Job 19 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: INVITE GOD TO BE GOD - June 17, 2021

The faith-filled prayer is a prayer of admonishment. The prayer of faith invites God to be God, to be sovereign over a tumultuous time. Dennis McDonald models this type of admonishment. He was our church’s hospital chaplain for many years. I was always struck by the transformation that came over him as he began to minister. When he entered the hospital room, he went straight to work.

He would anoint the sick person with oil and pray, “Lord, this is your servant, whom you love and whom we love. Let your healing happen in this room. Satan, you must leave. You’re a liar, and your words have no merit. This child is bought by God. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.” This is the job of the church: to take struggling followers and lead them back to the path of faith. This is how happiness happens.

Job 19

Job Answers Bildad
I Call for Help and No One Bothers

Job answered:

“How long are you going to keep battering away at me,
    pounding me with these harangues?
Time after time after time you jump all over me.
    Do you have no conscience, abusing me like this?
Even if I have, somehow or other, gotten off the track,
    what business is that of yours?
Why do you insist on putting me down,
    using my troubles as a stick to beat me?
Tell it to God—he’s the one behind all this,
    he’s the one who dragged me into this mess.

7-12 “Look at me—I shout ‘Murder!’ and I’m ignored;
    I call for help and no one bothers to stop.
God threw a barricade across my path—I’m stymied;
    he turned out all the lights—I’m stuck in the dark.
He destroyed my reputation,
    robbed me of all self-respect.
He tore me apart piece by piece—I’m ruined!
    Then he yanked out hope by the roots.
He’s angry with me—oh, how he’s angry!
    He treats me like his worst enemy.
He has launched a major campaign against me,
    using every weapon he can think of,
    coming at me from all sides at once.

I Know That God Lives
13-20 “God alienated my family from me;
    everyone who knows me avoids me.
My relatives and friends have all left;
    houseguests forget I ever existed.
The servant girls treat me like a deadbeat off the street,
    look at me like they’ve never seen me before.
I call my attendant and he ignores me,
    ignores me even though I plead with him.
My wife can’t stand to be around me anymore.
    I’m repulsive to my family.
Even street urchins despise me;
    when I come out, they taunt and jeer.
Everyone I’ve ever been close to abhors me;
    my dearest loved ones reject me.
I’m nothing but a bag of bones;
    my life hangs by a thread.

21-22 “Oh, friends, dear friends, take pity on me.
    God has come down hard on me!
Do you have to be hard on me, too?
    Don’t you ever tire of abusing me?

23-27 “If only my words were written in a book—
    better yet, chiseled in stone!
Still, I know that God lives—the One who gives me back my life—
    and eventually he’ll take his stand on earth.
And I’ll see him—even though I get skinned alive!—
    see God myself, with my very own eyes.
    Oh, how I long for that day!

28-29 “If you’re thinking, ‘How can we get through to him,
    get him to see that his trouble is all his own fault?’
Forget it. Start worrying about yourselves.
    Worry about your own sins and God’s coming judgment,
    for judgment is most certainly on the way.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Thursday, June 17, 2021
Read: Judges 7:1–8, 22

Gideon Defeats the Midianites

Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ 3 Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” 6 Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.

Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.

22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

INSIGHT
Gideon showed remarkable growth in his faith. When God first asked him to deliver Israel from the Midianites, he requested multiple signs as evidence of God’s protection (Judges 6:11–39). Convinced of His protection, Gideon obeyed God and trimmed his fighting men from 32,000 to 300. Gideon’s faith was validated when the Midianites were defeated with this much smaller army. God “caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords” (7:22).

By Our Daily Bread
The Way of Faith

The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me.” Judges 7:2

In a 2017 World Cup qualifying match that pitted the US against Trinidad and Tobago, the Soca Warriors shocked the world when they beat the US men’s national team, a team ranked considerably higher. The upset eliminated the US team from the 2018 World Cup.

Trinidad and Tobago’s victory was so unexpected in part because the United States’ population and resources dwarfed those of the small Caribbean nation. But those seemingly insurmountable advantages weren’t enough to defeat the passionate Soca Warriors.

The story of Gideon and the Midianites features a similar upset, one between a small group of fighters and a large army. The Israelite army actually had more than thirty-thousand fighters, but the Lord whittled the army down to just three hundred warriors so the nation would learn that their success was dependent on God—not the size of their army, the amount of money in their treasury, or the skill of their leaders (Judges 7:1–8).

It can be tempting to put our trust and confidence in things we can see or measure, but that’s not the way of faith. Though it’s often difficult, when we’re willing to depend on God, to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10), we can go into situations with courage and confidence, even when we feel overwhelmed and unqualified. His presence and power can do amazing things in and through us.

When have you faced seemingly insurmountable odds? Whether you tasted victory or defeat, how did you experience God’s provision for you?

God, when life gets challenging, help me learn to rely more and more on Your mighty power and grace.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, June 17, 2021
Beware of Criticizing Others

Judge not, that you be not judged. —Matthew 7:1

Jesus’ instructions with regard to judging others is very simply put; He says, “Don’t.” The average Christian is the most piercingly critical individual known. Criticism is one of the ordinary activities of people, but in the spiritual realm nothing is accomplished by it. The effect of criticism is the dividing up of the strengths of the one being criticized. The Holy Spirit is the only one in the proper position to criticize, and He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is impossible to enter into fellowship with God when you are in a critical mood. Criticism serves to make you harsh, vindictive, and cruel, and leaves you with the soothing and flattering idea that you are somehow superior to others. Jesus says that as His disciple you should cultivate a temperament that is never critical. This will not happen quickly but must be developed over a span of time. You must constantly beware of anything that causes you to think of yourself as a superior person.

There is no escaping the penetrating search of my life by Jesus. If I see the little speck in your eye, it means that I have a plank of timber in my own (see Matthew 7:3-5). Every wrong thing that I see in you, God finds in me. Every time I judge, I condemn myself (see Romans 2:17-24). Stop having a measuring stick for other people. There is always at least one more fact, which we know nothing about, in every person’s situation. The first thing God does is to give us a thorough spiritual cleaning. After that, there is no possibility of pride remaining in us. I have never met a person I could despair of, or lose all hope for, after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end.
Not Knowing Whither

Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 7-9; Acts 3

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, June 17, 2021

Gods That Die - #8984

I fell in love with a girl from Arkansas, and she informed me that the largest religion in the state was football; especially the University of Arkansas kind of football - the Razorbacks. So, guess who the most important man in the state would be? Not the governor. No, he'd be maybe number two. Probably the most important man is the football coach of the University of Arkansas. Now, years ago back in the '80s it was a man named Ken Hatfield; in this particular case, a follower of Jesus Christ.

He actually gave his testimony at Billy Graham's Little Rock Crusade some years ago, and I happened to be there that night. Everyone really listened because of who he was. He told us about the turning point in his life. It was 1964. He was playing for the University of Arkansas, and his dream came true. They had just defeated Nebraska for the national championship in college football - #1. He told us that he read those headlines the next morning how Arkansas was number one, and he realized he'd experienced his greatest achievement and it left him totally depressed. He summed it all up in four words that I haven't forgotten. He simply said, "My god had died." You know, they have a way of doing that.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Gods That Die."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Jonah 2. This is actually a prayer, and it's probably the only prayer we know ever prayed inside a fish. That's where Jonah is for his disobedience to God. He's reflecting on his detour from God's best. Here's what he says in his prayer. Verse 7, "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you to your holy temple. 'Those who cling to worthless idols, forfeit the grace that could be theirs.' But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. What I have vowed, I will make good."

Notice, he's inside the great fish. He's talking about clinging to worthless idols. You have to wonder if he's not meaning here that there was something in his life too important to let go of when God said, "Go to Nineveh." Something he could not let go of.

Now, what would that be for you? Well, you may know Christ, but maybe there's a god you can't surrender to the control of your Savior. It could be your child, or a dream you have for your child, or it could be someone you love very much, or a dream you've cherished for yourself, or a position, a ministry, your home, an activity, your career.

In fact, we sometimes will release one god at one point in our life, and then unintentionally pick up another god at another point. It may be a different one at this point in your life. But every little "g" god has the same fate. "My god died" like the coach said. Maybe one of yours has died. You know, that's actually okay. Because that's what brings you back to the vows you made to the Lord. "What I have vowed, I make good now" is what Jonah said; to get back to the main road and get off of this detour.

It took a violent storm and near death for Jonah to wake up and let his false god die - whatever it was. See, when you cling to that false god, it says you forfeit the grace that could be yours. You're missing the best of God's gifts as long as you hang on to another god, a god that will die. Often when you're in a storm, you understand that what you've been basing your life on - what's been number one in your life - is not enough. And maybe those are the moments when your heart turns and says, "I believe I'm made for more." And that more, my friend, is Jesus Christ, who died for you and rose from his grave.

Go to our website, because a relationship with Him is what it's all about. And your storm may have been to blow you into the arms of Jesus. The website's ANewStory.com.

When His own follower, Peter, was in a violent storm and ready to drown, He reached out and all he could get out was, "Lord, save me!" You say that to Jesus today, and He'll do that for you. He's the God you were born to serve.

Don't wait until you're totally submerged to say to God, "I'm letting go." Say it now, and with Jonah, "What I vowed, Lord, I'll make good."