DEVOTIONS

  July 28, 2023
  Daily Reading – Job 26-29 / Acts 22

 

 GOD’S WORD:

Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

 

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        For many years before going into ministry, I worked in factories and restaurants. The last company I worked for would hire temporary help during the busy season from an employment agency. Since we were in a college town, many of the temps who came to work for us were from the local college. Many of these young men and women were very smart when it came to their education. Yet, most of these well-educated people lacked what we called “Street Smarts.” They were very book smart, but often lacked common sense when it came to working in industry. They had been sheltered or came from affluent homes where everything was done for them, and this was often their first experience working in the real world. Educated, but lacking wisdom that comes from experience.

 

        Today we have many people who are world smart, yet lack biblical wisdom. I am not talking about the ability to quote 20 verses at the drop of a hat. I simply mean they do not understand what Job said in today’s verse. “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” As Job said prior to this verse, wisdom cannot be bought. To obtain this wisdom, you must come to know this God. The God who created and maintains all of life. The God who hates evil and therefore, this wisdom causes you to depart from it. To love God means your life has been enlightened by wisdom. 

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        The Bible speaks of those who are wise, and those who are foolish. The wise retain God in their hearts. The foolish play in the folly of life, never giving God a thought, or even worse rejecting His call. Be enlightened by wisdom. Love and know God.

 

Where do you go to find God’s wisdom?

 

 

  July 27, 2023
  Daily Reading – Job 21-25 / Acts 21:18-40

 

 GOD’S WORD:

Job 21:12-14 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.

 

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        I love music. Well, most of it anyway. I love to play music, sing it, listen to it, and watch others who perform it. I am not alone. The music industry is one of the most lucrative businesses in the world. It creates millionaires and destroys lives. Wait, did that last statement make sense? Yes, it does. For everyone who makes it in the music industry, there are untold thousands who chase that dream, only to find no pot of gold at the end of their rainbow. It has cost them relationships, hardships, and even for many, their eternal life. And even those who make it often allow the wealth and fame to cost them eternal joy. This is not only true of music, but any little bobble that the world and the devil dangle before man, taking their eyes off God and eternity, while instead chasing after an earthly dream. It might be wealth, popularity, immoral habits, or even something as simple as another person someone has become infatuated with. Whatever it is that takes your attention off this reality. There is a God, there is an end of this life, and someday everyone is going to meet both of those realities.

 

        Job 21:12-14 speaks of this truth. Before you know it, life is over. It may come tragically at any age. Or a person may live to be well over one hundred. Still, life always ends in a moment. One breath you are here with the living on earth, the next you are off into eternity. What matters is what you did here to prepare for that eternity. 

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        It is like the old Pied Piper story. People follow life’s pretty music. That is, until the music stops. Then what? For the believer, the music never stops. God has put a new song in your heart that the world will never understand until they come to know Christ.

 

What song plays in your heart?

 

 

  July 26, 2023
  Daily Reading – Job 17-20 / Acts 21:1-17

 

 GOD’S WORD:

Job 19:25-26 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

 

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        In two short verses, Job says so much about his trust in God. He first says; “I know.” He did not say, I hope, he said, “I know.” The book of Job is one of the oldest books written. Job, closer to creation than any of us, knew there was and is a real God. Everything around him, all he possessed, and all of his eternity was structured around his undying faith in this one God. He then calls him “My Redeemer.” A person does not need a redeemer unless they realize they are lost. Job understood that God was going to redeem his sinful life someday and called God his redemption. Job continues by saying, “Liveth.” Job had a clear understanding of a living God who resides in heaven above. He was not worshiping some hunk of wood or carved stone idol. Nor did he put faith in a God who was dead. He knew that the God he believed in was, is, and always would be very much alive. Next, Job speaks of eternity to come. He prophesies that there will be a day when this same God would reclaim His earth, and step foot here on it. Finally, Job acknowledges that his body here on earth, very well may die. However, he does not believe this body is who he is. Job knew that he was inside that body, and even if it was to decay in the ground, he personally would still see God.

 

        Job’s expectations of God, his understanding of God, are then spelled out in the rest of God’s Word to be accurate. It is evident, Job knew God. 

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        Oh, what unwavering faith. During what may well be the worst trials on earth, Job still trusts in God. He has lost much of his earthly wealth. His wife and friends have turned on him. Yet, Job looks to God with eternal expectations.

 

Where have you placed your eternal hope?

 

 

  July 25, 2023
  Daily Reading – Job 13-16 / Acts 20

 

 GOD’S WORD:

Job 13:5 O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.

 

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        Several years ago, we had a gentleman in our church who had Alzheimer’s Disease. This dear saint of God could not remember a lot of things. However, there were a few old jokes and one liners he would repeat over, and over again. One of them was, “It is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are stupid, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” He would tell me that and then just laugh and laugh. I am not sure if he was talking about my preaching, or just wanted to share that thought on his mind. Still, when I read today’s verse in Job 13:5, it reminded me of him. 

 

        Job’s friends had come to be a comfort to him. To try to cheer him up during his time of deep sorrow and wow. Yet, it seemed as though everything they said was just making things worse. He begins this chapter by telling them that they are just saying things he already knows. He has read and heard all this before, and what they are saying is of no value at all. In other words, you are not really helping me guys. He goes on to say that what they are saying really does not apply to his situation. They are like a doctor who comes to help a person get over an ailment but has no idea what to do when he gets there. It would be better, he said, if you would just be quiet. You would appear to be wiser saying nothing at all. Sometimes people do not need to hear our words as much as they need to know we are there and praying for them.

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        There are times when people need wise counsel. Usually, when they are ready to accept it, they ask for it. However, there are many times when people just need a good friend to be there for them. We do not always need to have an answer.

 

Have you ever needed such a friend?

 

 

  July 24, 2023
  Daily Reading – Job 9-12 / Acts 19:23-41

 

 GOD’S WORD:

Job 11:5-6 But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee; And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.

 

 GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

        I recall hearing my dad say to me on several occasions. “Well son, you should have listened to me, I told you this would happen. So, you got exactly what you deserve.” Now I know you probably think that was when I was a little boy. However, the truth is, I remember hearing that from him as a teen and young adult. Whenever something went sideways in my life and I was complaining about it to my dad, he would just be honest and tell me, you got what you deserve. Just another way of reiterating what the Bible says when it says, “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

 

        The Bible speaks a lot of the sowing and reaping rule. In Ps. 126:5 it says, “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” Hosea 10:12 says, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy;…” In Hosea 8:7 we’re told, “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind:…” Even later in Job it says in Job 4:8 “Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.” However, when you read Job 11:5-6 we see with God this principle is not always true. You see, God treats each of us with Mercy and Grace. He does not give us what we deserve. In fact, He laid what we deserve on His Son Jesus at Calvary. Therefore, this statement is still true today. “Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.” 

 

 GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

        What a blessing to know, God knows us better than we know ourselves. If He were to repay us daily according to what we deserve, we would all be in trouble. For those who reject Christ’s payment for their sin, someday they will receive the wages of their sin.

 

How great is God’s love?