~ Click on this link for today's readings ~
Job 34:1-36:33 ~ 2 Corinthians 4:1-12
Psalm 44:1-8 ~ Proverbs 22:10-12
Old Testament - Elihu continues his strong discourse from yesterday! There is a lot of good stuff in his words today. Chapter 34 verse 12 is awesome - "There is no truer statement than this: God will not do wrong. The Almighty cannot twist justice." I pray you believe this verse to be very true...? In chapter 35 the beginning of verse 26 really stood out to me - "Look, God is exalted beyond what we can understand." This is a powerful verse to meditate upon. It is so true! Certainly in this life we can know many things about God. We can read God's Words in the Bible. We can surrender our lives to God's perfect Son, Jesus. We can allow God's Holy Spirit to live in our hearts. And yet, even after all of this, isn't God still exalted beyond what we can understand? This is beautiful to think about. Beautiful to know. We will not fully understand God this side of heaven. But I do think we can certainly begin to know more and more about God and His holy love and righteousness and grace as we go through our lives. God's glory is so immense that we have a lifetime of adventure before us as we learn and experience more and more of God's glory. And then, as we pass on to the other side of this life, there is an eternity with God! The God of all glory. Who is exalted beyond what we can fully understand this side of heaven. Preach it Elihu!
New Testament - I love Second Corinthians chapter 4 verse 1 today. In fact, if there is nothing else you remember from today's readings I hope you will remember the last 4 words of this verse always - "And so, since God in his mercy has given us this wonderful ministry, we never give up." We never give up. That is powerful for each of us to remember. Why? Because we will have good and bad days. Days when we are happy. Days when we might be feeling sad. And there will be days when we make mistakes. When we will stumble. When we will fall. But you know what has often gotten me through days like those? This simple prayer or statement or something that fortunately comes into my mind - "I'm not giving up!" We shouldn't say this as justification for our falling short of God's plan for our life. But, when we do fall short, I have found it helpful. Or, if I haven't fallen short, but bad stuff is happening to me, I say it. And I don't say it just to myself - as if my own will power will get me through the tough times. I say it to God. I say it really as a prayer. I say it almost as a statement against the devil, who would love nothing more than for us to give up. The devil would love it if we stumbled and stayed on the ground. If we decided this Christianity thing was just not for us. But you know what - don't give up! When times are tough. When you stumble, pray it to God - "I'm not giving up." Tell it to yourself. We're not giving up! We're never giving up.... (go frog!) :)
Verse 7 today is indeed a wonderful reminder that we humans are but jars of clay - "But this precious treasure--this light and power that now shine within us--is held in perishable containers, that is, in our weak bodies. So everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own.'" We really do have very fragile bodies. They are wonderful! But they are fragile. They break. They will die. As one writer puts it, "our condition is terminal." And it's true. This side of heaven, our bodies will eventually wear out. But - as Paul tells us in this verse - there is light and power that shines within us when we are in relationship with Jesus! The Holy Spirit indwells our earthen vessels. Our jars of clay. And hopefully we and others recognize that the glory within us is not our own. It is of God. And it is a glory that is available to anyone. Free of charge. It is grace and it beckons us to receive God's glory in our jars of clay so that we will live eternally in heavenly bodies. But for now, we are simply in the hands of the Potter...
Tangent alert... :) - Since we're on the subject of "jars of clay" here, I hope you don't mind a quick shout out to the Christian band Jars of Clay! Any Jars fans out there? The point of this tangent is not to promote Jars music per se, but actually to promote a great ministry they are involved in (Lead singer Dan Haseltine is on their Board of Directors) that is providing clean water to villages in Africa. It's called Blood:Water Mission and is led by an amazing Executive Director named Jena Lee, who has one of the coolest blogs around about all of her work in Africa. Take a few minutes to explore Blood:Water Mission's website at this link. And then check out Jena's travel blog at this link.
Psalms - Psalm 44 verse 3 is a wise statement about where the Israelites and our true strength and victory in life comes from - "They did not conquer the land with their swords; it was not their own strength that gave them victory. It was by your mighty power that they succeeded; it was because you favored them and smiled on them." As you look back on your life and at the good things that have happened to you, do you think that these things occurred because of your own power or work alone? Or, do you think it is possible that God's hand was blessing your life through all of those good things - even if maybe you did not notice God was there at the time?
Proverbs - Proverbs 22 verse 12 is convicting - "The LORD preserves knowledge, but he ruins the plans of the deceitful." This Proverb reminds me that we truly need to examine our motives. Why do we do what we do? Why do we give? Why do we love? Why do we volunteer? And this list goes on. And I think we need to continually pray that we are doing what we do for pure motives. Not for any hidden agendas. Let us not let our left hand know what our right hand is doing. Because, if we are acting with hidden agendas - selfish motives - it is deceitful. Deceitful to others and deceitful to ourselves. We may be tricking ourselves into thinking we are doing something for pure motives when truly there is a selfish agenda in the shadows. God's grace and love and knowledge can of course heal us of our impure motives. And this indeed may be a process over the course of our lifetime. I guess this Proverb jumped out at me because I am realizing that there are times when I do not act with pure motives - particularly when it comes to doing something that on the surface looks good. I am unfortunately oftentimes subconsciously looking for some glory. And ultimately, I know that selfish plans will fail. They will be ruined. How about you? Why do you do what you do? Why do you give? Why do you love? Why do you volunteer? Is it all for the glory of God? Or is there any hint of wanting your own glory?
Comments from you - What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
Grace,
Mike
2 Corinthians 4 (NKJV)
6
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
8
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—
10
always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
Psalm 44 (NKJV)
4
You are my King, O God; command [or, Who commands] victories for Jacob.
5
Through You we will push down our enemies; through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.
Psalm 44 (NIV)
4
You are my King and my God, Who decrees victories for Jacob. [or, King, O God; / command victories for Jacob]
5
Through you we push back our enemies; through Your Name we trample our foes.
NOTE:
May we pray, wait on the Lord, fast, do whatever the Spirit of God is prompting us to do so “the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body”.
It is true that Christ is in all believers—but are the Presence, Authority, and Love Christ being seen through us?
We may not always see or know how the Lord Jesus is using us.
If we are totally surrendered and consecrated to the Lord, we will "see and follow" the Holy Spirit very closely as did the Perfect Man, the Lord Jesus, and as did the apostles in the NT.
Galatians 2 (KJV)
20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
21
I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
~~~
God has decreed victories for Jacob, i.e., has commanded victories for Jacob.
May we truly enter into the GLORY of Christ so we are a living letter, a living doorway to the Glorious Presence of Christ. May we always pray for the peace of Jacob (i.e., Israel) as a nation. Israel’s enemies, no matter who, will fail.
Psalm 44 (NKJV)
7
But You have saved us from our enemies, and have put to shame those who hated us.
8
In God we boast all day long, and praise Your name forever. Selah
May we pray for the spiritual Israel as well.
Galatians 6 (NKJV)
15
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.
16
And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
May we pray for many Arabs, as well as other Gentiles, to come to truly know the Prince of Peace.
Vance
Posted by: Vance Brown | August 30, 2006 at 04:29 AM
Missed this back in Matthew
Matt6:13
"And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one." NIV
I always thought a later scribe added "one" after evil - from the scribe's own line of thought for clarification.
Turns out that "evil" in Greek is "poneros" and it is being used in the nominative case in this verse. Jesus is naming/giving a title to "evil".
"The word is used in the nominative case in Mt. 6:13. This usually denotes a title in the Greek. Hence Christ is saying, deliver us from "The Evil", and is probably referring to Satan."
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/words/4/1156971793-3363.html
Guess the scribe was correct in adding "one" to the text :) Just adding to my list for reality of entity known as - satan. Posting for others that might be doing the same.
Posted by: John | August 30, 2006 at 02:07 PM
2Cor4:1-12
Review
Mercy--not getting what you do deserve / withheld punishment
Grace--getting what you don't deserve / unmerited favor
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Paul realizes that he has been shown God's mercy. Since he is divinely called, will he also not be divinely enabled? Thus Paul can have confidence in preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Paul preached boldly (with no fear), humbly (message of the cross/it is not about mankind), truthfully, and with integrity.
[NOTE: Paul did not complain of what he did not have, but rejoiced in what he was given. Can we say the same?]
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2Cor4:4a "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers..."
Age or world can be interchanged. But - Who is the "god of this age"? Satan, the concept of false idols, or something we concentrate (and hence worship) more than God? Or "all of the above". Realize that Satan uses idols and outside interests to detract and diminish God - anything to keep people from seeking God.
Satan has no power to blind peoples minds. God does, but Satan does not. So how does he do this "blinding" of Gentiles? Through "lies and deceit".
John 8:44 "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." NIV
It is all a big "con" job with satan. Think about how a "con man" operates. A con man does not steal your money - he gets you to give it to him. How? By creating a scenario that is very believable (but not true), in that scenario the "con man" appeals to the "victim's" pride, intelligence, greed,etc. The victim falls for the story, and hands over some money. In the end - the victim is separated from his money, and left with nothing.
satan works the same way. A scenario is created that comes close to God's plan, but does not include Jesus or concept of grace. The victim has his ego stroked. Your a smart guy. You can figure this out. Doesn't this make sense to you? In the end, one is left not separated from money - but from God.
How many people do you know that have it all figured out? Have something that works for them. Makes sense to them. Gives them a participatory role in their going to heaven. The problem is they are self-centered - focusing on what they know, what they can figure out. As long as they are looking inward for the solution, they will always be blinded. Until they turn to God and quit looking inward - they will never find the "truth".
In essence, Satan convinces one to blind himself from the truth. That is the ultimate "con job".
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I like in verse 6 that Paul references Genesis:
"Let light shine out of darkness"
to give us the idea that we are a new creation".
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JARS OF CLAY
Not ming dynasty valuable vases, but jars of clay. The treasure is not the jar - it is common everyday vessel - but in what is inside the jar. So that it would be evident to anyone who had eyes to see that the work was being done by the power of God, not the power of the vessel.
Paul keeps refering to the death of and life in Christ. If we did not have Christ's death we would not be able to have the "life in Him". The two are intertwined.
I need to keep an eye on this next year in readings, but a commentator mentioned - whenever Christ talked about his coming death in the Gospels - he also always refered to the resurrection. The two go hand in hand.
Posted by: John | August 30, 2006 at 02:58 PM