Blogger’s Note: … Well, it’s on to Chuck Swindoll’s devotional study of the Apostle Paul; and as you’ll read, I am going to get a personal kick out of this one. I hope you, who choose to follow along do as well.
Passage of the Day: Acts 5: 29 - 31 … 29 But Peter and the other apostles answered [the Jewish High Council who had ordered the Apostles to quit preaching Christ] and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. 31 Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
Acts: 8: 1 – 3 … 1 Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. … 3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
My Journal for Today: So, we move on to study one of the most influential characters of the New Testament, the Apostle Paul, the author of more of the New Testament books than any other writer, … the man who intentionally helped spread the Gospel message throughout the world at the time he lived; … and we know of him as an early leader of the Apostles in the 1st Century church. But he was a man who came from a very dark past, … a man of great contrast, … as is depicted in the two passages Swindoll chooses for us to get our first view of this great figure of Christianity.
In Acts 5, we see the Apostles of Christ, standing strongly FOR Christ; but then we read one of the retrospective views of our focus of study in Acts 8, and we see the early Paul, then called Saul of Tarsus, … a brilliant and powerful member of the Sanhedrin, a leader of the Jewish council, whose life was wrapped up, at that point in his life, by trying to eliminate Jews who followed Christ. In today’s view of Acts 8, we see just how deeply he had fallen into that pit of sin as he sanctions the death of Stephen, the first recorded martyr of the faith.
And immediately I have deep personal identification with this Apostle whose life was so dramatically transformed by the love of God and the Holy Spirit, Who had raised our Savior from the grave. Perhaps you too identify with the changed and saved life of this man who was morphed from a killer of Christians to the pre-eminent Christian evangelist of the 1st Century. And isn’t it wonderful to realize that our Savior sought this man out to show all of us, through His word, which we now have, to illustrate that such change is possible. And, my friend, no one can identify more with this truth than can I.
At one point during my life, in the 1970s I was an anti-Christian apologist much as was Saul of Tarsus. In those days I did all I could to strip the faith from Christians whom I knew on ones who could not stand up for their faith. I guess you could call me a “devil’s advocate,” in those days, though I liked to call myself an “agnostic.” It just sounded more appealing than “atheist,” which was probably a more accurate description of my antipathy for Christianity. But in 1983, God took me down, much the same as the Spirit did to Saul. I even had a “Damascus road” type experience, where God broke me, allowing me to see Whom Christ really was. So, I’m going to enjoy studying the life of Paul; because I, like him, represent the degree of change which can be wrought in the life of even the staunchest of Christian haters. Saul of Tarsus became the Apostle Paul; and Bill Berry, the former atheist, now has become “Rev. Bill Berry,” who now, as an Ordained Minister, writes this devotional journal entry. I know I’m going to revel in seeing a lot of myself in this upcoming study.
However, maybe you’ll see a lot of yourself as well; and we all should be able to see just what God, the Holy Spirit, can do to transform any life who surrenders to the saving and enabling grace offered by the One Who died on the cross and was resurrected and now sits in Heaven as our High Priest, Intercessor, and Advocate. Paul became what Swindoll calls “the Apostle of Grace;” and there is great wonder in this because we too can be apostles, (i.e., those who are sent as witnesses into a lost and dying world – see Acts 1: 8), … those who can share the grace which saves, enlightens, and empowers us to share the Gospel in our day just as the Apostle Paul did in his.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Lord, Jesus, I beg that You give any who read here, including this humble servant, all the drive to share You with world which was found in this man named Paul. Amen
Monday, October 05, 2009
Sunday, October 04, 2009
2009 – Day 276.Oct 4 – Blessed
Blogger’s Note: This is my last day with Chuck Swindoll studying Job; and this one devotional is a good closing note. So, for those who follow here, please take note and meditate on this one. Tomorrow, I will be beginning my posting, again from Swindoll’s Great Days with the Great Lives on the life of the Apostle Paul, the first and last character study for the year from the New Testament.
And one administrative note: My wife and I will be traveling on vacation in Europe with friends for the next week or so; and I don’t know where/when I’ll have wifi computer access over there. So my entries for this time period may come in bunches; but I’ll most certainly be doing my devotionals daily. I just may have to post them when I can. Thanks for your patience in this regard. Now on to the last of our Job posts.
Passage of the Day: Job 42: 9 – 15 from Job 42 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Swindoll makes a very salient and timely observation for today’s last entry on Job. He asks that his readers (me and you, if you’re following my input) to take note of the words of grace which are serially coming from Verses 9 – 12 of Chapter 42. Find them and mediate on them, each referring to God’s grace-laden actions toward Job:
End of verse 9: “The LORD accepted (Job).”
Beginning of verse 10: “The LORD restored (Job).”
End of verse 10: The LORD increased (Job)”
Beginning of verse 12: The LORD blessed (Job).”
You know, unless we were cautioned or pointed to these four passages, which are pregnant with God’s grace, we may have missed all these pointed, but very positive, references. Swindoll is right. We’re so programmed and bombarded in this post-modern age with negative, ungraceful comments; we have become conditioned to look for the negative first in life.
Think about what you hear/see from the media, on the news. 90%+ reports of malice, murder, and mayhem; and maybe one closing story with some semi-positive of “human interest” to leave you with a positive taste in your mind. Even the weather reports of tomorrow’s weather will report it, “20 percent chance of rain,” rather than “80% chance of sunshine.” The ABCs, NBCs, CBSs, and CNNs will tell you that that’s the way the public wants the news reported. But wouldn’t you, as a Christian, gravitate toward a station which said “We’re going to report 80% of the positive in this world first and then add on 20% of the negative which we think you should know about for your well-being.” But that’s not going to happen, is it?
No, we have to dig to find the positive truth in life. We have to seek it out; and where do you think we Christians should seek out and find the messages like those above about the best in life. You got it, my friend, … from God’s word. When Paul, whom we’ll be studying for the remainder of Swindoll’s devotionals, wrote in Romans 12: 2, “And be not conformed to this world; but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God …” Paul didn’t realize that these word’s would one day be just as much a Scriptural mandate as the lesson for life as from Job 42 or from the rest of the Torah, which were for Paul his sources of truth. But the entire Bible we know to be canonized Scripture; and we need to see the truth of 2nd Tim. 3: 16 – 17, which directs us to the truth of God’s word, to be the source of our teaching for life. God’s word is where we need to be learning about how we must “Trust in the Lord with all our hears and lean not on our own understanding” so that “our paths will be made straight” [and you hopefully recognize this Prov. 3: 5-6].
But this world is set up to program our minds to the negative first so as we’ll miss those grace-filled comments from God about Job. And Swindoll reminds us that this Job was the one who may have had a lot of faith and patience; but he was also the one who, in very human fashion, cursed the day he was born, and he resented the fact that he didn’t die in his mother’s womb; and he was the one who kept coming back to God with confusion and resentment for all the bad stuff which had happened to him. But here in Chapter 42 we read, in very short order, those wonderful words, “accepted, restored, increased, and BLESSED.” And we should see these clearly as what we too have gotten from God the Father because of what He brought us through His Son, which we read about from Paul again in Phil. 2: 5-11 [link provided] my favorite passage about the Incarnation, and how we were bombarded, as was Job, with God’s blessings.
Never forget it, my friend and follower here, … WE ARE BLESSED as Christians, … way beyond measure! And we must look to God’s word for these words of blessing; because Satan, as he was for Job, is going to do everything he can to divert us, distract us, distort the truth, and discourage us with his lies. It’s on us to allow God, from His word, to transform our minds. And that, dear one, is a daily task of monumental importance and the reason why I come here daily to seek out words of blessing from God’s word. I pray that we all do.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Heavenly Father, thank You for your word of truth, which guides our footsteps as it no doubt did for Job and for Paul. Please, Lord, help to keep our minds fixed on Your truth so that we can follow Your path. Amen
And one administrative note: My wife and I will be traveling on vacation in Europe with friends for the next week or so; and I don’t know where/when I’ll have wifi computer access over there. So my entries for this time period may come in bunches; but I’ll most certainly be doing my devotionals daily. I just may have to post them when I can. Thanks for your patience in this regard. Now on to the last of our Job posts.
Passage of the Day: Job 42: 9 – 15 from Job 42 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Swindoll makes a very salient and timely observation for today’s last entry on Job. He asks that his readers (me and you, if you’re following my input) to take note of the words of grace which are serially coming from Verses 9 – 12 of Chapter 42. Find them and mediate on them, each referring to God’s grace-laden actions toward Job:
End of verse 9: “The LORD accepted (Job).”
Beginning of verse 10: “The LORD restored (Job).”
End of verse 10: The LORD increased (Job)”
Beginning of verse 12: The LORD blessed (Job).”
You know, unless we were cautioned or pointed to these four passages, which are pregnant with God’s grace, we may have missed all these pointed, but very positive, references. Swindoll is right. We’re so programmed and bombarded in this post-modern age with negative, ungraceful comments; we have become conditioned to look for the negative first in life.
Think about what you hear/see from the media, on the news. 90%+ reports of malice, murder, and mayhem; and maybe one closing story with some semi-positive of “human interest” to leave you with a positive taste in your mind. Even the weather reports of tomorrow’s weather will report it, “20 percent chance of rain,” rather than “80% chance of sunshine.” The ABCs, NBCs, CBSs, and CNNs will tell you that that’s the way the public wants the news reported. But wouldn’t you, as a Christian, gravitate toward a station which said “We’re going to report 80% of the positive in this world first and then add on 20% of the negative which we think you should know about for your well-being.” But that’s not going to happen, is it?
No, we have to dig to find the positive truth in life. We have to seek it out; and where do you think we Christians should seek out and find the messages like those above about the best in life. You got it, my friend, … from God’s word. When Paul, whom we’ll be studying for the remainder of Swindoll’s devotionals, wrote in Romans 12: 2, “And be not conformed to this world; but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God …” Paul didn’t realize that these word’s would one day be just as much a Scriptural mandate as the lesson for life as from Job 42 or from the rest of the Torah, which were for Paul his sources of truth. But the entire Bible we know to be canonized Scripture; and we need to see the truth of 2nd Tim. 3: 16 – 17, which directs us to the truth of God’s word, to be the source of our teaching for life. God’s word is where we need to be learning about how we must “Trust in the Lord with all our hears and lean not on our own understanding” so that “our paths will be made straight” [and you hopefully recognize this Prov. 3: 5-6].
But this world is set up to program our minds to the negative first so as we’ll miss those grace-filled comments from God about Job. And Swindoll reminds us that this Job was the one who may have had a lot of faith and patience; but he was also the one who, in very human fashion, cursed the day he was born, and he resented the fact that he didn’t die in his mother’s womb; and he was the one who kept coming back to God with confusion and resentment for all the bad stuff which had happened to him. But here in Chapter 42 we read, in very short order, those wonderful words, “accepted, restored, increased, and BLESSED.” And we should see these clearly as what we too have gotten from God the Father because of what He brought us through His Son, which we read about from Paul again in Phil. 2: 5-11 [link provided] my favorite passage about the Incarnation, and how we were bombarded, as was Job, with God’s blessings.
Never forget it, my friend and follower here, … WE ARE BLESSED as Christians, … way beyond measure! And we must look to God’s word for these words of blessing; because Satan, as he was for Job, is going to do everything he can to divert us, distract us, distort the truth, and discourage us with his lies. It’s on us to allow God, from His word, to transform our minds. And that, dear one, is a daily task of monumental importance and the reason why I come here daily to seek out words of blessing from God’s word. I pray that we all do.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Heavenly Father, thank You for your word of truth, which guides our footsteps as it no doubt did for Job and for Paul. Please, Lord, help to keep our minds fixed on Your truth so that we can follow Your path. Amen
Saturday, October 03, 2009
2009 – Day 275.Oct 3 – Choose God’s Will
Passage of the Day: Job 42 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Hey, folks, today is my wife’s ??th birthday [I’m smart enough not to put the number there]! We’ve been married almost 45 years; and I can remember back to the time, sometime back in the early 80s, when we both surrendered our lives to Christ. We were both right at 40 years old at the time; and our individual decisions to become babes in Christ was followed by a commitment, sometime thereafter, to grow old in His way, pursuing His will.
And it is the latter, that maturing process of Christianity, labeled “sanctification,” which is the topic of Chuck Swindoll’s message today in his devotional book which I’ve been using. And he points out, from Verse 16-17 of Chapter 42 of Job, that the story of this hero of the faith closed out with Job living a very full and faith-filled life.
But there was all that time, documented in the rest of the book of Job, that our hero had to learn the lesson of what James in the New Testament calls ”patience” or “endurance” and/or “perseverance” [depending on your version of James 1: 2-4]; and that, as we’ve been studying was a confusing and disturbing time in Job’s life. But we all know this; don’t we? Anytime we’re confronted by physical, emotional, or spiritual challenges in life, we are faced with a faith challenge. Do we relent to the challenge; or do we choose to trust that God is in control and that He knows best for us and our lives? Job learned this lesson; and he lived a long life pursuing His relationship with God, going deeper and deeper into that relationship.
Now we ask, “Where are we on this trek to maturity and holiness?” Swindoll, challenges me today to do one of those 2nd Cor. 13: 5 tests and see where I stand in my walk of faith. And I must say, as honestly as I can, that I’m committed to going deep with Lord. And [ugh!], this is the tough part, … I’d also like to be one who’s made a commitment to responding to the tough times of life by learning where God is leading me [i.e., pursuing His will] and not letting those tough times take me into selfishness or self-pity.
Is it easy? … Absolutely not! But reading through and studying the life of Job has helped me to deepen my resolve to grow in my relationship with Christ, … being more mature in my resolve for Christ today than yesterday and even more tomorrow than today. How about you, dear one? Are you there? And yes, when we make that commitment, we all have to recognize, as did Job, that we’re going to encounter more times which deeply challenge our faith. We ARE going to encounter suffering; and though it may not be as bad as Job’s deal, our faith is going to be tested.
Swindoll quotes Oswald Chambers at this point in his study, who apparently wrote [Swindoll gave no citation reference], “To choose suffering makes no sense at all; [but] to choose God’s will in the midst of suffering makes all the sense in the world.” But I must add, … the latter quote will only really make sense to a committed and maturing Christian who believes and lives for the truth of such passages we have studied and to which we’ve referred this month, … passages like Isaiah 55: 8-9, Romans 8: 23, or 1st Cor. 10: 13. (I hope you know what they say!).
And so I close by asking, “Do we live for these truths?” … Do we seek God’s will rather than relenting to the confusion of challenging times in our lives? Swindoll asks the question, “Are you viewing your trial as an outrage or an opportunity?” And with that, I fully believe my wife, on this her biological birthday, and I have come to pursue the opportunity of challenge rather than seeing any of these tough times as an outrage. However, I could tell you more on that with a number of more years in this walk of faith that we call life. Get back to me in a decade or so; and I’ll let you know. ;>)
My Prayer for Today: Lord, and dear Friend, Jesus, today I pursue Your will in the midst of challenge; and I pray I will even more do so tomorrow. Amen
My Journal for Today: Hey, folks, today is my wife’s ??th birthday [I’m smart enough not to put the number there]! We’ve been married almost 45 years; and I can remember back to the time, sometime back in the early 80s, when we both surrendered our lives to Christ. We were both right at 40 years old at the time; and our individual decisions to become babes in Christ was followed by a commitment, sometime thereafter, to grow old in His way, pursuing His will.
And it is the latter, that maturing process of Christianity, labeled “sanctification,” which is the topic of Chuck Swindoll’s message today in his devotional book which I’ve been using. And he points out, from Verse 16-17 of Chapter 42 of Job, that the story of this hero of the faith closed out with Job living a very full and faith-filled life.
But there was all that time, documented in the rest of the book of Job, that our hero had to learn the lesson of what James in the New Testament calls ”patience” or “endurance” and/or “perseverance” [depending on your version of James 1: 2-4]; and that, as we’ve been studying was a confusing and disturbing time in Job’s life. But we all know this; don’t we? Anytime we’re confronted by physical, emotional, or spiritual challenges in life, we are faced with a faith challenge. Do we relent to the challenge; or do we choose to trust that God is in control and that He knows best for us and our lives? Job learned this lesson; and he lived a long life pursuing His relationship with God, going deeper and deeper into that relationship.
Now we ask, “Where are we on this trek to maturity and holiness?” Swindoll, challenges me today to do one of those 2nd Cor. 13: 5 tests and see where I stand in my walk of faith. And I must say, as honestly as I can, that I’m committed to going deep with Lord. And [ugh!], this is the tough part, … I’d also like to be one who’s made a commitment to responding to the tough times of life by learning where God is leading me [i.e., pursuing His will] and not letting those tough times take me into selfishness or self-pity.
Is it easy? … Absolutely not! But reading through and studying the life of Job has helped me to deepen my resolve to grow in my relationship with Christ, … being more mature in my resolve for Christ today than yesterday and even more tomorrow than today. How about you, dear one? Are you there? And yes, when we make that commitment, we all have to recognize, as did Job, that we’re going to encounter more times which deeply challenge our faith. We ARE going to encounter suffering; and though it may not be as bad as Job’s deal, our faith is going to be tested.
Swindoll quotes Oswald Chambers at this point in his study, who apparently wrote [Swindoll gave no citation reference], “To choose suffering makes no sense at all; [but] to choose God’s will in the midst of suffering makes all the sense in the world.” But I must add, … the latter quote will only really make sense to a committed and maturing Christian who believes and lives for the truth of such passages we have studied and to which we’ve referred this month, … passages like Isaiah 55: 8-9, Romans 8: 23, or 1st Cor. 10: 13. (I hope you know what they say!).
And so I close by asking, “Do we live for these truths?” … Do we seek God’s will rather than relenting to the confusion of challenging times in our lives? Swindoll asks the question, “Are you viewing your trial as an outrage or an opportunity?” And with that, I fully believe my wife, on this her biological birthday, and I have come to pursue the opportunity of challenge rather than seeing any of these tough times as an outrage. However, I could tell you more on that with a number of more years in this walk of faith that we call life. Get back to me in a decade or so; and I’ll let you know. ;>)
My Prayer for Today: Lord, and dear Friend, Jesus, today I pursue Your will in the midst of challenge; and I pray I will even more do so tomorrow. Amen
Friday, October 02, 2009
2009 – Day 274.Oct 2 – Pursuing A Full Life
Passage of the Day: Job 42 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Really, today’s devotional topic from Job 42, primarily verses 10 – 17, seems, on the surface, to be a bit of topical stretch from my chosen devotional author, Chuck Swindoll. But long ago, I learned not to question the author of the devotional book which I had chosen to use because God always seemed to use these topics, written sometimes years ago, for my edification and His well-timed wisdom. So, today, apparently inspired by God’s restoration of Job, Swindoll has chosen to write about doing what we can to retain a youthful spirit. And he offers several suggestions to do that.
First, he posits that we keep our mind active by choosing to be around people who talk about great ideas and who are inspired by great people rather than to soak in ideas from TV or people who focus on doom and gloom and the past.
Secondly, Swindoll says we need to capture and be refreshed by the humor in life. And anyone who has heard Chuck Swindoll preach or teach knows how much he enjoys a funny story or how he laughs so heartily at his own funny stories. I know that I tend to be too serious about life; and it’s true that we sourpusses need to be around fun loving and joy-filled folks as much as we can. It helps to lighten the world, which can be a very dark place these days.
Thirdly, Swindoll says that we need to retain our strength by using it. And he’s right. If we’re Christians, we’ve been given at least one Spiritual gift; and if we don’t use it that gifting will not develop and become stronger in our lives. Any muscle atrophies if it’s not used; but it becomes stronger and more useful the more it’s utilized for what it was designed to be used. So, life gets more productive the more we use what God has given us to use for His glory.
Fourthly, Swindoll teaches that our opportunities haven’t vanished, we need to pursue them. All we have to do is be in life to realize that others need what we can do for them. So, if we just look around, we’re going to see others who need what we can offer in the way of our time, talents, or treasure. And when we reach out to them, God is glorified and the world is better off.
And finally, Pastor Chuck flat out says, “Your God is not dead; [so] keep seeking and serving Him.” And I’m sure that Job learned the lesson that no matter what our circumstances present or the challenges we face, we must continually engage our ageless/timeless God, pursuing His wisdom and seeking His will. I have maintained for years that the most productive discipline in my life is my daily time each morning where I dig into God’s mine of wisdom (just as Job wrote about in Chapter 28 [linked here] in his story). So, every day I dig into the mind of God for as many nuggets and jewels I can find; and quite often He rewards me with the wealth of His wisdom. But this wouldn’t happen if I were not pursuing Him with diligence, discipline, and determination. Job found that to be true in today’s chapter where God rewarded Job’s pursuit of relationship with God. When we seek God, He will be found.
So, we need to ask ourselves if we’re pursuing God and life with joy, vigor, and especially enthusiasm. Remember, the word “enthusiasm” actually refers to “God in us.” But our God cannot spark our lives if we turn to selfishness with a soured attitude. My Christian friend, God is truly in us; but He cannot and will not shine through us unless we activate the suggestions Chuck Swindoll has put forth today. I will pray that we use them.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help us to see the joy in life … to use what You’ve given us for Your glory, … and to pursue You with abandon so that we can mine all you have for us in the depths of Your being. Amen
My Journal for Today: Really, today’s devotional topic from Job 42, primarily verses 10 – 17, seems, on the surface, to be a bit of topical stretch from my chosen devotional author, Chuck Swindoll. But long ago, I learned not to question the author of the devotional book which I had chosen to use because God always seemed to use these topics, written sometimes years ago, for my edification and His well-timed wisdom. So, today, apparently inspired by God’s restoration of Job, Swindoll has chosen to write about doing what we can to retain a youthful spirit. And he offers several suggestions to do that.
First, he posits that we keep our mind active by choosing to be around people who talk about great ideas and who are inspired by great people rather than to soak in ideas from TV or people who focus on doom and gloom and the past.
Secondly, Swindoll says we need to capture and be refreshed by the humor in life. And anyone who has heard Chuck Swindoll preach or teach knows how much he enjoys a funny story or how he laughs so heartily at his own funny stories. I know that I tend to be too serious about life; and it’s true that we sourpusses need to be around fun loving and joy-filled folks as much as we can. It helps to lighten the world, which can be a very dark place these days.
Thirdly, Swindoll says that we need to retain our strength by using it. And he’s right. If we’re Christians, we’ve been given at least one Spiritual gift; and if we don’t use it that gifting will not develop and become stronger in our lives. Any muscle atrophies if it’s not used; but it becomes stronger and more useful the more it’s utilized for what it was designed to be used. So, life gets more productive the more we use what God has given us to use for His glory.
Fourthly, Swindoll teaches that our opportunities haven’t vanished, we need to pursue them. All we have to do is be in life to realize that others need what we can do for them. So, if we just look around, we’re going to see others who need what we can offer in the way of our time, talents, or treasure. And when we reach out to them, God is glorified and the world is better off.
And finally, Pastor Chuck flat out says, “Your God is not dead; [so] keep seeking and serving Him.” And I’m sure that Job learned the lesson that no matter what our circumstances present or the challenges we face, we must continually engage our ageless/timeless God, pursuing His wisdom and seeking His will. I have maintained for years that the most productive discipline in my life is my daily time each morning where I dig into God’s mine of wisdom (just as Job wrote about in Chapter 28 [linked here] in his story). So, every day I dig into the mind of God for as many nuggets and jewels I can find; and quite often He rewards me with the wealth of His wisdom. But this wouldn’t happen if I were not pursuing Him with diligence, discipline, and determination. Job found that to be true in today’s chapter where God rewarded Job’s pursuit of relationship with God. When we seek God, He will be found.
So, we need to ask ourselves if we’re pursuing God and life with joy, vigor, and especially enthusiasm. Remember, the word “enthusiasm” actually refers to “God in us.” But our God cannot spark our lives if we turn to selfishness with a soured attitude. My Christian friend, God is truly in us; but He cannot and will not shine through us unless we activate the suggestions Chuck Swindoll has put forth today. I will pray that we use them.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help us to see the joy in life … to use what You’ve given us for Your glory, … and to pursue You with abandon so that we can mine all you have for us in the depths of Your being. Amen
Thursday, October 01, 2009
2009 – Day 273.Oct 1 – Found Faithful
Blogger’s Note: Beginning a new month; but Chuck Swindoll still has a few more days in the Book of Job for his readers; and then we’ll be on to the New Testament and the life of the Apostle Paul. So, stay with me for just a few more days with Job.
=============================
Passage of the Day: Job 42 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Have you ever come into contact with someone who is extremely wealthy? What was your immediate thought, even though you may not have any inside information about this person? Unfortunately, our default, human nature has a tendency to be envious of such a person; and we often think that such a person must have gotten their wealth from selfishness and greed.
But if we’ve read and studied God’s word, we know that some of God’s favored Saints were blessed by God with wealth. And as we’ve been studying Job, we certainly see one such person. Job was mega-wealthy before his series of horrible losses; and here in Chapter 42 he was restored to double what he was blessed after God restored him two-fold what he had had before. And there were other very blessed and favored Saints in the Bible; and I’d almost wager you’re thinking of the likes of Abraham or maybe Solomon … or even Jesus’ friend, Lazarus, in the New Testament. All of these men were blessed by God with much temporal wealth; and they did nothing underhanded to be so blessed. Neither were they greedy or took advantage of others to have what they were given by God.
Swindoll’s point this morning is that we should not compare our life with others and judge someone negatively just because they seem to have more than we do. Envy is one of those very natural, but very sinful, reactions when we see someone with a lot more than we have; and we can tend to question God’s intent in allowing someone to have so much, especially when we think we’ve done all we can to be a good Christian and honor God with our time, talents, and treasures and we don’t seem to be as blessed as others we see with a lot of temporal blessings.
And so, today, I echo Swindoll’s devotional intent with my own conviction and confession here that I have a tendency to judge others and think of them as being naturally greedy when I see them blessed by a lot of obvious “stuff,” even when I know not how they procured such temporal wealth. Because, if I were privileged to know more about them, I might find out that God had actually allowed such wealth into their lives to test them and to break them of the attitude of greed. Jesus showed us, in the Sermon on the Mount or with the story of the rich young ruler, that being rich can be a curse if we hold on to the desire to have a lot of things in life. And one we see in life with a lot of wealth may need to learn that truth.
And then, if we knew more about the wealthy person, as we’ve been able to see into the life of Job, we may find out that they have been blessed by God with much because they have been found faithful. And if you know anything about the various Spiritual gifts we are given when we come to Christ, we learn that the Spirit-given gift of giving also comes along with the gift of getting. So, judge not, my friend, when you see someone who’s mega-wealthy. That person just may be giving 80-90% of his wealth to God’s kingdom and God is blessing him because he can effectively give so much to God’s glory.
Yes, my friend, having a lot requires that we give a lot; and wealth can be stumbling block to becoming like Christ. However, we shouldn’t judge one on the surface negatively just because God has given one person a lot when we don’t appear to be so blessed. Perhaps that person’s wealth is being used by God, like it was for Job, to duly favor that one; and it actually is is part of God’s plan for His own glory. Wait, my friend; and let’s see the fruit on the tree of the wealthy man’s life before we pass judgment.
Better yet, leave the judging to God. He’s better at that anyway. ;>)
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to wait when I see You favor others with temporal gain. And thanks for all you’ve given this humble servant, … a very rich man. Others may not see me as rich; but You know, as do I, that I am. I have all I need and more, … much more. Am
=============================
Passage of the Day: Job 42 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Have you ever come into contact with someone who is extremely wealthy? What was your immediate thought, even though you may not have any inside information about this person? Unfortunately, our default, human nature has a tendency to be envious of such a person; and we often think that such a person must have gotten their wealth from selfishness and greed.
But if we’ve read and studied God’s word, we know that some of God’s favored Saints were blessed by God with wealth. And as we’ve been studying Job, we certainly see one such person. Job was mega-wealthy before his series of horrible losses; and here in Chapter 42 he was restored to double what he was blessed after God restored him two-fold what he had had before. And there were other very blessed and favored Saints in the Bible; and I’d almost wager you’re thinking of the likes of Abraham or maybe Solomon … or even Jesus’ friend, Lazarus, in the New Testament. All of these men were blessed by God with much temporal wealth; and they did nothing underhanded to be so blessed. Neither were they greedy or took advantage of others to have what they were given by God.
Swindoll’s point this morning is that we should not compare our life with others and judge someone negatively just because they seem to have more than we do. Envy is one of those very natural, but very sinful, reactions when we see someone with a lot more than we have; and we can tend to question God’s intent in allowing someone to have so much, especially when we think we’ve done all we can to be a good Christian and honor God with our time, talents, and treasures and we don’t seem to be as blessed as others we see with a lot of temporal blessings.
And so, today, I echo Swindoll’s devotional intent with my own conviction and confession here that I have a tendency to judge others and think of them as being naturally greedy when I see them blessed by a lot of obvious “stuff,” even when I know not how they procured such temporal wealth. Because, if I were privileged to know more about them, I might find out that God had actually allowed such wealth into their lives to test them and to break them of the attitude of greed. Jesus showed us, in the Sermon on the Mount or with the story of the rich young ruler, that being rich can be a curse if we hold on to the desire to have a lot of things in life. And one we see in life with a lot of wealth may need to learn that truth.
And then, if we knew more about the wealthy person, as we’ve been able to see into the life of Job, we may find out that they have been blessed by God with much because they have been found faithful. And if you know anything about the various Spiritual gifts we are given when we come to Christ, we learn that the Spirit-given gift of giving also comes along with the gift of getting. So, judge not, my friend, when you see someone who’s mega-wealthy. That person just may be giving 80-90% of his wealth to God’s kingdom and God is blessing him because he can effectively give so much to God’s glory.
Yes, my friend, having a lot requires that we give a lot; and wealth can be stumbling block to becoming like Christ. However, we shouldn’t judge one on the surface negatively just because God has given one person a lot when we don’t appear to be so blessed. Perhaps that person’s wealth is being used by God, like it was for Job, to duly favor that one; and it actually is is part of God’s plan for His own glory. Wait, my friend; and let’s see the fruit on the tree of the wealthy man’s life before we pass judgment.
Better yet, leave the judging to God. He’s better at that anyway. ;>)
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to wait when I see You favor others with temporal gain. And thanks for all you’ve given this humble servant, … a very rich man. Others may not see me as rich; but You know, as do I, that I am. I have all I need and more, … much more. Am
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
2009 – Day 272.Sept 30 – God’s Justice
Passage of the Day: Job 42 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: I’m coming down the stretch in my study of the Book of Job along with Chuck Swindoll; and it has been another growth experience to do these devotionals. And being here in Chapter 42 at the end of Job’s book, Swindoll points out two salient points that we should take away as truths which can alter our world view and the values which influence the decisions we make in life.
And the first of these two is, according to Swindoll, that "… forgiveness is worth waiting for.” Somehow, he posits, we’ve got to internalize the truth that in God’s time and in His way our Lord is going to bring the scales of justice into balance. And right here in this last chapter of Job’s story we read of the results of Job’s willingness to forgive and pray for His friends as well as his confession to God for his weaknesses. And look at the result as Satan was proven wrong, his three friends were brought to their knees, and Job is duly rewarded with complete restoration and rewards twice over.
And secondly, in a related vein, Swindoll writes this, “… God’s justice is worth waiting for.” We certainly have seen that much went on in Job’s life which he couldn’t see, nor perceive; and some of it seemed unwarranted and most of it certainly unwanted. God’s “deal” with Satan behind the scenes in Job’s life would seem to be like something coming into our lives which happened and we didn’t ask for it, nor did we deserve it. But “WHAMO!” It did happen; and we, like Job, had to deal with the circumstances, not knowing why God allowed these things to happen. But looking to Job, we see how he dealt with it.
First, Job trusted God in the face of horrible personal loss and physical oppression. And yes, he mistakenly listened to the reasoning of the world, personified by his friends, who had all kinds of skewed worldly advice. But when he felt confused, Job took his inquiries directly to God, not to those friends; and in the end, as we read in this last chapter of his life, Job was rewarded and the mistaken friends were brought to their knees, worshipping God and asking Job for forgiveness. It took quite a long time; but God made things right; and Job finally saw that God’s justice was well worth waiting for.
My friends, my writing at this point in your life may find you experiencing some horrible set of unwanted and unwarranted circumstances. Just a couple of weeks ago a dear sister in Christ in our church, who has three teenage kids, learned that she had cancer; and in less than ten days she was taken home to eternity leaving her husband and kids behind. “Why, Lord?!” we are tempted to ask. But right now while we’re healthy and can reason, we need to go back and meditate on and recognize the truth of those verses we’ve brought up in this study of Job.
So, as I sit here and write this morning, I’m mulling over the truths of Isaiah 55: 8 – 9 and Romans 8: 28, which remind me that God’s ways are way above my understanding and when He allows things – even really bad things - into my life, they are ALWAYS for my good. Oh, how I pray that we all can get those truths into our consciousness so that we can draw on the power of truth when we need that power.
And I pray that we all can take these truths to heart from our study of our restored hero, Job.
My Prayer for Today: My God, I’ve read the end of Your story; and in the end You make all things right; and this story of redemption has taken thousands of years to unfold. So, give me patience, Lord, to wait for Your perfect justice and restoration in this wisp of time which is my life. Amen
My Journal for Today: I’m coming down the stretch in my study of the Book of Job along with Chuck Swindoll; and it has been another growth experience to do these devotionals. And being here in Chapter 42 at the end of Job’s book, Swindoll points out two salient points that we should take away as truths which can alter our world view and the values which influence the decisions we make in life.
And the first of these two is, according to Swindoll, that "… forgiveness is worth waiting for.” Somehow, he posits, we’ve got to internalize the truth that in God’s time and in His way our Lord is going to bring the scales of justice into balance. And right here in this last chapter of Job’s story we read of the results of Job’s willingness to forgive and pray for His friends as well as his confession to God for his weaknesses. And look at the result as Satan was proven wrong, his three friends were brought to their knees, and Job is duly rewarded with complete restoration and rewards twice over.
And secondly, in a related vein, Swindoll writes this, “… God’s justice is worth waiting for.” We certainly have seen that much went on in Job’s life which he couldn’t see, nor perceive; and some of it seemed unwarranted and most of it certainly unwanted. God’s “deal” with Satan behind the scenes in Job’s life would seem to be like something coming into our lives which happened and we didn’t ask for it, nor did we deserve it. But “WHAMO!” It did happen; and we, like Job, had to deal with the circumstances, not knowing why God allowed these things to happen. But looking to Job, we see how he dealt with it.
First, Job trusted God in the face of horrible personal loss and physical oppression. And yes, he mistakenly listened to the reasoning of the world, personified by his friends, who had all kinds of skewed worldly advice. But when he felt confused, Job took his inquiries directly to God, not to those friends; and in the end, as we read in this last chapter of his life, Job was rewarded and the mistaken friends were brought to their knees, worshipping God and asking Job for forgiveness. It took quite a long time; but God made things right; and Job finally saw that God’s justice was well worth waiting for.
My friends, my writing at this point in your life may find you experiencing some horrible set of unwanted and unwarranted circumstances. Just a couple of weeks ago a dear sister in Christ in our church, who has three teenage kids, learned that she had cancer; and in less than ten days she was taken home to eternity leaving her husband and kids behind. “Why, Lord?!” we are tempted to ask. But right now while we’re healthy and can reason, we need to go back and meditate on and recognize the truth of those verses we’ve brought up in this study of Job.
So, as I sit here and write this morning, I’m mulling over the truths of Isaiah 55: 8 – 9 and Romans 8: 28, which remind me that God’s ways are way above my understanding and when He allows things – even really bad things - into my life, they are ALWAYS for my good. Oh, how I pray that we all can get those truths into our consciousness so that we can draw on the power of truth when we need that power.
And I pray that we all can take these truths to heart from our study of our restored hero, Job.
My Prayer for Today: My God, I’ve read the end of Your story; and in the end You make all things right; and this story of redemption has taken thousands of years to unfold. So, give me patience, Lord, to wait for Your perfect justice and restoration in this wisp of time which is my life. Amen
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
2009 – Day 271.Sept 29 – God Hears
Passage of the Day: Job 42 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: I agree with Chuck Swindoll that some may be reading what he or I write having been abused or treated extremely unfairly in their past; and you’ve read through Job with a bit more of a jaded attitude than I might have. Perhaps you’ve now chosen to place your trust in God; but you still hold some reservations. But, at least in your head, you have believed in the truth that God’s word is true. And now you’ve read through Job 42 and you read of God making it right for Job and bringing his three bad counselors to task for what they told our hero of the faith. But you still may have trouble trusting God completely because of all those bad things which happened in your past life.
My friend, I know how you might feel. I was abused sexually by a Boy Scout camp counselor when I was twelve; and my situation may not have been as bad or extended over time as was your situation; but mine did lead to me getting deeply addicted to pornography and spending 22 years of my life living a Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde life into all types of sexual sin and hiding that life from all who loved me. Those life choices also led me to atheism and a deep distrust of God. So, I do know what it feels like to be estranged from God.
But, a little over 25 years ago, God led me into a place in my life where I learned that He had never forgotten me; and, in brokenness, I was able to see that He had been watching over me all along. And He led me, as it says in Psalm 23 into, through, and out of the “valley of the shadow of death,” our of which I came into the Light and was able, as did Job, to see that He was in total control all along and that my God not only forgave me; but He gave me the enabling grace to forgive my original abuser as well as my mother, who, though she was never able to give me the hugs I so desperately desired and needed, really always loved me just as God had.
I came to experience, like Job, the God who never quits listening; and He is the God Who will exact perfect justice at exactly the right time – with HIS perfect timing. My friend, if you’ve had trouble trusting God; and He’s has seemed distant from you, do what Pastor Chuck suggests and go back and meditate on God’s word in Hebrews 6: 10, which states (in the NKJV), For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
And it’s good to see that Eugene Peterson, in The Message version of Scripture, translates the first phrase of that verse, “God didn’t miss anything.” No, my friend, if you can believe that God’s word is true, Job 42 and Hebrews 6: 10 and one of my favorites, Psalm 116: 1-2 [link provided], tells us that God never quits listening to us. Yes, God sometimes, like He did for Job, seems to be quiet for a long time; but He will intervene at exactly the right time in our lives to make things all right again.
However, I know, at times, for some of us, that’s going to require, as it did for Job, an extra degree of patience and a whole lot of faith. But the message of Job screams loudly for us to stick in there with God, to wait on Him, and to acknowledge that our God is in total control, with, as Paul learned in 2nd Cor. 12: 9, His grace being sufficient for us and that His strength being made perfect in our weakness.
I know that your situation may be entirely worse than mine; but it’s doubtful that it’s any worse than was Job’s. So, God’s word tell us – from Chapter 42 of Job - to stick in there with God; and let Him do His thing, in His time, and in His way. My friend, He’s going to make it right in the end.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank You for showing me the way to trust You is to trust in Your word, which lets me know of Your love and Your grace, which I now know is sufficient for me in all the circumstances of life. Amen
My Journal for Today: I agree with Chuck Swindoll that some may be reading what he or I write having been abused or treated extremely unfairly in their past; and you’ve read through Job with a bit more of a jaded attitude than I might have. Perhaps you’ve now chosen to place your trust in God; but you still hold some reservations. But, at least in your head, you have believed in the truth that God’s word is true. And now you’ve read through Job 42 and you read of God making it right for Job and bringing his three bad counselors to task for what they told our hero of the faith. But you still may have trouble trusting God completely because of all those bad things which happened in your past life.
My friend, I know how you might feel. I was abused sexually by a Boy Scout camp counselor when I was twelve; and my situation may not have been as bad or extended over time as was your situation; but mine did lead to me getting deeply addicted to pornography and spending 22 years of my life living a Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde life into all types of sexual sin and hiding that life from all who loved me. Those life choices also led me to atheism and a deep distrust of God. So, I do know what it feels like to be estranged from God.
But, a little over 25 years ago, God led me into a place in my life where I learned that He had never forgotten me; and, in brokenness, I was able to see that He had been watching over me all along. And He led me, as it says in Psalm 23 into, through, and out of the “valley of the shadow of death,” our of which I came into the Light and was able, as did Job, to see that He was in total control all along and that my God not only forgave me; but He gave me the enabling grace to forgive my original abuser as well as my mother, who, though she was never able to give me the hugs I so desperately desired and needed, really always loved me just as God had.
I came to experience, like Job, the God who never quits listening; and He is the God Who will exact perfect justice at exactly the right time – with HIS perfect timing. My friend, if you’ve had trouble trusting God; and He’s has seemed distant from you, do what Pastor Chuck suggests and go back and meditate on God’s word in Hebrews 6: 10, which states (in the NKJV), For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
And it’s good to see that Eugene Peterson, in The Message version of Scripture, translates the first phrase of that verse, “God didn’t miss anything.” No, my friend, if you can believe that God’s word is true, Job 42 and Hebrews 6: 10 and one of my favorites, Psalm 116: 1-2 [link provided], tells us that God never quits listening to us. Yes, God sometimes, like He did for Job, seems to be quiet for a long time; but He will intervene at exactly the right time in our lives to make things all right again.
However, I know, at times, for some of us, that’s going to require, as it did for Job, an extra degree of patience and a whole lot of faith. But the message of Job screams loudly for us to stick in there with God, to wait on Him, and to acknowledge that our God is in total control, with, as Paul learned in 2nd Cor. 12: 9, His grace being sufficient for us and that His strength being made perfect in our weakness.
I know that your situation may be entirely worse than mine; but it’s doubtful that it’s any worse than was Job’s. So, God’s word tell us – from Chapter 42 of Job - to stick in there with God; and let Him do His thing, in His time, and in His way. My friend, He’s going to make it right in the end.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank You for showing me the way to trust You is to trust in Your word, which lets me know of Your love and Your grace, which I now know is sufficient for me in all the circumstances of life. Amen
Monday, September 28, 2009
2009 – Day 270.Sept 28 – Humble Yourself NOW
Passage of the Day: Job 42 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Sometimes, when I’m touched by a certain passage of Scripture or I feel personally convicted by said passage, it helps to go back and read that passage from several versions of scripture to get the various colorations from the various English translations that passage. The one verse, which is the focus verse for Chuck Swindoll’s devotional today, is Job 42: 6, which reads as follows in the NASB, which is the version Swindoll uses. It says in the NASB, “Therefore, I retract myself and repent in dust and ashes.” But let’s take a look at this same passage in several other versions of Scripture.
For example from the version I usually use in my devotional study. From the NKJV ... “Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” And in that reading I think you can see that the interpretation of that verse takes on a little different color. Well, at least it does for me.
Let’s try the NIV, which states, “Therefore, I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” … Or from the NLT, which puts forth, “I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”
I think taking all of these versions into my view helps me see the montage of truth being presented by God’s word and the point being made by Swindoll concerning Job’s attitude as he [Job] finally HUMBLY realizes where God stands and where he is at this point in his life. And the key here is the timing of Job’s attitude – just prior to God’s mercy of restoration being displayed.
Yes, it would be easy for Job to be humble AFTER God restores him; but verse 6 is stated while Job is still childless, homeless, penniless, powerless, and covered in boils. And therefore, in abject personal humility, Job surrenders himself – ALL of himself – to God’s will; and he is totally and utterly repentant. He pulls back and sees that all his questioning and confusion have been for naught. He sees that he can grieve his loss; but must return to his early attitude and personal psalm, which stated, (see Job 1: 21) “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, … Blessed by the Name of the Lord.”
How often in the course of my devotionals this year, as I have, with Chuck Swindoll’s help, studied the lives of such heroes of the faith as Joseph, Moses, Elijah, Esther, and now Job has the attitude of HUMILITY been raised? Well, the answer is in every one. And the reason for that is simple. In every one of these paragons of the faith, humility is the key attitude which makes them like Christ, … which separates them from the attitudes of “natural man,” where pride is the mark of our nature.
Swindoll, in closing his devotional for today, states a biblical command from God, taken from James 4:10, which I’ll quote from the NASB, “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” And this is just after James has quoted (see James 4: 6) from Prov. 3: 34, which states, “God opposes the proud but gives (His) grace to the humble.”
Oh, how I will now pray that we get this truth, my dear ones. If we cannot choose humility, as Job learned, God will put us or allow Satan to lead us, into such humbling circumstances that we will have to humbly repent and declare our submission to God’s will. Personally I think it wise to choose humility and surrender on the front end of life rather than having to go through the valley of the shadow of death to find God’s way in this world ... or to have to succumb in hell for eternity. As the kids now say, “Been there, … done that, … got the T-shirt.” And I have; and let me tell you, it’s far better to be proactive about this humility business rather than wait for God to humble you. Job will tell you. It’s a lot less painful to humble yourself NOW.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You had to take job and me through hell to find a glimpse of heaven. But praise Your Holy Name that You did. Amen
My Journal for Today: Sometimes, when I’m touched by a certain passage of Scripture or I feel personally convicted by said passage, it helps to go back and read that passage from several versions of scripture to get the various colorations from the various English translations that passage. The one verse, which is the focus verse for Chuck Swindoll’s devotional today, is Job 42: 6, which reads as follows in the NASB, which is the version Swindoll uses. It says in the NASB, “Therefore, I retract myself and repent in dust and ashes.” But let’s take a look at this same passage in several other versions of Scripture.
For example from the version I usually use in my devotional study. From the NKJV ... “Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” And in that reading I think you can see that the interpretation of that verse takes on a little different color. Well, at least it does for me.
Let’s try the NIV, which states, “Therefore, I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” … Or from the NLT, which puts forth, “I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”
I think taking all of these versions into my view helps me see the montage of truth being presented by God’s word and the point being made by Swindoll concerning Job’s attitude as he [Job] finally HUMBLY realizes where God stands and where he is at this point in his life. And the key here is the timing of Job’s attitude – just prior to God’s mercy of restoration being displayed.
Yes, it would be easy for Job to be humble AFTER God restores him; but verse 6 is stated while Job is still childless, homeless, penniless, powerless, and covered in boils. And therefore, in abject personal humility, Job surrenders himself – ALL of himself – to God’s will; and he is totally and utterly repentant. He pulls back and sees that all his questioning and confusion have been for naught. He sees that he can grieve his loss; but must return to his early attitude and personal psalm, which stated, (see Job 1: 21) “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, … Blessed by the Name of the Lord.”
How often in the course of my devotionals this year, as I have, with Chuck Swindoll’s help, studied the lives of such heroes of the faith as Joseph, Moses, Elijah, Esther, and now Job has the attitude of HUMILITY been raised? Well, the answer is in every one. And the reason for that is simple. In every one of these paragons of the faith, humility is the key attitude which makes them like Christ, … which separates them from the attitudes of “natural man,” where pride is the mark of our nature.
Swindoll, in closing his devotional for today, states a biblical command from God, taken from James 4:10, which I’ll quote from the NASB, “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” And this is just after James has quoted (see James 4: 6) from Prov. 3: 34, which states, “God opposes the proud but gives (His) grace to the humble.”
Oh, how I will now pray that we get this truth, my dear ones. If we cannot choose humility, as Job learned, God will put us or allow Satan to lead us, into such humbling circumstances that we will have to humbly repent and declare our submission to God’s will. Personally I think it wise to choose humility and surrender on the front end of life rather than having to go through the valley of the shadow of death to find God’s way in this world ... or to have to succumb in hell for eternity. As the kids now say, “Been there, … done that, … got the T-shirt.” And I have; and let me tell you, it’s far better to be proactive about this humility business rather than wait for God to humble you. Job will tell you. It’s a lot less painful to humble yourself NOW.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You had to take job and me through hell to find a glimpse of heaven. But praise Your Holy Name that You did. Amen
Sunday, September 27, 2009
2009 – Day 269.Sept 27 – Incapable of Comprehending
Passage of the Day: Job 42 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Today’s message is a tough one to swallow. No matter how mature we are in our faith, I don’t think we’ll ever be any different than Job here in Chapter 42. Yes, Job finally gets the message that God is God; and he finally understands – to a certain degree – the truth we’ve revealed in earlier devotionals this month from Isaiah 55: 8 -9 … that God’s ways are simply way above our comprehension. However, in some respects, my fellow believer, we’ll never be able to fully grasp the WHYs and WHEREFOREs of God.
And Swindoll is right … that this very weakness in our nature as humans is just the way we are. Again I say … “God is God and we are not.” And Pastor Chuck speculates that it is actual part of the futility of this truth that helps us. I guess you’d call it the “ignorance is bliss” part of our nature. Let’s face it. Would it really help for us to be able to understand why God allows planes to fly into buildings or why a wonderful Christian contracts terminal cancer or why a little babe is killed in a senseless drive-by shooting?
I think of Christ’s own disciples who walked with Him for three years; and like Peter, most of them truly believed that this man was God’s very Son, the Messiah, and the Savior of mankind. But even with them seeing the Lord perform great and wondrous miracles, … even with some of them seeing Him transfigured in Heaven, they still didn’t get it when they saw Him crucified. Peter, the most ardent of the disciple believers even denied his Lord; and they all ran in fear from the garden showing their disbelief, given the circumstances of life coming down around them.
And my friend, we’re no different. We may believe in our God’s love and mercy and grace in our heads; but when we walk into a scenario somewhat like our righteous hero, Job, we get just as confused and disoriented as Job had been prior to Chapter 42. And we can only hope that our maturity finally rests on our faith in the truth of that verse we keep returning to in this series of devotional, Romans 8: 28, that one I really hope you have memorized and internalized … that [from my memory] “…our God works all things together for the good for those who love our God and whom are the called according to His purpose.”
Do you really believe that, my dear one? Because if we do, we will respond as did Job in Chapter 42; and we’ll simply acknowledge – BY FAITH – that The Father knows best … that God will restore us sometime and in some way; … but we’re going to have to know that it will be His way and in His time. Job finally got it; and God was merciful to allow our hero of the faith to experience that restoration in his human lifetime. But my friend, our faith just may have to be greater than Job’s. Oh, along the way in life, God may give us little glimpses of our Glory; but while we live, we will likely never be able to see what Jesus’ disciples saw, … the Living Lord coming back bodily to show them of His resurrection. We may not be able to see God’ justice being worked out in our lifetime for all the injustices we see occurring in our world. And we may never be able to explain WHY God allows us to have to fight ill health or financial woes or some obsessive/compulsive drive to sinfulness.
But I’ll say it again, my friend, praying that we’ll all at least understand that God is God though we are not! And our God loves us … yes, even when we fight the rigors of cancer. And God’s mercy is new every morning, … yes, even when we see some elderly woman beaten on a dark street in our city for $24. And God’s grace saved me, … yes, even though I had spit in His face for 22 years living in a double life of horrible habitual sin.
Yes, … it is in faith we must come to Him. It is in faith which we must receive His grace, even when we cannot explain it nor understand it. And it IN FAITH we will one day stand before Him perfectly glorified and sanctified by His going to that cross for our sin. I pray now that we get it.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, at least in this moment, I see it. I get it. Help me to hold on to this reality of faith when I face the world today. Amen
My Journal for Today: Today’s message is a tough one to swallow. No matter how mature we are in our faith, I don’t think we’ll ever be any different than Job here in Chapter 42. Yes, Job finally gets the message that God is God; and he finally understands – to a certain degree – the truth we’ve revealed in earlier devotionals this month from Isaiah 55: 8 -9 … that God’s ways are simply way above our comprehension. However, in some respects, my fellow believer, we’ll never be able to fully grasp the WHYs and WHEREFOREs of God.
And Swindoll is right … that this very weakness in our nature as humans is just the way we are. Again I say … “God is God and we are not.” And Pastor Chuck speculates that it is actual part of the futility of this truth that helps us. I guess you’d call it the “ignorance is bliss” part of our nature. Let’s face it. Would it really help for us to be able to understand why God allows planes to fly into buildings or why a wonderful Christian contracts terminal cancer or why a little babe is killed in a senseless drive-by shooting?
I think of Christ’s own disciples who walked with Him for three years; and like Peter, most of them truly believed that this man was God’s very Son, the Messiah, and the Savior of mankind. But even with them seeing the Lord perform great and wondrous miracles, … even with some of them seeing Him transfigured in Heaven, they still didn’t get it when they saw Him crucified. Peter, the most ardent of the disciple believers even denied his Lord; and they all ran in fear from the garden showing their disbelief, given the circumstances of life coming down around them.
And my friend, we’re no different. We may believe in our God’s love and mercy and grace in our heads; but when we walk into a scenario somewhat like our righteous hero, Job, we get just as confused and disoriented as Job had been prior to Chapter 42. And we can only hope that our maturity finally rests on our faith in the truth of that verse we keep returning to in this series of devotional, Romans 8: 28, that one I really hope you have memorized and internalized … that [from my memory] “…our God works all things together for the good for those who love our God and whom are the called according to His purpose.”
Do you really believe that, my dear one? Because if we do, we will respond as did Job in Chapter 42; and we’ll simply acknowledge – BY FAITH – that The Father knows best … that God will restore us sometime and in some way; … but we’re going to have to know that it will be His way and in His time. Job finally got it; and God was merciful to allow our hero of the faith to experience that restoration in his human lifetime. But my friend, our faith just may have to be greater than Job’s. Oh, along the way in life, God may give us little glimpses of our Glory; but while we live, we will likely never be able to see what Jesus’ disciples saw, … the Living Lord coming back bodily to show them of His resurrection. We may not be able to see God’ justice being worked out in our lifetime for all the injustices we see occurring in our world. And we may never be able to explain WHY God allows us to have to fight ill health or financial woes or some obsessive/compulsive drive to sinfulness.
But I’ll say it again, my friend, praying that we’ll all at least understand that God is God though we are not! And our God loves us … yes, even when we fight the rigors of cancer. And God’s mercy is new every morning, … yes, even when we see some elderly woman beaten on a dark street in our city for $24. And God’s grace saved me, … yes, even though I had spit in His face for 22 years living in a double life of horrible habitual sin.
Yes, … it is in faith we must come to Him. It is in faith which we must receive His grace, even when we cannot explain it nor understand it. And it IN FAITH we will one day stand before Him perfectly glorified and sanctified by His going to that cross for our sin. I pray now that we get it.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, at least in this moment, I see it. I get it. Help me to hold on to this reality of faith when I face the world today. Amen
Saturday, September 26, 2009
2009 – Day 268.Sept 26 – Set Free
Passage of the Day: Job 42 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: I agree with my devotional shepherd, Chuck Swindoll in his book, Great Days with the Great Lives, that Chapter 42 of Job, especially the first eleven verses is a wonderful representation of what happens at the cross. And you know, the times I had read this victorious chapter earlier, I had never really seen it that way.
Oh, I saw Job being restored after his prayer for the three “friends” who had done him wrong [see this memorable passage of restoration in Job 42: 10]. And I had seen God’s justice coming into balance after it had seemingly been out of balance for so long with Job getting the short end of Satan’s stick. And I saw Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar having to humble themselves before God and Job. But until Pastor Swindoll helped me see it, I had never seen how God – as He did at the cross – released His justice and mercy so that the power of His grace could be worked out in one final efficacious act of love. I had never seen Job as a personification of what our Lord did for us on the cross.
Yes, that’s what is happening in Job 42; and it’s what happened at the cross. Job prayed for the three men here; and on the cross Jesus prayed, “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.” And in Job’s act, as well as that of the Lamb of God, sinners were set free – forever. And Job was then fully restored into his former glory, just as God, the Father, did for Jesus when The Father’s Son ascended back into Heaven to sit at the right hand of God, the Father, re-established into the glory which He had so ignominiously set aside to walk in agony as a servant of mankind (see Phil. 2: 5 – 11 - link provided).
Oh, my friends, isn’t the balance of God’s justice and His grace so, so perfect? And here, in this story of Job’s serving God, we see a picture of the suffering Servant, Jesus; and we must stand in awe of what our Savior went through to serve His Father and what He did in His earthly walk to suffer for my sins (and yours). Job becomes another of the arch types of The Christ that we study to realize whom we must become as God’s Spirit reshapes us into His image for eternity.
So, we must ask ourselves, are there any in our lives for whom we need to pray, “Forgive them, Father, for they really didn’t know what they were doing when they wronged me”? Do we need to repent our confused and selfish heart, as did Job, when we experience tribulations in this life and we’re tempted to ask, “Why, me, Lord?” Do we need to be more patient – as was Job in his account – realizing God truly does work out ALL things for my good and His glory [see, of course, Romans 8: 28]? This has been a good review for me to do the self inventory which Paul spoke of in 2nd Cor. 13: 5 [linked] to see if, indeed, my faith sees Christ is in me and I trust His Spirit for all that is going on in my life.
Perhaps we all need to take that test and see if we have the patience of Job [and Jesus] in our hearts.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I know I need to do more to see Your fruit of patience mature in my heart. Amen
My Journal for Today: I agree with my devotional shepherd, Chuck Swindoll in his book, Great Days with the Great Lives, that Chapter 42 of Job, especially the first eleven verses is a wonderful representation of what happens at the cross. And you know, the times I had read this victorious chapter earlier, I had never really seen it that way.
Oh, I saw Job being restored after his prayer for the three “friends” who had done him wrong [see this memorable passage of restoration in Job 42: 10]. And I had seen God’s justice coming into balance after it had seemingly been out of balance for so long with Job getting the short end of Satan’s stick. And I saw Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar having to humble themselves before God and Job. But until Pastor Swindoll helped me see it, I had never seen how God – as He did at the cross – released His justice and mercy so that the power of His grace could be worked out in one final efficacious act of love. I had never seen Job as a personification of what our Lord did for us on the cross.
Yes, that’s what is happening in Job 42; and it’s what happened at the cross. Job prayed for the three men here; and on the cross Jesus prayed, “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.” And in Job’s act, as well as that of the Lamb of God, sinners were set free – forever. And Job was then fully restored into his former glory, just as God, the Father, did for Jesus when The Father’s Son ascended back into Heaven to sit at the right hand of God, the Father, re-established into the glory which He had so ignominiously set aside to walk in agony as a servant of mankind (see Phil. 2: 5 – 11 - link provided).
Oh, my friends, isn’t the balance of God’s justice and His grace so, so perfect? And here, in this story of Job’s serving God, we see a picture of the suffering Servant, Jesus; and we must stand in awe of what our Savior went through to serve His Father and what He did in His earthly walk to suffer for my sins (and yours). Job becomes another of the arch types of The Christ that we study to realize whom we must become as God’s Spirit reshapes us into His image for eternity.
So, we must ask ourselves, are there any in our lives for whom we need to pray, “Forgive them, Father, for they really didn’t know what they were doing when they wronged me”? Do we need to repent our confused and selfish heart, as did Job, when we experience tribulations in this life and we’re tempted to ask, “Why, me, Lord?” Do we need to be more patient – as was Job in his account – realizing God truly does work out ALL things for my good and His glory [see, of course, Romans 8: 28]? This has been a good review for me to do the self inventory which Paul spoke of in 2nd Cor. 13: 5 [linked] to see if, indeed, my faith sees Christ is in me and I trust His Spirit for all that is going on in my life.
Perhaps we all need to take that test and see if we have the patience of Job [and Jesus] in our hearts.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I know I need to do more to see Your fruit of patience mature in my heart. Amen
Friday, September 25, 2009
2009 – Day 267.Sept 25 – A Profound Plan
Passage of the Day: Job 42 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: And now, Job having come to the realization that his God had a plan all along, … that the Lord knew what was best all along, … and that God’s ways are profound and way beyond the vision of man, the Lord’s mercy and justice is worked out before Job’s eyes. And as we read it in Chapter 42, those who gave Job all that bad information were reproved by God and Job was fully restored in his lifetime. Therefore, Job’s situation becomes a model of God’s justice being perfect; and we see that the scales held by the Father of all justice will one day be brought back into perfect balance – His balance.
My friend, we have to realize, as the circumstances of life seem to put those scales of justice out of balance, that God’s ways are mysterious to us. In my devotionals on Job these past few weeks, I have been brought to remember the truths of Isaiah 55: 8 – 9 [linked here for your meditation] and Romans 8: 28, the latter which I hope you have already memorized. These truths tell us that all things in our lives are for our good as Christians and that God’s ways are so much higher than our ways, often being so obscure that we are not given the privilege of seeing their profound ways in this life.
But Job was finally able to see God put it all into balance; and sometimes we will be given that privilege. I can remember thinking some of these same thoughts when we saw Neil Armstrong step down on the moon or when the Berlin wall was brought down in crumbles. Both of those events in our times seemed to be the result of a God moving to right the scales of justice. They had come about in such a miraculous way that it had to be something beyond man moving those events in our times. At the time Armstrong stepped on the moon I was not even a Christian; but I had to recognize that that accomplishment was way more than man could bring about himself. However, my perspective was very different when the Berlin wall and communism in Europe fell. The Lord was in my life then; and I saw, as did millions of others, that God can and will move in wondrous ways to bring about His own profound plan.
Are things all out of whack in your life? Are the scales of justice imbalanced from your perspective? Well, stay in there, fellow believer! Pray for patience and diligence because God is likely preparing you for some profound plan which you cannot see right now. If nothing else, He’s preparing you for Heaven; and that should be enough for any of us. One day the scales of God’s order are going to be brought into perfect balance; and we will be privileged to see God’s perfect plan in its perfection. But now, we simply must acknowledge that God is the only One Who can see it; and we will see only what HE designs for us to see and know. And truly all things do work themselves for His good and His glory.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to have the patience to wait for Your plan to reach Your perfection. Amen
My Journal for Today: And now, Job having come to the realization that his God had a plan all along, … that the Lord knew what was best all along, … and that God’s ways are profound and way beyond the vision of man, the Lord’s mercy and justice is worked out before Job’s eyes. And as we read it in Chapter 42, those who gave Job all that bad information were reproved by God and Job was fully restored in his lifetime. Therefore, Job’s situation becomes a model of God’s justice being perfect; and we see that the scales held by the Father of all justice will one day be brought back into perfect balance – His balance.
My friend, we have to realize, as the circumstances of life seem to put those scales of justice out of balance, that God’s ways are mysterious to us. In my devotionals on Job these past few weeks, I have been brought to remember the truths of Isaiah 55: 8 – 9 [linked here for your meditation] and Romans 8: 28, the latter which I hope you have already memorized. These truths tell us that all things in our lives are for our good as Christians and that God’s ways are so much higher than our ways, often being so obscure that we are not given the privilege of seeing their profound ways in this life.
But Job was finally able to see God put it all into balance; and sometimes we will be given that privilege. I can remember thinking some of these same thoughts when we saw Neil Armstrong step down on the moon or when the Berlin wall was brought down in crumbles. Both of those events in our times seemed to be the result of a God moving to right the scales of justice. They had come about in such a miraculous way that it had to be something beyond man moving those events in our times. At the time Armstrong stepped on the moon I was not even a Christian; but I had to recognize that that accomplishment was way more than man could bring about himself. However, my perspective was very different when the Berlin wall and communism in Europe fell. The Lord was in my life then; and I saw, as did millions of others, that God can and will move in wondrous ways to bring about His own profound plan.
Are things all out of whack in your life? Are the scales of justice imbalanced from your perspective? Well, stay in there, fellow believer! Pray for patience and diligence because God is likely preparing you for some profound plan which you cannot see right now. If nothing else, He’s preparing you for Heaven; and that should be enough for any of us. One day the scales of God’s order are going to be brought into perfect balance; and we will be privileged to see God’s perfect plan in its perfection. But now, we simply must acknowledge that God is the only One Who can see it; and we will see only what HE designs for us to see and know. And truly all things do work themselves for His good and His glory.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to have the patience to wait for Your plan to reach Your perfection. Amen
Thursday, September 24, 2009
2009 – Day 266.Sept 24 – Turn Around
Passage of the Day: Job 42: 1 - 6 … 1 Then Job answered the LORD and said:
2 “I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’
5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.
6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”
My Journal for Today: Okay, my friends who follow me here, we’re going to be in the climax chapter of Job for the remainder of our days with this hero of the faith. And what a chapter it is.
In it we begin by seeing this man, with whom we all should identify, finally get it; and by that I mean that all haughtiness is replace by humility; and our confused hero becomes our contrite hero.
You know, it has been said that if a Christian, after coming in faith to a saving knowledge of Christ, cannot choose to humble himself before God’s throne of sanctifying grace, God will “help” him do it; and that is the lesson we see Job finally learning in Chapter 42; and he flat-out says it in verses 1-6.
And I just can imagine a wry smile on God’s face as He hears His man, Job, candidly repenting in these words, spoken with conviction and understanding to the Living God. As Swindoll puts it, “Job [finally] got it!” And Pastor Chuck goes on to say what Job finally realized. And he writes about what Job came to acknowledge, which we should as well …
God’s purpose is unfolding; and I [we] cannot hinder it.
God’s plan is incredible; and I [we] will not comprehend it.
God’s reproof is reliable; and I [we] dare not ignore it.
God’s way is best; and I [we] must not resist it.
So, my dear one, I ask, “Have we gotten the message yet?” And I could go on to ask if we, who use the Name “Christian,” have learned that humility is a much more powerful choice than pride. Have we come to the realization that all I feel I own is from God? It’s not mine! Do I get it that none of what I enjoy in life is deserved?! It’s all from God … and for God!
Well, as Swindoll posits, it is tragic that many who have received the fire insurance of salvation have not come to the realization Job did in these first six verses of Job 42. Many of us walk around with the mistaken feeling that we deserve what we have and that we’re in control of our lives. In fact we actually seek to be in control of our lives. And my friend, that’s a lie; and we need to see it and acknowledge it before God.
Job is about to realize just how satisfying an attitude of humility and a choice of surrender can be. He’s about to find out how God rewards someone who lives a truly submissive life … a life dedicated to outright obedience. And Swindoll says that the blend of a strong-hearted, assertive Christian being in surrender mode to God can be a powerful force in the world. And when it happens, I strongly feel that a dimmed Christian lamp can become a bright light shining the world to fulfill Christ’s command in Matthew 5: 16 [link provided] were we, who carry the label “Christian,” can shine a light of good works for all in the darkness of this world to see Christ to the glory of our Father in heaven.
Job sees this; and he repents, … turning 180 degrees and walking in God’s direction, … away from self, away from the world, and most certainly away from Satan. The question becomes … “Have we really repented of our pride, our control, and our self-directed walk in this world?” Oh, how I pray that we get it as did Job!
My Prayer for Today: Lord, … if I have not seen what true repentance is like; … show me! Amen
2 “I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’
5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.
6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”
My Journal for Today: Okay, my friends who follow me here, we’re going to be in the climax chapter of Job for the remainder of our days with this hero of the faith. And what a chapter it is.
In it we begin by seeing this man, with whom we all should identify, finally get it; and by that I mean that all haughtiness is replace by humility; and our confused hero becomes our contrite hero.
You know, it has been said that if a Christian, after coming in faith to a saving knowledge of Christ, cannot choose to humble himself before God’s throne of sanctifying grace, God will “help” him do it; and that is the lesson we see Job finally learning in Chapter 42; and he flat-out says it in verses 1-6.
And I just can imagine a wry smile on God’s face as He hears His man, Job, candidly repenting in these words, spoken with conviction and understanding to the Living God. As Swindoll puts it, “Job [finally] got it!” And Pastor Chuck goes on to say what Job finally realized. And he writes about what Job came to acknowledge, which we should as well …
God’s purpose is unfolding; and I [we] cannot hinder it.
God’s plan is incredible; and I [we] will not comprehend it.
God’s reproof is reliable; and I [we] dare not ignore it.
God’s way is best; and I [we] must not resist it.
So, my dear one, I ask, “Have we gotten the message yet?” And I could go on to ask if we, who use the Name “Christian,” have learned that humility is a much more powerful choice than pride. Have we come to the realization that all I feel I own is from God? It’s not mine! Do I get it that none of what I enjoy in life is deserved?! It’s all from God … and for God!
Well, as Swindoll posits, it is tragic that many who have received the fire insurance of salvation have not come to the realization Job did in these first six verses of Job 42. Many of us walk around with the mistaken feeling that we deserve what we have and that we’re in control of our lives. In fact we actually seek to be in control of our lives. And my friend, that’s a lie; and we need to see it and acknowledge it before God.
Job is about to realize just how satisfying an attitude of humility and a choice of surrender can be. He’s about to find out how God rewards someone who lives a truly submissive life … a life dedicated to outright obedience. And Swindoll says that the blend of a strong-hearted, assertive Christian being in surrender mode to God can be a powerful force in the world. And when it happens, I strongly feel that a dimmed Christian lamp can become a bright light shining the world to fulfill Christ’s command in Matthew 5: 16 [link provided] were we, who carry the label “Christian,” can shine a light of good works for all in the darkness of this world to see Christ to the glory of our Father in heaven.
Job sees this; and he repents, … turning 180 degrees and walking in God’s direction, … away from self, away from the world, and most certainly away from Satan. The question becomes … “Have we really repented of our pride, our control, and our self-directed walk in this world?” Oh, how I pray that we get it as did Job!
My Prayer for Today: Lord, … if I have not seen what true repentance is like; … show me! Amen
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
2009 – Day 265.Sept 23 – Follow In Obedience
Passage of the Day: Job 40: 1-5 … From The Message Version of God’s word … 1-2 God then confronted Job directly: "Now what do you have to say for yourself? Are you going to haul Me, the Mighty One, into court and press charges?"
3-5 Job answered: "I'm speechless, in awe—words fail me. I should never have opened my mouth!I've talked too much, way too much. I'm ready to shut up and listen."
My Journal for Today: What a luxury, getting up with the sunrise, … light shining in my bedroom window rather than the darkness of my normal early rising. But even though I’ve let the bed reject me rather than bounding out to an alarm, my chosen purpose is the same this morning; and that is to start my day by spending time with my God so that I can know Him more, love Him more deeply, obey Him more readily, and serve Him more effectively.
And as I have come to my quiet place here this morning, a little later than usual, I still am here to worship my God just like any morning; and as I sit here, listening to the song Here I Am To Worship by Hillsong on my Ipod, I still revel in being with God as the sun comes up. I anticipate what God will give me from His word today to help me become more like Him or to reach out and share His truth with others. And again I join with Job in Job 40: 1-5, as he declares himself to be in awe of the Living God. I hope you’ll join me as we worship God by being in His word this day.
And this morning, listening to some wonderful praise songs playing in my headphones, I agree with my devotional shepherd, Chuck Swindoll, this morning as he tells of going to a Pastors’ conference some time ago where there was a sign over the marquee of the hotel which stated boldly …
RELAX EVERYBODY! … FOR ONCE YOU’RE NOT IN CHARGE!
And that’s essentially what God had declared to Job. Here in our highlight passage today we see Job getting God’s message to surrender to the fact that God was in control and that Job needed to surrender in obedience to the Lord’s power and his plan for Job’s life. Oh how we, over 3000 years later, should get this message. And I especially write this to any of us who, like myself, often seek to control the situation, who are called into leadership and feel that we should be THE LEADER. I say this strongly to those who pompously think that we are more intelligent than those who are in charge of our church, our company, or our government. So, … I say this to everyone. Relax and let God be God; … because we are not!
I often tell those with whom I have the opportunity to minister that we will never be in control anyway, so it’s time to surrender to Christ’s command which He declared to His disciples, (in Luke 9: 23), “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
So, as you read this, ask yourself, “Am I in surrender mode? Am I walking in obedience and denying self and giving preeminence to my Savior?” And if we answer those questions with anything but a resounding “YES,” we need to take serious steps to give our lives over to the LORD of our past, present, and future and become “living sacrifices” to God as Paul wrote in Romans 12: 1.
Join me today, my friend; … and let us surrender in obedience to the Living Lord of all.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Lord, I surrender! Amen
3-5 Job answered: "I'm speechless, in awe—words fail me. I should never have opened my mouth!I've talked too much, way too much. I'm ready to shut up and listen."
My Journal for Today: What a luxury, getting up with the sunrise, … light shining in my bedroom window rather than the darkness of my normal early rising. But even though I’ve let the bed reject me rather than bounding out to an alarm, my chosen purpose is the same this morning; and that is to start my day by spending time with my God so that I can know Him more, love Him more deeply, obey Him more readily, and serve Him more effectively.
And as I have come to my quiet place here this morning, a little later than usual, I still am here to worship my God just like any morning; and as I sit here, listening to the song Here I Am To Worship by Hillsong on my Ipod, I still revel in being with God as the sun comes up. I anticipate what God will give me from His word today to help me become more like Him or to reach out and share His truth with others. And again I join with Job in Job 40: 1-5, as he declares himself to be in awe of the Living God. I hope you’ll join me as we worship God by being in His word this day.
And this morning, listening to some wonderful praise songs playing in my headphones, I agree with my devotional shepherd, Chuck Swindoll, this morning as he tells of going to a Pastors’ conference some time ago where there was a sign over the marquee of the hotel which stated boldly …
RELAX EVERYBODY! … FOR ONCE YOU’RE NOT IN CHARGE!
And that’s essentially what God had declared to Job. Here in our highlight passage today we see Job getting God’s message to surrender to the fact that God was in control and that Job needed to surrender in obedience to the Lord’s power and his plan for Job’s life. Oh how we, over 3000 years later, should get this message. And I especially write this to any of us who, like myself, often seek to control the situation, who are called into leadership and feel that we should be THE LEADER. I say this strongly to those who pompously think that we are more intelligent than those who are in charge of our church, our company, or our government. So, … I say this to everyone. Relax and let God be God; … because we are not!
I often tell those with whom I have the opportunity to minister that we will never be in control anyway, so it’s time to surrender to Christ’s command which He declared to His disciples, (in Luke 9: 23), “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
So, as you read this, ask yourself, “Am I in surrender mode? Am I walking in obedience and denying self and giving preeminence to my Savior?” And if we answer those questions with anything but a resounding “YES,” we need to take serious steps to give our lives over to the LORD of our past, present, and future and become “living sacrifices” to God as Paul wrote in Romans 12: 1.
Join me today, my friend; … and let us surrender in obedience to the Living Lord of all.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Lord, I surrender! Amen
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
2009 – Day 264.Sept 22 – “I Am in Awe”
Passage of the Day: Job 40: 1-5 … From The Message Version …
1-2God then confronted Job directly: "Now what do you have to say for yourself? Are you going to haul Me, the Mighty One, into court and press charges?"
3-5 Job answered: "I'm speechless, in awe—words fail me. I should never have opened my mouth!I've talked too much, way too much. I'm ready to shut up and listen."
My Journal for Today: I’ve gone to Peterson’s colloquial version of Scripture in Job 40, which, in the first five verses, shows where Job had come to realize how he had become too self assured and too determined in his defense before his four worldly friends. God had, in Chapters 38-39 deftly and powerfully put Job in his place; and now Job was forced to acknowledge his insignificance to the Almighty God.
The question immediately as to personal application becomes, “Am I seeing myself in proper proportion to my God?” Well, in these first five verses of Chapter 40 we read a model of humility, vulnerability, and reality.
Job first humbly acknowledges his awe, being in the presence of God; and that’s a position we need to continually hold in that we choose to come into the presence of the Throne of Grace, bearing our burdens before our Lord. Well, Job came to realize that before his calamities arose, he had gotten too self assured; and now he needed to bring himself down before the Creator of the world and acknowledge his dependence upon his God.
Secondly, we read how Job admits that he had likely over-spoken his case before God, questioning the “WHY” of his circumstances in all the confusion of his loss and pain. Actually God doesn’t mind any of His children bringing their feelings to Him as we read in Lam. 3: 22-23 or 1st Peter 5: 7; but we, as Job did here, need to do so with vulnerability, recognizing that God is still – and always - totally in control.
And finally, Job recognized and acknowledged what I’ve just said … the reality that we need to be in a listening posture when we come to God because we’re never in an adversarial role with our God. God is not on “the other side” of our circumstances. As I’ve said often – and need to remember - life often causes us to challenge our belief in the truth of Romans 8: 28 and to seek HOW we can grow from life’s circumstances rather than to know WHY things are not going the way we’d like to see them.
After Job acknowledged God so humbly in today’s highlighted passage, I can just imagine a wry smile coming over the face of our Lord as He knew that Job was now in a posture of readiness to receive God’s grace. And don’t you know, my dear one, that we so desperately need God’s grace. So, when – hopefully not IF – you go to God today, come to our Lord with a posture of humility, laying all pride aside; and when we do that, we’ll find what is promised in God’s word (see Prov. 3: 34, James 4: 6) that God will pour His grace into humility; but He will resist pride whenever He sees it raise its ugly head.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I pray that I don’t need to ask for You to help me find true humility this day. But if so, please do so; because I so need Your grace! Amen
1-2God then confronted Job directly: "Now what do you have to say for yourself? Are you going to haul Me, the Mighty One, into court and press charges?"
3-5 Job answered: "I'm speechless, in awe—words fail me. I should never have opened my mouth!I've talked too much, way too much. I'm ready to shut up and listen."
My Journal for Today: I’ve gone to Peterson’s colloquial version of Scripture in Job 40, which, in the first five verses, shows where Job had come to realize how he had become too self assured and too determined in his defense before his four worldly friends. God had, in Chapters 38-39 deftly and powerfully put Job in his place; and now Job was forced to acknowledge his insignificance to the Almighty God.
The question immediately as to personal application becomes, “Am I seeing myself in proper proportion to my God?” Well, in these first five verses of Chapter 40 we read a model of humility, vulnerability, and reality.
Job first humbly acknowledges his awe, being in the presence of God; and that’s a position we need to continually hold in that we choose to come into the presence of the Throne of Grace, bearing our burdens before our Lord. Well, Job came to realize that before his calamities arose, he had gotten too self assured; and now he needed to bring himself down before the Creator of the world and acknowledge his dependence upon his God.
Secondly, we read how Job admits that he had likely over-spoken his case before God, questioning the “WHY” of his circumstances in all the confusion of his loss and pain. Actually God doesn’t mind any of His children bringing their feelings to Him as we read in Lam. 3: 22-23 or 1st Peter 5: 7; but we, as Job did here, need to do so with vulnerability, recognizing that God is still – and always - totally in control.
And finally, Job recognized and acknowledged what I’ve just said … the reality that we need to be in a listening posture when we come to God because we’re never in an adversarial role with our God. God is not on “the other side” of our circumstances. As I’ve said often – and need to remember - life often causes us to challenge our belief in the truth of Romans 8: 28 and to seek HOW we can grow from life’s circumstances rather than to know WHY things are not going the way we’d like to see them.
After Job acknowledged God so humbly in today’s highlighted passage, I can just imagine a wry smile coming over the face of our Lord as He knew that Job was now in a posture of readiness to receive God’s grace. And don’t you know, my dear one, that we so desperately need God’s grace. So, when – hopefully not IF – you go to God today, come to our Lord with a posture of humility, laying all pride aside; and when we do that, we’ll find what is promised in God’s word (see Prov. 3: 34, James 4: 6) that God will pour His grace into humility; but He will resist pride whenever He sees it raise its ugly head.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I pray that I don’t need to ask for You to help me find true humility this day. But if so, please do so; because I so need Your grace! Amen
Monday, September 21, 2009
2009 – Day 263.Sept 21 – How Big Is Your God?
Passage of the Day: Job 38 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: If you were here with me yesterday, I shared from my studies that Job 38 is a response to Job’s fourth “friend,” Elihu, whose message to Job probably had more real truth in it than the other three dudes. However, Elihu, also missed the boat of truth by claiming Job to be self-righteous; but he did convey one basic thing to Job in Chapter 36 which we all should take in; and that is that “God is mighty!” (see Job 36: 5)
What a shock it must’ve been for Job (in Chapter 38) to hear God’s voice coming from a whirlwind; and God was asking all of those questions which confirmed for Job just how BIG God is and just how small was Job.
How BIG is your God, my dear fellow Christian? Chuck Swindoll, in his devotional for today, holds a very clear mirror of truth in front of my face, a mirror for me to confront that question. He writes, “When your God is too small, your problems are too big and you retreat in fear and insecurity. But when your God is great, your problems pale into insignificance and you stand in awe as you worship the King.”
Oh, how true that statement is as it cries out to us: “How big is our God?!!”
I’ll never forget the day on April 13th, 1983, when God showed me just how weak I was spiritually and just how awesome He is. But rather than speaking to me in a whirlwind, he did it quietly – but very powerfully – by a taped testimony of a quadriplegic who found strength in Christ and a scripture verse, Phil. 4: 13, which was on a pamphlet laid on my desk at work the night before by my Christian secretary. Seeing the words Phil. “4:13” on the cover of that little pamphlet; and then seeing the date, “4/13,” flashing on my digital calendar, was like a lightning bolt going off in my brain. Like God speaking out of the whirlwind to Job, God was declaring to me on that morning, “Bill, if you’re looking for Spiritual strength, the only place you’re going to find it is in ME.” I got the message just as Job did; and on that morning I bowed before a very BIG GOD for the first time in my life.
But let’s not be deterred from the question today: “Just how big is your God?” As Swindoll asks, “Big enough to intervene? Big enough to be trusted? Big enough to be held in awe and ultimate respect? Big enough to erase your worries and replace them with peace?”
Because if we can answer that with a resounding “YES!”, we will find the truth in my favorite hymn, which I’ve quoted very often, and which I’m listening to on my Ipod as I write this. >>>
Turn Your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, speak to me loudly in a whirlwind or speak to me in a still, small voice. But speak to me, Lord! Amen
My Journal for Today: If you were here with me yesterday, I shared from my studies that Job 38 is a response to Job’s fourth “friend,” Elihu, whose message to Job probably had more real truth in it than the other three dudes. However, Elihu, also missed the boat of truth by claiming Job to be self-righteous; but he did convey one basic thing to Job in Chapter 36 which we all should take in; and that is that “God is mighty!” (see Job 36: 5)
What a shock it must’ve been for Job (in Chapter 38) to hear God’s voice coming from a whirlwind; and God was asking all of those questions which confirmed for Job just how BIG God is and just how small was Job.
How BIG is your God, my dear fellow Christian? Chuck Swindoll, in his devotional for today, holds a very clear mirror of truth in front of my face, a mirror for me to confront that question. He writes, “When your God is too small, your problems are too big and you retreat in fear and insecurity. But when your God is great, your problems pale into insignificance and you stand in awe as you worship the King.”
Oh, how true that statement is as it cries out to us: “How big is our God?!!”
I’ll never forget the day on April 13th, 1983, when God showed me just how weak I was spiritually and just how awesome He is. But rather than speaking to me in a whirlwind, he did it quietly – but very powerfully – by a taped testimony of a quadriplegic who found strength in Christ and a scripture verse, Phil. 4: 13, which was on a pamphlet laid on my desk at work the night before by my Christian secretary. Seeing the words Phil. “4:13” on the cover of that little pamphlet; and then seeing the date, “4/13,” flashing on my digital calendar, was like a lightning bolt going off in my brain. Like God speaking out of the whirlwind to Job, God was declaring to me on that morning, “Bill, if you’re looking for Spiritual strength, the only place you’re going to find it is in ME.” I got the message just as Job did; and on that morning I bowed before a very BIG GOD for the first time in my life.
But let’s not be deterred from the question today: “Just how big is your God?” As Swindoll asks, “Big enough to intervene? Big enough to be trusted? Big enough to be held in awe and ultimate respect? Big enough to erase your worries and replace them with peace?”
Because if we can answer that with a resounding “YES!”, we will find the truth in my favorite hymn, which I’ve quoted very often, and which I’m listening to on my Ipod as I write this. >>>
Turn Your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, speak to me loudly in a whirlwind or speak to me in a still, small voice. But speak to me, Lord! Amen
Sunday, September 20, 2009
2009 – Day 262.Sept 20 – Nothing Compares
Passage of the Day: Job 38 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Well, we jump ahead in Job’s story, all the way to Chapter 38; and lo and behold, God shows up. However, in the interim – if you’ve read it – Job continues with his vexation and his quandary over what has brought such maladies into his life; and we also have the entrance of a fourth “friend,” Elihu, who does a better job of trying to explain away Job’s dilemma; but even this fourth friend misses the boat in trying to capture why Job is experiencing all these trials.
So, finally we see God enter the scene; and as you begin to read God’s take on Job’s life, you’ll see that God doesn’t answer any of Job’s questions. No, rather, the Lord begins by asking Job questions about the His creation, something Job knows, can see, and can appreciate. But as we read God’s questions we see that the Lord is trying to get Job to see that any attempt to explain the WHY behind God’s providence will fall short of the mark, because as I’ve said many times in my devotional journal entries, “God is God and we are not!”
And Swindoll puts it this day, “We take a major step in maturity when we realize it’s not about us and our significance. It’s all about God’s significance … His holiness, … His greatness, … His glory.” And Swindoll goes on, “Without [God] there is no righteousness, … no holiness, … no promise of forgiveness, … no source of absolute truth, … no reason to endure, … and no hope beyond the grave.”
And Swindoll closes by quoting from the great 19th Century hymn by Robert Grant …
O worship the King, all glorious above,
And gratefully sing of His wonderful love.
Our shield, our defender, the Ancient of days;
Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.
Oh, my friend, when we cannot make heads nor tails of what is going on, our response needs to be … PRAISE, not platitudes; … ADORATION, not anxiety, … TRUST, not tragedy. If you’ve read the book of Job, you have seen that is where Job is headed; and it is the lesson we all need to learn from Job’s tragic life.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to see that I can’t see … that I need only seek You and You will lead me. Amen
My Journal for Today: Well, we jump ahead in Job’s story, all the way to Chapter 38; and lo and behold, God shows up. However, in the interim – if you’ve read it – Job continues with his vexation and his quandary over what has brought such maladies into his life; and we also have the entrance of a fourth “friend,” Elihu, who does a better job of trying to explain away Job’s dilemma; but even this fourth friend misses the boat in trying to capture why Job is experiencing all these trials.
So, finally we see God enter the scene; and as you begin to read God’s take on Job’s life, you’ll see that God doesn’t answer any of Job’s questions. No, rather, the Lord begins by asking Job questions about the His creation, something Job knows, can see, and can appreciate. But as we read God’s questions we see that the Lord is trying to get Job to see that any attempt to explain the WHY behind God’s providence will fall short of the mark, because as I’ve said many times in my devotional journal entries, “God is God and we are not!”
And Swindoll puts it this day, “We take a major step in maturity when we realize it’s not about us and our significance. It’s all about God’s significance … His holiness, … His greatness, … His glory.” And Swindoll goes on, “Without [God] there is no righteousness, … no holiness, … no promise of forgiveness, … no source of absolute truth, … no reason to endure, … and no hope beyond the grave.”
And Swindoll closes by quoting from the great 19th Century hymn by Robert Grant …
O worship the King, all glorious above,
And gratefully sing of His wonderful love.
Our shield, our defender, the Ancient of days;
Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.
Oh, my friend, when we cannot make heads nor tails of what is going on, our response needs to be … PRAISE, not platitudes; … ADORATION, not anxiety, … TRUST, not tragedy. If you’ve read the book of Job, you have seen that is where Job is headed; and it is the lesson we all need to learn from Job’s tragic life.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to see that I can’t see … that I need only seek You and You will lead me. Amen
Saturday, September 19, 2009
2009 – Day 261.Sept 19 – Learning From Suffering
Passage of the Day: Job 28 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: At the end of his devotional for this date, Chuck Swindoll zeroes in on a pertinent and powerful truth from this study in Job, especially from Chapter 28; and that is we learn that “… the greater the suffering, the better we determine what really matters.” That’s what Job had learned; and be begins to assert this truth in Chapter 28 by his commitment to dig deeply into the mind of God to find the Lord’s wisdom to replace his own confusion and doubt.
This very date, a dear friend of mine was lamenting his long struggle with his weight and the outcomes of being overweight physically (high blood pressure, joint problems, and fatigue). And oh, how I empathize with that, having become obese myself some years ago and incurring diabetes as a result. However, when I was diagnosed with diabetes, God showed me I need not languish in my own habitual sin nor my feelings of defeat from my chronic obesity. God revealed to me that I could choose to be an “overcomer” because Christ had been THE OVERCOMER [see John 16: 33].
God’s Spirit led me to recognize that I need not live, as did Paul, in the lie of Romans 7: 14-23, I could rather live in the truth of Romans 8 - link provided. I need not live in the weakness and pain of 2nd Cor. 12: 7-8; I could rather live in the strength and victory of 2nd Cor. 9-10 - link provided. But if I bought into the lies the enemy would have me believe, such as those Job had heard from his three friends, I would not be able to share in the victories God had for me to experience in my future.
Job, in Chapter 28 made the decision to stand for God’s truth rather than to surrender to Satan’s lies. He decided to go deep and mine for God’s mind, rather than listen to the surface logic of the world. Job declared for all to hear that God was in control; and he (Job) was going to dig more deeply for Godly wisdom rather than rely on human logic.
And that’s what we need to do; … we need to learn from our suffering rather than to succumb to its pain. We need to begin mining for Godly wisdom rather than relying on human experience or logic. We need to find God’s way rather than man’s will. And you know, as do I, the primary source of those choices; … and that is God’s truth from His word.
So, are we going to choose to dig deeply into God’s mind; or are we going to listen to our own deceit-ridden heart or the world’s logic? Are we going to live in Romans 8, rather than Romans 7? Are we going to choose to receive God’s strength, or are we going to rely on our own weakness to deal with the challenges presented by the world?
Choices!
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to choose Your way, … not mine! Amen
My Journal for Today: At the end of his devotional for this date, Chuck Swindoll zeroes in on a pertinent and powerful truth from this study in Job, especially from Chapter 28; and that is we learn that “… the greater the suffering, the better we determine what really matters.” That’s what Job had learned; and be begins to assert this truth in Chapter 28 by his commitment to dig deeply into the mind of God to find the Lord’s wisdom to replace his own confusion and doubt.
This very date, a dear friend of mine was lamenting his long struggle with his weight and the outcomes of being overweight physically (high blood pressure, joint problems, and fatigue). And oh, how I empathize with that, having become obese myself some years ago and incurring diabetes as a result. However, when I was diagnosed with diabetes, God showed me I need not languish in my own habitual sin nor my feelings of defeat from my chronic obesity. God revealed to me that I could choose to be an “overcomer” because Christ had been THE OVERCOMER [see John 16: 33].
God’s Spirit led me to recognize that I need not live, as did Paul, in the lie of Romans 7: 14-23, I could rather live in the truth of Romans 8 - link provided. I need not live in the weakness and pain of 2nd Cor. 12: 7-8; I could rather live in the strength and victory of 2nd Cor. 9-10 - link provided. But if I bought into the lies the enemy would have me believe, such as those Job had heard from his three friends, I would not be able to share in the victories God had for me to experience in my future.
Job, in Chapter 28 made the decision to stand for God’s truth rather than to surrender to Satan’s lies. He decided to go deep and mine for God’s mind, rather than listen to the surface logic of the world. Job declared for all to hear that God was in control; and he (Job) was going to dig more deeply for Godly wisdom rather than rely on human logic.
And that’s what we need to do; … we need to learn from our suffering rather than to succumb to its pain. We need to begin mining for Godly wisdom rather than relying on human experience or logic. We need to find God’s way rather than man’s will. And you know, as do I, the primary source of those choices; … and that is God’s truth from His word.
So, are we going to choose to dig deeply into God’s mind; or are we going to listen to our own deceit-ridden heart or the world’s logic? Are we going to live in Romans 8, rather than Romans 7? Are we going to choose to receive God’s strength, or are we going to rely on our own weakness to deal with the challenges presented by the world?
Choices!
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to choose Your way, … not mine! Amen
Friday, September 18, 2009
2009 – Day 260.Sept 18 – God and God Alone
Passage of the Day: Job 28 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Chapter 28 of Job’s search for answers is one of my favorite chapters in this great Book; and Swindoll gets right to the nitty-gritty of the chapter in his devotional as he exposes two concepts Job pursues in Chapter 28; and the two are “wisdom” and “understanding.”
“Wisdom," according to Swindoll, is “… looking at life from God’s point of view.” And Job uses an elaborate word picture in Chapter 28 of the mining practices of his day as the way mankind must search for God’s mind or His will. And so, Job’s perspective on our search for wisdom would have man choosing to go deep and digging for the jewels of Godly understanding so that we can bring out God’s way at viewing life.
And that brings up the second of the concepts which Job pursues in this Chapter; and that is “understanding,” which according to Swindoll is “… responding to life’s struggles and challenges as God would have us respond.” And Job, after describing how man must go deep, even risking life it self, to find God’s infinitely valuable nuggets of life, asks the pointed questions we all need to have answered to have meaning in life in verse 20 of Chapter 28. He says, “Where does wisdom come from? … Where does understanding dwell?” And his answer is the title of my devotional today, “… with God and God alone!”
Solomon’s declaration of this truth makes this pursuit of wisdom and understanding from God all the more evident, as he writes in Proverbs 9: 10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Therefore, putting together what Job and Solomon say, we come to the conclusion that a reverent and diligent pursuit of God’s will by digging into God’s truth is the only way to find Godly wisdom and understanding. It’s the only way to be able to make sense of a senseless world; and it’s the only way to be able to respond to meaningless circumstances.
That’s where Job was at this point in life as we find him in Chapter 28, having experienced a chain of confusing and inexplicable circumstances, all of which had him reeling with confusion. And then, the world, personified in his three friends, began giving him worldly knowledge which did not reflect God’s mind as Job knew it. And as we’re going to see, as Job’s tale unfolds, Job knew God’s mind well enough to understand that he, Job, needed to go deeper to pursue Godly wisdom; and he did. And as is God’s promise, when we go deep to know God and pursue His will by digging into His word, He will reward us with His wisdom (check out James 1: 5).
So, my friend, I pray that we’re all be setting down our mine shafts and mining deeply into the truth of God, by knowing/understanding His word, to discover God’s will and to view the world as our Lord would view it. Then, and only then, will we be able to respond to life in the way God intends for His children to respond.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to go deep to find the jewels of Your wisdom and to live by the nuggets of Your understanding. Amen
My Journal for Today: Chapter 28 of Job’s search for answers is one of my favorite chapters in this great Book; and Swindoll gets right to the nitty-gritty of the chapter in his devotional as he exposes two concepts Job pursues in Chapter 28; and the two are “wisdom” and “understanding.”
“Wisdom," according to Swindoll, is “… looking at life from God’s point of view.” And Job uses an elaborate word picture in Chapter 28 of the mining practices of his day as the way mankind must search for God’s mind or His will. And so, Job’s perspective on our search for wisdom would have man choosing to go deep and digging for the jewels of Godly understanding so that we can bring out God’s way at viewing life.
And that brings up the second of the concepts which Job pursues in this Chapter; and that is “understanding,” which according to Swindoll is “… responding to life’s struggles and challenges as God would have us respond.” And Job, after describing how man must go deep, even risking life it self, to find God’s infinitely valuable nuggets of life, asks the pointed questions we all need to have answered to have meaning in life in verse 20 of Chapter 28. He says, “Where does wisdom come from? … Where does understanding dwell?” And his answer is the title of my devotional today, “… with God and God alone!”
Solomon’s declaration of this truth makes this pursuit of wisdom and understanding from God all the more evident, as he writes in Proverbs 9: 10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Therefore, putting together what Job and Solomon say, we come to the conclusion that a reverent and diligent pursuit of God’s will by digging into God’s truth is the only way to find Godly wisdom and understanding. It’s the only way to be able to make sense of a senseless world; and it’s the only way to be able to respond to meaningless circumstances.
That’s where Job was at this point in life as we find him in Chapter 28, having experienced a chain of confusing and inexplicable circumstances, all of which had him reeling with confusion. And then, the world, personified in his three friends, began giving him worldly knowledge which did not reflect God’s mind as Job knew it. And as we’re going to see, as Job’s tale unfolds, Job knew God’s mind well enough to understand that he, Job, needed to go deeper to pursue Godly wisdom; and he did. And as is God’s promise, when we go deep to know God and pursue His will by digging into His word, He will reward us with His wisdom (check out James 1: 5).
So, my friend, I pray that we’re all be setting down our mine shafts and mining deeply into the truth of God, by knowing/understanding His word, to discover God’s will and to view the world as our Lord would view it. Then, and only then, will we be able to respond to life in the way God intends for His children to respond.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to go deep to find the jewels of Your wisdom and to live by the nuggets of Your understanding. Amen
Thursday, September 17, 2009
2009 – Day 259.Sept 17 – True Convictions
Passage of the Day: Job 27 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: One last run through in Job, Chapter 27, has Chuck Swindoll reflecting on the great church reformers of the 16th Century, men like Martin Luther in Germany, John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli in Switzerland, and John Knox in Scotland. These were men, like Job, who stood for they believed in their time against the going tide of the church culture, even to the point of dying for their faith.
Apparently Swindoll had just returned from a tour of where these men had lived and proclaimed their faith in the face of the tribulations of their day. And I identified with Pastor Chuck; because my wife and I have been blessed to be in Switzerland and stood on the spot of where Calvin had to flee from France because of his reformation beliefs and where Zwingli had stood in a pulpit and preached what many considered heresies in those days. These were men who stood for truth in the gap of public trials and some of them went to their deaths, being burned for their faith.
And in Job 27, verses 5 – 6, we read our hero Job, who had been maligned by his three friends, standing up, with personal integrity, for what he believed. He says, …
5 I will never admit you are in the right;
till I die, I will not deny my integrity.
6 I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it;
my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.
Now I have to ask myself, in the spirit of the Apostle’s challenge in 2nd Cor. 13: 5 - link provided, “Would I stand up for my faith as did Job or Martin Luther? … Would I be willing to die for my faith as did young Cassie Bernall in the infamous Columbine High School massacre?” I would hope so; but Chuck Swindoll says that Job and these others were likely able to do what they did in the face of dire circumstances because they had prepared their hearts to stand in the gap with three disciplines of their faith.
Using Job as our example, we need to be able to REFLECT ON OUR PAST. When we face loss, physical ailment, or crushing circumstances, as Job certainly did, it’s good to look back and be grateful for what God has done for us in the past. Then it’s a good discipline to REHEARSE OUR PRESENT, acknowledging to God any confusion or quandary in which we find ourselves. And finally, as we read about Job in this Chapter 27, it’s a necessity for us to REAFFIRM OUR FUTURE, by declaring openly where we stand for Christ. As one, like Job, does these three things that one will find that God will pour His enabling grace into our stand for righteousness; and we’ll be able to stand in the gap for our God in the face of the most dire of circumstances.
Oh, how this is my prayer for yours truly as the tenor of our times becomes more and more hostile to the Christian way of life. Who knows, … one day we may be called upon, like a Job, or a Luther, or a Cassie Bernall to stand before a tribunal or even a gun and answer the question, “Are you a Christian?” And at that point I need to know what God has done for me, that He is allowing such troubles in my life for my good, and that I must always stand for His glory … no matter what transpires in my life.
Will I be ready and able to stand? I pray I will.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, prepare me today for what may happen in my future … that I’ll be willing and able to stand for You … no matter what! Amen
My Journal for Today: One last run through in Job, Chapter 27, has Chuck Swindoll reflecting on the great church reformers of the 16th Century, men like Martin Luther in Germany, John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli in Switzerland, and John Knox in Scotland. These were men, like Job, who stood for they believed in their time against the going tide of the church culture, even to the point of dying for their faith.
Apparently Swindoll had just returned from a tour of where these men had lived and proclaimed their faith in the face of the tribulations of their day. And I identified with Pastor Chuck; because my wife and I have been blessed to be in Switzerland and stood on the spot of where Calvin had to flee from France because of his reformation beliefs and where Zwingli had stood in a pulpit and preached what many considered heresies in those days. These were men who stood for truth in the gap of public trials and some of them went to their deaths, being burned for their faith.
And in Job 27, verses 5 – 6, we read our hero Job, who had been maligned by his three friends, standing up, with personal integrity, for what he believed. He says, …
5 I will never admit you are in the right;
till I die, I will not deny my integrity.
6 I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it;
my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.
Now I have to ask myself, in the spirit of the Apostle’s challenge in 2nd Cor. 13: 5 - link provided, “Would I stand up for my faith as did Job or Martin Luther? … Would I be willing to die for my faith as did young Cassie Bernall in the infamous Columbine High School massacre?” I would hope so; but Chuck Swindoll says that Job and these others were likely able to do what they did in the face of dire circumstances because they had prepared their hearts to stand in the gap with three disciplines of their faith.
Using Job as our example, we need to be able to REFLECT ON OUR PAST. When we face loss, physical ailment, or crushing circumstances, as Job certainly did, it’s good to look back and be grateful for what God has done for us in the past. Then it’s a good discipline to REHEARSE OUR PRESENT, acknowledging to God any confusion or quandary in which we find ourselves. And finally, as we read about Job in this Chapter 27, it’s a necessity for us to REAFFIRM OUR FUTURE, by declaring openly where we stand for Christ. As one, like Job, does these three things that one will find that God will pour His enabling grace into our stand for righteousness; and we’ll be able to stand in the gap for our God in the face of the most dire of circumstances.
Oh, how this is my prayer for yours truly as the tenor of our times becomes more and more hostile to the Christian way of life. Who knows, … one day we may be called upon, like a Job, or a Luther, or a Cassie Bernall to stand before a tribunal or even a gun and answer the question, “Are you a Christian?” And at that point I need to know what God has done for me, that He is allowing such troubles in my life for my good, and that I must always stand for His glory … no matter what transpires in my life.
Will I be ready and able to stand? I pray I will.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, prepare me today for what may happen in my future … that I’ll be willing and able to stand for You … no matter what! Amen
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
2009 – Day 258.Sept 16 – Biblically Correct
Passage of the Day: Job 27 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Repeating a look at Job’s contentions in Chapter 27 of our Hero’s book, I hope you’ve been inspired, as have I, to aspire to be “biblically correct” rather than politically correct. And my devotional shepherd, Chuck Swindoll, points out that there is great tension today for the Christian who closely follows the media theses days to be influenced by the latter and to move away from the former.
All too often, even in “the church,” as we know it today, we see denominations or churches, which call themselves “Christian,” being drawn into the secularized or humanized world view rather than take up the banner of truth from The Bible. Job, on the other hand, in Chapter 27 of his book, does not yield to the influences of the world; and even in the most dire of circumstances which might cause his attention to be diverted from God’s truth, he stands in the gap for God’s way. The question becomes, … do we stand for biblical correctness, as did Job; or are we being swayed by the world?
Right now, as I sit here and meditate on this challenge, the passage from the Apostle Paul in Romans 12: 2 bubbles up from my memory. You probably know it too. It says, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Well, Job’s mind had obviously been renewed as to God’s will long before Satan intervened and brought about the circumstances which were so confusing for him. However, in his confusion, he didn’t let the lessons in political correctness from his three “friends” influence him; and here in Chapter 27, we see God’s man standing up for what we now know as Biblical correctness.
Oh, how I pray that we’re all staying in God’s word, … studying, meditating, and memorizing its tenants, … so that when we are confronted by the news, skewed politics, pseudo science, or the reigning educational influences, we don’t cave and become like the world, moving away from God’s word and His ways. It’s worthwhile to let Job’s attitude and his plucky courage be an inspiration for us. And I pray that we can live up to his model of seeking Godly truth and standing for it in the face of worldly pressures.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help us to hold on to Your ways in the face of worldly peer pressures. Amen
My Journal for Today: Repeating a look at Job’s contentions in Chapter 27 of our Hero’s book, I hope you’ve been inspired, as have I, to aspire to be “biblically correct” rather than politically correct. And my devotional shepherd, Chuck Swindoll, points out that there is great tension today for the Christian who closely follows the media theses days to be influenced by the latter and to move away from the former.
All too often, even in “the church,” as we know it today, we see denominations or churches, which call themselves “Christian,” being drawn into the secularized or humanized world view rather than take up the banner of truth from The Bible. Job, on the other hand, in Chapter 27 of his book, does not yield to the influences of the world; and even in the most dire of circumstances which might cause his attention to be diverted from God’s truth, he stands in the gap for God’s way. The question becomes, … do we stand for biblical correctness, as did Job; or are we being swayed by the world?
Right now, as I sit here and meditate on this challenge, the passage from the Apostle Paul in Romans 12: 2 bubbles up from my memory. You probably know it too. It says, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Well, Job’s mind had obviously been renewed as to God’s will long before Satan intervened and brought about the circumstances which were so confusing for him. However, in his confusion, he didn’t let the lessons in political correctness from his three “friends” influence him; and here in Chapter 27, we see God’s man standing up for what we now know as Biblical correctness.
Oh, how I pray that we’re all staying in God’s word, … studying, meditating, and memorizing its tenants, … so that when we are confronted by the news, skewed politics, pseudo science, or the reigning educational influences, we don’t cave and become like the world, moving away from God’s word and His ways. It’s worthwhile to let Job’s attitude and his plucky courage be an inspiration for us. And I pray that we can live up to his model of seeking Godly truth and standing for it in the face of worldly pressures.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help us to hold on to Your ways in the face of worldly peer pressures. Amen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
