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Faith, Fabruary 20
The Fruit of the Holy Spirit
The just shall live by his faith.
Habakkuk 2:4
On one occasion, when meditating concerning the future, he
[Habakkuk] said, “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the
tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me.” Graciously the
Lord answered him: “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables,
that he may run that readeth it....
The just shall live by his faith.”
The faith that strengthened Habakkuk and all the holy and the just in
those days of deep trial was the same faith that sustains God’s people
today. In the darkest hours, under circumstances the most forbidding,
the Christian believer may keep his soul stayed upon the source of all
light and power. Day by day, through faith in God, his hope and courage
may be renewed. “The just shall live by his faith.” In the service of God
there need be no despondency, no wavering, no fear. The Lord will more
than fulfill the highest expectations of those who put their trust in Him.
He will give them the wisdom their varied necessities demand....
We must cherish and cultivate the faith of which prophets and apostles
have testified—the faith that lays hold on the promises of God and
waits for deliverance in His appointed time and way. The sure word of
prophecy will meet its final fulfillment in the glorious Advent of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, as King of kings and Lord of lords. The time
of waiting may seem long, the soul may be oppressed by discouraging
circumstances, many in whom confidence has been placed may fall by
the way; but with the prophet who endeavored to encourage Judah in
a time of unparalleled apostasy, let us confidently declare, “The Lord
is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him.” Let us
ever hold in remembrance the cheering message, “The vision is yet for
an appointed time ... : though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely
come, it will not tarry.... The just shall live by his faith.”
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