Compelled to Speak – Job 32 – 2025 Day 79

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Job 32, Psalm 47

Have you ever overheard someone slander or misrepresent your mom or dad, your brother or sister, your husband or child or friend? Did you speak up to defend them, to correct the false information?

That is kinda the situation that Elihu is in here, except this time the person being misrepresented is God Himself. Elihu has listened carefully and patiently long enough, and now he’s got to speak up.

For I am full of words;
the spirit within me
constrains me.
Behold, my belly is like wine
that has no vent;
like new wineskins ready to burst.
I must speak,
that I may find relief;
I must open my lips and answer.

Job 32:18-20 ESV

We, too, must know when to wait patiently in silence, but we must also know when to speak up! May we not give way to cowardice under the guise of humility. Rather, we must courageously, gently, respectfully speak the words that the Spirit gives us to speak.

As a child of God, we should feel compelled to speak up when our Heavenly Father’s character or His Word are misrepresented. How dare we stand idly by and let our Lord’s Name be sullied or spoiled! Like Peter and John said when they were commanded to stop telling people about the risen Christ, “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20)

Truly, my love for Christ – and His love for me – compels, controls, constrains me to implore others to be reconciled to God. I hope you feel the same way. Let me encourage you to take a few minutes of your time right now to read 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 to learn more about being an ambassador for Christ.

Will you pray with me?

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for Your loving kindness and mercy towards me, a sinner. I pray that I would be an ambassador for Your kingdom, sharing the good news of reconciliation that Your Son made possible by His blood.

Help me to be gentle, respectful, humble, and patient… And help me to be bold and courageous, not giving way to fear and cowardice. May my love for You compel me to speak up when You are slandered and may my love for others compel me to tell them their desperate need for a Savior. In the Name of Jesus Christ my Savior and Lord I pray, Amen.

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“I will sing of my Redeemer” – Fernando Ortega

Sins of Commission and Sins of Omission – Job 31 – 2025 Day 78

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Job 31, Psalm 46

In this chapter, Job makes his final defense against his friend’s accusations. Again and again, Job says, “If I have…,” e.g., “I haven’t!”

Today I was struck that mankind’s propensity toward sin hasn’t changed all that much since Job was alive several thousand years ago. We still lust after women and wealth. We still lie and deceive. We still cheat the poor and forsake the widow and orphan.

I was also thinking about how often we only think about the sin of things that we do, sins of “commission,” yet Job also talks about the things that we leave undone, sins of “omission.” Have you ever considered the fact that not helping the poor, the outcast, the widow, the fatherless, might actually be a sin?

I wonder how often we, as the body of Christ, have sinned in turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the poor. How have we abdicated our responsibility to help the needy, expecting the local, state, and national government to do what God has charged the church to do?

Heavenly Father, please give us wisdom, day after day, that we might be Your hands and feet here on earth until we’re taken to heaven. Help us to see those areas where we are falling short, sinning in what we are failing to do. May we not hide behind our church attendance or time spent in Your Word, thinking that gives us some kind of a free pass to not actually do the works that You’ve called us to do. Make us willing ambassadors for Your kingdom, both in what we do and what we don’t do. Keep us free from the love of money. Keep our hearts free from lust and jealousy and envy and deceit. Make us neighbor-lovers and Savior-servers. Make us pipelines of the grace that we have abundantly received from You. In the Almighty Name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

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Instruments of Peace

Secondary Effects of Loss – Job 29-30 – 2025 Day 77

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Job 29-30, Psalm 45

“Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me, when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness, as I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent, when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were all around me, when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!”

– Job 29:2-6 ESV

“But now they laugh at me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.”

– Job 30:1 ESV

Job once enjoyed the praise of men. He was once the helper of the afflicted. But now he must endure the disdain even of the “rabble,” the common people, of his community. I’m afraid that is a very common secondary effect of loss, the loss of praise (and companionship) from those around you.

The grief-stricken often feel abandoned by whoever has passed, whether their husband or child or parent or sibling, but they also must wrestle through feelings of abandonment by God. To then experience the loss of their place in their community or “friend circle,” is to heap grief upon grief.

In reading through Job, I want to apply what I’m reading to how I treat my friends who are going through loss. I want to be better at reaching out and walking with them. How about you?

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, thank You for all of Your grace. You are impartial. You do not love us better when we are enjoying the praise of man. You do not love us better when our houses are full of children and laughter. You are with us in the dark and trying times. I pray that I would go and do likewise. Help me to draw near to the brokenhearted, to be close to those who are in times of deep distress. Help me to hear these words of Job and apply them to my own life. In the name of Christ I pray, Amen.

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“Nearer my God to Thee” – Acapella

Where Can Wisdom be Found? – Job 28 – 2025 Day 76

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Job 28; Psalm 44

I remember one time when I was playing hide and seek with my 20-month-old granddaughter. It wasn’t hard to spot her crouching next to the oversized arm chair in the living room with her thin, blond, wavy hair peeking up over the back, and her mauve hiking boots sticking out under the seafoam curtains in her bedroom. But what about wisdom … Where can wisdom be found? Like Job wrote in today’s passage of Job 28.

But where shall wisdom
be found?
And where is the place of understanding?

Job 28:12

As an atheist, I prided myself in my own intellect as well as my open-mindedness. I see now my shortcomings in both. I didn’t really research what Christians had to say. In fact, I’d never even really studied the Bible. How could I be so sure that Christianity was just a myth made up by simple-minded people when I didn’t really even know what they believed? And I was anything but open-minded. I had already made up my mind – I was right and they were wrong.

True wisdom will never be found by searching the hearts and minds of men. True wisdom – knowing what is right and knowing the best way to reach it – is only found in the mind of God. God’s wisdom is totally unlike man’s wisdom. If you want to be wise, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. (Job 28:28)

1 Corinthians 1:17-2:16 is a gold mine on this topic. I especially love 1 Corinthians 1:20-24.

Where is the one who is wise?

Where is the scribe?

Where is the debater of this age?

Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

1 Corinthians 1:20-24

Heavenly Father,

I need Your divine wisdom to fill my heart and mind and to guide me in all my ways. I pray that I will trust in You with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding. I pray for the many people I know who have not yet surrendered their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ, turning away from their sins and trusting in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of their sins. This does, indeed, sound foolish to the natural man, but, Father, Your ways are so much higher and better than ours.

You are God and God alone. Grow our faith and make us courageous messengers for the good news of the gospel! Make us heralds of Your gospel that many will know You and glorify Your name!

In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

“Christ our Wisdom” – Sovereign Grace

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Praise the One who Gives Me Breath – Job 26-27 – 2025 Day 75

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Job 26-27, Psalm 43

Let’s just ponder this one verse from today’s reading.

With whose help
have you uttered words,
and whose breath has come out from you?

Job 26:4 ESV

On the sixth day of creation, the Lord breathed into the first man, Adam, the breath of life (Genesis 2:7) and He’s been doing it ever since. Why are we so prideful, so self-sufficient, thinking that we are independent creatures who don’t need God? Truly, what do I have that I haven’t been given? Even the very breath in my lungs is a gift from God.

And to think of the gift of language, of thinking and speaking and communicating – with God and with others – oh, what a gift! As an educator for the deaf, I witnessed first-hand how desperately children and parents desire to communicate, whether using gestures or sounds or facial expressions. My 100-lb Aussie-Labradoodle moose-dog is about as smart as animals come, but he can’t communicate nearly so well as my 20-month old granddaughter. God has given mankind a unique gift in the gift of language, so that we can hear from Him and speak to Him like none of the other creatures He has made on earth.

Psalm 150, the final psalm, is a psalm of praise, praising God with trumpets and harps and strings and pipes, praising Him with dancing and loud crashing cymbals, but oh the gift of singing words of praise and making declarations of spoken praise, telling of His mighty deeds! The Lord has put breath in my lungs and with it I will praise Him! As the final verse of the final psalm says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150:6) Will you join me in declaring aloud His greatness?!

Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, giver of life and breath, You are worthy of all our praise! You created the sun and moon and stars by Your will and by Your word. You hung the earth on nothing. You created the seas and everything in them. You created the earth and the sky and everything that fills them. What is man that you are mindful of us?

You are worthy of every word of worship, every song of praise, every beat of the drum, every blast of the trumpet, every clang of the cymbal. You are worthy! You are holy and mighty and good. All your ways are right and all Your ways are just.

We worship You in the glory of Your presence. We ask that You would make us vessels of Your glory and grace. We ask that You would make us declarers of Your praise! Use us, Lord! By the sacrifice of Your Son, we have been made temples of Your Holy Spirit. Make us pure and holy vessels for You.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Lord, we pray. Amen.

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Great are You Lord

Redeeming Love – Job 25 – 2025 Day 74

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Job 25, Psalm 42

I hope your Bible is open as you’re reading this. If it is, you’ll notice that Job 25 is only six verses long, yet it’s so rich that I just let it take me on rabbit trails rather than continuing to read further in Job. In fact, I pretty much studied just one verse.

How then can man be
in the right before God?

How can he who is born
of woman be pure?

Job 25:4 ESV

I opened my trusty Blue Letter Bible app. If you don’t have it, I would highly encourage you to get it. It is free to download and absolutely chock-full of great tools and resources.

First, I looked at cross-references – there was a list of over a dozen. Read through these and let them sink in.

Cross-referenced verses from Job 25:4

Then I used the interlinear feature to study the words “right” and “pure.”

I noticed that “right” – sadaq – can mean to be just, righteous … or to be made just or declared righteous, while “pure” – zaka – can mean to be clean, pure … or to be made clean and pure. And then I noticed that zaka – “pure” – is also used in Psalm 119:9, so I went there!

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.

With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!

Psalm 119:9-12 ESV

Whew! I found so much meat and encouragement by chasing all those rabbit trails from just one verse. Don’t be afraid to do that. You never know where the Lord will lead you.

Let’s pray!

Heavenly Father, thank you for making me pure and making me clean. Such were some of us … such was I, but I have been washed and cleansed in the blood of Jesus.

Lord, I pray that I would keep my ways and my mind pure by keeping them in accordance with Your Word. May I be careful where my feet walk. Help me to think about what I’m thinking about.

Thank You for the purifying, redeeming, cleansing, justifying blood of Jesus Christ, Your only Son and my only Lord and Savior. It is in His name that I pray. Amen.

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Nothing but the Blood of Jesus
Psalm 42 (Loudest Praise) – Shane and Shane

Praying the Book of Job – Job 23-24 – 2025 Day 73

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Job 23-24, Psalm 40

I had a friend comment recently that Job is hard to read. Amen, sister. Job is indeed very hard to read. Sometimes I just focus on one thought from Job and meditate on it. I also like to use the words in Job as a springboard for prayer. Let’s try a few verses of that today.

Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.

Job 23:8-10 ESV

Heavenly Father, Sometimes it seems like You’re not there. Sometimes I can’t feel You or see You and it feels like You’ve abandoned me. Help me to remember the truth: You will never leave me or forsake me. You have made me Your sheep and I am Yours. It is me – not You – who is prone to wander, prone to leave the God I love. Thank You that You always know the way that I take, that I cannot escape from Your presence, that I cannot hide from You no matter where I go. And thank You for Jesus, my good shepherd who searches for me and joyfully brings me back into Your fold.

My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

Job 23:11-12 ESV

Heavenly Father, please help my feet to remain on the straight and narrow path, to hold fast to You and Your ways. Let me not turn aside. May I ponder the path of my feet and not turn to the left or the right in what I say or think or do. Keep me from sins of omission as well as commission. Help me to actively do good, rather than just not doing bad. I want to treasure Your words more than food, even more than rich, sweet, tasty food. Your love is indeed better than any treasure here on earth.

But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does. For he will complete what he appoints for me, and many such things are in his mind.

Job 23:13-14 ESV

Lord, You are unchangeable. No one can turn You away. You do whatever You desire. You will be faithful to complete whatever You have begun. And I’m so thankful for that because Your ways are always best. There is so often a way that seems right to me, but it’s end is simply the way to death. Help me to trust You. Help me to believe that Your way is always best.

In the almighty, all-good Name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

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Far Too Wonderful (Psalm 139) – by Shane & Shane

Good Things and Bad People – Job 22 – 2025 Day 72

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Job 22; Psalm 41

Have you ever struggled with why “bad things happen to good people”? I believe the simple answer to that question is, “Truly there are no good people. We’re all downright bad. None of us deserve anything that the Lord gives to us out of His grace.” But, today when reading Job 22, I found myself thinking about a slightly different question, “Why do good things happen to bad people?”

They said to God,
“Depart from us,” and
“What can the Almighty do to us?”

Yet He filled their houses with good things…

Job 22:17-18a ESV

Why does God allow the sun to shine and the rain to fall on both the evil and the good, like we read in Matthew 5:45? Why is the LORD good to all, and why does He have mercy on all that He has made? (Psalm 145:9) Why do the wicked prosper like we considered in yesterday’s reading of Job 21?

I think one reason is that when God saves and blesses bad people (like each and every one of us), so that we can display His immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1:3-6 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:1-7 ESV

Like Job, and David, and Paul, the Lord inclined Himself to me and heard my cry and drew me out of the pit of destruction that I had dug for myself. He set my feet upon the rock of His salvation. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of PRAISE to our God, that many will see and fear and put their trust in God. (Psalm 40:1-3)

Heavenly Father,

I am indeed so poor and needy, yet You take thought of me. You have indeed multiplied Your wondrous deeds and thoughts towards me. I will proclaim and tell of them, though they are more than can be told. You are my help and my deliverer. Do not delay, for You are my God.

I delight to do Your will for You are my God. Your law is within my heart. Let me not restrain my lips. Help me to tell of all the glad news of deliverance that I have experienced. Let me not hide Your saving grace within my heart.

Fill me with Your Spirit. Delight me with Your presence. Make me Your witness, sharing boldly and openly of Your faithfulness and salvation.

Truly, You are good to both the evil and the good for You are a good and gracious King. May I praise You just as loudly for the thorns in my flesh which You have given me to keep me humble as I praise You for Your mighty works of deliverance. They are both gifts granted out of Your abundant, overflowing grace!

Make me a pipeline of Your kindness and grace toward sinners like me.

In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

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Thank You, Jesus, for the Blood – Charity Gayle

Remind Me, Lord – Job 21 – 2025 Day 71

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Job 21; Psalm 39

In the 21st chapter of Job, Job wrestles with God as he watches the wicked prosper. Why were their animals multiplying and their flocks of children running and playing and singing, while his own house and fields had been wiped out?

Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever prayed for God to give you a running vehicle so you can get to work while your annoying co-worker keeps bragging about her new minivan? Have you ever pleaded with God to give you a friend while your gossipy neighbor has a house full of companions? Have you ever begged God for a child while you watch a story on the news about a woman who threw her own baby in the dumpster?

I remember how hard it was to go to baby showers for my friends after losing my baby boy. I remember how hard it was to hear about others whose children were so quiet and obedient while mine were outspoken and headstrong.

Frankly, there is no 3-step solution to answer all your questions, no quick pill to take away all your pain, but there is hope and wisdom to be found in drawing near to God and His Word. We must remind ourselves of the simple truth that none of us are good, no not one. All of us are wicked. Our wickedness may look different from that co-worker or neighbor or woman on the news, but none of us deserve God’s great blessings of food and friendship and family.

We must remind ourselves that this world is not our destination; we are all just passing through.

“O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah

Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!”

– Psalm 39:4-6 ESV

Ultimately, the greatest blessings in this life are not found in expensive cars or rich food or abundant friends or even in a house full of children and a happy marriage. Rather, the greatest blessings in life are found at the feet. and in the hands, of Jesus. The blessings of joy and peace and purpose are found in the abundant, eternal blessings both in this life and the life to come.

If I had to choose between a mansion
with a child in every bedroom and
a Lamborghini in the driveway
or a life with Christ,
I’d choose Christ every time.

Let’s pray,

Oh Lord God, remember your mercy and steadfast love – for they have been from of old. Change my prideful, sinful heart. Remind me of how much I have been forgiven. Let me not be like that unmerciful servant who pointed a finger of condemnation at the speck in his brother’s eyes, while forgetting his own sin against You, our Perfectly Holy, Righteous, Merciful King.

Remember not the sins of my youth nor the sins of my old age. My transgressions are indeed many, but Your mercy is indeed more. Remember me according to Your steadfast love — for the sake of Your Name and Your goodness. Your Name is great, and Your Goodness is without end. I know that You are good. I know that You are just. I know that You are faithful and true. Help me to remind myself of what I know to be true about You, about me, and about my neighbor.

I pray that You will bless others – my family, my friends, my neighbors, my enemies – with a knowledge of the truth, that they might know that You are indeed full of justice and grace. I pray that You would save them today, Lord, that they might turn away from their sin and receive forgiveness, that they might know Your love which is better than life.

It is in the name of Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, that I pray. Amen.

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“I’d Rather Have Jesus” – Selah

Life is Short – Job 20 – 2025 Day 70

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Job 20, Psalm 38

Do you not know this from of old,
since man was placed on earth, that the exulting of the wicked
is short,
and the joy of the godless
but for a moment?
Though his height mount up
to the heavens,
and his head reach to the clouds, he will perish forever
like his own dung;
those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

Job 20:4-7 ESV

Heavenly Father, remind me how fleeting the treasures and pleasures of this world are! They’re all going to burn up. I can’t take them with me.

But you remain. Your word remains. The treasures stored up in heaven, the work done for you, for your kingdom, for your name and glory, they will remain. Teach me to number my days that I may have a heart of wisdom.

In the Name of Jesus we pray, Amen

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Take My Life and Let it Be