Job 25, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S REWARD

God rewards those who seek Him! Not those who seek doctrine or religion or systems or creeds. Many settle for these lesser passions, but the reward goes to those who settle for nothing less than Jesus Himself.

And what is the reward? What awaits those who seek Jesus? Nothing short of the heart of Jesus. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him. Can you think of a greater gift than to be like Jesus? Christ felt no guilt; God wants to banish yours. Jesus had no bad habits; God wants to remove yours. Jesus had no fear of death; God wants you to be fearless.

Jesus had kindness for the diseased and mercy for the rebellious and courage for the challenges. God wants you to have the same. Isn’t it just like Jesus!

From Lucado Inspirational Reader

Job 25
Bildad’s Third Attack
Even the Stars Aren’t Perfect in God’s Eyes

1-6 Bildad the Shuhite again attacked Job:

“God is sovereign, God is fearsome—
    everything in the cosmos fits and works in his plan.
Can anyone count his angel armies?
    Is there any place where his light doesn’t shine?
How can a mere mortal presume to stand up to God?
    How can an ordinary person pretend to be guiltless?
Why, even the moon has its flaws,
    even the stars aren’t perfect in God’s eyes,
So how much less, plain men and women—
    slugs and maggots by comparison!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Read: John 12:23–33

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up[a] from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

Footnotes:
John 12:32 The Greek for lifted up also means exalted.

INSIGHT
Our passage today occurs shortly after Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. On that day Jesus rode into town on a donkey’s colt as a large crowd, who had traveled to the city to celebrate the Passover, threw palm branches on the road before Him shouting, “ ‘Hosanna!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ” (John 12:12–15). Though Jesus came as a king, He knew that the people cheering Him on were expecting a savior to free them from Rome, not a savior who would suffer for their sins. He was the kernel of wheat who must die so His kingdom could grow (v. 24). - Alyson Kieda

Helicopter Seeds
By David C. McCasland

Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12:24

When our children were young, they loved trying to catch the “helicopter seeds” that fell from our neighbor’s silver maple trees. Each seed resembles a wing. In late spring they twirl to the ground like a helicopter’s rotor blades. The seeds’ purpose is not to fly, but to fall to earth and grow into trees.

Before Jesus was crucified, He told His followers, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. . . . [U]nless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:23–24).

Lord Jesus, we are amazed by Your love. Give us grace to serve You today as we long to do.
While Jesus’s disciples wanted Him to be honored as the Messiah, He came to give His life so we could be forgiven and transformed through faith in Him.  As Jesus’s followers, we hear His words, “Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me” (vv. 25–26).

Helicopter seeds can point us to the miracle of Jesus, the Savior, who died that we might live for Him.

Lord Jesus, we are amazed by Your love. Give us grace to serve You today as we long to do.

Jesus calls us to give our lives in serving Him.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
“It is Finished!”
I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. —John 17:4

The death of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment in history of the very mind and intent of God. There is no place for seeing Jesus Christ as a martyr. His death was not something that happened to Him— something that might have been prevented. His death was the very reason He came.
Never build your case for forgiveness on the idea that God is our Father and He will forgive us because He loves us. That contradicts the revealed truth of God in Jesus Christ. It makes the Cross unnecessary, and the redemption “much ado about nothing.” God forgives sin only because of the death of Christ. God could forgive people in no other way than by the death of His Son, and Jesus is exalted as Savior because of His death. “We see Jesus…for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor…” (Hebrews 2:9). The greatest note of triumph ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe was that sounded on the Cross of Christ— “It is finished!” (John 19:30). That is the final word in the redemption of humankind.
Anything that lessens or completely obliterates the holiness of God, through a false view of His love, contradicts the truth of God as revealed by Jesus Christ. Never allow yourself to believe that Jesus Christ stands with us, and against God, out of pity and compassion, or that He became a curse for us out of sympathy for us. Jesus Christ became a curse for us by divine decree. Our part in realizing the tremendous meaning of His curse is the conviction of sin. Conviction is given to us as a gift of shame and repentance; it is the great mercy of God. Jesus Christ hates the sin in people, and Calvary is the measure of His hatred.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Healing Others, Healing You - #8052
I've had days when my back felt about 20 years older than the rest of my body. Ever had that? Sciatica is what I think the doctor called it. I just called it "sorebacka." I'm grateful I haven't had a bout like that for several years, but I can tell you that when I wake up crooked, I feel like just staying in bed or in any comfortable position I can find. But I got some weird advice. Someone said, "Go for a walk when your back is hurting." Now, let me tell you this, walking is the last thing I feel like doing, but I decided to try it. I walked around our lake, and by the time I returned, the pain had basically gone away. I had to force myself to exercise, but it was exercise that actually made me feel better. Now there's a new scientific study that compared two groups of people with "sorebacka" (wait a minute, oh that's sciatica), one that took it easy and one that exercised. The exercisers reported less pain and more mobility. Now, what you don't feel like doing when you're hurting is what will actually help you stop hurting!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Healing Others, Healing You."

Exercising to help the pain - that doesn't just work for a hurting back. It works for a hurting heart. This could be a stretch of your life that's particularly painful. You're hurting from a tragedy, a broken relationship, maybe financial struggles, or medical battles, some new wounds, or some old wounds. And just like me with an aching back, you're seeking some comfort. But just like me, you might find it, not by trying to get comfortable, but by going out and actually exercising spiritually.

Here's the prescription. It's from our word for today from the Word of God in Proverbs 11:25. "A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." So, God says something refreshing happens to your spirit when you reach out to refresh others. And that's the kind of exercise that helps a hurting heart - doing something for someone else who's in need.

Is that what you feel like doing? No. When you're hurting, you feel like withdrawing from people, not connecting with them. You want to pretty much just focus on yourself. Our human nature says, "I'm hurting right now, so hey, it's all about me." But that's only going to intensify the pain or even prolong the pain.

You can actually speed up your healing by doing what you don't feel like doing; getting involved with people when you feel like withdrawing from people, getting active when you feel like being inactive, charging into some ministry or helping role when you feel like retreating, looking for someone whose need you can meet instead of someone who can meet yours. The hurt you've been through will give you the sensitivity and the credentials to minister to other hurting people.

What you've been through may cause you to pull back, and maybe now you're just nursing the pain. That's what I felt like doing with my aching back. But I had to put the hurting parts to work in order to get any relief. That may be exactly where you are right now. You're not going to break out of this downer until you get busy, in the Bible's words, "refreshing others." That's when you'll finally be refreshed.

Jesus said, "Whoever hangs onto his life will lose it." It's the person who gives his life away that will find it. So force yourself to get out of your chair, out of your bed and look for some people who need you. As you exercise on their behalf, the healing of your own pain can finally begin.