Stand on Integrity

October 7, 2011 at 2:57 pm (Devotion, The Chronological Journey of the Bible)
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Rejoice: Yesterday my husband cleaned the ENTIRE living room and dining room after we messed it all up for recording a ‘hoarders’ video for Youth Ministry.  You can imagine it was pretty messy. I don’t know how he did it-but he did it while I was out to coffee with some ladies and I came back and it was CLEAN!  Whoo hoo!

Read:  Job 24-28 (day ten) 10.7.2011

Reflect:  These last twenty-some chapters have been the conversation back and forth between Job and his friends.  Job’s friends seem to lean towards thinking that Job deserves all that is happening to him because if some wicked sin!  BUT in Job 27:5 and 6 Job explains, “I will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity.  I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it;”

If we look back to Job 2:3 God himself is describing Job and says, “There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.  And he still maintains his integrity…”  After ALL of this Job is maintaining his integrity!

That is what integrity is:

1.  adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty. (Thanks to www.dictionary.com!)

Also, at the end of chapter 28 Job says, “The fear of the LORD-that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.”   Hello!  That is also something that God used to explain Job!

Stand on integrity and fear the LORD because it is wisdom. Shun evil- that is understanding!

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Commitment

October 7, 2011 at 2:56 pm (Devotion, The Chronological Journey of the Bible)
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Rejoice: Yesterday I had coffee with some wonderful ladies!  It was very inspiring and encouraging and I am very thankful that the LORD has put them in my life. Julie, Melissa, Jessie and Becci.

Read: Job 21-23 (day nine) I didn’t keep up with my reading so I caught up today 10.7.2011

Reflect:  Eliphaz, Job’s friend was letting him have an ear full.  He was saying a lot of truths about submitting to God and the importance of repentance, but he was also accusing Job of being a wicked man and only desiring his possessions back.  Part of Job’s reply that jumped out to me was 23:11 and 12, “My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.  I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.”

To me, that is commitment!  Job is being bombarded in so many directions but he still sticks close to the Father.

Closely Followed His Steps: Requires knowing God’s voice and have a close and daily communication with Him.

Without Turning Aside: This is keeping our eyes focused on God, His purposes and His kingdom!

Have Not Departed His Commands: We HAVE to be in the Word to know God’s commands.  Read it. Know it. Meditate on it.

Treasured the Words of His Mouth:  I believe this is hearing from God and treasuring His promises.  Not just the “I am telling God all that I need and want” but the listening side to our relationship with Him.

Commitment: closely following God-not turning side to side-not departing from his commands and treasuring the words of his mouth.

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My Redeemer Lives!

October 7, 2011 at 2:56 pm (Devotion, The Chronological Journey of the Bible)
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Read: Job 17-20  (day eight) 10.5.2011

Reflect: Job has been battling all these feelings of guilt, anger, frustration, and abandonment (just to name a few)- and then you see such an awesome declaration from him, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;”  I LOVE this song- but it brings a whole new meaning when you put it into context here!  Just think, Job has lost ALL of his possessions and has had a horrible skin disease and his friends stink at encouraging him!  For the most part they accuse him of being a wicked sinner and he is receiving the wrath of God. Or they accuse him of being crazy because he thinks his heart is pure. I don’t know what the bigger battle is- his health or his ‘friends!’

Job reaches a point and thinks to himself, “If I have lost everything and even my friends don’t believe in me- my God will vindicate me when I go to meet with Him in the end!”  God will defend him, God will stand with him, God will clear him of all accusations!

Thank you LORD for Your Redemption!

Rejoice: I have added a rejoice section to find at least one thing that God is doing or that I am thankful for!  I am going to write about something from the previous day.  Yesterday, I believe God showed me that my husband is a huge blessing in taking care of Malachi.  Malachi truly has a bond and a love for his daddy and that is because Kyle lets him know how important he is to him. Thank You LORD for my husband, who is not only a great husband, but a very loving daddy!

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Be Careful with Words

October 7, 2011 at 2:55 pm (Devotion, The Chronological Journey of the Bible)
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Read: Job 14-16 (day seven) 10.4.2011

Reflect: This journal is going to be short and sweet.  There was one major verse that stuck out to me.

“I have heard many things like these; miserable comforter ate you all!  Will your long-winded speeches never end?”  (Job 16:2 & 3)

Here Job is struggling through the hardest time of his life and his friends pour out ‘wisdom.’  And Job is telling them that they are MISERABLE COMFORTERS!  Yikes!  What a statement!

But here is what I think:

1. I am a woman and I naturally like to talk. (Supposedly women speak 70,000 words a day and men speak 7,000.)  I like to talk about my problems, BUT I also like to offer my advice and ‘wisdom.’

2. I am human and I have a battle of flesh verses God inside of me. I need to make sure that when I desire to speak into someone life I use discernment.  ”Is this me wanting to speak or GOD wanting to speak through me.”

Sometimes it is just better to keep your mouth shut and not risk being a miserable comforter!

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Real Prayer

October 7, 2011 at 2:55 pm (Devotion, The Chronological Journey of the Bible)
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Read: Job 10-13  (day six) 10.3.2011

Reflect: I love Job’s honesty with God.  ”I will say to God: Do not condemn me, but tell me what charges you have against me.”  (Job 6:2) A lot of times while I am communicating with God I feel like it has to sound like a ‘prayer’ not a conversation.  BUT honesty is what God wants to hear!

Job has these couple of friends that are trying to speak wisdom into his life. One friend is Zophar and he says, “Can you fathom the mysteries of God?  Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?  They are higher than the heavens -what can you do?  They are deeper than the depths of the grave-what can you know?” (Job 11:7 &8)  But Job replies, “To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.” (Job 12:13)  He continues raving about God’s greatness!  ”But I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God.” (Job 13:3)

This is a bold step and a REAL prayer!  Job is not only letting God see his heart his is challenging Him to examine it and make sure that is is pure!  Job is confident that he is in the right!  I want to have such a close relationship with God that I can be confident in where my heart is with Him.

There have been times where I am scared to ask God what is going on in my heart because I know there are things I have been compromising in.  This is a good challenge!

I want REAL prayer and a REAL heart before GOD!

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Who is God?

October 7, 2011 at 2:54 pm (Devotion, The Chronological Journey of the Bible)
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Read: Job 6-9 (day five) 10.2.2011

Reflect:  ”I despise my life; I would not live forever.  Let me alone; my days have no meaning.”  (Job 7:16)  This is a glimpse of how Job is feeling-miserable!  There are days that I am struggling.  Just feeling really down and not focused on who God is and what He has done for me!  Later in chapter nine Job reminds himself who God really is!

“He alone stretched out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea,  He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleidades and the constellations or the south.  He performs miracles that cannot be counted.” (Job 9: 8-10)

Even though Job is still struggling.  I think it is important to remind ourselves who God is and who we serve.  He is on our side! He is powerful.  He is our Creator.  I also believe God can help us in different ways at different times in our life.  He will be our provider when we need our groceries paid for or financial help.  He will be our Comforter in time of pain or loss.  He will be our Father when we need protection and grace.

Allow God to be God in your life.

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Will You Worship?

October 1, 2011 at 3:34 pm (Devotion, The Chronological Journey of the Bible)
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Read: Job 1-5 (day four)

Reflect: First, I thought I missed something when I saw that Job was next after Genesis 11.  It is so sweet to learn the order of events of the Bible chronologically-  I think it will illuminate so much more!

Job is a very blessed man!  He has seven sons, three daughters, 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen and 500 donkeys!  AKA: rich! $$$  Satan had actually seen how faithful and blessed Job was to God, so he went to meet with Him.  ”Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job?  There is no one on the earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”  Satan was convinced that if God were to stirke everything that he has, Job would surely curse God’s face. God allowed Satan to take everything Job has, but not lay a hand on him.

So literally, in ONE DAY, Job had four separate messengers come to him to first let him know his the oxen and donkeys were attacked and destroyed, then the sheep caught on fire, then the camels were stolen and finally his children died from their house collapsing!  ”At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head.  Then he fell to the ground in worship and said,

‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.  The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”

In all of this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” (Job 1: 20-22)

||PAUSE||  This sounds familiar, Noah was found righteous and had to be in a boat for over a year with a bunch of stinky animals!  Now Job is found blameless and the LORD allows him to loose all of his possessions including his children!   BUT both of these men worshiped the LORD!  Noah built an altar. And Job fell to the ground and worshiped.

Later, Satan met with God again and said, “Have you considered my servant Job?  There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears the God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity.” (Job 2:3)

I am just blown away by how much God can say about Job!  I desire to be like him.  Not only when I feel blessed and secure, but when things are difficult and I don’t understand them.  There have been times when I have felt like a huge blow has been taken and caught me off guard. I DESIRE to worship!  To GROW IN and KEEP my integrity, be blameless, be upright, continue to fear the LORD and shun evil!

I will worship!

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The Olive Leaf

September 30, 2011 at 3:21 pm (Journal, The Chronological Journey of the Bible)
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Read: GENESIS 8-10 (day three)

Reflect: God said to Noah,  ”Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.”  (Genesis 7:1) -I hope they don’t get seasick easily.-  Noah and his family entered the Ark when he was 600 years on the 17th day of the 2nd month (Genesis 7:11).  Let’s say February 17th, so it helps us understand a little better.

For forty days the flood [waters] kept coming (7:17)

The waters flooded the earth for one hundred and fifty days. (7:24)

On the 17th day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on Mt. Ararat.  (8:4)  (July 17th-so to speak- it has been five months on the ark)

After forty days Noah opened the ark window and sent out a raven and a dove.  The dove could not rest her feet so she returned to the ark.(8:6-9)

Seven days later Noah sent the dove out again and this time she came back with an olive leaf.  This was their fist sight of a live leaf in MONTHS! (8:10 & 11)

Another week later, the dove was sent out again and she never returned!  She had found a NEW home! (8:12)

It wasn’t until the twenty-seventh day in the second month that Noah and his family came off the Ark.  That would be ‘February 27th’ of the NEXT YEAR!  Noah’s family was on the Ark with thousands of (stinky) animals for over a year!

I think the olive leaf was a sight for sore eyes.  I would have probably wept seeing the olive leaf- knowing that I would be be able to get off of this big stinky boat soon!  I believe the olive leaf symbolized God’s faithfulness and blessing to the righteous.  See, Noah was found righteous, which is why he was saved from this horrific flood, BUT he also had to endure a year on a smelly boat. Sometimes when we follow God we have to endure a “storm or flood” to get the blessing He promised us!

The beautiful thing was that Noah immediately built an altar and sacrificed some of the clean animals as soon as he set his feet on dry ground!  (Genesis 8:20) -I wonder if they had sea legs…-

Be faithful to God.  He is faithful to us.

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The First Murder

September 30, 2011 at 3:21 pm (Journal, The Chronological Journey of the Bible)
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Read: GENESIS 4-7 (day two)

Reflect: The first two kids born into the world were Cain and Abel.  Cain was the older one and he essentially was the gardener.  Abel took care of the flocks. Cain was angry at his brother because Abel gave fat portions of the firstborn of his flock as an offering to the LORD and Cain only gave some fruits.  (God must be a meat eater.  Just kidding!)  The LORD saw that Abel wanted to give him the best and the first- while Cain kinda just gave when he felt like it.

“Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?  If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?  But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:6 & 7)  Now, Cain was still giving offerings to the LORD- but it wasn’t right.  His heart wasn’t in it, his heart was jealous of his brother.  Hmm. (How many times do I do something for the LORD, but my heart is not right?)

In the next verses Cain tells Abel to come out to the field with him and while they were in the field Cain attacked and killed him.  The LORD warned Cain about this. Remember the verse “Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:7)  CAIN DIDN’T MASTER IT.  SIN MASTERED HIM!

Don’t let something small or ‘not right’ master you and become sin.  Because then it has devoured you!  Keep your heart in check.

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Man and Woman

September 30, 2011 at 3:20 pm (Journal, The Chronological Journey of the Bible)
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Read: GENESIS 1-3 (day one)

Reflect: “The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7)  Then God planted a garden and had all kinds of trees growing there.  Rivers watered the garden.  The LORD took the man and placed him in the garden to work and take care of it.  ”The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for man to be alone.  I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18)

He put Adam into a deep sleep and while he was sleeping he took one of his ribs.  The LORD fashioned together a woman from the man’s rib and brought her to him and said,

“This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”  (Genesis 2:23)

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24)

This woman, Eve, was made from Adam’s side- as a helper.  They are one flesh.  When we decide and choose to get married, we leave our family to start our own. We are untied and she is his helper.  They become one flesh.  That is why we call family our ‘flesh and blood.’

Be united with your spouse.  If you are not married -stand united with your family.  Flesh and Blood is a STRONG bond! :)

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