Are you able to number all the works of God?
27 Jun 26
Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year One
Readings:
Job 10
Job 11
Job 12
Acts 8:1-25
He does great things past finding out, yes, wonders without number (Job 9:10).
Are you able to number all the works of God?
The works of the Lord are innumerable. David uses Job’s term “finding out,” which means to inquire or to search, in Psalm 145:3, and is translated as “unsearchable.” He pens, “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3). Isaiah concurs with Job and David about the vastness of God’s resources. He asks and answers, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable” (Isaiah 40:28). Likewise, Paul ponders, “How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). Let’s stand in awe of God like Job, David, Isaiah, and Paul.
Employment Point: Probe the works of the Lord and marvel at His unlimited power.
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Reflections
We can only marvel and be in awe of how great our Lord is. The one who is the Lord over the heavens and the earth, but still cares enough for each and every one of us. His name is to be praised. All thanks be to God.
“Are not my few days almost over? Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy before I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and utter darkness,”Job 10:20-21 NIV
- Job was in much suffering and he somehow felt that he had not done anything to deserve this. He felt that his days are numbered and wished for a little bit of joy before his death. Because of what he been through, he felt that he will be going to hell but still hope that the Lord have mercy on him.
- I felt this like a reminder to myself too, that even in utter darkness, there is sometimes still that glimpse of hope. There may still be light at the end of the tunnel. Do not lose hope, for true hope is in the Almighty God and He never fails
““Yet if you devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him, if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then, free of fault, you will lift up your face; you will stand firm and without fear.”
Job 11:13-15 NIV
- Again, another of Job’s friend, Zophar, assumed that it was sin that caused Job to suffer. He felt that Job was reaping what he sowed-evil. We know that is not true.
- A reminder to us too to never assume things or even when things go wrong, it was always because of sin. Remember Jesus’s disciples asked Jesus a question on who sin when a man is blind and His answer. We need to not condemn anyone who is in troubles. Some troubles or tribulations are allowed for our growth. Perhaps that may also be the only way we will learn because we are too stubborn. May Lord have mercy on us.
““But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?”
Job 12:7-9 NIV
- Whatever Job’s friends said, Job has the understanding that the Lord is sovereign and has full control over all things on earth for we are all formed in his own image. He understands that nobody can change whatever the Lord has decreed and his reply to Zophar was that all that the Lord does He knows, even when we do not understand. Thus, we ought to have the mentality to just let God be God. We can intercede and pray for grace and mercy but we cannot control His will. Help us Father to continue to trust in You in Your Sovereign Power over all things and rejoice always.
“When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.”Acts 8:18-21 NIV
- the bible and the cross has always taught us to be right with God, then we can be right with man. Simon may be a believer but he does not know better. He was initially just being in awe of the wonders and things that Philip can do and he wanted those things as well since he was a sorcerer.
- It may not be wrong to want gifts but the right heart would be one who seek the Lord first and nothing else. What does the Lord not know about us and how are we saved if not for the grace of God? There is nothing we can do to earn anything. All these are precious gifts from God that cannot be measured in monetary terms
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Personal Deliverance
BY OSWALD CHAMBERS
June 27
“Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. — Jeremiah 1:8
In the book of Jeremiah, God poses a question with a terrifying answer: “Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. For I will bring disaster on all people.” But he also makes a promise: “Wherever you go I will let you escape with your life” (Jeremiah 45:5). This is all God promises his children—that wherever he sends us, he will guard our lives. Our personal possessions are a matter of indifference to him; we have to hold them loosely. If we don’t, there will be panic and heartbreak and distress.
God is equally indifferent to our sense of what we deserve. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus suggests that when we are on his errands, there is no time to stand up for ourselves or to worry about whether people are treating us justly: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (Matthew 5:11). To look for justice for ourselves is to be distracted from devotion to our Lord. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it.
If we are devoted to Jesus Christ, we know that we have no control over what we encounter. Our Lord’s message for us is this: “Keep working steadily at what I’ve told you to do, and I will guard your life. If you try to guard it yourself, you will remove yourself from my deliverance.” The most devout among us become atheistic in this regard. Rather than believing in God, we enthrone common sense and tack God’s name onto it. We lean on our own understanding, instead of trusting him with all our heart.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
We are not fundamentally free; external circumstances are not in our hands, they are in God’s hands, the one thing in which we are free is in our personal relationship to God. We are not responsible for the circumstances we are in, but we are responsible for the way we allow those circumstances to affect us; we can either allow them to get on top of us, or we can allow them to transform us into what God wants us to be.
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Reflections
That indeed He will bless our lives. Nothing that we possess is worth anything in heaven. Only the things that will build rewards in heavens do and none of those can be achieved by anything bought on earth. If love, joy, peace and other fruit of the spirit can be bought, none of these would be worthy any more. it is because all these things are what we learn as a child of God, ministering to the people we meet, helping them to know who Jesus is. It was never who we are.
“To look for justice for ourselves is to be distracted from devotion to our Lord. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it.”- Who may you think is the real judge in this world? It is definitely not you and me but our Lord God Almighty. We need to trust that His judgement is always correct and not to question His judgment as well. Justice is not what we think it is. It is what the Lord makes it to be. But may we, as children of God, be able to act justly in the name of Christ Jesus.
The message to us is to keep working steadily at what He has told us to do. Nothing more nothing less. But I think we may have the tendency to try to things ourselves instead of waiting for His instructions. Generally, I believe we are not as patient as Abraham who waited years for Issac. We would be more like Sara who wanted to fulfil God’s purpose by our own means. It is a reminder to myself too, to not rush into things but let things flow. He will always guide us at the right time and open doors for us. There’s no need for us to keep trying to find our way out.
Let’s pray:
Father Lord, just want to say thank You. For reminding us not to ‘chiong’ ahead of You, but to keep in pace with You. Thank You Father, that we can totally lean on You and not worry or be anxious about our future. All praise and thanks be to You O Lord. In Jesus’s name we ask and pray. Amen 🙏🏻
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