“Then Job answered and said, Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning. Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me. Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.” Job 23:1-6 In this chapter we see Job admitting that his complaints seemed rebellious, but can we blame him after…
“Then Job answered and said, I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all. Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest? I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you. But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.” Job 16:1-5 We know from the way the Lord described him in the opening chapter of the book that Job was a man of integrity, and perfect in all his ways. Yet these men who came to visit him were sure that God was chastising him for sins he had committed and if he would just repent the Lord would forgive him and make everything right. In Chapter 22, they accused him of taking away the clothing of the poor, forbidding food to the hungry, and refusing to help the widows and orphans. Oxford Dictionary defines a friend as a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection. It is someone willing to listen to us, and although they may not…
“Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.” Psalm 33:18-22. My Scripture reading this week has been in the Book of Job. How depressing this book would be if we did not know how the story ends. It is hard to imagine anyone facing all the troubles that Job did in such a brief time. We know now that God was allowing Satan to test Job, but God did not reveal this to Job, and we can understand how discouraged and frustrated he must have felt. Three of his friends came to visit him, and for seven days and nights, they just sat on the ground saying nothing. Can you imagine this scene? What must have been going through their minds? Then Job broke the silence and cursed the day that he had been born. “What I always…
“Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.” Luke 9:1-2 You are probably wondering about the title of this devotion, but as I was seeking the Lord for inspiration this morning, those words came to my mind as I thought of the disciples that Jesus chose to proclaim the message of His Kingdom. The definition of motley is “incongruously varied in appearance or character.” Look at some of the men that Jesus chose…
“Hear me as I pray, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me! My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming.’” Psalm 27:7-8 NLT In 1845, William W. Walford composed a beautiful hymn that still contains a great message for us today. I wonder if the author had this verse in Psalms in mind when he wrote the hymn, especially verse 3: Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer! Thy wings shall my petition bear To Him whose truth and faithfulness Engage the waiting soul to bless. And since He bids me seek His face, Believe His Word and trust His grace, I’ll cast on Him my every care, And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer! David was a man of prayer. Many of his psalms deal with prayer. He sought the Lord in mostly all the circumstances of his life, in the good times and the bad. He trusted the Lord to protect him. His prayers always contained words of praise to the Lord for the blessings he received. The Bible tells us that prayers never die. Revelation 8:3-4 “And another angel came and stood at…
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18. God is drawn to the proximity of your brokenness and if your spirit is crushed, He is ready to save you. Grieving can make your world tremble and paralyze your voice. Suffering losses, whether it is the repercussions of a national disaster or the passing of a loved one, can pillage language by stealing your ability to articulate what emotions and sentiments you’ve experienced. Another aspect of known language is when a person can define a word, but has never experienced its meaning. For instance, the literary devices of past, present, and future tense are fundamental to the formation of sentence structures and considered elementary. However, what do you do when the present-tense phrase, “I love” turns to the past tense phrase, “I loved.” The fundamental parts of speech are no longer elementary, but compounded into emotional responses you cannot prepare for. Express Yourself Vocalizing the depth of our brokenness can be next to impossible at times. How can someone articulate the complexities of their emotion into words? Thankfully, God knows the cry of your heart and the pain you have experienced. We serve…