January 7, 2012 … It’s Not About Me!

Passage of the Day: Chapter/Verse Reference: Job, Chapters 14-16 …
To study these chapters, go to this link -

Study Passage: Job 14: 14 If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal [or release] to come.
15 You will call and I will answer You; You will long for the creature your hands have made.
16 Surely then You will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.
17 My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; You will cover over my sin.
Study Passage: Job 15: 1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 “Would a wise person answer with empty notions or fill their belly with the hot east wind?
3 Would they argue with useless words, with speeches that have no value?
Study Passage: Job 16: 18 “Earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry never be laid to rest! 19 Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.
20 My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God;
21 on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend.

My Journal for Today: Wow! Pouring through these three chapters of Job this morning (you can do so online by the link provided above), I was taken back to the days when, as an atheist years ago, I used to argue with believers who held on to their faith in the face of personal trials. In the passages I’ve highlighted and reprinted above, we read of Job, without any real knowledge of whether there could be or would be a resurrection, holding out with desperate faith (in Job 14: 14-17) for his beleaguered life and sins to be covered over by his God.

And then, Eliphaz, one of Job’s “three stooges,” as I call them, comes back with one of my old worldly arguments (see Job 15: 1-3) … that Job’s words were meaningless in the grand scheme of life. I used to put Christians down who argued for their God by telling them that since there was no way they could prove their case, the words of these believers were just worthless. For these faithful Christians, many of whom were probably strugglers just like Job, I was their modern Eliphaz, pointing out what I believed to be the fruitlessness of their faith.

But as the passage in Job 16: 18-21, reprinted above attests, Job held on and showed prophetic faith, declaring that, no matter what Eliphaz (and the other so-called “friends”) declared, Job just knew that he had a God Who was his advocate in heaven. And we Christians certainly should know, with the advantage of historical knowledge of Christ’s advent and resurrection, Job had it right – EXACTLY RIGHT!

My fellow Christian, from the documentation of our New Testament witnesses and the truth of God’s word (see Isaiah 55: 11 and 2nd Tim. 3: 16-17 from the Old and New Covenants), we can declare, as did Job, that we have an Advocate, a Heavenly Friend, our Lord and Savior, Jesus, Who stands by us in heaven, even in times like those experienced by Job. We have a Redeemer upon Whom we can place all of our trust and with Whom we will share eternity.

Somehow, in spite of all of his circumstances – and even in spite of all of his “WHY” questions – Job held out in faith for a God Who would save Him; … for One who would witness to our heavenly Father of his faith, … and for One Who would take him home when the LORD decided it was his (Job’s) time.

That is the faith, my friends, we should hold to … even when we have doubts; … even when we go to God with our “WHY” questions; … yes, even when we are bowled over by bad circumstances. We can, like Job, know that we know that we know that we know, that our Lord and Savior, Jesus, is always there, before God’s throne of grace, arguing and witnessing on behalf of our case.

My Prayer Today: … And my LORD, I thank you for Your being my Advocate to the Father even at this moment, in spite of my beleaguered faith. Amen

September 24, 2011 … The Spirit’s Intercession

Passage of the Day: Romans 8: 26 … In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

My Journal for Today: When we are experiencing personal trials, especially when we feel like we are weak or vulnerable (the Greek for “weakness” in today’s text is “astheneia,” which can refer to physical, emotional, and/or spiritual infirmity or disability), it is comforting when we learn that an empathetic and capable friend is doing all he or she can to help, including praying for us diligently or standing with us in a time of trial. And if one has legal challenges, it becomes essential to have a competent attorney to stand with us, interceding on our behalf to authorities or when we don’t feel able to handle our own affairs. Ever felt like that or been in that kind of dilemma?

Well, in the spiritual realm, God, the Son, has provided for both of these contingencies, having imparted to each believer the Holy Spirit (see John 14: 16) to be our Comforter, our Intercessor, and even our Paraklete (or advocate) to secure our place in Heaven or before God’s Throne of Grace (see Hebrews 7: 25). And certainly in the hostile world in which we live, as well as with our own sin nature, we would be ever at a loss without the infinitely competent and powerful intercession of our precious and ever capable Holy Spirit.

And as it says in today’s verse, God, the Spirit, is constantly and continually interceding for us, even in our state of agony with “groanings” which are heard and received by God, even when we don’t know for what we should pray or ask. This is God’s divine language on our behalf, which is always received and perfectly interpreted by our God, Who forever knows our needs and cares for us (see 1st Peter 5: 7).

I’ve been there many times; and I’ll bet you have to … in that place of groaning incompetence where I don’t even know what to utter for a prayer; and yet, God comes through for me. I’m afraid that all too often I take my Paraklete, God, the Holy Spirit, for granted; because, without Him, I would be lost and separated from God. However, with Him, … well, in this moment of insight and remembrance, it’s incredibly reassuring to know that He’s right here, even as I type these words, helping me, lifting me, enlightening me and even praying for me before my Father and my Savior in heaven.

My Prayer Today: O, dear, blessed Spirit, …thank You for Your prayers. Amen

2010 – September 12 – Our Advocate and Friend

Study from God’s Word… Job, Chapters 15 – 17 … Passage for Reflection: Job 16: 19 – 21 … NIV 19 Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. 20 My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; 21 on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend.

My Journal for Today: Job was in a pickle, for sure. He needed help; … an advocate, … a witness, … a friend. But all he found were accusers who railed against his plight, giving him ill-begotten advice and half truths. And so in his incredible pain and confusion, our ailing believer turned to the only source of truth and friendship he could, … his God. And though Job was not privy to the truth about his Savior, as are we Christians today, his faith cried out to a Messiah whom he sought to be his intercessor, his witness of truth to the Father in heaven, and his glorious Friend, the Son of God.

And my devotional shepherd, Dr. Smith, poses an interesting question. Given the truth (i.e., the fact) that we born-again Christians now have the One, True Advocate in Heaven, our Intercessor, sitting at the right hand of God, and the Friend who was willing to shed His blood so that our sin debt would be paid forever, we have to ask ourselves, ”Are we, as the friend of The Christ, Who pleads our innocence before the Father, doing all we can to make our Advocate’s job easier?” In other words, do we, by the way we worship our Savior in the way we live 24/7, make it difficult (or much easier) for Him to be our Advocate or our Friend.

When I became a Christian, I must say that it was probably a pretty tough job for my Savior to plead my case to the Father and to stand by me as my Friend. But as I’ve matured in my faith, I would hope that He doesn’t have to work quite as hard and He can be more of a friend than having to be my witness and ultimately my advocate. Oh, I know that I can still be a tough case at times, especially when I get selfish or into self pity. But my Intercessor, God’s Spirit, is always there, praying for me, standing with me, and interceding on my behalf; and my Lord and Savior is ALWAYS my Friend.

That my dear one, is what Job had going for him; and it’s what you and I have going for us in the courts of Heaven.

My Prayer for Today: Praise Your Holy Name, Lord, as my Advocate and Friend in Heaven. Amen