For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    The way to avoid discord is to get rid of those who mock others. A wise leader seeks out those who surround themselves with honest people and speak graciously. Those who acquire knowledge before reaching a conclusion or making a plan will find that God guides their path, but those who act treacherously will find their plans constantly thwarted.

    We have heard what God did in the past. He granted victory to those who faithfully served Him. It was not their might, skill, or knowledge which led them to victory. It was God who destroyed their enemies, causing them to make mistakes and miscalculate at key junctures. In the same way, we will not be victorious because of our abilities. I know that my skills will not get me through. I will rely on God to bring about success. I know that if I do His will, I cannot fail.

    As we preach the Gospel, let us not use tricks or deception. Let us plainly state what it is we have to say. If anything about the Gospel is misunderstood, let it be because those listening took it out of context or chose to misinterpret our words, not because we attempted to slip something past those listening without them noticing. There is no need for us to keep parts of the Gospel a secret from those who do not choose to accept it. As I read this, I think of those groups and organizations which keep some of their teachings secrets for only those initiated into the group to know. That is not the way in which the followers of Jesus are to act.
    The followers of Jesus speak the Gospel message as a lamp in the darkness, visible to all who look. We speak the message from God as frail, imperfect people. The success of the Gospel message is not because of the strength and power of those who preach it. Any power which we have comes from God Himself, not from our feeble selves.

    Job’s other three friends argued that Job was being punished because he was a sinner. Elihu takes a different tack. He does not attempt to identify Job as a sinner. Rather he argues that God is wise and just. Elihu condemns Job, and anyone else who does the same, for claiming that God is causing him to suffer unjustly. Elihu was angry because Job had said that it was a waste of time to try to please God. Instead, we should confess to God our sins, if we know them, and promise to turn from them. If we do not know what we have done that is wrong, let us beg God to show us so that we can turn from those sins as well. God watches how people live, nothing is hidden from Him. God knows what evil people commit and hears the cries of the needy. He will bring justice on those who do wrong. Who are we to judge when God does not deliver the judgement we think others deserve?
    Elihu points out that, no matter what Job had done before, he sinned by speaking angry words about God and failing to respect the Almighty. The question is not “What is in it for me?” The question is, “What is the right thing to do?” I do not strive to do the right thing because I will be rewarded for doing so. I strive to do the right thing because it is the right thing…or at least, that is how I believe that I should act. We cannot tell God how to act and have no right to tell Him that He has done wrong. We cannot possibly understand the reasons God does what He does. So, let us praise Him for His mighty acts, recognizing that He will do what is right, even when we do not understand.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    When people begin promoting injustice, they are setting the stage for a calamity which will rebound upon them. The rage which they promote as a weapon against their opponents will break just as they need it most.
    In contrast, those who share their goods with those in need will be honoured. These two proverbs show two different ways in which people can seek to work with the poor. On one hand, we have those who encourage the poor to rage against those who have more and can be perceived as holding the poor back. Those who do this are not fighting injustice, they are promoting it. On the other hand, we have those who strive to aid the poor, giving of their time and resources to help the poor find their way out of poverty. The former will find that the rage they have generated as a tool or a weapon will break in their hands, leaving them defenseless against the attacks they have called upon themselves. The latter will be honoured.

    When everything and everyone seems to turn against you, seek out God. Follow the light of His word and depend on His loving care. Praise Him and the salvation that comes from Him. Then He will lead you to His holy place where you can take joy in Him once more. All may conspire against you, but if you follow God’s light their conspiracy will fail. Praise God, even when you feel depressed and He will bring you back to joy.

    If we are truly following Christ we do not need to tell others of our faithfulness. We do not need to write letters that describe how wonderful we are. Those that matter will know how God works through us and will pass that on to those who need to know. We can be confident in the same way in which Paul was confident. His confidence was not in his own ability. Rather, he was confident that God would accomplish His goals through him. Let us not trust in our own abilities, nor think that our success shows how wonderful we are. Let us instead trust in God and let our successes be evidence to those around us of how wonderful God is.
    Just as Paul was, we too have been made ministers of a new covenant, a new way to approach God. The old way was one based on following the letter of the Law. The new way is based on following the Spirit, which gave the Law in the first place. The Law arrived shiny and bright, but those attempting to follow it to the letter found they needed to cover it over. This resulted in the Talmudic tradition of putting a “fence around the Law.” They needed to come up with ever more convoluted regulations in order to avoid breaking the Law as things changed and the direct application of the letter of the Law became less obvious in the new circumstances. We, however, have the Spirit directing us. We do not seek to follow the letter of the Law, rather we seek to allow God’s Spirit to direct us to do His will. We do not need a “fence around the Law” because we are not seeking to follow the letter of the Law, rather we seek to follow the Spirit, who gave us that Law in the first place.

    Job finishes his final monologue with a list which sounds much like Jesus’ teachings, especially the parable of the sheep and the goats. Job lists off a list of sins which he has not committed. The majority of Job’s list is about treating others well and with respect. The only other sins he really mentions are greed, which he identifies as idolatry, and sexual immorality. This part of Job’s monologue is a good guide for us to live by.
    When Job is finished the youngest of his friends speaks. Elihu was angry because Job had justified himself rather than God, while the other three had failed to refute Job, yet they condemned him. Elihu had waited to allow his elders to speak first. However, wisdom comes from God, so those who are older are not always wiser than youth. Elihu answers Job’s complaints that God does not speak. God does indeed speak, sometimes in one way, other times in another. God uses many ways to speak to us. If we do not hear God speak, it is because we refuse to listen. God seeks to deliver His message to us so that we will turn from sin to the light and avoid the destruction which sin brings.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    Sin will lead us down a path with many painful obstacles and traps. If we value our lives we will avoid sin so as to avoid that path and those obstacles and traps.

    God will protect and preserve those who care for the weak and the poor. When times of trouble come upon them, God will rescue them. If we have the integrity to admit our sins, both to ourselves and to God, He will heal us and protect us from our enemies. We will know that God is pleased with us by the fact that our enemies do not triumph over us. Let us praise God all the time in all we do.

    Paul had planned on visiting the Church in Corinth. However, he heard about the situation he wrote about in 1 Corinthians 5 and decided not to visit, instead he wrote them a letter. His decision here can be a lesson for us. Paul decided to write rather than visit. He knew that if he went to Corinth at that time, people would react defensively to what he had to say. By writing, he could choose his words with more care and people would need to think about what he had said before they could respond. If Paul had said what he had to say in person, he may not have worded it as carefully, and people would have responded out of how it made them feel before they had time to think about the merits of what he said. Let us remember the importance of thinking about our words before we speak them, or commit them to writing.
    Paul then addresses the issue he had written about. Once the sinner had repented of his sin, the Church should embrace him once more and welcome him back among them. We should lovingly discipline those who sin in the congregation, then forgive them and welcome them with open arms when they repent of their sins.

    Job complains that he cannot find God to present himself before Him in order to make his case. Yet Job reminds us that if we listen to the words of God and store them in our minds, we will be able to stand before Him to face His judgement. Let us hold God’s words as more valuable than even food. Job wishes there were scheduled days of judgement when the wicked who oppress the weak and the powerless would face judgement for their actions. However, he recognizes that even so, God will bring judgement against them.
    Bildad responds to Job’s claims to innocence before God by asking rhetorically who can be truly right and good when confronted by the goodness of God. Bildad makes a good point here, however Job’s answer is one we should remember. How is pointing out their sinfulness comforting to someone who is suffering? There are times for pointing out someone’s sin to them, but that time is not when they are suffering (unless they are continuing to commit sins which are compounding their suffering). What is gained by pointing out to the man suffering and dying from AIDS that his previous actions led to his condition? Is it not better to seek to offer him what comfort we can?

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    No matter if we are rich or poor, God is our Creator. None of us can claim to have made ourselves, we are what God made us to be. If we are rich, let us use our riches to help those who are not. If we are poor, let us remember that the rich are no less God’s creatures than we.
    It is not cowardice, but wisdom, to take steps to mitigate risks. Only fools ignore the dangers and continue without altering their path. They will suffer the consequences.
    Those who fear the Lord are humble because they recognize that God is the source of all that is good.

    Without God’s help our sins will overwhelm us. We need God’s grace and power to turn aside from our sins. However, those who seek God will rejoice and be glad as His power allows them to overcome sin and live righteously. If we yield to God’s power, those who wish to see us fail will be shamed.

    We will experience troubles and difficulties as we seek to follow God’s will. If we suffer for following Christ, suffering some of the same pain which He experienced, we will also experience the comfort and joy which He experienced. The troubles we experience, and the comfort God provides us from those troubles, allow us to comfort others who experience troubles. There will be times when the difficulties we face are greater than we can bear. When that happens we must turn our lives and troubles over to God, becoming fully dependent on Him. God will deliver us from troubles which are beyond our ability to cope, showing us that the tasks He sets before us can only be accomplished through His power, not by our own human strength.

    Job’s friends became so caught up in convincing him that his suffering was a result of his sins that they forgot that the purpose of their visit was to bring him comfort. This is all too often a human failing. We become more interested in winning the argument than accomplishing the purpose that led us to make our original point. Let us keep our eye on the prize and remember that God will offer comfort in times of trouble to anyone who turns to Him. Let us do likewise.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    No matter how well you know the situation, how wisely planned your actions, no matter how well-crafted and chosen your words, your plans will fail if they are counter to the will of God. We need to prepare for the battles we will face, but recognize that, no matter how well prepared, victory will only come if we are fighting on God’s side.

    When we strive to avoid sinning by what we say, remaining silent is not an option. Let us speak only that which is good and cry out to God for His forgiveness and guidance. Our lives are short, we have but a little time to do God’s will, let us not waste it.

    Paul continues his arguments for believing in the resurrection of the dead. He points out that if we do not believe in the resurrection than we may as well live by the philosophy of “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” If this life is all that there is, we may as well seek all the pleasure we can find and put no effort into anything else.
    Paul then addresses another argument about the resurrection. When we are raised from the dead, our bodies will be different than the bodies we have on this earth. Our current bodies break down and decay, they are subject to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. However, the bodies we will have after the resurrection will be imperishable, no longer subject to breakdown and decay. It is when this transformation happens that Christ’s victory over death will be fully realized. We will see a place where death and decay no longer hold sway over life.

    Job responds to the lectures he receives from his friends by reminding them that he knows what they know, that he is every bit their equal. He has seen what they have seen and understands what they have understood. He asks his friends to hear the arguments he would like to lay before God. Job tells them not to meet his arguments with lies and warns them that God will call them to account if they do.
    I always struggle with the middle portion of the book of Job. I know there are important things to be learned here, but it is hard to be sure what, since at the end of the book God confronts most of the characters in the book for what they said. However, today I noticed something important. Job warns his friends against lying in order to make the case against him. We should be careful not to ever attempt to make the case for God and the Gospel with things that are not true.
    When we come to offer comfort to those who are suffering, let us always be honest and truthful. We should not attempt to make them feel better by telling them things that are not true, nor should we attempt to convince them to accept the Gospel as a sure fire relief for their physical suffering. Further, we should not have the attitude that we are better than they or wiser than they. We are all equal before God. It is more important that we allow those who are suffering to express their pain and anguish than it is to offer them answers to their troubles.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    These two parables are more closely linked than they at first appear. Those who rely on the word of the wicked will believe and testify to things which are not true, but those who listen carefully will be able to distinguish between the bravado of the wicked and the confidence of the righteous. The wicked will put up a false front while the righteous will think carefully before assessing a problem.

    The psalmist recognizes that he is suffering because he sinned against God, but has turned back to God and begged His forgiveness. The wicked will seize upon our every misstep and attempt to use it against us in order to discredit whatever good we have done. If we confess our sins and turn to God, He will come to our rescue and aid us in accomplishing His will.

    In this passage Paul gives us the core of the Gospel message, without which everything else is worthless. Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day. If there is no resurrection from the dead than the Gospel message is null and void. If no one rises from the dead, than Jesus did not rise from the dead. If those who preached the Gospel from the beginning were lying about the resurrection, than they are liars, not teachers of a great moral philosophy. Moreover, while the message being taught by Paul and the Christian Church today has value to us in this life, if this life is all there is, it is a terrible tragedy to accept suffering in order to be faithful to the message.
    However, Jesus did indeed rise from the dead. As a result, all of those who worship and follow Him will be raised from the dead when He returns. When the time is fulfilled and everything has been made subject to Christ, He will make entropy (which is, in a way, another word for death) no more.

    The book of Job is a great example of the importance of reading the Bible through regularly. Job’s friends say some things which have the ring of truth. Job’s friends repeatedly tell him that if only he would confess his sins and get right with God, all would be well. Certainly, it is good advice to tell someone to confess their sins and get right with God. However, Job repeatedly asks them to point out what sins he had committed. Job goes further and tells us that it is not possible for anyone to be truly righteous before God. Job asks the question that we all ask at some point, to one degree or another, wouldn’t we be better off if we were never born if we are going to suffer this much? This part of Job is the perfect counterpoint to the point which Paul was making about resurrection in today’s passage. Life is truly not worth living if this life is all that there is.