August 27th One Year Bible Readings

Job 23:1-27:23 ~ 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11 ~ Psalm 41:1-13 ~ Proverbs 22:5-6
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Old Testament - In chapter 23 verse 12 today Job makes such a powerful statement about his relationship with God!  "I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread." (NIV)  The first statement is of course powerful - Job has not departed from the commands of God's.  But the second statement is the one that really stood out to me today - Job has treasured God's words more than food!  This may sound like nice high holy talk from the Old Testament...  but I think each of us should stop and meditate on this one in our lives today.  Do we treasure God's Word, The Bible, more or do we treasure the food we eat each day more?  I'm sure most of us would say the Bible...  But let me put this another way for us to really think about this.  How many minutes a day do you spend eating?   And how many minutes a day do you spend reading the Bible?  What might make this whole equation even a little bit more interesting to consider is how many minutes a day do you think about food?  Prepare food?  Talk about food?  And then how many minutes a day do you think about the Bible?  Prepare for reading the Bible?  Talk about the Bible?  I am afraid that we may be a people today who (when the rubber meets the road and we look at actual time spent in each activity) treasure our food more than we treasure God's Word.  However, the first step in realizing we have a problem is admitting we have a problem!  :)  When it comes to amount of time you spend with food when compared to the amount of time you spend with God's Word, do you have a problem?  Can you learn something from Job's word's today in verse 12: "I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food." (ESV)

New Testament - I love that Paul calls Jesus the "Divine Yes" in today's readings in Second Corinthians chapter 1 verse 19 in the NLT!  Here are verses 18 through 20 in the NIV - "But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No." For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not "Yes" and "No," but in him it has always been "Yes." For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ."  Amen!  Do you realize that Jesus is the fulfillment of all of God's promises in the Old Testament?  The Law pointed to Jesus in the OT and the Law is fulfilled in Jesus.  The sacrificial system pointed to Jesus in the OT and the sacrificial is fulfilled in Jesus.  Jesus is indeed the Divine Yes!  In your life each and every day, is Jesus your Divine Yes?

Psalms - Today we read in Psalm 41 verse 1 – “Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.” For some reason this verse really opens up my heart. Something about the word “weak.” Maybe this verse really speaks to me because I myself feel weak at times. And yet, I am so blessed in so many ways. And I realize that there are so many others out there in this world who may not have the blessings that I have, and who are struggling through an extremely tough cycle of weakness. And I wonder – what am I doing to help those who are weak? Do I really have regard for the weak? Do you? What in our life really demonstrates that we have regard for the weak? Are we investing time or finances into the weak? Are we praying for the weak? Are we loving the weak?

Proverbs - Proverbs 22 verse 6 today teaches us: "Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it."  You know, this verse actually reminds me of quite a bit of recent work I've had the good fortune to participate in or observe when it comes to early childhood education.  85% of a child's brain develops in the first 3 years of their life.  Think this is a critical period of time to teach children?  Certainly after the age of 3 we still have so much opportunity to teach children to choose the right path.  I am becoming more and more convinced that education for children is so critical here in our own backyards and throughout the world.  And unfortunately, as we all know, quality education is not happening in many sectors of our society and our world.  Let me encourage you to please invest in childhood education in your own backyard and around the world.  Find a child to mentor.  Teach a Sunday school class.  Invest in nonprofits working on childhood education.  Sponsor a child through World Vision where they will get a fantastic Christian education.  Will you join me in personally getting involved with and investing in organizations that teach our children to choose the right path?

Worship God:  Today's readings in Second Corinthians reminds me of the song "The Revelation Song," sung here by Kari Jobe and Gateway Worship:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FObjd5wrgZ8

Have you sung the Revelation Song to thee Lord? Click here and Sing!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

Prayer Point: Pray that you train your children in a godly manner. Pray that you, as a child of God, are living in the way you know you should go. Pray that you and your children will not turn from living a godly life.

Comments from You & Questions of the Day:  What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

God bless,
Mike

p.s. Download our monthly Small Group study notes for our One Year Bible readings at this link.

p.p.s. Download a schedule of our One Year Bible readings for the year in PDF format at this link.

p.p.p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this One Year Bible Blog ministry today. Thanks!

Comments

[Ramona]

Job 23:1-27:23

Now that I am reading Job using a different perspective, I see amongst his words and his “friend’s” words many things from a different view point. One of the things I see is this belief that when things are going badly for us, God must not be anywhere near.

If I knew where on earth to find him [God], I'd go straight to him. I'd lay my case before him face-to-face, give him all my arguments firsthand. I'd find out exactly what he's thinking, discover what's going on in his head. (Job 23:3-5 MSG)

This kind of thinking is not held exclusively by Job all of us do it, believers and unbelievers. Things not going our way or how we think they should go then either we begin making a list of everything we feel guilty of; or, if we have truly repented of our sin and we are not operating out of “false” guilt, we question God’s justice for beating us up adding, “God if you only knew!” We think God is hiding from us because we just don’t understand what is going on.

If we really stop and think and look at the process of refining silver and gold and or study how precious metals and minerals are formed in the earth, we would understand that everything valuable that God has created comes by way of seeking (Ask, Seek and Knock) pressure and/or heat. It takes heat to melt silver to skim off the dross; and even greater heat to purify gold. Diamonds are nothing but pieces of black dirty coal under a lot of pressure for a very long time. The value is increased; the beauty of the metal or mineral is enhanced by stress, lots of stress.

Mike I love your food analogy in today’s comment on Job. If we, those who are believers in Jesus Christ really examined your questions we would think about why so many of us, and in some areas, most of us, are so focused on physical food and have no relationship with the Words of God and His Christ, the Bible. Let’s just get real: Ask the question, at least pertaining to the Church in the United States, “Why are there so many obese folk filling the church pews across the country?” It could give the appearance that many of us are not getting our comfort from the Word of God but from the plate, and not the collection plate, the dinner plate. About 12-18 months ago my pastor, before he began his message, read a letter from the manager of the local Red Lobster that asked him to speak to the congregation about their behavior. You see, after Sunday services (three serves 8am; 10:30am; 1pm) folks were going over to the restaurant and demanding to be seated ahead of everyone else already on the waiting list because they were CCC members. How rude, crude and totally not Christ like. Obviously, their physical bellies were not being controlled by what they just had been given spiritually. Christ like behavior is manifested through the Fruit of the Spirit—so, show me the fruit!

Grace and peace,
Ramona

[Joyce]

Mike and everyone,
Mike - thank you for your faithfulness in serving God and serving us every day through this blog!
It's been God's grace and such a blessing to read your blog, your comment, others' comments, and most importantly, God's Word each day. Doing this in the morning blesses my whole day.
Today got to read a sermon called "Trusting God In The Silence" (www.firstumcsouthmiami.org).
The sermon relates to Job 23:1-11,
will highlight some verses here in Job 23 (NLT)-
3 If only I knew where to find God,
I would go to his court.
4 I would lay out my case
and present my arguments.
5 Then I would listen to his reply
and understand what he says to me.
8 I go east, but he is not there.
I go west, but I cannot find him.
9 I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden.
I look to the south, but he is concealed.
The sermon presents this question:
"Does God's apparent silence mean that God is not present ... or even worse, is present and doesn't care?"
This sermon says that:
'When you are completely comfortable with a person, it is possible to sit in a room together and not utter a word.
In love, silence can be a sign of intimacy.
For Job, God's silence was a result of the depth of their relationship.
When Satan approached God, He said, "Have you considered My servant Job?" (Job 1:8). In trust, God chose Job.'
Wow - how about that?
Silence can mean God dwells deeply with us; suffering can mean God trusts us.
But in pain and suffering, how can we be sure that God's silence actually means love, that He hasn't deserted us?
I guess it comes down to - our day to day relationship with Him.
Only when we truly know a person, can we hold onto our trust to that person, even when circumstances bring doubts.
The lessons we learn through the Book of Job - may it sustain and encourage us in our season of trial and waiting on God!
May God help us to dwell with Him each day, to learn more about Him and learn more about His Word each day - in Jesus' Name, amen.

Sincerely,
Joyce