Job 31: 1-7, 35-37, 38: 1-11 Devo

June 7th, 2020

June 28th

“Job” 

Job 31: 1-7, 35-37, 38: 1-11

   

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Unrighteous” - Job 31: 1-4

In some ways, Job is facing an impossible delemmia on top of the calamity that has befallen his household. Job lives in a day and time when the common belief is that you get what you deserve. In other words, good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. Only they put a bit of a religious gloss over the top, saying that you would be blessed if you were good and cursed if you were bad. 

Yet, here is Job, a righteous man who is suffering in deep and real ways.

Job’s friends are not helpful, as they believe that Job must have brought this upon himself with some unconfessed sin. But Job knows his own heart. So Job is asking God why this is happening to him and asking God to see him in his suffering.

Job is one of the first people that leads us to ask the question that we still have today, ‘why do bad things happen to good people?’ Which speaks to the theology we still carry around today about good and bad things happening to people. 

  Why do you think good and bad things happen to people?

Prayer: God, we thank you that we can turn to you in every moment of our lives. Both, O Lord, when things are going smoothly, and when we are in times of trial. See us and walk with us, Lord, we pray. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Let” - Job 31: 5-7

Job knows the state of his own heart, but he still essentially says to God, if there is some sin that is hidden in my heart - just let me know. If others know a way that he has sinned, they should let God know. 

Job is not someone who deceives himself into thinking that a sin that he has committed is not really a sin. He is not someone who has blind spots in his heart and life. He knows that there is nothing to be known.

While some may read this as Job starting to doubt whether he does have anything he has to confess before God, it is really a reminder that Job is blameless. I wonder how many of us would be able to say the same thing. How many of us would be able to claim that we are truly without unconfessed sin in our lives or places that we keep hidden. Probably not many.

Take time today to ask God to examine your heart and point out to you any unconfessed sin.

Prayer: Lord, we know ourselves well enough to know that we are not as righteous or blameless as Job. We have strayed this week. We have carried sin in our hearts. We have not been faithful to your ways. Point this out to us, O Lord, so we can renew our hearts and lives before you, we pray. Amen. 

Wednesday: “Hear Me” - Job 31: 35-37

  Have you ever been in a place like Job where you simply cry out “Hear me, Lord!”?

I was recently talking to a friend about how we sometimes miss the point. When we think that God is the most distant is actually when he is so close to us that we are cannot see or perceive. 

Think of it this way: One of my nieces is far-sighted. That means that see cannot clearly see that which is closest to her. Even when she squints, without her glasses, words and pictures in the books she loves are just blurry. 

So it is with our lives. Sometimes our hearts are a little far-sighted. When God is the closet to us, it is the hardest for us to see, 

When do you notice God’s presence the most in your life?

Prayer: God, let my heart clearly see you and my ears clearly hear you. Remind me, that even when you feel distant you are truly present and near to me. Amen. 

Thursday: “Answered” -Job 38: 1-7

  God finally answers Job, but it isn’t as a judge, speaking harsh words. Instead, God meets Job and starts to speak in what sounds like poetry. God reminds Job of the vastness of the knowledge and love of God. God speaks of all of the ways that God dazzles Job, but also the sovereignty of God. 

Do not miss the point, brothers and sisters. The point is that the God who made the whole world loved Job enough to come and meet him in his distress. To come and answer his cries. God loves us enough that God wants to have a relationship with us. Even when we fail. Even when we do not understand. That is how big the love of our God is. 

  How do you know that God loves you?

Prayer: Lord, there are times when it is hard to feel loved, until we stop and remember that you, the Creator of the whole universe, take time to be in relationship with us. O Lord, let us feel your love and share it freely with the world, we pray. Amen. 

Friday: “When I” - Job 38: 8-11

  God speaks to Job of all of the things that God had done over time. When I read these statements I think of the power and mystery of God. 

The problem is that it is really hard for our human brains to wrap our mind around the mystery of God, so we break it down into pithy sayings, that are not scripturally based. The result is that we look right past what God is doing. Or we sound like Job’s friends with our empty sayings.

We, as humans, want everything to have a reason and a place, and here is God reminding Job that there are going to be some things that we simply will not understand, because mystery is a real and regular part of our lives. 

How do you live into the mystery of God?

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for the things that we do not understand. We marvel at how big and wondrous your ways are. Let us live into the gift of the mystery, we pray. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “Job”- Job 41: 1-8, 42: 1-17

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Job 31: 1-7, 35-37, 38: 1-11

From the Sermon:

Sometimes we cab name a ______________________ in our lives - those times when you felt incredibly close to God and like you and God were just in sync.

We need to be able to seek God’s ___________ wherever we may find ourselves.

Job is a devout believer in _______.

 Job is going through the most horrific experience of his life, but he is confident that God is going _________________.

A lot of time we are taking baby steps with God, listening for God’s _______ for us as we inch along.

Reflection Questions:

Do you believe that God speaks to us today?

 Do you believe that God is still speaking at the highest mountains and our deepest despairs and everything in between?

How does God speak to you?

Prayer:

Lord, we confess that sometimes we so badly want you to speak to us in a certain way that we ignore all of the ways that you are trying to speak to us in the moment. Trying to get our attention. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear, we pray. Amen. 

Job - Part 3

   Hope seems to be in short supply in our world. Or maybe more accurately, a correct view of hope is in short supply. We say that we are hopeless or hopeful, but what do we really mean when we say such things. A hope is not a wish flung out to God in prayer. The Biblical view of hope is believing in things unseen - trusting that God is at work and that God is in control. Is that what we mean when we say that we are hopeful?
    More troubling, what do we mean when we say that a situation is hopeless? That it is beyond God's control? Or that God is not present with us in the midst of that particular situation?
    It is a time for us to renew our Biblical sense of hope - trusting that the promise God made to us in the coming of Jesus Christ is true and central in our lives. May it be so. Amen. and Amen.

Reblog - While We Wait: Hope

Job - Part 3 - Devotional

June 21, 2020

Devotional

“Job - Part 3” -

          Job 14: 7-15, 19: 23-27

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Hope” - Job 14: 7-9

Job describes the experience of hoping in the face of situations that would not merit hope at all in today’s scripture passage. Remember that Job is a devout believer in God. But the Devil gets into a discussion with God about why Job is faithful to God in the first place and the Devil poses an interesting question - maybe Job only follows God because God has blessed him. So God said that the Devil could test Job to prove that it isn’t just because of the blessings that Job and God are close. God said that anything could be done to Job short of killing him, and one by one, Job finds the things dear to him in this world being stripped away - his sons, his lively hood, his health, his friendships, until we arrive about at this point in the story where it is literally just Job and God, and Job is wondering when God is going to show up in that mighty way.

Job is going through the most horrific experience of his life, but he is confident that God is going to show up, even in the midst of the storm. But I think we miss the point sometimes friends, just like Job missed the point in a way. When we expect God to show up, when we hope that God will show up, we miss the fact that God has been with us all along.

  What does hope look like in your life?

Prayer: God, we thank you for a life of faith that allows us hope. May hope help us combat a sense of despair and may it open our eyes in wonder to the fact you have always been present with us, even in our pain. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Remember Me” - Job 14: 10-14

Job is standing before God and is crying out for God to remember him. But this cry in and of itself is an act of trust. Job trusts that God will remember him, because he ultimately knows that he cannot go anywhere apart from God. 

This reminds me so much of the thief on the cross who tells Jesus to remember him. We all want to be remembered. And we can boldly make this request before God because we know that we are known and loved. 

When I was in seminary, one of the calls to worship we used asked God to re-member us. To re-form us. To bring us together as the body. As the community of faith. I think this is present in Job’s request as well, as he believes in hope that a tree will again sprout from the stump of his life. 

Even in the depths of Job’s despair, Job asking to be remembered and re-membered is a bold act of faith. 

What does the word “remember” mean to you? When is a time in your life that you have been remembered. 

Prayer: Lord, you are the God of renewal. You are the God of recreation. You are the God of life. So we bring to you the broken and shattered pieces of our life and ask that you re-make us. That you, in your grace, reform us in a way that will bring honor and glory to your kingdom, as we are your living testimonies that you send out into the world. Amen. 

Wednesday: “Call” - Job 14: 15

  One of the question I have had posed to me as a pastor, and I would guess that just about every pastor gets asked from time to time in a variety of different ways is, why doesn’t God speak like He did in the Bible anymore? We live in a society that is craving for God to speak in some thunder and lightening ways - but guess what folks that wasn’t the whole story. God didn’t always speak in the same way in scripture. We are told that he spoke in dramatic ways to some people like Abraham, but then other times God was present not in the thunder, lightening, fire and theatrics, but in the still small voice, like the prophet Elijah. And we believe as Christians that God was present in Jesus Christ, who was fully divine and fully human. and he spoke in an audible voice, but it didn’t make it any easier for people to listen to him, in fact, he hung on a cross for what he had to say. 

  Other times God moved through people’s intuition or though the voices of other people. One of my favorite books in the Bible is Esther, which ironically does not even motion the name of God even once. But Esther was key in helping to save the Jewish people from complete destruction because she listened to the voice of her cousin, Morachi, and used her God-given intuition to serve God. 

  Other times God speaks to us through the word of God, the scriptures. I am from the Untied Methodist Tradition which celebrates Aldersgate Day once a year - marking the time that John Wesley found his heart strangely warmed by Martin Luther’s words about Paul’s epistle to the Romans. It may not have been an audible voice, but it changed his life. 

  Its like we want to be hit with a 2 by 4 with God’s will for us and that isn’t the only way that God speaks or acts. A lot of time we are taking baby steps with God, listening for God’s word for us as we inch along. And Job is showing that he is willing to listen and respond, whenever God speaks and however, God would like to speak.

How can you create a spirit of anticipation that God will speak that allows you to be open?

Prayer: God, we confess that sometimes we are not very good at listening because we only want to hear in certain ways. Open our spirits up to however you want to speak, Precious Lord. Speak, for your servants are truly listening. Amen. 

Thursday: “Redeemer” -Job 19: 23-25

  God does not cause tragedies in our life to happen or the pain we suffer. But God can redeem all of our suffering. God can buy back our lives. God can make us new. God can take the messy, horrible moments in our lives and turn them into something beautiful. But we have to choose to let this happen. 

If we continue to retreat into the darkness in an attempt to hid from the pain, we won’t find healing. Healing doesn’t come from the darkness, but only from the light. A few years ago William P. Young released a book entitled The Shack, which is a story all about human suffering during tragedies, and how God often gets blamed for tragedies instead of clung to for healing and wholeness and comfort. In the story, God speaks to the main character Mack, whose daughter was kidnapped, raped, and ultimately killed, about suffering. He says, “Mack, just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies does not mean I orchestrate the tragedies. Don’t ever assume that my using something means that I caused it or need it to accomplish my purpose. That will only lead to false notions about me. Grace doesn’t depend of suffering to exist, but where you find suffering you will find grace in many colors and facets.”

We are all going to have moments of grief in our lives. Moments when we don’t know how we are even going to get through the day because of the overwhelming sadness. I have a friend who told me once about these “Garden moments” as he calls them, in our lives. Those time that we are standing up at the sky yelling “Where are you God?” or crying “Why?” But what we don’t realize is that God is right there in the Garden with us, and our inability to perceive that is what makes everything so much more difficult. And we have a choice, to stay in the Garden, know that as we cry out to God that he will work everything out for our ultimate good because God loves us so much, or we can walk away from God because we assume that God is to blame. We forget who God is. And we forget that in the story of our Savior who redeems us, after the garden and the cross came the resurrection.

  What does redemption look like in your life?

Prayer: Lord, we want to claim today that you are our redeemer. Whatever we may be facing in life, we ask that you bring something beautiful out of it. Even if we cannot see it now, may we live in trust in you of what is to come forth. Amen. 

Friday: “Behold” - Job 19: 26-27

  God is redeeming us, just perhaps not the way we think. As difficult as it is, take joy in that! When refiners work with Gold and Silver, they hold a piece of the precious metals over the fire and let it heat up in the middle of the fire, where the flames are the hottest. Only then can all of the impurities be burned away. And the smith has to sit in front of the fire during the entire process. And the most beautiful part of the process, is the end when the smith knows that the metal is fully refined when he can see his image in it. What if suffering gives us moments to be in deep communion with God in the silence and heartache? What if pain gives us the experience to share with other people about the love of God? What if it gives us the opportunity to be refined so others can see the image and behold of God in us?

What hope can we find in the story of Job?

Prayer: Lord, we want to see you. We want to behold your glory. We want to see your Kingdom here and now, dear Lord. Use even our moments of grief to draw us closer to you, we pray. 

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Job 14: 7-15, 19: 23-27

From the Sermon:

Faith isn’t __________.

Faith is something that we ______________.

We think of compassion as showing someone pity or concern, but really it means to __________.

Have the  ________ to hope.

Courage means __________.

When everything else fades away - all that’s left is our _____________ with God.

Reflection Questions:

How cane we find hope in the midst of suffering?

What makes you trust God?

How can we be a living testimony of that hope to the world?

Prayer:

Lord, we confess that while we can identify with Job, we sometimes do not have his faith to have the courage to hope. Lord, renew in us the spirit of Job that we have seen today. Give us the strength to hope. Amen. 

Job Pt 2 - Job 3: 1-10, 4: 1-9, 7: 11-21

I've been reading through the book of Job lately and find myself getting more and more frustrated with Job's friends as the story progresses. Finally, today, a question emerged in my mind: Why weren't Job's friends tested?

The answer I came to, after some thought, is not one that I'm all together comfortable with, but I'll share it anyway. Maybe, we need to be worthy of being tested. Maybe, just maybe, Job's friends wouldn't have been able to handle that situation. They would have crumbled. They relied more on the culture's idea of blessings and curses instead of being in relationship with God. Or maybe, worse, they had been tested, had seen the pain of life, but instead of using their experiences to strengthen and encourage Job they ripped him apart, because obviously God had to see Job as chief among sinners. Compared to him, they looked like saints. 

All too often the church functions like the friends in the book of Job, not presenting the idea that Job is being tested and refined by God, rather that he is being punished for his sins. Yes, I do feel that we should constantly be examining ourselves to see if sin is disrupting our relationship with God, but I do not feel that every time turbulence hits in life that God is displaying his vengeance for us. We, that is the Church, still force this idea of punishment on people because it creates the idea that someone else is worse off then us. When we having a living breathing example of God's wrath raining down on someone else then we feel safe, like we aren't really that bad. Sadly, I think the result of pressing this idea is not self-reflection or examination, but alienation from a relationship with God. With someone constantly placing the question "What did you do to deserve this from God?" before you, who could blame people if their relationship with the Almighty backslides. They constantly being told that they aren't good enough and they deserve to be punished, thus creating the absolute worst punishment anyone could be handed by God, a lack of relationship with Love. 

Job wasn't being punished by God, and I think that God is rarely punishing those of us who experience aching pain. I think we need to face the reality, that relationships are tried and strengthened during times of pain, including our relationship with the Father. It's during theses times that God calls us most intimately to himself, and we cannot be fooled by the cries of others that he has abandoned us or that we shouldn't approach him. The jeers of men do not reflect the heart of God. As we run to the Father, crying in pain, he is there, even when we can't feel him. And if we keep running, he will meet us and revel himself to us. Through our personal crosses we find the grace and power of The Cross.

Reblog: Job's Friends 

Job Part 2 - Devotional

June 14th, 2020

Devotional

“Job - Part 2” -

      Job 3: 1-10, 4: 1-9, 7: 11-21

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Cursed” - Job 3:1

Satan’s goal in testing Job was to prove that he would not remain faithful (ie curse God) if all of his blessings were taken away. In chapter 2 of Job, Job’s wife told him to just give up and curse God. But Job would not. 

Instead, after sitting for several days in the silence of grief he opened his mouth and cursed his own life. His curse is directed at the day of his own birth. 

As we will find out later this week, that made Job’s friends uncomfortable so they would open up their mouths in return, trying to let Job know how this situation had to be his fault in their minds.

Sometimes we are uncomfortable with people when they are in grief. When someone is crying we automatically want to wipe their tears away. When someone has a hard question, we want to give them an immediate answer. And someone cries out in pain, like Job is, we want to rush to explain why things are not as they perceive them. But this was Job’s experience. No one else could understand it. No one else would experience it exactly the way that he had. 

  How do you cry out to God in times of deep suffering?

Prayer: God, we thank you that while we suffer in this world, that you are right there beside us. We thank you, that while others may not understand what we are going through, that you do. Be with us in our times of joy and in our times of grief, we pray. Amen.

Tuesday: “Let” - Job 3: 2-10

Job opens his mouth in what essentially is a pray -  a talk with God. Only it wasn’t in a form that others would recognize as such. He has a series of statements beginning with the word “let” that laid out his heartache. He talks about the darknesses that he wishes on the day he was born. 

Job is in such a dark place in his life that this is the only way he could think of to express his anguish. He had been sitting with in in silence for days, mulling it over. Turning over each piece and wondering how it could be. And this is his response. This is the cry of his heart.

Often we tell people that there is no right or wrong way to pray. Yet, when people just lay it all out before God we bulk, as if the God of the world cannot handle our pain. But God knows our pain, just as he knew Jobs. God wants us to honestly come before him, bringing whatever we are thinking and feeling even if others do not understand it. 

What makes you bare your heart before God?

Prayer: Lord, we confess that while we tell people that they can say anything to you, we sometimes do not mean it. We prefer the words of praise and concern for others over the deep cries of grief for what people are carrying. Let us not stand in the way of people coming before you with their whole selves. Amen. 

Wednesday: “Answered” - Job 4: 1-6

  Up until this point Job’s friends have been silent, but all of a sudden they take Job’s words as an affront to God that must be answered for, so they start to refute some of what Job had been expressing. 

Eliphaz tries to start out gently with words that try to point out a different interpretation to Job. He starts by pointing out Job’s righteousness, but then there are large “buts”. But you are impatient in your suffering now. But you are dismayed. Now where is your hope?

There are times and places to have deep theological conversations - this was probably not one of them. But once Eliphaz had opened his mouth he could not be stopped. If you were experiencing what Job is going through are these the words that you would want to have heard? Would they have been helpful? Probably not. But sometimes even those who are to be the comforters are blind during the times of another’s deep grief. 

What are some ways that we can support someone who is grieving?

Prayer: God, we confess that sometimes we say and do the wrong things when faced with another’s grief. Sometimes our words seem like a rush to fix or a rush to judge. Forgive us, O Lord. Let us look to you to be our wisdom when we are walking with people through the journey of life and of death. Amen. 

Thursday: “Innocent” -Job 4: 7-9

  By now all niceties that marked the start of Eliphaz’s speech to Job are gone. Sure you know Job that it isn’t the innocent that suffer like you do. This trouble has to be the harvest of your iniquity. You have made God angry. 

This was a common belief in the times of the Hebrew Scriptures - the good will be reward and the evil will perish. Only the story of Job reminds us that nothing is ever quite that clean and simple. Instead, all have heartache. And we need to figure out how to talk about that. 

For Job’s friends, they were using their beliefs about God as a shield to defend themselves from his pain instead of simply listening to him. They rushed so fast past what Job was experiencing, thinking, and feeling. 

Sometimes we move too quickly to what to say, when really the best gift that we can offer is to listen. To pray. To offer a cooked meal and shoulder to cry on. 

  What are some of things that we say to folks who are grieving?

Prayer: Lord, when we open our mouths may we be your messengers. May we not say our opinions or what defends us from another person’s pain. Instead, may we reflect your light and your love in the darkness. Amen. 

Friday: “Not Restrain” - Job 7: 11-21

  Now after Job has listened to his friends this is his response - you all don’t get it so I am going to turn to God in desperate hope that he will understand. 

There are going to be times in our lives when the people around us do not get it or understand. I was listening to a talk recently that made the point that we can never really say to someone that we’ve been there, even if we have gone through something very similar, because our experience will never be exactly the same as theirs. 

But we trust and believe that God does understand and that the God who created us and knows us is big enough to even handle our pain. So we can bring it all before God, as Job does, no matter what. 

Where do you turn when you feel misunderstood?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for being the one we can turn to in all situations, at all times. Let us lean into your mercy and grace, even when we have groans that are too deep for words. Receive the prayers of our heart, we pray. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “Job - Part 3” - Job 14: 7-15, 19: 23-27

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Job 3: 1-10, 4: 1-9, 7: 11-21

From the Sermon:

Up until this point Job has friends who had been sitting with him in ________.

As soon as Job makes this statement they feel like all of sudden Job is attacking _____ and so they jump to ______ defense.

The foundation of his faith life had been _______.

We don’t know what to say in times  of pain so we just start to say anything that comes to ______.

Job is trying to express his ________ to God - and that’s okay!

Reflection Questions:

Have you ever had someone come and accompany you in that pain? If so, what was that experience like?

What did folks say or do that brought you comfort? And what do you wish would have been left unsaid?

Is our faith adequate for times of trouble? 

How would we respond if we had pain in our lives that just wouldn’t go away? 

How do we pray to God in times of a crisis?

Prayer:

Lord, we ask for the courage to sit in silence with someone in pain. We ask for the strength to simply be and not try to fix. We ask for the heart of Christ and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Be with us, we pray. Amen. 

Job Part 1 - Job 1: 1-22

   Pain can be such an isolating experience, even though it is universal in scope. We cannot live our human lives, in the brokenness of this world, and not experience pain. Yet, we also live in a culture that does not know what to do with pain. We are told, implicitly at least, to grieve quickly and quietly. When the reality is that pain is something we cannot just speed through.

    Scripture tells this heartwrenching story of Job - a man who suffered a lot of pain. To the point where all he could do was mourn.

   Mourn and pray.

   Job reminds us that no matter what we may face that we can still turn to God. That God does not leave us alone in our pain. That we are not isolated from the heart of the Holy One because of what we are going through.

    Have you ever cried out to God like Job? Have you ever brought your heart before God?

Job Part 1 Devo - Job 1: 1-22

June 7th, 2020

Devotional

“Job Part 1” -

        Job 1: 1-22

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Blameless” - Job 1: 1-2

The author of Job goes to great lengths to explain to us, the hearers and readers, how Job was known. He is described as someone who was blameless. Who lived an upright life. Who feared God. Who turned from evil. 

How Job is described is not just how he appeared to other people, it was also how he lived his life. 

Now, does that mean that Job was perfect? No. He was still human. But I would describe Job as a man who lived with integrity - how he appeared to other people is who he actually was in his innermost being. 

Perhaps being a person of integrity is one of the harder aspects of living in our world today. It is so easy to put on a front to the outside world, while inside that is not who we are at all. But no matter how we may portray ourselves to others, God always knows who we are at the deepest and most intimate level. 

  How would others describe you? How would you describe yourself? How do you think that God would describe you?

Prayer: God, we thank you that you know us because you knit us together. There is nothing about who we are that we can hide from you. Help us, O Lord, to live as Job did - as ones who are blameless and upright. Who fear you and do not do what is evil. Help us to live out this intention each and every day. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Many” - Job 1: 3-5

When I read this section of the book of Job, what strikes me is the word “many”. Job was a man who had many blessings. He had many servants. Many animals. Many children. In terms of the society in which Job lived, he would have been considered richly blessed. 

But verse five reminds us that Job is not just blessed, he is also humble. He shares what he has, throwing feasts. He would rise early in the morning to worship God - offering sacrifices not just for himself, but for his children as well. Job did not take what he had and hoard it - he shared it and he held it tenderly within his hands. 

In what ways is your life richly blessed? How are you humbly holding these blessings?

Prayer: Lord, we confess that we have a tendency from time to time to think that we have accomplished or earned the blessings in our lives. As a result, we are slow to share what we have and hold on tightly to that which you have given us. Remind us, O Lord, that all blessings come first and foremost from you. Let us live lives that reflect your goodness in the world. Amen.

Wednesday: “Satan” - Job 1: 6-12

  The power of evil is real in this world. Satan is a real force that is dealt with and should not be discussed lightly. However, how we envision Satan is not the same as the author of Job. Satan in this text is simply known as the Adversary. And while he certainly brings much pain and destruction, it is still not in the same way that we necessarily envision Satan today. 

Satan in this text brings a charge against Job - that Job only was faithful to God because he was blessed. In other words, he didn’t truly fear God, but instead was just along for the ride because things were going so well. To prove Satan wrong, God allowed Job to be tested, but within perimeters - Job’s health was off limits. 

This part of the story can make us uncomfortable - why would God allow Satan to test Job. For years upon years people have wrestled with the idea of pain - where does it come from? Why is it in our lives? The story of Job shows Satan causing Job pain, but also brings in the question of how Job could possibly glorify God even in the midst of suffering. 

How can we glorify God in the midst of suffering?

Prayer: God, give us the type of faith that can weather the storms of life. Give us faith that seeks you, even in the midst of pain. Strengthen us, O Lord, to stay faithful, even when others think we will be led astray. Gird us, O Lord. Amen. 

Thursday: “Messengers” -Job 1: 13-19

  This week in worship one of the songs that we sang was “It is Well with My Soul.” The story behind this hymn is heartbreaking. It’s author, Horatio Spafford, wrote the hymn after several life changing events in his life. Life changing events that no one would ever want to face. His two year old son died in the Great Chicago Fire. The fire also destroyed his lively hood. Then his four daughters died in a shipwreck. His wife survived and sent him a telegram simply stating, “Saved alone.” All of this happened within the span of time from 1871 - 1873. 

Spafford would have known what Job felt like, with one messenger after another coming to him with yet another tragedy. We, too, may know that type of pain. The pain where you are afraid to answer the next phone call or message, because you don’t know what it will bring. But Spafford reminds us that we can still seek out God even at times when the messengers of this world bring us unbearable news. 

  How does Spafford’s story relate to the lyrics he wrote? How can this guide our lives as well?

Prayer: Lord, there are times in our lives when we feel like all is lost and we don’t know where to turn. Remind us, O Lord, that we can turn to you. Meet us in our hour of need. Amen. 

Friday: “Bless the Name of the Lord” - Job 1: 20-22

  If Satan thought that he could prove that Job would curse God if he faced tragedy, he was wrong. Job still turned to God in the midst of his mourning. He turn to God in lament - crying out to God is his suffering, but he turned to God. More than that, he continued to bless God. 

It is almost unfathomable to think about how Job could bless God after what he had experienced, but he could do so because of what we talked about on Monday. He was a man who truly believed and lived out his deep trust in God. It was not conditional as Satan had accused him of. He was faithful because God is God not because of the blessings that God had bestowed upon him. 

How can we praise God even in the midst of the storms of life?

Prayer: Lord, you are worthy of all honor, glory, and praise no matter what our days may hold. Enable us to be people who go forth to praise your name, no matter what. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “Job - Part 2” - Job 3: 1-10, 4: 1-9, 7: 11-21

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Job 1: 1-22

From the Sermon:

We can bring that ______ before God.

When we _______, we express our emotions of pain and suffering and sorrow to God.

God is not far ____ and ________.

In the midst of all that Job faced, he __________.

Reflection Questions:

What is the story of Job trying to communicate to us?

What are some of the ways we can be reminded that we are not alone in our pain? 

Prayer:

Lord, you know us inside and out. While we may try to hide form you what we are feeling, if we are honest with ourselves, we know that we cannot. So O Lord, we want to bring our hearts, including any pain before you this day. We want to ask, Precious Lord, that you sustain us. That you give us the strength to keep going. Let us lean into your grace. Amen. 

Gifts of the Spirit

Sometimes as a church, we live like the Gospel was the end of the message instead of the beginning. What I mean by that, is that we fail to live into what happened in the book of Acts as a modern church. We selectively forget that we are gifted with the Holy Spirit, that breathed gifts upon the disciples and helped create the early church.
      As believers, we are each given gifts of the Spirit. Gifts that help us collectively introduce people to the saving love of Jesus Christ and walk with folks as they grow into deep spiritual intimacy with God. But, we have to chose to use the gifts we are given. We have to make ourselves amenable to God so that we can continue to be the church - serving Christ in the world.
    The problem is, at times, Christ calls us to step outside of our safety zones and use our gifts in mighty ways. And sometimes we simply choose not to do that. We choose to go our own way or bury our gifts, pretending they aren't there.
     Brothers and sisters, let us not quash the gift of the Spirit. Let us let it soar so that the message and ministry of Jesus Christ may reign amongst us! Amen!

Reblog from "Wait for the Gift" 06/05/17