Oct 18

Habakkuk 1:12-13
12 O LORD my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—
surely you do not plan to wipe us out?
O LORD, our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us,
to punish us for our many sins.
13 But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil.
Will you wink at their treachery?
Should you be silent while the wicked
swallow up people more righteous than they?

Baseball's Ken Griffey Jr. Actress Tori Spelling. Singer Natalie Cole. Actor George Clooney. Congressman Joe Kennedy. Race Car driver Michael Andretti. Singer Whitney Houston. What do all those people have in common? OK, OK, they're all famous. Yeah, yeah, their names all begin with capital letters. Anything else? Here are a few hints: Ken Griffey Jr.'s father played baseball for the Reds, Mariners, and other teams. Tori Spelling's father is a television producer. Natalie Cole's dad was a famous singer. Joe Kennedy is the son of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Whitney Houston's mother is Cissy Houston, a gospel singer. George Clooney comes from a show business family-his dad, Nick Clooney, and his aunt Rosemary Clooney. All the people listed above are the sons or daughters of someone who achieved success and fame in sports, politics, or entertainment. If you talked to them, some would probably say their parents pressured them to "follow in their footsteps." Others probably pursued their careers in spite of Mom's and Dad's objections. Still others might have learned so much from Dad that it was only natural for them to excel in the same field. Probably most-if not all-of their parents were pleased when their sons and daughters chose to follow in their footsteps. Which kind of brings us to God. God, as our heavenly Father, is different in a lot of ways from most earthly fathers. But in one way he's quite similar: He's pleased when we follow in his footsteps. That's why he commands us to be pure, because he himself is pure. He's so pure, in fact, that he can't even look at evil. Because he's pure, he values purity. And because he values purity, he wants us to be pure. Whether we become famous athletes, singers, actors, or something else entirely, God wants us to be just like him in the purity of our life. He's even willing to help us, through the work of his Holy Spirit, who lives inside us.

REFLECT: Has anyone in your family followed in his or her parents' footsteps? Are you following in God's footsteps? If so, in what ways? If not, how can you do so?

ACT: Place a pair of your mom's or dad's shoes somewhere in your room as a reminder to follow in your heavenly Father's footsteps today.

PRAY: "God, I'm really glad to have you, the Creator of the whole universe, as my heavenly Father. Teach me how to follow in your footsteps."

Well I guess the message is pretty clear. Be like God! Follow what God does, and that will be help you become successful! And I don't only mean successful on earth, like becoming rich and famous. I mean successful after your life is over as well! You worked hard for God and stayed pure, so now you're being rewarded by entering Heaven!

What i got from this is that God wants us to follow his steps just like how most of our parents want us to follow their steps. They will help us when we are struggling and guide us towards the right path to what we wanna become. This is just like with God. In verse12

12 O LORD my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—
surely you do not plan to wipe us out?
O LORD, our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us,
to punish us for our many sins.

God will always remind us to be like him. He will reach his hand to us to aid us with our lives. and we should accept his hand, his help and follow him. Most people dont realize that God has already reached his hand towards them, but they dont know it and dont reach back out towards His hand.
We always get reminded to be pure to be like God. God created us so why cant we be like him?

Alli got gnite

Definitely want to emphasize on the part where it stated that God is truly WILLING to help us, through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Thinking about it more deeply, it's even a privilege to have God THINK about us.
The fact how he planned everyday for US, is truly a blessing.
And it always cheers me up to think about it.
"Like father, like Son."
God SHOWS us how to live our lives with direct examples of his character from other people.
Kind of paying it forward, doing his will, and most importantly, for ourself, we have to keep striving for that purity.

I don't know, guys..I read this over last night and was pretty confused at the verses...Read it over again this afternoon, feels like it's still pretty negative. I get the feeling it's strongly referring to Satan's role in our situation as somewhat of the "punisher of evil". Well, whatever came to my mind was something along the lines of how we should just simply take action and do things right instead of taking punishment and complaining about it later on.

I got a feeling of measuring my self discipline as I read the last part of the verses. Somewhat of a message saying that a real Christian who is loyal to Christ would have a heart that would want to discipline itself so that it can be of better use to God. Instead of having the need to be reminded, having the initiative to remind ourselves. That probably plays a big role in how we manage our devotions.

As Christians, we should live a godly life. Be like god and show that same compassion, forgiveness, like he did when Christ was on the cross. It's hard sometimes to treat your neighbors like this but put yourself in their shoes and try to understand them better. Do not doubt what god wants from you and he will lead the way. Don't worry about going wrong during the plan. If you're doing what he wants, there's nothing to worry about.

sorry i wasnt able to post this yesterday...had a blackout as soon as i came home from art class...it lasted for like over 3 hours!
anyways, i thought that this message was crystal clear! follow God and be like Him. He will surely be proud of us for that and He will support us all the way no matter what. this kinda ties in with the message but in class today we were talking about Amanda Todd. she made a mistake by flashing through webcam to a stranger online, and it all fell into a huge problem. she didnt have the support from people so she committed suicide. God will be with us every single step that we take and He will stick up for you through you. He will give you the power and strength to move on as we try to follow Him which is NOT easy. no one is as pure as God is and to follow his steps? its hard but we have the full support from God that will able us to move on

Truthfully, i dont think im anywhere near being in the footsteps of God. His level of accomplishments are far greater than mine and i believe that i dont DESERVE the opportunity to stand in Gods footsteps. I think we should all TRY though. even though we wont be able to make it or get close, we can try by doing acts of God.
Serving in the praise team is a tiny step.
Leadership team as well.
All the minor things can help bring you closer to the steps behind God.
We wont be alone when trying to walk in his steps... God will always be there supporting us and guiding us to be closer to him.
TRYY