Today’s Bible Reading: JOB 40:6-42:17 Job 42:5  I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;   Many of us struggle with intimacy with God. We read the pages of His word but can’t seem to write them on our heart. Like Moses in the wilderness, we want to meet with God “ face to face as with a friend ” (Ex 33:11). We want to see and speak to our Lord. We want to translate the black and white text of scripture into time with our sovereign. But, it eludes

Today’s Bible Reading: JOB 38:1-40:5   Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; What shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth.   We all have a tendency to compare ourselves to others. It is human nature to do so. We measure ourselves against others physically, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually and even morally. We analyze people in hopes of placing ourselves equal to, if not better than them in some way.   Job was caught in this comparison conundrum. His conversations with h

Today’s Bible Reading:  JOB 35:1-37:24 Job 36:23 Who has prescribed for him his way, or who can say, 'You have done wrong'?   There are times when we feel we need to tell someone what they need to do, whether they want our input or not. God moves in our lives. Sometimes we delight in His actions while at other times we despise them. We want to dictate the direction He should take our life. We want to tell Him what to do. We want to prescribe to Him what is best for us. Althou

Today’s Bible Reading:  JOB 32:1-34:37   Job 34: 32 teach me what I do not see; if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more'?   There are times in our lives when we are oblivious as to why certain things are happening. We are at a loss to comprehend the cause of our crisis. We can’t see what brought about the situation. We don’t understand why we are experiencing these events. We long for answers to our anguish.   Job was encountering enormous suffering. He knew that all th

Today’s Bible Reading:  JOB 30:1-31:40   Job 31:1 I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?   Our eyes are the inlet into our mind. What we gaze upon can develop us or defeat us. It can enhance us or entice us. What we see can stimulate our mind. Thus, it is essential to evaluate what enters our eyes. We must seek to let what we gaze upon bring glory to God.   Job was a man of great integrity. His friends had called his virtue into question. He n

That’s Wisdom Today’s Bible Reading: JOB 26:1-29:25   Job 28:28 And he said to man, “Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn from evil is understanding”   Wisdom can seem unattainable and understanding inaccessible, but they are not. Man searches for wisdom in many different ways. He exhausts much energy and effort in his quest to attain it. He invests countless resources to pursue it.   Inevitably all men’s efforts are ineffective in gaining true wisdom, bec

Treasured Today’s Bible Reading: JOB 22:1-25:6   Job 23:12 .  . . I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.   As we enter the fourth week of the New Year we must pause to evaluate how we are doing. For many, like me, we have committed at the first of the year to daily read the word of God. Some of us have stuck with it, but others have found that they struggle to continue. Somehow they got side-tracked. Oh the desire was there, but the diligence di

Today’s Bible Reading:  JOB 19:1-21:34   Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.    There is hope in our hard times when we know help is here. Trouble is bearable when we know that there is a Redeemer that lives and will come to our aid. It is this expectation that enables us to endure crisis. It is the promise of his power and presence that permits us to persevere through our pain.   Job affirmed that through all that he had

Today’s Bible Reading:  JOB 15:1-18:21   Job 16:4-5 I also could speak as you do, If your soul were in my soul's place. I could heap up words against you, And shake my head at you; But I would strengthen you with my mouth, And the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief.   We all want friends that can stand beside us when things befall us that we didn’t bargain for. Our hope is that they will help us to decipher our difficulty and speak words that would “ relieve our grie

Today’s Bible Reading: JOB 12:1-14:22 Job 12:9-10   Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.     Everything that happens in our life is by the hand of God. Our actions are under the sovereign control of the Lord. Our very life and breath are in His hands. Job understood this in the midst of his suffering when he exclaimed, “ the hand of the Lord has done this ”.   Ev

Today’s Bible Reading: JOB 8:1-11:20   Job 9:33 Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both.    When catastrophe comes upon us, we often have friends that come to console, comfort and counsel us in our crisis. Some understand and aid in our agony, others misunderstand and add further anguish to our suffering. Job’s “friends” came to sit with him in his suffering. Their intentions were sincere, but their statements were unsettling.   They misstated hi

Today’s Bible Reading: JOB 5:1-7:21 Job 5:17-18 Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal.    Discipline for the most part is not pleasant. It hurts. It is painful. But the pain is profitable. The chastisement of the Lord brings about change in our lives. It removes what is harmful and replaces it with what is Holy. The Lord brings it upon us then He binds

Today’s Bible Reading: JOB 1:1-4:21   Job 1:21 And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord."   We all suffer. For some the degree and duration of their suffering is far greater than others. Our encounters with suffering can elicit a myriad of misconceptions about God, casting doubt on God’s goodness and causing us to question God’s purpose for it. The book of Job

Today’s Bible Reading:  GENESIS 47:28-50:26 Genesis 50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.   Bad things happen. Evil encounters occur. But God can turn for good what is intended to harm. There is no question that what happen to Joseph was evil and wicked. His brothers meant to harm him. They acted with malice and forethought as they pulled him from the pit and sold him

Today’s Bible Readings:  GENESIS 45:16-47:27   Genesis 46:3 Then he said, "I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation.   There are times when change is needed and necessary. A change in scenery, a change of jobs, or a change in relationships, can be difficult. Change can strike doubt and fear pulsating through our being. Change can especially be taxing when we are settled and comfortable. Yet change, l

Today’s Bible Reading:  GENESIS 42:1-45:15 Genesis 45:8 So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.   Nothing happens by chance. All things are directed by the divine. We make choices. We decide what to do and where to go, but it is God who acts to accomplish His purpose. Our paths are under His plan. We choice where we want to live and work, but He moves the pieces of our life to place

Today’s Bible Reading: GENESIS 35:28-29, 40:1-41:57   Genesis 41:16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, "It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer."   There are times when we can’t see the end of a situation. There are moments when we can’t find a solution for our problem. We often ask others to help us understand what we can’t comprehend. Our hope is that they can give clarity to our concern. At times their answer seems reasonable, but often we remain confused.   Pharao

Today’s Bible Reading: GENESIS 37:1-39:23, 1 CHRONICLES 2:3-8 Genesis 39:10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.   Temptation will taunt us every day. Day after day, moment by moment it seeks to seduce us. There is not a day that goes by without temptation drawing us toward defeat. There is not a night that passes without it pressuring us to partake. Every moment of every day is its opportunity to entice us

Today’s Bible Reading:  GENESIS 36:1-43, 1 CHRONICLES 1:35-2:2   Gen 36:43 Magdiel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom), according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession.   The story of God’s people Israel is one of internal conflict. It is characterized by feuding family members and strife among siblings. It is one of privilege, pride and prominence. Esau was the first born. With it came a specific status, positioning

Today’s Bible Reading : GENESIS 32:1-35:27 Genesis 35:3 “Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone." -   Bethel was the place where Jacob (Israel) was met by God in his deepest fear and distress. He was escaping the threats of his brother and embarking into the unknown, when God came to him. He had left the comfortable for the uncertain when God appeare