Tuesday, June 29, 2010

The Lord Hears Our Entreaties

Readings:
Psalm 6
II Corinthians 11:1-15

Focus:
Psalm 6:9: "The Lord has heard my entreaty; the Lord will accept my prayer."

When we pray, sometimes it seems as if God is not listening. And sometimes it seems like he does not answer. God can seem quite remote at times.

Yet God promises that when we turn to him, he will be there. God loves us more than we love him, and longs for us more than we long for him. He does listen to us when we pray, and he does answer our prayers.

He may not answer us in the ways we expect, but he will answer us in the ways that are for our good. He will give us what we need, and he will also give us, ultimately, what we truly want. The Lord hears our entreaties.

Monday, June 28, 2010

We May Come into God's House

Readings:
Psalm 5
II Corinthians 10:12-18

Focus:
Psalm 5:7: "But through your great love I may come into your house, and at your holy temple bow down in awe."

Sometimes it seems very exciting to me to think of what it will be like to one day see heaven. It must be more splendid and magnificent than anything we can imagine! When I have been in the midst of a large choir singing absolutely gorgeous music in church, it has occurred to me that, compared to what the music of heaven is like, the glorious choir and orchestra are as if they were mere banging sticks. But one day those of us who have given our lives to God can hear the true music of heaven.

How thrilling that one day, through God's great love, because of what he has done for us, we may come into his house!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

A Greater Happiness

Readings:
Psalm 4
II Corinthians 10:1-11

Focus:
Psalm 4:7: "But you have put into my heart a greater happiness than others had from grain and wine in plenty."

It is always hard for me to understand why people don't want to be Christians. Of course I know that it's because they don't realize what it's really about. But if they only knew!

It is not about following rules, about having to be good, about looking down on other people, or any stuff like that. It's about love and freedom and happiness!

God has put into my heart a greater happiness than others have from riches or fame. I wish everyone had this happiness.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

As Often As We Cry to God, He Answers

Readings:
Psalm 3
II Corinthians 9

Focus:
Psalm 3:4: "As often as I cry aloud to the Lord, he answers from his holy mountain."

God is a responsive God. He is not remote and uncaring. When we turn to him, he is ready to receive us.

Whenever we cry to God for help, he answers. Sometimes his answers are not what we expect. But he always answers. He always provides the guidance we need, the way out of a seemingly impossible situation. It might not be what we would have chosen, but it will be the right thing.

As often as we cry to the Lord, he answers.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Why Go Our Own Futile Way?

Readings:
Psalm 2
II Corinthians 8:16-24

Focus:
Psalm 2:1: "Why are the nations in turmoil? Why do the peoples hatch their futile plots?"

It is an amazing thing that people think that they can run their own lives without God. Some people do this because they think that there is no God, and yet God has made us such that inside us we feel a yearning for him. So at some level we do know that he exists.

Other people think that God is remote from us or doesn't care about how we run our lives. So they go ahead and do things their own way.

Yet God does exist, and he does care how we live. He made us and he knows what is for our good. When we choose to live in a different way, we do so at our peril. Why would we do this? Why do we hatch our futile plots when we have a loving God to show us what is for our good?

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Giving

Readings:
Psalm 1
II Corinthians 8:1-15

Focus:
II Corinthians 8:12: "If we give eagerly according to our means, that is acceptable to God; he does not ask for what we do not have."

One of our responsibilities is to give to those in need. We give money and we give time helping them.

But unless we feel a special calling to do this, we don't have to give so much that we impoverish ourselves in turn. Instead, we give a proportion of what we have. That is what God asks for. He asks that we give enough that we truly are giving--a dollar here and there is hardly a gift, unless we are destitute--but he does not ask that we give what we do not have.

It is our hearts that God wants. When our hearts belong to him, then we give in response to his love. And we will find that we will give out of the overflowing of our love.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

I Yield

Readings:
Job 42
II Corinthians 7:2-16

Focus:
Job 42:6: "Therefore I yield, repenting in dust and ashes."

Throughout most of the long book of Job, Job has spent chapters maintaining his innocence and righteousness. His friends, on the other hand, have made long speeches telling him that Job's misfortunes, which are many, have come about because Job is evil and has done bad things. Job replies that he has done nothing wrong and that he is spotlessly good.

In some ways he is right and his friends are wrong, because Job's disasters have befallen him for other reasons. Yet Job is wrong too. Job maintains that he is perfectly pure, but no human is utterly righteous or innocent. Job maintains that God is unfair, but God is perfectly fair. At last God loses patience with Job's talk, and speaks to him directly, revealing some of his character to Job. At this, Job has only one response, and when we contemplate God, it should be our response as well:

"I yield, repenting in dust and ashes."

Let Us Cleanse Ourselves

Readings:
Job 41
II Corinthians 6:14-7:1

Focus:
II Corinthians 7:1b: "Let us therefore cleanse ourselves from all that can defile flesh or spirit...."

Many people think that Christianity is all about rules. They think that the main thing about Christianity is that Christians can't do a lot of things. This is not true. Christianity is about a relationship with God who loves us.

However, it is true that it is for our own good not to do many things. There are things that are just plain bad for us, that bring us down. As Paul says earlier in this passage, can light associate with darkness? We are happier and more able to be comfortable in God's presence if we don't do those things that are unbecoming. Let us cleanse ourselves from those things.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Joy and Riches

Readings:
Job 40
II Corinthians 6:1-13

Focus:
II Corinthians 6:10: "In our sorrows we have always cause for joy; poor ourselves, we bring wealth to many; penniless, we own the world."

In this passage, Paul is describing his life as an apostle, and indeed it was hard. He suffered shipwreck, floggings, beatings, and imprisonment.

But this verse can also apply to those of us who know Christ. Because of the riches of love and the promise of eternal happiness that he gives us, there is no earthly sorrow that is greater than the joy we have with him. And no matter what poverty we may suffer here on earth, if we are able to tell others about him, then we are giving inestimable wealth to them. Not only that, but despite any such poverty, we own everything that matters about the world.

It is not mere pie in the sky bye and bye. It is true joy, true wealth, happier and richer than can be imagined.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

God Implores Us to Be Reconciled to Him

Readings:
Job 39
II Corinthians 5:11-21

Focus:
II Corinthians 5:20b: "It is as if God were appealing to you through us: we implore you in Christ's name, be reconciled to God!"

This verse strikes me when I read this passage. God doesn't just offer us the chance to be reconciled to him. He appeals to us. He implores us to be reconciled to him. He really, really wants it!

God has a great love for us. He has shown this by coming himself to take our punishment and die for us. And he doesn't just give us the chance to acknowledge this. He appeals, implores, begs us to acknowledge it. He dearly loves us. All we need to do is to respond.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

We Never Cease to Be Confident

Readings:
Job 38
II Corinthians 5:1-10

Focus:
II Corinthians 5:5-6a: "It is for this destiny that God himself has been shaping us; and as a pledge of it he has given us the Spirit. Therefore we never cease to be confident."

God has been shaping us, those of us who have given our lives to him, or who will give our lives to him, for a destiny of life immortal, an eternity living in his presence. As a pledge of this, to all those who give their lives to him, he in turn gives the Holy Spirit to dwell with them, to comfort them, encourage them, and guide them in what is right.

Therefore we can be confident about our ultimate future. No matter what life looks like, no matter what hardships we have to go through, we know what the eventual outcome will be. All will be well in the end. The Spirit is there with us as we go through life, and we can be confident of our future.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Our Troubles and Eternal Glory

Readings:
Job 37
II Corinthians 4:13-18

Focus:
II Corinthians 4:17: "Our troubles are slight and short-lived, and their outcome is an eternal glory which far outweighs them."

When we are going through troubles, it does not always seem like they are slight and short-lived. Cancer and other illnesses can be agonizingly long. Some people are desperately poor, or enslaved, or unjustly imprisoned. There are children dying of hunger. These are not slight, short-lived troubles.

Yet compared with an eternity spent in the presence of God, these troubles are slight and short-lived. When we know God, his spirit with us helps us to endure our troubles as we await our future with him.

This does not mean we should not fight injustice or work to end illness and poverty. But it does give us hope as we go through trouble--glorious hope.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

God Is So Much Greater Than We Are

Readings:
Job 36
II Corinthians 4:1-12

Focus:
Job 36:26a: "Consider: God is so great that we cannot know him."

One thing that is, surprisingly, comforting to me about God, is that I do not understand him completely. I used to think that I ought to be able to have all my questions about God answered, and that all the things that bothered me should be cleared up.

But then one day I realized that God was God and I was not. I was not even close. How could I expect to understand everything about him? It is hard enough to learn difficult subjects such as trigonometry or object-oriented programming. How could I imagine that I could understand God?

Once I realized that, I felt much better. This was because I already knew that he is the one who gives us the instinct for what goodness and justice are. If this is true, then he is bound to be ultimately good and just. We can trust that what he is doing is good and right, even when we don't understand.

It is just that he is so great that we cannot know all about him.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Spirit Gives Life

Readings:
Job 35
II Corinthians 3:6-18

Focus:
II Corinthians 3:6b: "The written law condemns to death, but the Spirit gives life."

God's law is really a fearsome thing. If we were to try to get to heaven by living by the law, we could never make it. God demands perfection, and it is impossible to fulfill all the demands of his law. If we break even one tiny bit of his law, we are condemned to death.

But that is where God is such a marvelous God. He loves us so much that he has provided a way around this for us. He doesn't set aside the demands of the law. He just takes the punishment himself instead of us.

All we have to do is acknowledge that we have done wrong, acknowledge that we need him, and ask him to be in charge of our lives. He does everything else. And when we do this, as Paul says, we are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The Power We Have Comes from God

Readings:
Job 34
II Corinthians 3:1-5

Focus:
II Corinthians 3:5: "There is no question of our having sufficient power in ourselves: we cannot claim anything as our own. The power we have comes from God."

Paul is speaking here of his power as a minister of the gospel. But it is also true of all good abilities that we have. When we do good things, it is God who enables us to do these things. Without him, we are unable to do them.

If we are able to accomplish a lot, and start thinking of ourselves as pretty special people, good in our own right, we may find ourselves suddenly unable to do what we could do before. God has a way of changing our abilities, so that we will see that we are relying on him, not on ourselves.

But when we acknowledge him as the source of our ability, then we find ourselves able to accomplish more and more. We cannot claim anything as our own. The ability we have comes from God. But it's exciting!

Monday, June 14, 2010

God Is the Same

Readings:
Job 33
II Corinthians 2

Focus:
Job 33:27-28: "If he affirms before everyone, 'I have sinned, turned right into wrong without a thought': then he saves himself from going down to the pit, he lives and sees the light."

One of the things that I love about the Bible is that it is all one whole. I have read it all the way through over and over, and I have found that it all tells the same story. Here in the book of Job, we find evidence of this.

Elihu, one of the friends of Job, proclaims before Job and his other friends what the true nature of God is, how compassionate God is, and how he longs to save us. Before the verse quoted above, Elihu says this of God, in verses 17 and 18: "To turn someone from his evil deeds, to check human pride, at the edge of the pit he holds him back alive and stops him from crossing the river of death." That is an amazing attribute of God--he actually holds people back from death to give them a chance for repentance.

And then in verses 27 and 28 Elihu declares what is necessary for salvation. What does God require? Confession that we have sinned. It is the same in the Old Testament as it is in the New. God does not ask for great or perfect deeds, but rather a heart given to him.

God Has Set His Seal on Us

Readings:
Job 32
II Corinthians 1:8-24

Focus:
II Corinthians 1:22: "It is God also who has set his seal upon us and, as a pledge of what is to come, has given the Spirit to dwell in our hearts."

After Jesus ascended to heaven, after his resurrection, God sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within Christians, to be our companion and guide in place of Jesus. This is comforting and illuminating.

But not only that, God has set his seal upon Christians, upon those who have given their lives to him. He has marked us as his, and that makes us secure. In fact, it makes us eternally secure. There is no spiritual danger that can defeat us. With God's seal on us, we belong to him, and we have God's whole power protecting us. We are as safe as safe can be.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

He Consoles Us

Readings:
Job 31
II Corinthians 1:1-7

Focus:
II Corinthians 1:4: "He consoles us in all our troubles, so that we in turn may be able to console others in any trouble of theirs and to share with them the consolation we ourselves receive from God."

In this passage Paul speaks of how his distress and consolation are both woven together with the distress and consolation of the Corinthian Christians. And indeed this is true of all Christian brothers and sisters. We do not live our lives as individuals only. We share in each other's joys and sorrows, we help to build each other up, and we support each other in our hard times.

In particular, there are two great things that Paul says in verse 4. The first is that when we have troubles, God consoles us in them. In my experience, going through cancer and heart disease in the last few years, I know this is true.

The second thing that Paul says is this: the reason that God consoles us is so that we can in turn console others. We are not just to receive the consolation that God gives us. We are to actively reach out to others who need consolation. Once God has consoled us, we have the riches of consolation that we can share. We have enough to keep for ourselves--enough to keep and overflowing--and enough to give away. It is a rich experience.

Stand Firm in the Faith

Readings:
Job 30
I Corinthians 16

Focus:
I Corinthians 16:13: "Be on the alert; stand firm in the faith; be valiant, be strong."

The last chapter of I Corinthians is made up of a number of directives and greetings that Paul gives to various people. But he also includes these general instructions. We are to be alert, firm in the faith, valiant, and strong.

God does not want us to meander through life without thinking much about our faith or our relationship with him. On the contrary, he wants us to be alert. We are to be constantly applying our faith to our lives as we live them. And as we do so, we must be firm in the faith. We are not to let the popular ideas of the times overcome our thinking. We must remain true. Sometimes this will require us to be valiant and strong.

When we are alert, firm, valiant, and strong, we will end up happier, more satisfied, and closer to God.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

O Death, Where Is Your Sting?

Readings:
Job 29
I Corinthians 15:50-58

Focus:
I Corinthians 15:55: "O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?"

One of the greatest things about Christianity is that even death has no ultimate power over us. For Christians, death is not the end, but instead a passage into newer, better life with God.

In C.S. Lewis's last Narnia book, The Last Battle, the characters are caught in a situation that is increasingly bleak and hopeless. Nothing goes their way, and ultimately they are captured and thrust into certain death.

But suddenly they find themselves in the most wonderful beauty they have ever seen, dressed in the most splendid clothes, surrounded by laughing and happy friends. And they set off to find Aslan, the Christ figure of those books, and every moment things are better and happier.

I first read that book when I was 20 years old, and from that time on, I lost all fear of death. It was a splendid metaphor for the Christian reality of resurrection after death. Jesus has conquered death. For us, death has no victory. Death has no sting.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Wisdom and Understanding

Readings:
Job 28
I Corinthians 15:29-49

Focus:
Job 28:28b: "The fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to turn from evil, that is understanding."

When I was younger it used to confuse me when I heard people talk about the "fear of the Lord." I wondered why we should be afraid of him. Now I understand it a little better. It doesn't really mean being afraid of God. It means respecting him. (It also can mean having a sort of fear of him, that is, awe of his power and realization of what it could mean for us if we should choose to thumb our noses at him.)

Wisdom for us begins when we respect God and apply our minds to what he wants us to know. Turning from evil gives us understanding. Until we respect God and turn from evil, we do not have true wisdom or understanding, no matter how learned we think we are. Our minds can never approach God's. We can't have true wisdom without him.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Conquering the Enemies: Sin and Death

Readings:
Job 27
I Corinthians 15:20-28

Focus:
I Corinthians 15:25-26: "For he is destined to reign until God has put all enemies under his feet; and the last enemy to be deposed is death."

Some people misunderstand when they hear Christians talking about enemies like this. They think we mean other people, and that Christians want to be conquerors.

But for Christians, the enemies are evil, sin, death, oppression, injustice, and all that is against God's will. Christians do want to conquer, but not to conquer other people. We want to conquer evil, to conquer sin, to conquer death.

We can only do this with the help of God. In fact, he is the one who does it. And he will do it completely. He will put all those enemies in subjection under Christ, and depose them all, even death. What a great day that will be!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Not for This Life Only

Readings:
Job 26
I Corinthians 15:1-19

Focus:
I Corinthians 15:19: "If it is for this life only that Christ has given us hope, we of all people are most to be pitied."

Christian faith is about the resurrection of Christ. That is at the heart of it. It is not about something symbolically represented by resurrection. We are not merely talking about hope and springtime and new rebirth. Christianity is about Christ's real resurrection from the dead.

Because of Christ's real death and resurrection, God has removed from us the penalty for our deliberate choice of sin. If this had not happened, hope would be futile. We of all people would be most to be pitied, for we would only be talking of enduring this mortal life with courage. We would not have anything substantial to offer or to cling to.

Thank God that this pity is not necessary! Because of Christ's real death and resurrection, all who desire it can turn to God and be free.

Not Just Our Spirits, But Our Minds

Readings:
Job 25
I Corinthians 14

Focus:
I Corinthians 14:15b: "I will pray with my spirit, but also with my mind; I will sing hymns with my spirit, but with my mind as well."

Although it is important for us to be emotionally and spiritually engaged when we pray and sing to God, Paul cautions us that it is not good for us to only be emotional and spiritual in our prayer and worship. We must use our minds.

In fact, Paul says it is more important than anything else for us to use our minds while we pray and worship. Without this, our relationship with God cannot develop and mature. Fervent singing and praying is good, but it is not good if it is the only thing we ever do. We must apply our minds to our relationship with God, and apply them while we are worshipping him, so that we can actively communicate intellectually with God, and not just emotionally.

Like Paul, we must pray and sing not just with our spirits, but with our minds.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Understanding Partially and Wholly

Readings:
Job 24
I Corinthians 13:8-13

Focus:
I Corinthians 13:12: "At present we see only puzzling reflections in a mirror, but one day we shall see face to face. My knowledge now is partial; then it will be whole, like God's knowledge of me."

There are often times when I don't understand things about God. I don't understand why he allows us free will to do bad things that hurt other people. I know that he is the epitome of goodness and justice, and so his design for us must be right, but I don't understand it.

But that's because I'm not God--I'm just a human. And my knowledge now is only partial. One day I will see face to face and my knowledge will be whole. Then I will understand. I am glad that God is good (I know this from the Bible and from my experience) and that I can trust that that day will come.

Many Ways to Love

Readings:
Job 23
I Corinthians 13:4-7

I don't have a focus verse for this passage. I have had these four verses on my office wall for the past five or ten years. Every day I focus on one aspect of them and concentrate on that. For example, one day I especially try to remember to be patient, and the next day I focus on being kind. (Of course I want to behave in all these ways every day, but I place a special emphasis on one element of the passage each day.)

On superficial reading of these verses, we might think that if we are good people, of course we are like this. But when we really think about it, we fall short of this in many ways. For instance, on my own, I can be too quick to take offence, or I can lack endurance. How can we overcome this? Because we are not able to do it on our own, God helps us. He does this when we ask him to send his Spirit to dwell in us and enable us to show the kind of love that he wants.

I find that when I remember to ask God to help me with the love talked about here, I can do much better than if I just try on my own. When we ask him, God always wants to help us.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

If I Have No Love, I Am Nothing

Readings:
Job 22
I Corinthians 13:1-3

Focus:
I Corinthians 13:2b: "If I have no love, I am nothing."

Even if we can do amazing things for God, cause fantastic things to happen, but we do them without love, then although we have might have done some good, we are still empty in God's eyes. What God wants most from us is love.

Jesus said that the greatest commandment of all was to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength, and the next greatest commandment was to love our neighbor as ourselves. Everything else follows from these two commandments. If we put them first, the rest will fall into place.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

All Are Necessary Parts of One Body

Readings:
Job 21
I Corinthians 12:14-31

Focus:
I Corinthians 12:21: "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I do not need you,' or the head to the feet, 'I do not need you'."

Although there is no distinction to God, among those who have turned to him, between male and female, between people of different races, between people from different countries, or between people of different economic conditions, etc., yet we are not all the same. God has made us different,and he has given us different gifts to serve him with.

Some of our gifts may seem more important than others. We may feel that if we have a gift of service, and we work in a kitchen serving others, that our gift isn't as important as the gift of leadership. But if we feel that way, we are wrong.

As it says in verse 27, we are Christ's body, and just as in a real body, there are many different parts. Each part is important and necessary, even if it seems on its own to be trivial. Together we form a whole, and without any one of us, the whole is diminished. All of us who have given our lives to Christ are a necessary part of Christ's body.