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Archives for June 2015

Today’s 6/4/2015 Daily Devotionals

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365 devotional

God Guides (Psalm 119:35)

Sometimes making the right decision as a parent is next to impossible. If you choose one path, it may have undesirable consequences. On the other hand, another decision may net equally negative results. Parenting is filled with these moments.

Another difficult aspect of making decisions for your children is the input from other parents and friends who would not have made the same decision you did. They will often tell you why because people usually aren’t afraid of sharing their opinions.

This difficulty may not have happened to you yet, but it will. In those moments, your peace will come from knowing you have prayed and listened for God to direct your path. At times, it will be the only peace you feel. That’s why it’s important to remember that he does see your need and he will guide you as you seek him. It’s his promise.

Parenting Principle

Only with God’s strength can crooked paths be straightened.

Points to Ponder

  • Have you ever felt all alone in making a decision for your children? Did you still have peace? Why?
  • How do you respond when other people disagree with a decision you make?
  • For what decision do you need to seek God’s wisdom right now?

Taken from Once a Day Nurturing Great Kids

johnpiper

Faith for the Impossible

He grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. (Romans 4:20–21)

Paul has in mind a special reason why faith glorifies God’s future grace. Simply put, the reason is that this God-glorifying faith is a future-oriented confidence in God’s integrity and power and wisdom to follow through on all his promises.

Paul illustrates this faith with Abraham’s response to the promise of God: that he would be the father of many nations (Romans 4:18). “In hope he believed against hope,” that is, he had faith in the future grace of God’s promise.

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. (Romans 4:19–21)

The faith of Abraham was a faith in the promise of God to make him the father of many nations. This faith glorified God because it called attention to all the resources of God that would be required to fulfill it.

Abraham was too old to have children, and Sarah was barren. Not only that: How do you turn a son or two into “many nations,” which God said Abraham would be the father of? It all seemed totally impossible.

Therefore Abraham’s faith glorified God by being fully assured that he could and would do the impossible.

Gods story

Job 23:1-17

A third round of discussion begins between Job and his three friends. Here Job again responds to Eliphaz.

Tried and True

Read

“I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I look to the south, but he is concealed.

“But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside. I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food. But once he has made his decision, who can change his mind? Whatever he wants to do, he does. So he will do to me whatever he has planned. He controls my destiny.”
(Job 23:8-14)

Reflect

Job continued his questioning, saying that his suffering would be more bearable if only he knew why it was happening. If he knew of a sin for which he could repent, he would! He knew about wicked people, and he knew they would be punished; he knew God could vindicate him if he so chose. In all his examples of the wicked in the world, Job’s overriding desire was for God to clear his name, prove his righteousness, and explain why he had received this calamity. Eliphaz had tried to condemn Job by identifying some secret sin that he may have committed. Here Job declares his confidence in his integrity and God’s justice. Job tried to make his friends see that their questions about God, life, and justice were not as simple as they assumed.

We are always likely to have hidden sin in our lives, sin we don’t even know about because God’s standards are so high, and our performance is so imperfect. If we put our trust in God, however, all our sins are forgiven because of what Christ did on the cross on our behalf (Romans 5:1; 8:1). And even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts (1 John 3:20). His forgiveness and cleansing are sufficient; they overrule our nagging doubts. The Holy Spirit in us proves that we are forgiven even though we may feel guilty. If we, like Job, are truly seeking God, we can stand up under others’ accusations as well as our own nagging doubts. If God has forgiven and accepted us, we are forgiven indeed.

Respond

Today, remember that you are forgiven. When you sin, confess it to God and ask for his strength to do better. He has already forgiven you.

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Streams in the Desert – June 4

The Lord caused the sea to go back all that night (Exod. 14:21).

In this verse there is a comforting message showing how God works in the dark. The real work of God for the children of Israel, was not when they awakened and found that they could get over the Red Sea; but it was “all that night.”

So there may be a great working in your life when it all seems dark and you cannot see or trace, but yet God is working. Just as truly did He work “all that night,” as all the next day. The next day simply manifested what God had done during the night. Is there anyone reading these lines who may have gotten to a place where it seems dark?

You believe to see, but you are not seeing. In your life-progress there is not constant victory; the daily, undisturbed communion is not there, and all seems dark.

“The Lord caused the sea to go back all that night.” Do not forget that it was “all that night.” God works all the night, until the light comes. You may not see it, but all that “night” in your life, as you believe God, He works.

-–C. H. P.

“All that night” the Lord was working,
Working in the tempest blast,
Working with the swelling current,
Flooding, flowing, free and fast.
“All that night” God’s children waited–
Hearts, perhaps in agony With the enemy behind them,
And, in front, the cruel sea.
“All that night” seemed blacker darkness
Than they ever saw before,
Though the light of God’s own presence
Near them was, and sheltered o’er.
“All that night” that weary vigil
Passed; the day at last did break,
And they saw that God was working
“All that night” a path to make.
“All that night,” O child of sorrow,
Canst thou not thy heartbreak stay?
Know thy God in darkest midnight
Works, as well as in the day.
–L. S. P.

K-love DIGGING DEEPER

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klove

06/03/2015

They Were Starving for Salvation

Stay Hungry
by Jimmy Peña

Read: Matthew 15:1-39

I bet they couldn’t get enough. In fact, the sun had set three times and I wonder if they even noticed. Who was this man? The words, the wisdom, the…grace! Indeed, I bet they couldn’t get enough, which is probably why they didn’t leave to eat.

The bible says that the crowd remained with the Lord for three days. Now granted, you and I have heard some amazing sermons. We’ve been in the presence of wonderful teachers, but a three-day, non-stop lesson? Even Max Lucado would lose me and Charles Stanley would excuse me. But this wasn’t just any teacher referring to Jesus; this was Jesus on the subject of Jesus. This was Love teaching how. The face of grace was offering it.

And I think that explains a lot about the crowd. Each morsel of forgiveness was a feast, and they were famished. They were starving for salvation. Oh yes, they were too hungry to eat.

THIS WAS LOVE TEACHING HOW

Friends, with the new week beginning, we all have our agendas: school, work, ministry and health. Our plates are full. But apart from everything we can take away from the sermon Jesus gave over those three days, let’s also learn from the crowd. Let’s follow their lead and stay hungry.

Before we conquer the gym, the road or even the world, let’s pause to devour the words they heard. Remember, there was plenty of time to eat after they were full. So don’t go too soon. Jesus is talking. Let’s not leave because we’re starving for the things this life can offer. Let’s stay because we’re too hungry for the things it can’t.

By
Jimmy Peña

 

Today’s 6/3/2015 Daily Devotionals

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365 devotional

Here I Am to Worship (Philippians 2:8)

Tim Hughes

Light of the World, you stepped down into darkness
Opened my eyes, let me see
Beauty that made this heart adore you
Hope of a life spent with you.
Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that you’re my God
You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy
Altogether wonderful to me
King of all days, oh so highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly you came to the Earth you created
All for love’s sake became poor
And I’ll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross
I’ll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross
I’ll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross
I’ll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross

Behind the Song

Seemingly simple in lyric and melody, “Here I Am to Worship” was an exercise in patience and reflection for writer Tim Hughes.

“During that time I had been thinking about and meditating on the cross,” he says. “I began to concentrate on Philippians 2, about Christ’s humility and how he became obedient to the point of death on a cross. I was challenged with the wonder of his sacrifice for us.”

The verses came fairly easily to Hughes, but the chorus was another story entirely. “The original one was embarrassingly bad,” he admits. It took another six months before he felt prepared to write the final chorus. “I began to ask, ‘How are we going to respond to Christ’s great sacrifice on the cross?’ Do we bow down? Do we scream out? Sometimes we don’t know how to respond, even though we desperately want to.”

Selah

Taken from NIV Worship Together Bible

johnpiper

Who Are the Children of Abraham?

In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:3)

You who hope in Christ and follow him in the obedience of faith are Abraham’s descendants and heirs of his covenant promises.

God said to Abraham in Genesis 17:4, “Behold, my covenant is with you and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.” But Genesis makes plain that Abraham did not father a multitude of nations in a physical or political sense. Therefore the meaning of God’s promise was probably that a multitude of nations would somehow enjoy the blessings of sonship even though physically unrelated to Abraham.

That’s no doubt what God meant in Genesis 12:3 when he said to Abraham, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” From the very beginning, God had in view that Jesus Christ would be the descendant of Abraham and that everyone who trusts in Christ would become an heir of Abraham’s promise.

So it says in Galatians 3:29, “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.”

So when God said to Abraham 4,000 years ago, “Behold, my covenant is with you and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations,” he opened the way for anyone of us, no matter what nation we belong to, to become a child of Abraham and an heir of God’s promises. All we have to do is share the faith of Abraham — that is, bank our hope on God’s promises, so much so that if obedience requires it, we could give up our dearest possession like Abraham gave up Isaac.

We don’t become heirs of Abraham’s promises by working for God but by being confident that God works for us. “Abraham grew strong in his faith, giving glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:20). That’s why Abraham could obey God even when obedience looked like a dead-end street. He trusted God to do the impossible.

Faith in God’s promises — or today we would say, faith in Christ, who is the confirmation of God’s promises — is the way to become a child of Abraham; obedience is the evidence that faith is genuine (Genesis 22:12–19). Therefore Jesus says in John 8:39, “If you were Abraham’s children you would do what Abraham did.”

Children of Abraham are people of all nations who put their hope in Christ and, like Abraham on Mount Moriah, therefore don’t let their most precious earthly possession stop their obedience.

You who hope in Jesus Christ and follow him in the obedience of faith are the descendants of Abraham and heirs of his covenant promises.

Gods story

Job 19:1-29

Responding to Bildad, Job looks far into the future, imagining his life even after death.

Redeemed from Suffering

Read

“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!”
(Job 19:25-27)

Reflect

Although Job struggled with the idea that God was presently against him, he firmly believed that in the end God would be on his side. He appealed directly to God (his witness and advocate, Job 16:19) and to God’s knowledge of his innocence. Job showed he had cast all his hope for any fair defense upon God.

What tremendous faith Job had: He thought that God had abandoned him and brought all these disasters upon him! Facing death, Job still expected to see God—and he expected to do so in his body.

When the book of Job was written, Israel did not have a well-developed belief about the resurrection. For Job, it seemed unlikely to him that, in his body, he would see God. But Job still declared, “In my body I will see God!” He was confident that God’s justice would triumph, even if it took a miracle like resurrection (see also Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2, 13).

Respond

Do you trust that God will make all things right even if they’ve all gone wrong in the present? Do you trust that even if things end in brokenness, God will raise them in glory? Spend time imagining your own resurrection and eternal life. How does it change your perspective about today?

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Streams in the Desert – June 3

 

On that day, when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go across to the other side of the lake.” — Mark 4:35

Even when we go forth at Christ’s command, we need not expect to escape storms; for these disciples were going forth at Christ’s command, yet they encountered the fiercest storm and were in great danger of being overwhelmed, so that they cried out in their distress for Christ’s assistance.

Though Christ may delay His coming in our time of distress, it is only that our faith may be tried and strengthened, and that our prayers may be more intense, and that our desires for deliverance may be increased, so that when the deliverance does come we will appreciate it more fully.

Christ gave them a gentle rebuke, saying, “Where is your faith?” Why did you not shout victory in the very face of the storm, and say to the raging winds and rolling waves, “You can do no harm, for Christ, the mighty Savior is on board”?

It is much easier to trust when the sun is shining than when the storm is raging.

We never know how much real faith we have until it is put to the test in some fierce storm; and that is the reason why the Savior is on board.

If you are ever to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might, your strength will be born in some storm.
–Selected

“With Christ in the vessel,
I smile at the storm.”

Christ said, “Let us go to the other side”—not to the middle of the lake to be drowned.
–Dan Crawford

Today’s 6/2/2015 Daily Devotionals

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365 devotional

Worship Isn’t Just for Church (Romans 12:1–2)

Worship is a way of life. Worship is not simply what we do for God in church; it is also who we arefor God in the world. Our behavior can inspire others to praise and thank the Lord (see Matthew 5:16; 2 Corinthians 9:11–13).

This entire chapter demonstrates how we can bring worship into our daily lives. Worship becomes our way of life as we:

  • Allow God to transform our minds. In this way our allegiance is transferred from the world to God.
  • Serve others with our gifts. God is honored by the full exercise of our gifts, for it displays his glory as our Creator. We should rejoice in these gifts and use them to accomplish God’s purposes.
  • Reflect God’s love and grace to those around us. This is the second great commandment: that we love others as ourselves (see Matthew 22:39). In Romans 12:9–21, Paul gives us numerous examples that illustrate how we are to obey this commandment. Note that these are not simply humanitarian gestures. They are acts of worship, acts that please and honor God.

Putting It into Practice

Review Romans 12. Have you offered your entire self for the daily worship of God? If not, what has kept you from doing so? This is the starting place for our walk with God. Spiritual renewal begins with giving ourselves completely to God. Consider the three primary ways mentioned here to bring worship into daily life. Which of these ways least characterizes your behavior? Make specific plans for worshiping God more fully in this area in your life.

Taken from NIV Spiritual Renewal Study Bible

johnpiper

The Faith That Magnifies Grace

I do not nullify the grace of God. (Galatians 2:21)

When I lost my footing as a little boy in the undertow at the beach, I felt as if I were going to be dragged to the middle of the ocean in an instant.

It was a terrifying thing. I tried to get my bearings and figure out which way was up. But I couldn’t get my feet on the ground and the current was too strong to swim. I wasn’t a good swimmer anyway.

In my panic I thought of only one thing: Could someone help me? But I couldn’t even call out from under the water.

When I felt my father’s hand take hold of my upper arm like a mighty vice grip, it was the sweetest feeling in the world. I yielded entirely to being overpowered by his strength. I reveled in being picked up at his will. I did not resist.

The thought did not enter my mind that I should try to show that things aren’t so bad; or that I should add my strength to my dad’s arm. All I thought was, Yes! I need you! I thank you! I love your strength! I love your initiative! I love your grip! You are great!

In that spirit of yielded affection, one cannot boast. I call that yielded affection “faith.” And my father was the embodiment of the future grace that I craved under the water. This is the faith that magnifies grace.

As we ponder how to live the Christian life, the uppermost thought should be: How can I magnify rather than nullify the grace of God? Paul answers this question in Galatians 2:20–21, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God.”

Why does his life not nullify the grace of God? Because he lives by faith in the Son of God. Faith calls all attention to grace and magnifies it, rather than nullifying it.

Gods story

Job 17:1-16

Job continues to defend his innocence while he specifically addresses the points brought up by Eliphaz.

Wise Guys?

Read

“As for all of you, come back with a better argument, though I still won’t find a wise man among you. My days are over. My hopes have disappeared. My heart’s desires are broken. These men say that night is day; they claim that the darkness is light. What if I go to the grave and make my bed in darkness? What if I call the grave my father, and the maggot my mother or my sister? Where then is my hope? Can anyone find it? No, my hope will go down with me to the grave. We will rest together in the dust!”
(Job 17:10-16)

Reflect

Job’s three friends had reputations for being wise, but Job could not find wisdom in anything that they were saying. Later, God would back up Job’s assertion when he condemned these men for misrepresenting his divine character (Job 42:7).

Obviously Job’s three friends had a faulty view of wisdom. They assumed that because they were prosperous and successful, God must be pleased with the way they were living and thinking—that prosperity is a reward for good living. Job, however, told his friends that they were starting with the wrong idea because earthly success and prosperity are not proof of faith in God. On the flipside, trouble and affliction do not prove faithlessness. That is, we shouldn’t assume that suffering always occurs because of a person’s sin.

The truly wise person knows that wisdom comes from God alone, not from human successes or failures. And the truly wise person remains faithful to God. God’s wisdom proved superior to that of Job and all his friends.

Job was giving up hope of any future restoration of wealth and family and wrapping himself in thoughts of death and the rest from grief and pain it promised. The rewards that Job’s friends described were all related to this present life. They were silent about the possibility of life after death. We must not evaluate life only in terms of this present world when God promises a never-ending, wonderful future to those who are faithful to him.

Respond

Ask God for wisdom and to help you keep your focus on the reality of eternal life.

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Streams in the Desert – June 2

Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations according to the pronouncement, “so will your descendants be.” Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. — Rom 4:18-19

We shall never forget a remark that George Mueller once made to a gentleman who had asked him the best way to have strong faith.

“The only way,” replied the patriarch of faith, “to learn strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testings.” This is very true. The time to trust is when all else fails.

Dear one, you scarcely realize the value of your present opportunity; if you are passing through great afflictions you are in the very soul of the strongest faith, and if you will only let go, He will teach you in these hours the mightiest hold upon His throne which you can ever know.

“Be not afraid, only believe.” And if you are afraid, just look up and say, “What time I am afraid I will trust in thee,” and you will yet thank God for the school of sorrow which was to you the school of faith.
–A. B. Simpson

“Great faith must have great trials.”

“God’s greatest gifts come through travail. Whether we look into the spiritual or temporal sphere, can we discover anything, any great reform, any beneficent discovery, any soul-awakening revival, which did not come through the toils and tears, the vigils and blood-shedding of men and women whose sufferings were the pangs of its birth? If the temple of God is raised, David must bear sore afflictions; if the Gospel of the grace of God is to be disentangled from Jewish tradition, Paul’s life must be one long agony.”

“Take heart, O weary, burdened one, bowed down
Beneath thy cross;
Remember that thy greatest gain may come
Through greatest loss.
Thy life is nobler for a sacrifice,
And more divine.
Acres of bloom are crushed to make a drop
Of perfume fine.

“Because of storms that lash the ocean waves,
The waters there
Keep purer than if the heavens o’erhead
Were always fair.
The brightest banner of the skies floats not
At noonday warm;
The rainbow traileth after thunder-clouds,
And after storm.”

max lucado

A Small Piece of the Puzzle

Revenge belongs to God. If vengeance is God’s, then it is not ours. God has not asked us to settle the score or get even. Ever.

Why? The answer is found in Joseph’s statement: “You meant to hurt me, but God turned your evil into good to save the lives of many people, which is being done.”

Forgiveness comes easier with a wide-angle lens. Joseph uses one to get the whole picture. He refuses to focus on the betrayal of his brothers without also seeing the loyalty of his God.

It always helps to see the big picture.

Some time ago I was in an airport lobby when I saw an acquaintance enter. He was a man I hadn’t seen in a while but had thought about often. He’d been through a divorce, and I was close enough to it to know that he deserved some of the blame.

I noticed he was not alone. Beside him was a woman. Why, that scoundrel! Just a few months out and here he has another lady?

Any thought of greeting him disappeared as I passed judgment on his character. But then he saw me. He waved at me. He motioned me over. I was caught. I was trapped. I’d have to go visit with the reprobate. So I did.

“Max, meet my aunt and her husband.”

I gulped. I hadn’t noticed the man.

“We’re on our way to a family reunion. I know they would really like to meet you.”

“We use your books in our home Bible study,” my friend’s uncle spoke up. “You’ve got some great insights.”

“If only you knew,” I said to myself. I had committed a common sin of the unforgiving. I had cast a vote without knowing the story.

To forgive someone is to admit our limitations. We’ve been given only one piece of life’s jigsaw puzzle. Only God has the cover of the box. To forgive someone is to display reverence. Forgiveness is not saying the one who hurt you was right. Forgiveness is stating that God is fair and he will do what is right.

After all, don’t we have enough things to do without trying to do God’s work too?

Today’s 6/1/2015 Daily Devotionals

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365 devotional

God’s Worship Tent (Exodus 31:12–18)

God’s Story

While Moses is on the mountain with God, God tells him that Aaron and his sons are to be set apart to serve him as priests in his tabernacle. God shows Moses what they are to wear and how to consecrate them.

Every day for a week, precious rams and bulls are to be sacrificed, and Aaron and his sons are to be painted with the offering blood and anointing oil. God will soak them in holiness. The altar is also to be consecrated with offerings, and daily sacrifices are to continuously burn on it.

After giving construction instructions for the furnishings in the tabernacle, God identifies two men, Bezalel and Oholiab, to whom he imparts creative abilities. They will lead the work to create the artful furniture and implements of God’s tabernacle.

The King’s Heart

God, the infinite Holy One, the Purity Presence, is so holy, so pure, that he is all-consuming. Just as light consumes the darkness, God’s holiness would consume unholy people if they entered into his presence.

When people have deadly illnesses—ones where personal contact means imminent death—we quarantine them. For a time, as God was relating to his people, it was as if he had lovingly quarantined himself. If he were to unleash even a bit of himself, his people would not survive.

But God wants to share his heart. The separation wouldn’t do. So the Sovereign-God made provisions. He made a way for his sin-stained people to draw closer to his perfectly pure presence. But the cost to maintain holiness while drawing sinful people near would be high.

God first made a way through the tabernacle. His people would feel the weight of the distance between them as animals gave their lives to serve as coverings. But the people could come closer to him.

Later he made a way through the complete, very personal “provision”—his own self, the lifeblood of his very own Son. He himself would pay the steep price to reconcile the impure with the pure.

God’s holiness is so great that the highest price must be paid to uphold it. But God’s love for us is so great that he paid it himself.

Insight

Incense often represents prayer in Scripture (see Revelation 5:8; 8:3–4). The altar of incense would be placed directly in front of the curtain that shielded the Most Holy Place, where God’s Presence dwelled. God was painting a powerful picture of what our prayers look like in heaven.

Taken from NIV Discover God’s Heart Devotional Bible

johnpiper

The Gain of Serving God

“They will become his slaves so that they may learn the difference between my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” (2 Chronicles 12:8)

Serving God is utterly different from serving anyone else.

God is extremely jealous that we understand this — and enjoy it. For example, he commands us, “Serve the Lord with gladness!” (Psalm 100:2). There is a reason for this gladness. It is given in Acts 17:25, “God is not served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything.”

We serve him with gladness because we do not bear the burden of meeting his needs. Rather we rejoice in a service where he meets our needs. Serving God always means receiving grace from God.

To show how jealous God is for us to get this and glory in it, there is a story in 2 Chronicles 12. Rehoboam, the Son of Solomon, who ruled the southern kingdom after the revolt of the ten tribes, “forsook the law of the Lord” (12:1). He chose against serving the Lord and gave his service to other gods and other kingdoms. As judgment God sent Shishak, the king of Egypt, against Rehoboam with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen (12:3).

In mercy God sent the prophet Shemaiah to Rehoboam with this message: “Thus says the Lord, you abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak” (12:5). The happy upshot of that message is that Rehoboam and his princes humbled themselves in repentance and said, “The Lord is righteous” (12:6).

When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, he said, “They have humbled themselves, so I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak” (12:7). But as a discipline to them he says, “They will become his slaves so that they may learn the difference between my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries” (12:8).

The point is plain: serving God is a receiving and a blessing and a joy and a benefit.

This is why I am so jealous to say that the worship of Sunday morning and the worship of daily obedience is not at bottom a burdensome giving to God but a joyful getting from God.

Gods story

 

Job 13:20–14:22

Job’s three friends try to console him, but their words, especially their “answers,” do the opposite. Exasperated by Zophar’s advice, Job again cries out to God.

A Matter of Death and Life

Read

“But when people die, their strength is gone. They breathe their last, and then where are they? As water evaporates from a lake and a river disappears in drought, people are laid to rest and do not rise again. Until the heavens are no more, they will not wake up nor be roused from their sleep.

“I wish you would hide me in the grave and forget me there until your anger has passed. But mark your calendar to think of me again! Can the dead live again? If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle, and I would eagerly await the release of death. You would call and I would answer, and you would yearn for me, your handiwork.”
(Job 14:10-15)

Reflect

Life is short and full of trouble, Job lamented in his closing remarks to this first round of conversation. Sickness, loneliness, disappointment, and death caused him to conclude that life is not fair. Some understand Job 14:14-15 to mean that, even in his gloom, Job hoped for the resurrection of the dead.

The Old Testament does not say much about the resurrection of the dead. Job’s pessimism about death is understandable. What is remarkable is his budding hope (Job 14:14). If only God would hide him with the dead and then bring him out again! If only he could die and live again!

When we must endure suffering, we have an advantage over Job. Christ arose, and we have hope based on his promise in John 14:19. We know that the dead will rise.

Job’s profound speech in this section illustrates great truth: To have a right set of doctrines is not enough. To know what to believe is not all that is required to please God. Truth untested by life’s experiences may become static and stagnant. Suffering can bring a dynamic quality to life. Just as drought drives the roots of a tree deeper to find water, so suffering can drive us beyond superficial acceptance of truth to dependence on God for hope and life.

Respond

God’s solution to believers who live in an unfair world is to guarantee life with him forever. No matter how unfair your present world seems, God offers the opportunity of being in his presence eternally. Today, thank God for his love and presence now, and live in hope for the resurrection to come.

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Streams in the Desert – June 1

The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. (Exod 14:15)

In the past he said to them, “This is where security can be found. Provide security for the one who is exhausted! This is where rest can be found.” But they refused to listen. (Isa 28:12)

Why dost thou worry thyself? What use can thy fretting serve? Thou art on board a vessel which thou couldst not steer even if the great Captain put thee at the helm, of which thou couldst not so much as reef a sail, yet thou worriest as if thou wert captain and helmsman. Oh, be quiet; God is Master!

Dost thou think that all this din and hurly-burly that is abroad betokens that God has left His throne?

No, man, His coursers rush furiously on, and His chariot is the storm; but there is a bit between their jaws, and He holds the reins, and guides them as He wills! Jehovah is Master yet; believe it; peace be unto thee! be not afraid.
–C. H. Spurgeon

“Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;
The storms are raging on God’s deep—
God’s deep, not thine; be still and sleep.

“Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;
God’s hands shall still the tempter’s sweep—
God’s hands, not thine; be still and sleep.

“Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;
God’s love is strong while night hours creep—
God’s love, not thine; be still and sleep.

“Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;
God’s heaven will comfort those who weep—
God’s heaven, not thine; be still and sleep.”

I entreat you, give no place to despondency. This is a dangerous temptation—a refined, not a gross temptation of the adversary. Melancholy contracts and withers the heart, and renders it unfit to receive the impressions of grace. It magnifies and gives a false coloring to objects, and thus renders your burdens too heavy to bear. God’s designs regarding you, and His methods of bringing about these designs, are infinitely wise.
–Madame Guyon