Job 35-37

“I will ascribe justice to my Maker” (36:3). Elihu believed in God’s creative power and justice, yet he imagined God as indifferent to His creation. While some might believe in a great Power who is unaffected by our actions (36:5), the Bible shows us a divine Father who grieves over sin and bears the cost of our salvation. And rather than a simple “karma” worldview in which good people are always successful (36:9), the Bible shows us righteous people who suffer, including God’s own Son.

The Bible testifies that the God “beyond our understanding” (36:26) revealed His character through Israel’s story and, clearly and finally, in the Son (Hebrews 1:1). We can know His justice and experience His abundant mercy.

Job 32-34

“For God does speak—now one way, now another—though no one perceives it” (33:14). While Job felt that God was silent and had arbitrarily treated him as an enemy, Elihu declared that Job probably just wasn’t listening very well. Elihu believed (rightly) that God sends messages and even divine messengers to warn people and call them to repentance (23,29). However, Elihu went beyond confidence in God to judging Job; his insistence that Job was sinful (34:8) only made Job’s pain worse.

“It is unthinkable that God would do wrong ...” (34:12). We can be certain of God’s goodness and wisdom and yet be slow to judge others. We can trust the Almighty Himself to answer at the right time.

Job 29-31

“How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me ...” (29:1). Although Job’s case is extreme, most adults have at times looked back and wished for the good days of the past. Job remembered when he was a hard-working, influential, respected man, with his children around him and a life “drenched with cream” (29:6). He felt that those blessings were signs of God’s “intimate friendship” and favor (29:4) and that his hard times were punishment.

“I cry out to you God, but you do not answer” (30:20). Our difficulties do not mean God is punishing us or has withdrawn His favor. Through trials, we experience His “intimate friendship” in deeper ways.

II Corinthians 9

“Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness” (10). Just as Jesus said not to worry, but to seek first His kingdom, Paul taught that God supplies what we need so we can participate in His good purposes in the world. Confident in the Lord, we have the ability to care for others.

“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (8). God wants us to serve without exhaustion, drawing on His abundant resources and love.

II Corinthians 8

“Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means” (11). God desires us to be generous givers and, when needed, humble receivers. “At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need” (14). The important thing is not the amount, but “eager willingness” and “completion”. Paul encouraged the Corinthians not to just talk about giving, but to do it (10-12).

Our model is Jesus, who “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor ...” (9). Because we are loved, forgiven, and secure, we can give generously for the sake of others.

II Corinthians 7

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret,but worldly sorrow brings death” (1). Rather than bringing shame, Paul’s pastoral letter led to the Corinthian’s repentance and restoration. Paul genuinely wanted the Corinthians to mature spiritually, purifying themselves and pursuing holiness (1), especially in their relationships. He knew what a great source of pain broken relationships could be and, on the contrary, the joy of godly friendships. Distressed by “conflicts without, fears within”, Paul himself had been comforted by the arrival of Titus (5-7).

“I am greatly encouraged” (4). Sincere and loyal friendships within the Body of Christ are God’s way of bringing us hope and comfort, especially in the midst of trials.

Psalm 95

“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker” (6). Israel’s worship and obedience were rooted in the knowledge that God is the “great King” and “our Maker”, not a magical power to be manipulated. Amazingly, the Creator of heaven, earth, and sea wants us to know him; he is our guiding, loving, Shepherd, and we are “the flock under his care” (7). Refusing God’s care and rejecting his instructions about life are sins that separate us from him (8-11).

“Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation” (1). Worship flows from our ongoing, daily, grateful dependence on the Creator who sent his Son to save us.

Psalm 94

“Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord, the one you teach from your law” (12). The psalmist was sure that God would ultimately judge every kind of evil (1,6), so we are “blessed” when God reveals His righteousness and corrects our path now (23). Our lives will not be evaluated by other people, but by the One who created us (9). Mercifully, God teaches us His good ways to save us from “days of trouble” (13).

“When I said, ‘My foot is slipping,’ your unfailing love, Lord, supported me” (18). When we admit our stumbles and struggles, God is quick to help. His desire is not to condemn, but to save us and put us on the right path.

Job 26-28

“But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell?” (28:12). One thing Job and his friends agreed on is that humanity is not the source of real wisdom. Made in God’s image, humans can and do discover hidden treasure, like deep mining that produces lapis lazuli and “nuggets of gold” (28:6). Yet divine wisdom “cannot be bought with the finest of gold” (28:15). God’s awesome knowledge is infinite; we see only “the outer fringe of his works” (26:14).

“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom” (28:28). Thankfully, we don’t have to look to ourselves or others for the key to life. The God who created the universe invites us to call Him Father and Lord.

Job 22-25

“But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him” (23:8). Job expressed his genuine frustrations with his own situation and the world (24:12-13), while his friends continued to spout easy ‘answers’. Eliphaz was convinced that Job was being punished and recommended that he “submit to God ... in this way prosperity will come to you” (22:1). Job had no answers, just stubborn faith.

“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (23:8-10). We often don’t see or understand our path, but God does. We can trust that He is beside us, wise and caring, to the end.

II Corinthians 6

“For we are the temple of the living God” (16). Our identity as God’s temple and His sons and daughters through Christ (18) has implications for holy behavior (14-17). Our identity also means that we follow Jesus’ pattern of servanthood in the world (4). Like our Messiah, our trust in God is tested and revealed when we experience both “glory and dishonor” as well as “troubles, hardships and distresses” (8, 4). We also reflect Him through “purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love” (6).

Secure in the love and care of God, we can live confidently for Him in the world without desperate grasping or self-obsession: “having nothing, yet possessing everything” (10)

II Corinthians 5:11-21

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation ...” (18). Paul believed that when we are reconciled to God through Christ, we immediately become agents and ambassadors of reconciliation. This chain reaction starts with “God reconciling the world to himself in Christ” (19), and it continues because “Christ’s love compels us”: the love we receive from God spills over (14). What God has done for us, we long to see Him do for others.

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors ...” (20). Through generations and round the world, the chain reaction continues. As imperfect as we are, God works through our words and our lives to make Jesus known.

II Corinthians 5:1-10

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven ...” (1). More than modern people, the Corinthians saw death around them daily. Paul reassured them that their longings for their “heavenly tent” would one day be satisfied, when “what is mortal is swallowed up by life” (4). Our earthly lives matter, but something better is coming.

“Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (5). The resurrection-life already at work in us through the Spirit will be complete when we are “with the Lord” (8).

Psalm 93

“The Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength; indeed, the world is established, firm and secure” (1). Because our Creator is majestic and powerful, our entire world is secure. The psalmist saw the same trouble and chaos around him that we see, yet he lifted his eyes to the One whose “throne was established long ago ... from eternity” (2). Although the “pounding seas” and “great waters” – frightening earthly forces – threaten, we know God’s throne is unshakeable, and His salvation plan endures.

“Your statutes, Lord, stand firm” (5). Nothing can change God’s Word or His love. No matter our inward or outward chaos, He upholds the universe and makes our lives secure.

Job 20-21

“Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?” (21:7). While Job’s friend Zophar repeated the commonsense view that evil people have terrible lives (ch 20), Job pointed out that, sometimes, wicked people seem to be very successful. Job himself lived righteously yet lost everything; meanwhile, he saw wicked people still surrounded by their children and wealth (21:8-9). He considered Zophar’s words “nonsense” in light of his own experience (21:34).

“Can anyone teach knowledge to God ...?” (21:22). God gives us principles to live by, but not a ‘formula’ through which we can control the future. In an unpredictable world, He wants us to find our security in Him.

Job 17-19

“God has made me a byword to everyone, a man in whose face people spit” (17:6). Job faced not just physical suffering and grief, but also the loss of his reputation as a successful man who was favored by God. His future had been secure through his wealth and his children, but now his plans were “shattered” (17:11). He no longer commanded respect, only scorn, pity, and the suspicion that he had brought disaster on himself (ch 18). Yet, Job persisted in faith: “I know that my Redeemer lives” (19:25).

“I myself will see Him ... how my heart yearns within me!” (19:27). Our present may be difficult and our future uncertain, but our Redeemer lives, and He will not forsake us.

Job 15-16

“My face is red with weeping, dark shadows ring my eyes; yet my hands have been free of violence and my prayer is pure” (16:16-17). Job, holding on to his integrity, cried out to God about his suffering. He accused God of attacking him, “wearing him out” and causing his devastation (16:6-9), yet he did not turn to the available idols or reject God. Job’s friends were scandalized: “Why do your eyes flash, so that you vent your rage against God?” (15:12-13).

“My eyes pour out tears to God” (16:12). Job’s friends were shocked by his confrontational prayers, but God was not. When we come to Him with our honest thoughts and feelings, He welcomes us.

II Corinthians 4

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (7). God chooses to shine the glorious light o Jesus in and through us, fragile “jars of clay”. We can live confidently, knowing He is with us, yet we still experience the bumps and bruises of human life. “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (8-9).

Because Jesus has given us himself, our hope is secure even through troubles. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (16).

II Corinthians 3

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” (18). The old covenant between Israel and God was glorious but transitory, and Moses veiled his face so the Israelites wouldn’t see the glory fading away (7-11). But now, Jesus has opened the way into the new covenant of the Spirit (6). By faith, we can have fellowship with the Lord face to face, forever. As we see him more clearly, his holiness, love, and beauty change us.

“You are a letter from Christ ...” (3). God writes his commitment to us not on stone, but on our hearts, where Christ dwells and does his work.

II Corinthians 2

“For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing” (15). Paul did everything possible to further Jesus’ work among the Corinthians, even to the extent of correcting them. He took the task of forming them into Christ’s image seriously, experiencing “great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears” as he wrote and prayed for them (4). He knew some would listen, and some would not, but his goal was to be “an aroma that brings life” (16).

God calls us to be “the pleasing aroma of Christ” whatever we do, wherever we are. His life in us draws others to want to know Him.