Job 9 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: THE ROLE OF A SERVANT - June 4, 2021

“Whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:27–28).

Jesus came to serve. Suppose you took that role. Be the family member who offers to wash the dishes after dinner. Be the neighbor who mows the grass of the elderly people. Find happiness in serving others. Doing good does the doer good.

What would happen if everyone took on the role of a servant? How many marriages would be blessed? If politicians set out to serve their people more than serve themselves, would their country benefit? If churches were populated by sincere servants, how many people would hear the invitation of a lifetime? Service—this is how happiness happens.

Job 9

Job Continues
How Can Mere Mortals Get Right with God?

Job continued by saying:

“So what’s new? I know all this.
    The question is, ‘How can mere mortals get right with God?’
If we wanted to bring our case before him,
    what chance would we have? Not one in a thousand!
God’s wisdom is so deep, God’s power so immense,
    who could take him on and come out in one piece?
He moves mountains before they know what’s happened,
    flips them on their heads on a whim.
He gives the earth a good shaking up,
    rocks it down to its very foundations.
He tells the sun, ‘Don’t shine,’ and it doesn’t;
    he pulls the blinds on the stars.
All by himself he stretches out the heavens
    and strides on the waves of the sea.
He designed the Big Dipper and Orion,
    the Pleiades and Alpha Centauri.
We’ll never comprehend all the great things he does;
    his miracle-surprises can’t be counted.
Somehow, though he moves right in front of me, I don’t see him;
    quietly but surely he’s active, and I miss it.
If he steals you blind, who can stop him?
    Who’s going to say, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’
God doesn’t hold back on his anger;
    even dragon-bred monsters cringe before him.

14-20 “So how could I ever argue with him,
    construct a defense that would influence God?
Even though I’m innocent I could never prove it;
    I can only throw myself on the Judge’s mercy.
If I called on God and he himself answered me,
    then, and only then, would I believe that he’d heard me.
As it is, he knocks me about from pillar to post,
    beating me up, black-and-blue, for no good reason.
He won’t even let me catch my breath,
    piles bitterness upon bitterness.
If it’s a question of who’s stronger, he wins, hands down!
    If it’s a question of justice, who’ll serve him the subpoena?
Even though innocent, anything I say incriminates me;
    blameless as I am, my defense just makes me sound worse.

If God’s Not Responsible, Who Is?
21-24 “Believe me, I’m blameless.
    I don’t understand what’s going on.
    I hate my life!
Since either way it ends up the same, I can only conclude
    that God destroys the good right along with the bad.
When calamity hits and brings sudden death,
    he folds his arms, aloof from the despair of the innocent.
He lets the wicked take over running the world,
    he installs judges who can’t tell right from wrong.
    If he’s not responsible, who is?

25-31 “My time is short—what’s left of my life races off
    too fast for me to even glimpse the good.
My life is going fast, like a ship under full sail,
    like an eagle plummeting to its prey.
Even if I say, ‘I’ll put all this behind me,
    I’ll look on the bright side and force a smile,’
All these troubles would still be like grit in my gut
    since it’s clear you’re not going to let up.
The verdict has already been handed down—‘Guilty!’—
    so what’s the use of protests or appeals?
Even if I scrub myself all over
    and wash myself with the strongest soap I can find,
It wouldn’t last—you’d push me into a pigpen, or worse,
    so nobody could stand me for the stink.

32-35 “God and I are not equals; I can’t bring a case against him.
    We’ll never enter a courtroom as peers.
How I wish we had an arbitrator
    to step in and let me get on with life—
To break God’s death grip on me,
    to free me from this terror so I could breathe again.
Then I’d speak up and state my case boldly.
    As things stand, there is no way I can do it.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, June 04, 2021
Read: Deuteronomy 32:1–4

Listen, you heavens, and I will speak;
    hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.
2 Let my teaching fall like rain
    and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
    like abundant rain on tender plants.

3 I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
    Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
    upright and just is he.

INSIGHT
Much of the book of Deuteronomy (which means “second law”) consists of Moses’ farewell address to the children of Israel, including a recitation of the law that the nation had agreed to forty years earlier at Mount Sinai. At this point, Moses had been leading the nation since their departure from Egypt four decades earlier, but most of the adults who’d been present at Sinai were no longer alive. As such, a repeating of the covenant was very appropriate. This farewell isn’t a victory celebration, however. Soon the people of Israel would enter the promised land—but Joshua, not Moses, would lead them. Moses was prohibited from entering because of an event of spiritual failure during the wilderness wanderings (Numbers 20:12–13). The book that begins with Israel at the Jordan, ready to start a new life, ends with Moses’ death and Joshua’s rise to leadership.

By Winn Collier
Perfect Justice

All [God’s] ways are just. Deuteronomy 32:4

In 1983, three teens were arrested for the murder of a fourteen-year-old. According to news reports, the younger teen was “shot . . . because of his [athletic] jacket.” Sentenced to life in prison, the three spent thirty-six years behind bars before evidence surfaced that revealed their innocence. Another man had committed the crime. Before the judge released them as free men, he issued an apology.

No matter how hard we try (and no matter how much good is done by our officials), human justice is often flawed. We never have all the information. Sometimes dishonest people manipulate the facts. Sometimes we’re just wrong. And often, evils may take years to be righted, if they ever are in our lifetime. Thankfully, unlike fickle humans, God wields perfect justice. “His works are perfect,” says Moses, “and all his ways are just” (Deuteronomy 32:4). God sees things as they truly are. In time, after we’ve done our worst, God will bring about final, ultimate justice. Though uncertain of the timing, we have confidence because we serve a “faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he” (v. 4).

We may be dogged by uncertainty regarding what’s right or wrong. We may fear that the injustices done to us or those we love will never be made right. But we can trust the God of justice to one day—either in this life or the next—enact justice for us.

Where have you seen justice abused or misrepresented? Where does your heart cry out for God to bring justice?

God, I see injustice all around me: in the news, in my relationships, on social media. Thank You for the hope I can have in You and Your just ways.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, June 04, 2021

The Never-forsaking God

He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." —Hebrews 13:5

What line of thinking do my thoughts take? Do I turn to what God says or to my own fears? Am I simply repeating what God says, or am I learning to truly hear Him and then to respond after I have heard what He says? “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

“I will never leave you…”— not for any reason; not my sin, selfishness, stubbornness, nor waywardness. Have I really let God say to me that He will never leave me? If I have not truly heard this assurance of God, then let me listen again.

“I will never…forsake you.” Sometimes it is not the difficulty of life but the drudgery of it that makes me think God will forsake me. When there is no major difficulty to overcome, no vision from God, nothing wonderful or beautiful— just the everyday activities of life— do I hear God’s assurance even in these?

We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing— that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God.  Not Knowing Whither, 903 R

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 21-22; John 14

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, June 04, 2021
Sharp Edges - #8975

With the population of our family increasing with the arrival of each new grandchild, our ability to accommodate everybody was shrinking. So we added a couple of rooms that really have served us well in some memorable family get-togethers. But we had to correct one thing. As we looked at the staircase that a lot of little legs (like mine) would be climbing, we didn't like the sharp edges we saw on one of the boards that was along and at the top of the staircase. We had to take care of those before someone got hurt on them.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Sharp Edges."

Needless to say, we rounded off those sharp edges because people we love could get hurt on them. The problem is that too many of us have sharp edges we never deal with; edges that continue to hurt people we care about. It's those sharp edges in our personality, in the way we react to people, in the way we treat people sometimes, in the way we act when we're tired or stressed. And you can't just let those sharp edges stay there. They've already done enough damage, haven't they?

Maybe you get sharp and hurtful when you're tired, or when you're interrupted, or when something or someone messes up the way you had it planned. It could be you become cutting and harsh when you're really stressed, or frustrated, or when you don't get your way. I know where my buttons are that bring out my worst. I suspect you know where yours are, too. But for the sake of those we love, isn't it time we really finally did something about the sharp edges that keep cutting them?

Our word for today from the Word of God calls us to be known for a trait that was so there in our Lord Jesus. Philippians 4:5 says, "Let your gentleness be evident to all." Well, is it? Would folks who know you best call you gentle? Or are they getting verbally roughed up by you all too often? Colossians 3 describes the new you that's supposed to be the result of you knowing Jesus personally. It says, "As God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." That's the personality wardrobe that folks should always see you in, because you look good in it.

Sometimes you may not realize the power of your words; power to heal, power to wound, to build up, to tear down, to make a person feel valuable or worthless. In fact, Proverbs 18:21 says, "the tongue has the power of life and death." With the words you say, you can make someone either feel dead or alive inside. And listen to what God says our sharp edges can do: "Reckless words pierce like a sword" (Proverbs 12:18). We know that's true. We've been pierced with that sword many times ourselves haven't we? Then why must we continually wound, alienate and wither the people we care about with our sharp edges?

Gentle treatment of people - especially when we're feeling tired, or tense, or frustrated - doesn't necessarily come naturally. God describes it as a "fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:23). It's a characteristic Jesus has that He can produce in you through His Holy Spirit who lives in you. But you have to reach the point where, first of all, you're willing to see those sharp edges that you have and repent of them as part of the sinful old you that's all dark and ugly. And tell the Lord you're powerless to change your dark side by yourself.

Surrender that harsh side of you to God's Holy Spirit to replace it with the loving gentleness of your Lord, Jesus. Go back to those you've hurt and tell them you're sorry. Ask them to pray for you as you try to change. And when you're in one of those times when the sharp edges are coming out, stop for a moment and exchange your feelings and your instincts and your history for His empowering, overlooking love.

There are too many wounds, too many tears from the damage our sharp edges have inflicted already. But because of Jesus, you just don't have to be that way anymore!