
2 And the LORD answered me and said, Write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may [be able to] read [it easily and quickly] as he hastens by. 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed and it hastens to the end [fulfillment]; it will no deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait [earnestly] for it, because it will surely come it will not be behindhand on its appointed day.
What is our lesson here? God has had His people writing things down since the beginning! That's how we got the Bibles we all have many copies of! SOMEONE wrote it down! SO make sure that you are writing down everything that the Spirit of God tells you each day! That is the only way to remember and not to lose sight of God's Word and His promises!
Verse 14 says:
14 But [the time is coming when] the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
We are living in THAT time! There is so much knowledge available to us now as believers! The only person who can limit how much (or how little) you get to know of Him is YOU! Don't Do IT! Get to know him through His Word and you won't have to rely on others to tell you about Him! AMEN!
Now, spend some time praising Him like Habakkuk did in chapter 3! Praising ALWAYS gets us in good frame of mind!
Shalom in Him!
