Job 19:1-7 Job’s reply to his friend Bildad
1 Then Job answered:
2 How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?
3 You have humiliated me ten times now,
and you mistreat me without shame.
4 Even if it is true that I have sinned,
my mistake concerns only me.
5 If you really want to appear superior to me
and would use my disgrace as evidence against me,
6 then understand that it is God who has wronged me
and caught me in His net.
7 I cry out: Violence! but get no response;
I call for help, but there is no justice.
Job 27:1-6
1 Job continued his discourse, saying:
2 As God lives, who has deprived me of justice,
and the Almighty who has made me bitter,
3 as long as my breath is still in me
and the breath from God remains in my nostrils,
4 my lips will not speak unjustly,
and my tongue will not utter deceit.
5 I will never affirm that you are right.
I will maintain my integrity until I die.
6 I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go.
My conscience will not accuse as long as I live!
Related Text:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Matthew 6:25-34
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Instead
God heard the prayers of Job thousands of years ago. And He hears your prayers today! While God doesn’t always choose to answer your prayers the way you hope or expect, rest assured that He hears them. In Luke 18:1-11, Jesus explained the need to pray consistently and to keep praying until an answer comes.(even if it’s not the answer you were looking for, it can still be an answer) So next time you feel like worrying about something, try giving that worry up to God by praying about it instead! See, it’s that easy.
Ezra 1:1-7
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:
2 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
” ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Anyone of his people among you-may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’ ”
5 Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites-everyone whose heart God had moved-prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings. 7 Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.
Related Text:
2 Chronicles 36:22-23
Jeremiah 25:11-12
Jeremiah 29:l10-14
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The Low Down
When the possibility of returning home and rebuilding the temple came around, the Iaraelites needed help with the finances and with the physical workload. They needed both money and manpower, not just one or the other.
When you think of contributing to a task, it’s easy to think of just donating money or just praying, and letting others foot the bill or do the work. But there are instances where God can use more than your prayers and more than your financial contributions. He can use you, your physical skills and talents and your time, to help get the job done. There are ministries all over, in and outside of your church, that need prayer, finances and physical aid to be built, to grow, and to make an impact for God.
Make a contribution this week. Fins a ministry to get involved in at your church. Find a place to serve. Your contribution may not seem like much to you, but it may be a treasure to another!
James 2:15-16
15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”-but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
Daniel 5:13-31
13 So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? 14 I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. 15 The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it. 16 Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
17 Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.
18 “O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. 19 Because of the high position he gave him, all the peoples and nations and men of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. 20 But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. 21 He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes.
22 “But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. 24 Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.
25 “This is the inscription that was written:
Mene , Mene , Tekel , Parsin
26 “This is what these words mean:
Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
27 Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
28 Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
29 Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
30 That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, 31 and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.
Related Text: Isaiah 47
Daniel 4
Matthew 24:14-22
1 Corinthians 12
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Something to Chew On
It’s much easier to keep your mouth closed and your hand open for gifts than it is to close your hand to the gifts and speak against the wrong-doing of the gift giver.
Put yourself in Daniel’s position for a moment. God has given you a gift that enables you to interpret a confusing message. But your not at home, your not even in your city, or in your state. You are a captive in the home of the enemy! I have to say, the thought would cross my mind that if I tell this guy that it’s a good message, I might be released. But Daniel doesn’t waver. He does what God has called him to do. He tells the king that he’s going down. I wonder if the thought of Jonah ever arises?
20″My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24″Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25″Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Related Text: John 17:1-5
John 17:6-19
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Think About It
Read today’s scripture 2 or 3 times. Really. And maybe even read it another 2 or 3 times later today. Spend some time and think about each sentence as you read it. How fortunate are we to be able to read the words that Jesus prayed for US! I mean think about it. In John 17, He is getting close to the cross, and He spends time to pray for us! Our Savior prayed for us, and we can read it whenever we open our Bibles. Historically, it is simply amazing that these words have been recorded; but spiritually, it is uplifting and powerful beyond anything this world can throw at us.
John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
“Last October hundreds of us got together and decided to give for 10 days straight. Some of us gave money, some gave time, some gave to family members, some gave to complete strangers, but all of us gave what we could. We did it because it was a small step to purposefully get in the habit of giving.
This year we are going to do it again (starting October 1st) and you are invited to join us! Check out the video below and you can sign up here!”
