God is committed to our perfection

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: Job 12-15; Psalm 138

TO CHEW ON: “The LORD will perfect that which concerns me.” Psalm 138:8

David drives a big stake of faith to anchor the tent of his life here when he declares: “God will perfect that which concerns me.”

The word perfect here is the Hebrew word gamar which has two meanings: 1] to come to an end, be no more, cease; and 2] to bring to an end, finish, accomplish, perfect, perform, fulfill. Twice (in the Old Testament) it takes that second meaning, referring to the completing, finishing and perfecting of God’s work in one’s life (Psalm 57:2 and Psalm 138:8)

The author of the word studies in my Bible explains:

“The idea is that God begins to work out His purposes in the life of His servant and continues His work until it is absolutely and completely done” - Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 792.

At least two New Testament writers echo that promise.
Paul writes:

“Being confident of this very thing; that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” - Philippians 1:6.

Peter writes:

“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you” - 1 Peter 5:10.

I don’t like the idea of suffering, of having myself hammered into shape (Romans 8:29), of going through tests and exercises meant to strengthen and perfect me any more than the next person. But knowing that God is in these things, that He knows just the amount of stress, tension, stretching, discomfort, pain, inconvenience needed to “perfect that which concerns me” is a huge comfort to me—and I hope to you too.
 
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for Your commitment to me. Help me to cooperate with you, learning and growing and becoming more like Jesus at every stage of this perfecting process. Amen.
 
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 138

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.

The mystery of pain

"Job and his False Friends" - Jean Fouquet (1420-1477/81)

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Job 33:1-30

TO CHEW ON: " ' Behold God works all these things.' " - Job 33:29

It's fascinating to note that in this book that may date back to the time of Abraham (its date and authorship are uncertain), Job and his friends are wrestling with the question "Why does bad stuff happen to us?" in much the same way we do today.

In our reading Elihu, a young man, speaks up after Job's three older friends Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar have had their say and Job has answered them. Elihu gives his thoughts on why we suffer. Some of his points:

• We may never know. God isn't obliged to tell us - Job 33:13.

• "God may speak in one way or in another …. In order to turn man from his deed..." - Job 33:14-17. Elihu mentions some means God may use, like dreams and visions, to deliver His message.

• These divine communications are meant, in the end, to discipline and humble us. Sometimes, unbeknownst to us, they keep us out of harm's way - Job 33:17-18.

• Pain and illness chasten us and drive us to God - Job 33:19-24.

• God heals in response to prayer - Job 33:24-26.

•  Confession of sin is part of returning to God, in order that we may be saved from an even greater disaster - Job 33:26-28.

All these many years later, we, like Job and his peers, continue to question and seek for answers to pain, sickness, natural disasters, accidents, etc. And like these ancients, we still come to the conclusion that these things are a mystery; we don't understand.

But we can content ourselves with one thing: "God works all these things." Let that fact about the God, who has said about His people: "Behold I have loved you with an everlasting love…" (Jeremiah 31:3), be enough.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to trust Your love and good intentions toward me when I think I understand what You are allowing in my life, and when I don't. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

No More!

"... New Jerusalem ... prepared as a bride..." Rev. 21:2

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Revelation 21:1-7

TO CHEW ON: "'And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.'" Revelation 21:4


Our reading today is so rich, it's hard to pick out one idea on which to focus. But the "no more"s listed here have their hands up and are waving wildly, so let's take a minute to ponder them and a few more found in Revelation. These are things that will have no place, that are no more in the "new heaven and a new earth" that God has prepared.

No more sea - Revelation 21:1

Hmm, interesting. But I love the sea—from a place of safety, of course, when on land looking at its beauty and appreciating its place in the water cycle. Of course the sea is also the source of much heartache, taking the lives of sailors, sweeping coastal communities away in its storm surges and tsunamis. In God's wisdom our new home, that 'holy city," will have no more sea.

No sorrow. No crying - Revelation 21:4

"Sorrow" and "crying" stand in for a host of experiences and emotions from disappointment to devastation, having hurt feelings to experiencing the pain of abuse and separation. All the things that would make us sorrowful and cause us to cry will someday be NO MORE!

No pain - Revelation 21:4

No more physical pain that makes us grit our teeth to go on, or confines us to beds or wheelchairs. There will be no more psychological and emotional pain either—that pain that drives people to depression or to seek the bitterest of relief in addictions or obsessions.

No curse - Revelation 22:3.

What curse? The curse spoken of in Genesis 3:17-19, of obstacle-filled yet necessary work that seems so pointless when it leads, in the end, to us joining the ground we spent our whole lives tilling.

No night - Revelation 22:5

No dark to stumble around in, a cover for evil. Perhaps no more need to sleep.

No death - Revelation 21:4

No more untimely separations from those we love.

What a future to contemplate!

PRAYER: Dear God, it's hard to even imagine a future without things like sorrow, pain, crying, obstacles, death. I love Your guarantee: "I make all things new." Help me to remember this when events in my life cause me to become disheartened and weary, even distraught and panicked. Amen.

MORE: No More Night sung by David Phelps

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New King James Version (NKJV) Used with permission. The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.