Today’s Reading: Job 37:1‐39:30, 2 Corinthians 4:13‐5:10, Psalm 44:9‐26, Proverbs 22:13

2 Corinthians 5:9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

Context: The Corinthian church is going through trails and their outward body (home) is wasting away.  Yet, they are courageous, knowing their eternal (away) body is being renewed day by day and will be rewarded. 

Observations:

• Whether we are at home or away
• We make it our aim
  • To please him

Note: It is impossible to please God without living by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7 Hebrews 11:6).

Apply: In a season of decisions, I want my aim to be clear – to please him.  I want to spend time talking with Rebecca about what pleasing God tangibly looks like in our lives right now.

What can warn you that you are working to please yourself and not to please God?

Today’s Reading: Job 34:1‐36:33, 2 Corinthians 4:1‐12, Psalm 44:1‐8, Proverbs 22:10‐12

Psalm 44:1-3 O God, we have heard with our ears,
 our fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
 in the days of old:
2 you with your own hand drove out the nations,
 but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
 but them you set free;
3 for not by their own sword did they win the land,
 nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
 and the light of your face,
 for you delighted in them.

Observations:

• The Fathers told their children the work of the Lord
• Israel did not win the land on their own strength
• God gave his people victory because he delighted in them
• The rest of the chapter continues in this line and speaks of God’s salvation

This summer I asked our staff how many of them had heard their parent’s testimony.  Only about half of them could say they had.

Apply: It is my job to tell the next generation what God has done.  I want to look for opportunities to do this today – specifically for my daughter.

What would motivate todays Christian parents to share what God has done with their kids?

Today’s Reading: Job 31:1‐33:33, 2 Corinthians 3:1‐18, Psalm 43:1‐5, Proverbs 22:8‐9

2 Corinthians 3:5-6 – Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Context: Paul is arguing that through the new covenant, established by Christ, we have a ministry that is greater than Moses.

Observations:

• We are not sufficient in ourselves
• We cannot claim anything as coming from us
• Our sufficiency comes from God
• God has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant
• Not of the letter (law)
• but of the Spirit
• For the letter kills
• But the Spirit gives life

Are you entering today living in your current reality?  The Spirit has given you a more glorious ministry than Moses.

Apply: I want to walk with an unveiled face today, being a minister of life through the Spirit.  Specifically, I want to behold the glory of the Lord and let him shine through me.  I want to let God show others himself through my countenance and words.

What gives you the confidence in the sufficiency that God has given you to be a minister of the new covenant?

Today’s Reading: Job 28:1‐30:31, 2 Corinthians 2:12‐17, Psalm 42:1‐11, Proverbs 22:7

Psalm 42:11 – “Why are you cast down, O my soul,
 and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
 my salvation and my God.”

Context: David feels distant from God:  “The chapter starts with: As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?”

Observations:

• This same verse is repeated three times in two chapters: 42:5, 42:11, and 43:5.
• My soul: Why – are you cast down / in turmoil within me?
• Hope in God
  • For I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God

The solution to a soul in turmoil is the HOPE we find in God.

Apply: “Lord, where am I placing hope in things that are not of you?  Show me how to completely hope in You.

What have you done to help you hope in God and not in things of this world?

Today’s Reading: Job 23:1‐27:23, 2 Corinthians 1:12‐2:11, Psalm 41:1‐13, Proverbs 22:5‐6

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go;
 even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Context: Remember that the Proverbs are principles and not promises. 

Observations:

• Train up (chanak – also translated as dedicate) – a higher purpose or end result is in mind
• A child – not written specifically to parents, but we know that in Proverbs Solomon calls his son to listen.  If you don’t have kids, you can and should realize your responsibility to train up the next generation.
• In the way he should go – How to walk the road of life, What to do to journey well
• Even (or also) when he is old
• He will not depart (sur – turn aside) from it

This verse is often quoted and rarely applied. Dad’s you cannot train your children if you are not present and involved in their lives (Eph 6:4, 2 Tim 3:15).

Apply:  I struggle with letting my mind be distracted when I am with my daughter.  Often I am not fully engaged in her training.  Today, I want to make a point to be a present, intentional, trainer.

How can you better apply this principle to your life?

Today’s Reading: Job 20:1‐22:30, 2 Corinthians 1:1‐11, Psalm 40:11‐17, Proverbs 22:2‐4

2 Corinthians 1:4 (God) comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Context: In his introduction to 2 Corinthians, Paul thanks God for the comfort he offers to and through his followers.  He uses the word that most of our bibles translate as comfort (parakaleo/paraklesis – also translates as encourage) 10 times in verses 3-7.

Observations:

• God) comforts us in all our affliction
  • so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction
    • with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Comfort is an overlooked part of God’s ministry to and through us.  Experiencing God’s comfort through prayer, His Word and His people has been life transormational for me.

Apply: Today, I want to look for the opportunity to allow God to comfort others through me.

Have you experienced God’s comfort in your areas of pain?  Who do you know that needs to receive God’s comfort through you?

Today’s Reading: Job 16:1‐19:29, 1 Corinthians 16:1‐24, Psalm 40:1‐10, Proverbs 22:1

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 – Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

Context: In his final instructions to the church in Corinth, Paul urges them to persevere, love and submit to good leaders.  It is in this section that we read these verses:

Observations:

• Be watchful – in love
• Stand firm in the faith – in love
• Act like men – in love
• Be strong – in love

Our culture has lost a Biblical view of masculinity.  I think Paul gives us the basics here.  If I were starting a fraternity, I would consider these two verses as my purpose statement. 

Apply: I want to act like a man today by being watchful and strong, standing firm in the faith, and covering everything in love.  Specifically, in a conversation I am having at work, I want to be strong and firm in what I believe is right.

Has anyone taught you to live out these principles?  Who and How?

Today’s Reading: Job 12:1‐15:35, 1 Corinthians 15:29‐58, Psalm 39:1‐13, Proverbs 21:30‐31

1 Corinthians 15:33 – Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” 

Context: Paul has been discussing the vital importance of Christ’s and Christian resurrection to the gospel message.  Some of the people in the the church in Corinth do not believe in the resurrection and thus believe “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”  It is to the church that contains people with this belief that he makes this statement:

Observations:

• Do not be deceived – implying that some of them (and I believe some of us) are
• Bad company – people that believe an incomplete gospel in the church
• Ruins good morals – perverts the way we live

Application:  As a leader in my church, I want to make sure we preach and teach a clear and complete gospel.

How do we balance the command to bring the gospel to the world yet make sure that those who don’t understand the gospel don’t ruin good morals for those they are around?

Today’s Reading: Job 8:1‐11:20, 1 Corinthians 15:1‐28, Psalm 38:1‐22, Proverbs 21:28‐29

Psalm 38:9 – O Lord, all my longing is before you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.

Observation:

• God knows my longing
• My sighing is not hidden from him

It is comforting to know that God knows the depths of our longings.

Apply:  Like David, I want to draw near to the God who knows and cares.  Specifically, I want to enjoy his complete knowing as I pray tonight.

How does God show you that he knows what you long for?

Today’s Reading: Job 4:1‐7:21, 1 Corinthians 14:18‐40, Psalm 37:30‐40, Proverbs 21:27

Psalm 37:30-31 – The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
The law of his God is in his heart;
his steps do not slip.

Observations:

• Describing the righteous:
• His mouth utters wisdom
• His tongue speaks justice
• The law of God is in his heart
• His steps do not slip

I want to be a righteous man and so I need to be more intentional about putting the law of God in my heart.  As I read this Psalm I am reminded that it is from the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks.  I also see that God’s word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

Apply:  After my time in the Word today, I talked with Rebecca and we have decided to start memorizing scripture together again.  Our current plan is to start with two verses a week.

What has helped you to get the law of God on your heart?