August 25th One Year Bible Readings

Job 16:1-19:29 ~ 1 Corinthians 16:1-24 ~ Psalm 40:1-10 ~ Proverbs 22:1
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Old Testament - "But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives!"  Whoo-hoo!  Awesome words from Job today in chapter 19 verse 25!

Job chapter 19 verses 23 through 27 are some of the best known and well loved verses of the book of Job.  These verses seem to be where Job hits his high point in his understanding of his relationship with God:  "Oh, that my words could be written. Oh, that they could be inscribed on a monument, carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead, engraved forever in the rock. "But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that 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!"  How powerful are these verses??  Great stuff.  Job starts off saying that he hopes his words could be written and engraved forever - and indeed they were as we are reading them in the Bible!  Then Job makes the incredible statement that even in the midst of all of his suffering and perceived distance from God, he knows that God lives!  The closing two verses are powerful in that they actually indicated a belief in the resurrection by Job.  He says that even after his body has decayed - after his death here on this earth - he will see God with his own eyes in his own body!  How could this possibly be?  Well, only if he believed in a resurrected body after death - as we've been reading about in First Corinthians chapter 15 the past couple of days!  I've read some various commentaries on who is the "Redeemer" that Job is referring to in verse 25.  Jesus?  Could be.  But it seems like most commentaries seem to suggest Job is referring to God himself, rather than Jesus.  Though, of course Jesus is God so maybe this is a moot point!  :) Job does talk about his desire for a mediator in other parts of this book, which could be references to Jesus as well.  I found this great artwork below that was painted based on the chapter of Job 19.   Re-read the entire chapter of Job 19 again and I think you'll see the beauty of this artwork...

New Testament - We wrap up Paul's first letter to the Corinthians today!  What an amazing book!  I have been blessed immensely by it this year.  I hope you have too? I like Paul's instructions to the church in Corinth in chapter 16 verses 1 through 3 today: "Now about the money being collected for the Christians in Jerusalem: You should follow the same procedures I gave to the churches in Galatia. On every Lord's Day, each of you should put aside some amount of money in relation to what you have earned and save it for this offering. Don't wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once."  I love this last sentence!  It made me smile.  Paul knows how us humans are - back then and now - we like to procrastinate!  We like to do things at the last minute if we can.  Well, I concur with Paul that our giving to our churches should be a regular thing.  With each pay check we should "put aside some amount of money in relation to what you have earned."  Really, as I think about it, giving of money to our churches with each paycheck is an act of worship.  We are worshiping God with our finances.  Let us not wait to give to our churches.  Let us give faithfully and regularly with each paycheck God blesses us with!

Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in First Corinthians titled "Paul's Closing Words" is at this link.  Below is a great image and message from First Corinthians 16:14 -

Psalms - Psalm 40 starts off in verse 1 with a beautiful reflection on David "waiting patiently for the Lord" about his prayer, and in turn God "heard his cry." David then goes forward in the Psalm rejoicing in the Lord and culminating in this powerful statement in verse 8: "I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart." How does this Psalm speak to you today? Do you wait patiently for the Lord in your prayer life? Do you desire to do God's will? Is His law within your heart today?

Proverbs - We have a beautiful Proverb verse 1 to start off the 22nd Chapter of Proverbs!  "Choose a good reputation over great riches, for being held in high esteem is better than having silver or gold."  Do you believe this Proverb to be true?  Which do you seek after more - a good reputation or money?  You know though, the more I think about this Proverb I have some concerns about it.  Only in that if we seek after having a good reputation, then we may really be focusing on ourselves and how other people look at us, rather than focusing on Kingdom things.  We may decide to do something because it's "popular", rather than it being "right."  We may give to the poor with blazing trumpets because this will help our reputation - but Jesus clearly said we should not do this.  Does this make sense?  I mean given the choice of a good reputation or being rich, this Proverb is clearly true.  But it's not enough.  That's why we need to read the entire Bible to get the full context of everything else that surrounds any 1 particular verse in the Bible, like this one.  One verse is not enough.  It's Truth.  But not enough.  We need the entire Bible.  Good for you for going through the One Year Bible this year!  Please do keep up your study of the entire Bible beyond just this year.  We need the entire Bible for our entire life...

Worship God: For our Job readings today, here's a YouTube for "My Redeemer Lives" by Nicole C. Mullen: (she sings the first verse in Spanish, then transitions to English)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plk4hA4hCtI

Do you know that our Redeemer lives? Click here to meet our Redeemer!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold." Proverbs 22:1 (NIV)

Prayer Point: Pray that you desire a good name more than riches. Pray that you desire godly esteem more than silver and gold.

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 16-19:29

Things that made me go, “Hmmm,” in today’s reading of Job:

1) 16:20-21: My friends scorn me, but I pour out my tears to God. Oh, that someone would mediate between God and me, as a person mediates between friends.

It seems to me that if your friends were scorning you then they really were not friends. A friend is someone who knows everything about you and still likes you. Job’s friends thought they knew everything about him, they operated out of assumptions and presumption, and didn’t like Job based on what they presumed.

There are friends that one hath to his own hurt; but there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24 JPS) That friend is Jesus.

2) 17:1-2: 1"My spirit is crushed, and I am near death. The grave is ready to receive me. 2I am surrounded by mockers. I watch how bitterly they taunt me.

This word translated “mockers” in the Hebrew means, to deride; by implication to cheat: - deal deceitfully, deceive, mock. (Strong’s number 2048). Job is battling his “friends” word for word and telling them off, to their face, but they still stick around and Job doesn’t tell them to go take a hike.

Is it good to have people around you that do not believe the things about God, His character, His attributes, the same way you do? Can this be good for your faith? Can it build you up or does in inevitable tear you down?

3) There is a saying that I had forgotten but maybe here I need to bring it out and think about it,

“Sometimes a set back is nothing but a set-up for God to make a come back.”

Whatever is happening to Job, even in the midst of his deepest, darkest despair Job has a revelation that his life consists of more than what can be lived on the earth in his body. There is a realization that life is lived outside of this flesh we call “us.. His hope that he has lost, in the material world, is moved to the spiritual. I believe this because the man who said that all he had to look forward to was the grave and worms (17:14), now proclaims something wonderful in the 19th chapter and it is the same verse that caught Arun’s imagination,

25 "But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. 26 And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! 27 I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!

Job suddenly understands that there is more to him that a decaying flesh and blood body, he is sprit and soul. Paul spoke of this in his letter to the Thessalonians,

Now may the God of peace himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

I Corinthians 16:1-24

The offering that Paul encouraged this church to prepare for him to take to Jerusalem, I believe was a “special” offering dedicated to the relief of those in Jerusalem, not to be confused with the regular offering needed by the local bodies to finance the work of the Gospel as well as the servants God had called to oversee His sheep.

Psalm 40:1-10

8 I take joy in doing your will, my God,
for your law is written on my heart."

Everyday we come to this site to get the day’s reading so that in reading and studying God’s Word we will move what we have managed to understand from our heads to our heart. Thank you Mike for helping us to put God’s Word in our heart. You have also provided a place for us to come and learn how to have a relationship with God and His Son. John 1:1 states,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1 KJV)

God and His Word are one, and though at times the presence of God can be felt with our five senses, our relationship with Him, Jesus and the Holy Spirit has to begin and be based on His Word.

Proverb 22:1: If you maintain your character, your reputation will take care of itself by defending you.

This has been proven in my life many a time. A couple of weeks ago someone when to my new boss and said, I made a nasty comment about them. My boss being new, believed them and called the other persons supervisor after e-mailing them what I had said. (She also called me to task for my words) Well, I did say the words the person said I said, but not to him. I had commented on something I had e-mailed to our IT department over the weekend (an article on taking personal responsibility) and the person making the complaint said I was talking about him, when I was not talking about him but too his supervisor. (Could this be a case of “conviction?” When his supervisor found out what was said to my boss, he reprimanded the person who tried to get me in trouble (I really wasn’t concerned because I knew what I had said and why). He also told him that He needed to mind his own business and that he knew me and that I would 1) never say that about anyone and, 2) “Ramona was talking about something else,” that’s where the mind you own business came in.

Believe me your reputation will take care of itself if you work at maintaining your character, though you may not be liked but you will be respected.

Grace and peace,
Ramona

[Hisreborn1]

Greetings,
I love how Job is responding. His reaction to their “wisdom” is real. While he is actually living the most difficult time anyone will ever go through. He loses everything, he’s in pain physically. Being tormented mentally and spiritually.

And, yet...
Job 19 25-27
I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!

Praise G-d! He is awesome and always in control.

Peace to all,

[Borney R Bergantine]

Nicole C. Mullen gave her testimony at the Woman After Gods Own Heart conference here in Kansas City last year. She was beat by her first husband and cheated on for every year for over 20 years by her second one. Yet she remained faithful singing her song and is to this day! As the book of Job was written for our learning upon whom the ends of the world are come, so it is written for our patience and comfort in relational betrayals such as Jobs and hers and mine and yours.