DO YOU KNOW?

Today’s Reading: Job 39

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

In Israel’s Jordan Valley, the wildlife reserve Hai-Bar Yotvata is located in the southern Arava Valley north of Eilat. It was established to foster the breeding of the kinds of animals mentioned in Job 39 and other endangered desert animals.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verse: Job 39:13a

The wings of the ostrich wave proudly…

Mountain goats, wild donkeys, onagers, wild oxen, ostriches, storks, horses, hawks and eagles are all mentioned in today’s reading. Most of us have sat in classrooms and listened to teachers who taught that all life came into being as a result of some cosmic accident. In addition to truth about God’s power, there is much here in chapter 39 about the origins of each species. In the fossil records, all these creatures appear suddenly and fully formed. There are no fossils that show part dinosaur and part ostrich! If one transformed into the other over millions of years, there should be thousands of intermediate creatures in the fossil record. There are none to be found where a creature is being changed gradually into another species. National Geographic had several pages where they pictured a creature from the Gobi Desert in China that someone claimed was part reptile and part bird. Six months later a tiny article stated that the so-called evidence had been faked. This was also the case of other “missing links.” The Piltdown Man, the Nebraska Man, and others were all fakes created because of desperation to find some shred of evidence to disprove Intelligent Design and God’s creation.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord, I praise You for Your amazing, mind-boggling acts of creation! I feel the need to pray to You as the “Creator,” joining King David in his prayer, “Create in me a clean heart” (Psalm 51). I need You, Great Creator, every day in every way. Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

Crossroads has produced and released a documentary which features several highly credentialed scientists who are believers in Jesus as Saviour and Lord (click HERE to watch the trailer). For Crossroads, this is the first major effort at a “Science & Faith” production since 1979 when we produced the Crossroads Creation series. As I mentioned yesterday, God took that series beyond North America and all 13 episodes were released across all 15 republics of the former Soviet Union in the Russian language on prime time television.

Here is an excerpt from the documentary, Science & Faith, which highlights the story of one of the four prominent scientists featured (click HERE).

Yours for God’s creative power flowing through us to do His will!

David

P.S. Below is a photo of me holding an ostrich egg. There is a story behind this egg…and behind the Scripture verse on it. I’ll have to tell you about it in a future blog posting.

P.P.S. Today is the final day of Crossroads’ financial/broadcast year, and the last opportunity for us all to give a special donation to help propel Lorna Dueck and her team of “Media Missionaries” into a strong new year!  HERE is a special video highlighting the need for such missionaries in today’s world! To give online click HERE.

WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? HOW???

Today’s Reading: Job 38

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

An aerial view of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verse: Job 38:4

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.

Who? What? When? Where? How? The “WHY?” question is not asked by God in our reading. He may be leaving that to us to figure out. God speaks!!! We must learn to be among those who know His voice. Jesus said, “My sheep know My voice” (John 3:27).

Job 38 amazes me. It speaks of God’s protection of the continents from being inundated by the sea. It infers that the Earth rotates like a potter turning his clay. It seems to refer to the great ice age when the light was withheld from the Earth. It’s obvious that the constellations in the heavens are still the same. The Lord refers to the human mind, which the famous neurosurgeon, Dr. Wilder Penfield of Montreal, declared “is NOT the brain.” Yet we know that the human brain is the most complicated organization of matter in the known universe. The “mind” lives on after the brain has gone to dust. The “heart” (our innermost being, not the pump in our chests) lives forever. Let us spend time meditating and perhaps reading this chapter several times slowly. Listening to it being read online is worth trying, if you haven’t already (HERE is the link, then click on the small speaker icon above the Scripture passage). The New King James translation, which I use, does not yet have an audio recording available on the BibleGateway website. The NIV is also an excellent translation.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, I need Your help to even begin to get my mind around the fact of Your greatness. I sing, “How Great Thou Art” (click here for a worship experience). I pray in the Name of the One Who is “Creator,” Who, according to Paul, was the reason all things were created…”All things were created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:15-17), Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

I hosted a TV series produced back in 1979 which became the first Christian production ever carried by state television across all 15 republics of the Soviet Union. It was designed to create doubts in the minds of those who declared, “There is no God.” The disastrous experiment of atheistic government would not have been possible without some source of intellectual undergirding. Charles Darwin provided that philosophical foundation. The evils of the Nazi regime, as well as the communist regimes, were based on the concept of “the survival of the fittest.” Of course, the Russian language was recorded over my English words and those of my guests. These were thirteen 30-minute shows. The second Christian series carried across the USSR was a children’s program we produced called Kingdom Adventure. More than 1,000,000 letters were received from kids into the Moscow office asking for the colouring book, which explained the way of salvation and invited the children to believe in Jesus and invite Him into their hearts. In my most recent book, which was published in June, 2013, I give many more details of this amazing intervention of God into USSR prime time television (pages 105, 109, 112, and 166-172).

Yours, as I’ve written many, many times in my letters over the years, “in Christ’s love and service,”

David

P.S. I love this picture of Myles, one of my great-grandsons, and me. It’s from a few years ago when Myles was starting to ask the what, why, where, when, how, and who questions!!!

P.P.S. Just two days left before the financial year end for the ministry of Crossroads.  It’s vital that the ministry end the year strongly! Here is Lorna’s message once again…and please prayerfully consider how you might respond…

STAND STILL

Today’s Reading: Job 36-37

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

Here in the Judean Desert, beneath the historic mountain of Masada, you can see many large rock formations and crevasses created by flash floods washing down to the Dead Sea. This sky was the perfect backdrop for this dramatic rock. As our key verse says, “Consider the wondrous works of God!”

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verse: Job 37:14

Listen to this, O Job; Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.

The theology of this young man Elihu was right on. However, his judgment of Job was unfair and far from correct in God’s eyes. God had said of Job, “There is none like him in all the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8). We would do well to remember the words of Jesus, “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37). We can be theologically correct and not understand our fellow human being. We should all be encouraged by the fact that Elihu was correct when he said that God “does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous” (Job 36:7). In God’s eyes, we who have believed in Jesus are seen to be righteous. Back on the blog from August 23rd, we considered the righteousness which is ours. We may want to read that posting once more (click here).

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, I ask for grace to “stand still!” May I stop all my busyness for a time and take the time to meditate on Your “wondrous works.” Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

I’m keenly anticipating the next four days of reading Job. God Himself begins to speak to Job! God’s description of nature and His creation is awe-inspiring to me.

I remember well heroes to me in Christian ministry. I heard Rev. Hope Smith say one day, “The way out of the rat race is to slow down and walk with God.” He and his ministry co-worker, Rev. Laurie Price, were an amazing team. They were Pastors of a Church called Evangel Temple, located (at that time) at the corner of Dundas and Bond Streets in Toronto, just a block west of what is known as the longest main street in the world, Yonge Street. They told the story of when Hope, who was injured and crippled in WW2, and Laurie, who had been injured in a car accident, were driving up Yonge Street in the late 1940s, when their old car stalled, backing up traffic for blocks. Horns were blowing and people were angry. From the waist up they looked like two able-bodied young men. No one could understand why they didn’t get out of the car and push it out of the way. In spite of all the fuss and rush of downtown traffic, they were totally at peace within themselves. It’s a humorous scene to imagine. Laurie was healed by God and gained great mobility later, and Hope continued with a serious limp throughout his life, but it never slowed him down. They impacted my life greatly when I was a teenager. They were filled with joy and incurable optimism. For some reason when I read the words in our key verse “stand still,” I thought of Laurie and Hope…by far the most unique ministry team I’ve ever met.

Yours for coming to a total stop once in a while in order to “consider the wondrous works of God,”

David

P.S. Remember that this month is the financial year end for the ministry of Crossroads. Here is Lorna’s message once again…

SONGS IN THE NIGHT

Today’s Reading: Job 34-35

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

A nighttime view of the Old City of Jerusalem.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verses: Job 35:7, 10

If you are righteous, what do you give Him? Or what does He receive from your hand?…But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night?…’

Many questions, but what about answers? Elihu picks up on some of the things Job has said. He points out Job’s statements and then leaves it up to Job to decide whether he is right or wrong. Perhaps we can learn from this. Rather than accusing others of wrong, we can point to God’s thoughts on the matter and the need to consider their actions and reactions toward God. Then we can pray fervently and leave it up to the Holy Spirit to do His work. Jesus said, “When He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13a). For a fuller description of the work of the Holy Spirit, we may want to take the time to read Jesus’ teaching found in John 16:1-15.

The second key verse speaks of “songs in the night.” God was there for Paul and Silas in jail: “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (see Acts 16:25-34). We may have many questions that seem to be unanswered, but as we are faithful in reading God’s Word, His answers will be revealed.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, often I come to You in the night hours. I’ve been through what has been called “the dark night of the soul.” Every time You’ve been there to meet me. Sometimes I have had to learn to wait as You are accomplishing Your purposes in my life. I pray for continued grace to listen for Your words of comfort and guidance. In Jesus’ Name I ask this, Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

Four years ago Norma-Jean and I received a call from Myles Neilson, our 5-year-old Great-grandson (now 9 years old) with a question for his Great-grandpa. It was such an important question that I asked my fellow bloggers at the time for suggestions in how to answer him.  These are the events surrounding that phone call…

Myles said on the phone, “I’ve had a very serious talk with my Mom [Sheryl] and it’s important.” At that point Sheryl picked up the phone and said they would like to come over to our apartment. They arrived around 5 p.m. in time for dinner, and I heard the story. Myles had asked his Mom why he did so many bad things, and even though he tried to be good, it didn’t work. Sheryl asked Myles if he had ever asked Jesus to come and live in his heart. He said, “No, and I’d like to do that.” They prayed together and Myles received Jesus. He had a question for me. He asked his Great-grandpa (and he waited until I could write his question down), “When I pray at night, I ask God to help me to listen. I wake up in the morning, but I don’t think God heard me, because I mess up again. God annoys me because He doesn’t help me. What’s wrong?” I made an attempt at responding to Myles, but I want the help of my fellow bloggers. How would you respond to Myles?

When I wrote about this four years ago, I received the most responses in the history of 100words.ca (click here to read the amazing replies from two years ago).

Yours for “songs in the night,”

David

P.S. Remember that this month is the financial year end for the ministry of Crossroads. Here is Lorna’s message once again…

THE 4TH FRIEND

Today’s Reading: Job 32-33

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

A young boy at Nazareth Village working in the carpentry shop. Nazareth Village depicts what life would have been like for Jesus in the first century AD. Jesus, while still a boy, learned His trade in a shop in Nazareth. The Carpenter’s hands are still at work in our lives.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verses: Job 32:6-7

So Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, answered and said: “I am young in years, and you are very old; therefore I was afraid, and dared not declare my opinion to you. I said, ‘Age should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.’…”

Elihu tells us he is about to give Job his opinion (32:7). We have in Scripture not just someone’s opinion but TRUTH! Again in 32:17 Elihu says he’s full of words, his opinions. Sounds like our radio and television talk show hosts today. Let’s check out our opinions to make sure they line up with the wisdom of the ages given in the inspired Word of God! We can form our opinions by comparing Scripture with Scripture. For example, Job 33:20-21 refers to our physical health. Read Psalm 107:18-20. It surely sounds like anorexia, but there is healing promised, “He sent His Word and healed them.” There’s healing in the Word we study every day. Also, before forming a final opinion about Job, consider 1 Peter 1:7, where we learn to rejoice, “That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, might be found unto praise, honour and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

A correct understanding of suffering does seem to be beyond our human capabilities. It does not occur to Job’s friends or to Job himself that his sufferings are not evidence of God’s judgment on Job, but rather a means of expressing God’s confidence in Job. In gaining an understanding of the sufferings of believers, we may want to read further in 1 Peter 4:12-19.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord Jesus, I am thinking of Your sufferings on the Cross, not for Your sins, but for mine. I pray that I will, more and more, show a truly genuine and constant repentance for my sin. As You said to the woman who was accused of adultery, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” Grant me grace, I pray, to live as You lived, Lord Jesus! In Your Name I ask this, Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

One Sunday morning, shortly after giving my life to Jesus and receiving the assurance of Salvation, I learned a new prayer song in the Pembroke church: “O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee! Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art. Come in Thy sweetness. Come in Thy fullness. Stamp Thine own Image deep on my heart” (click here for this song). O how my heart longed for His purity. Tears would flow down my cheeks as I sang this prayer. Tears still flow! When we see Him someday soon, “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2b).

I’ve been involved in creating several different television shows throughout the years. The first one was the weekly Crossroads telecast back in 1962. Then there were children’s and teen’s shows, the daily 100 Huntley Street ministry, documentaries, open-line shows, senior’s shows, etc. I continue to dream of creative new beginnings!

Please keep me in your prayers. I tend to be like the man of whom it was said, “He jumped on his horse and rode off in all directions.” I cried earlier. Now I’m laughing!

Yours for God’s truth to become much more evident in our opinions,

David

P.S. Lorna Dueck and her 100 Huntley Street on-air team just completed the first of two weeks of special programming as we approach the financial year-end for the ministry. Please help to end the year strongly! Click HERE to watch my special video message… and then you can make your support gift by clicking HERE, knowing that your gift will be doubled by a matching challenge grant!

IF

Today’s Reading: Job 31

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

Northwest hillside of the Sea of Galilee. Mount Arbel can be seen in the background. My friend, Jimmy Snow, son of Hank Snow, and Johnny Cash’s Pastor, believes Arbel is the mount where Jesus was transfigured. He is a brilliant student of the Scriptures and was often a guest on the 100 Huntley Street telecast.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verse: Job 31:35

Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my mark. Oh, that the Almighty would answer me, that my Prosecutor had written a book!

Job…He does hear you! God, the One you mistakenly think is prosecuting you, has indeed written a book! We are studying it every day on this blog. Job…in today’s reading you’ve used the word “if” 18 times. That word “if” is just a little word, but it is filled with uncertainty. You can be certain and know God answers prayer!

In a handwritten book dated January 20, 1953, my father, Roy Mainse, D.Th, wrote about the conditions of prevailing prayer:

(1) Entire dependence on the merits and mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ as the only way for a claim of blessing! (see John 14:13-14).

(2) Separation from all known sin. Psalm 66:18 tells us, “If we regard iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear us.”

(3) Faith in God’s promises as confirmed by His oath. Not to believe Him is to make Him out to be a liar and perjurer (see Hebrews 6:13-20).

(4) Our motives must be godly; we must not seek any gift of God to consume it on our own selfish desires (see James 4:1-10).

(5) Importunity and supplication! There must be waiting on God with consistency (see Luke 18:1-8).

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord Jesus, through James, the man known as Your brother, You told us that, “The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16b). You are the “Righteous One,” therefore, I come to You, Lord God, in and through the Person and work of Your Son and my Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ. Here are my prayer requests for today ……….. AMEN!!! (I spent considerable time in prayer before composing this blog.)

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

I’ve been meditating on that little but powerful word “if.” I went into Google and found the famous poem by Rudyard Kipling written in 1894 entitled “If” (click here). Job might have been helped by this poem. One of the lines says, “If you can wait, and not be tired of waiting, or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, or, being hated, don’t give way to hating…” The poem ends with these words: “If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run, Yours is the earth and everything in it, And — what is more— you’ll be a man, my son!” My Dad pointed me to this poem when I was still a child. After his death in 1972, I found amongst Dad’s writings the following poem he wrote in his own handwriting. It’s also entitled “If”…

“If” is a word of great import,

But of such dwarfish dimensions

Using the future to support

It’s great and varied intentions

“If” is a fact like a barn-door hinge,

On which our movements seem to swing,

And we are no doubt hindering

Our best laid plans ere they can wing

Their way into the world of things,

Where they can claim to be a fact,

On which the future thus may act,

And discard “If” forevermore

Among the gods of old folk-lore.

Yours, for reaching out diligently for God’s perfect will,

David

P.S. I came across a picture (below) taken in 1924 of my Dad in front of the place where one of the prayers of Jesus was answered, the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus said on this occasion, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me” (John 11:41-42). This is the reason we pray, “In Jesus’ Name!”

P.P.S. This blog is made possible by the ministry of Crossroads, and here is Crossroads CEO Lorna Dueck’s important message for this month of August…

THE GOOD AND THE BAD

Today’s Reading: Job 29-30

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

Many people pass through the Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem every day to and from the market and work.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verse: Job 30:20a

I cry out to You, but You do not answer me!

Some people, who do not know the promises made to humanity by Jesus, can come to the conclusion that God does not care about them. Attempts to get His attention may seem to fail! As we hang in there in our readings, we’ll actually find a happy ending.

In our time, many have suffered more than Job. In concentration camps, war, crimes against humanity, families, houses, land, friends, possessions, and life itself have been lost. Seeing this, people ask, “So where is your God?…Why does He allow this?” The answer for our minds says, “God gave us free will and He refuses to make us less than human by turning us into robots and puppets which He manipulates.” We have used our freedom to hurt each other and there are dire consequences in this life which we must endure. For the believer there is “Hope.”

So that’s a brief answer for our minds, but the answer for our hearts, our souls and spirits is in the promise of Jesus. He’s the One who changes everything! He says, “Take heart, I have overcome the world!” (John 14:33). Please read His promise found in John 11:21-27. Also read Matthew 28:1-20. Jesus cannot lie! Decide to believe Him!!! It’s your choice!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord Jesus, I choose to believe You! I pray that when my mind brings a doubtful thought, I will believe my beliefs and not my doubts. I know it’s not a sin to doubt, but when a doubt comes, illuminate my mind to think clearly and logically, thinking Your thoughts after You! In Your Name I pray, Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

We met a wonderful lady named Amelia on one of our trips to Israel. We get to know so many precious people as we live together for two whole weeks. Amelia was driven out of a communist eastern European country, her family scattered, and her home confiscated by the state. She ended up in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, where she established a private hospital, through God-given business skills and her nursing profession. After the fall of communism in her homeland, she returned and knocked on the door of her home. The lady, who with her family was living in Amelia’s home, was filled with fear as she saw Amelia at the door. Homes under the new government were being restored to their rightful owners. Amelia immediately began to share the love of Christ and said, “Don’t worry, the house is yours, I’m not going to take it back. God has blessed me greatly in my new homeland of Canada.” Amelia is now 95, and while she no longer has her small hospital, she lives a blessed life!

Yours for trusting God in the good as well as the bad,

David

P.S. This blog is made possible by the ministry of Crossroads, and here is Crossroads CEO Lorna Dueck’s important message for this month of August…

PROSPECTING

Today’s Reading: Job 27-28

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

Pictured are the remains of a copper smelting furnace from the Ramsesside Period (13th-12th centuries BC). One smelting process took 10-12 hours and produced 5 kg of copper. As well as copper, today’s reading refers to silver, gold, iron, sapphires, flint, onyx, crystal, coral, quartz, topaz, and rubies. The geologists of those days were well equipped for their profession.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verse: Job 28:28

And to man He said, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.”

It is a fact that Job had a sterling character. The Scripture tells us that the tongue is the most difficult member of our bodies to be brought under control. Job said, “My lips will not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit” (Job 27:4). No wonder God said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?” (Job 1:8).

Another reading that will show us the character of Job is James 1:2-8. Before the Bible was written, before Jesus entered recorded history, before the coming of the Holy Spirit upon people, Job gives us an example of the fact that we can live in an upright way. We have great advantages over Job. We have no excuse for not living a life of integrity.

Again Job reveals his knowledge of nature. The barometer was invented approximately 400 years ago. It’s based on the weight of a column of air. Consider Job 28:25a, “weight for the wind.” Four thousand years ago wise people understood much more than we give them credit for. Many of our 21st century contemporaries seem to exhibit a pride of intellect which is not deserved. God reveals Himself to humble people!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, I worship You! You are great!!! Hallelujah!!! May “Your kingdom come and Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” May I walk humbly before You in such a way that You will be honoured. In the Name of the One who pleased You always, the Lord Jesus, I pray, Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

Like Job and his friends, I’ve often wondered why injustice sometimes seems to triumph. I’ve come to the conclusion that on the scales of eternity, justice will indeed triumph. So I decided years ago to hang in there, looking to God daily for His wisdom, doing all I can do to alleviate suffering, hunger, strife, etc., in any way I can. When I’m able to do the right thing, I know that strength comes from God through seeking Him first every morning, and then keeping His ways in mind throughout the day.

Thinking of all the minerals mentioned in today’s reading takes me back to the five years that Norma-Jean, our children and I spent in what is Canada’s premier mining city, Sudbury, Ontario. Bill St. Pierre, who served as our Development Director for the Circle Square Ranches for many years, worked in helping to develop new ways of prospecting for the mining companies. I’m prospecting every day for the wealth waiting to be found in Holy Scripture. I pray fervently that this blog, attached to the Lord, will enable me to share the wealth with more and more people.

Yours, with a hope that all of us will “share the wealth” by sending this blog on to others, perhaps by sharing the 100words.ca link on Facebook,

David

P.S. I had the opportunity to share on yesterday’s 100 Huntley Street program during Crossroads’ vital financial year-end fundraiser. Click HERE to watch my special message… and then please support by clicking HERE, knowing that your gift will be doubled by a matching challenge grant!

Timna Park, located in Israel south of the Dead Sea, has many unique rock formations. In this area Moses and the Children of Israel pitched their tents. It is believed that King Solomon developed mining in this area and that even the Pharaohs of Egypt established mines here.

RIGHTEOUSNESS

Today’s Reading: Job 24-26

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

On the way from Maresha National Park and Beit Guvrin to Jerusalem, the sky was spectacular over a farmer’s field and greenhouses.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verse: Job 26:7

He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.

The key verse is fact. Ancient beliefs were incredibly dumb. For example, the Babylonians believed that the Earth was a great giant and we were the vermin on its hide. The Greeks believed in Atlas, a giant man holding up the earth, etc. The Bible is not a textbook on science, but Job had knowledge which was accurate. God reveals Himself in His creation. Psalm 19 tells us, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Job had no doubt that God is the great Creator and the Sustainer of all things. Job believed that the manifestation of God in nature was just a tiny revelation of Who God is. “Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways.” These people from more than 4,000 years ago were extremely intelligent.

Bildad, in the short chapter 25, asked the right questions. God has given us lots of answers in His Word. For example, Bildad asks, “How can a man be righteous before God?” The word “righteousness” is repeated over 300 times in the Bible. Several statements answer Bildad’s question. Philippians 3:9 informs us that our righteousness is not from our personal efforts but is from God by faith. A New Testament reading which refers to people God considered righteous, who lived even before the time of Job, is Hebrews 11:4-7.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, I thank You that I don’t come before You in my own righteousness, because as Your Word teaches me, my own righteousness is as “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). I pray for grace to consistently trust You for Your righteousness, which is mine by faith. In the Name of the One who alone is 100% righteous, Jesus Christ, Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

It was just a few days after my lifetime decision to serve Jesus with all my heart that I was asked to give a public witness at a Youth For Christ rally in the auditorium of my high school in Pembroke, Ontario. I asked my boss at the Chrysler dealership, Syd Healey (where I had a part-time job), for advice on what I should say. He turned in his Bible to the little book of Titus and read from chapter 3, verse 5, “Not by works of righteousness which I have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.” I think I changed the word “us” to “me” and I quoted this verse to about 500 people that Saturday evening. I told of what had happened to me in the high school in Ottawa, where just a few days before I had gone forward at the invitation, openly declaring my intentions to serve Jesus and trust His Word where he said, “Whoever comes to Me, I will not cast out” (John 6:37). I told them that I simply believed that Jesus would not lie, and John would not write a lie in his Gospel. Therefore, I was assured of my salvation and my salvation does not rest on my goodness but on the goodness and righteousness of Jesus. Around that time, at 16 years old, I began to ask God to give me a call into full-time Christian ministry, if it was His will. The following summer at Youth Camp, God called me in such a clear way that I could never turn back from that call.

Yours for trusting in the “righteousness” of Jesus alone!

David

P.S. This blog is made possible by the ministry of Crossroads, and here is Crossroads CEO Lorna Dueck’s important message for this month of August…

GOLD

Today’s Reading: Job 22-23

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

Looking from the south end of the Golan Heights on the south east side of the Sea of Galilee, you can see a winding road that makes its way up and around the Golan Heights. In the distance you see what was a train track bridge built over the Yarmouk River that was blown-up during the Independence War in 1948 to prevent Arabs from transporting additional troops and ammunition. It seems obvious that God is in the process of restoring His ancient people Israel. Israel has surely been in the furnace of affliction. God is in the business of producing gold in the fires of human history. God will put the final period to the last sentence of human history.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verse: Job 23:10

But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

Again today we can see the contrast between Job and his friend. Eliphaz assumes the worst about Job, but Job does not retaliate. Job longs for God. He makes strong statements of genuine faith in God, as in our key verse. Yes, Job is asking, “Why?”. Jesus asked, “Why?” while on the Cross. It’s not too hard to express faith in God when everything is going well, but when the bottom seems to have dropped out of our world, faith is put to the test. Job may not yet receive a mark of 100% on his test, but he is definitely headed that way.

Eliphaz did get one thing right. In Job 22:22, he says, “Receive, please, instruction from His [God’s] mouth, and lay up His words in your heart.” This is what we are doing in this blog each day. Let us all keep on keeping on! Today is reading 445 out of 730 on our two-year journey through the Bible. Please, “Let us not be weary in well doing!” (Galatians 6:9). Paul gives us great counsel on how to help people who are in trouble (read Galatians 6:1-10 for a New Testament reading).

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, I pray that I will “fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). Grant me grace to “love my neighbour as myself” (Matthew 22:39). May I “not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9b). May I “do good to all” (Galatians 6:10). In the Name of the One who always does good to all, Jesus Christ! Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORD-

I keep singing to myself a song about Job that I heard an evangelist named Jack Coe sing almost 60 years ago. It’s called “Job’s God Is True.” If I can find the song I’ll attach it (click here for the lyrics). The words bring together two statements of Job: “Though God slay me, yet I’ll trust Him,” and then, “I shall come forth as gold.”

At 19 years old, as a first-year Bible College student, I became very ill. The doctors even feared for my life. My brothers and sisters in the faculty and student body went into a time of fasting and prayer, and I was restored to health and strength. That school in Peterborough, Ontario, is now called, “Master’s College and Seminary.” They continue to be strong in faith and in the detailed study of God’s Word. I recommend to all a time of concentration in the Bible at Master’s. They offer online “distance education” courses as well (click here for information). I think that such a college is vital, particularly in the preparation of those God has called to be Pastors, Evangelists, Ministers, and more effective servants of the Lord than we might otherwise be. My grandson, Eric Mainse and his wife Kara are recent graduates. God miraculously preserved Eric’s life when he was a child. God’s purpose is being fulfilled in his life and in the lives of hundreds of others. Eric is a Youth Pastor and Kara is Children’s Pastor at New Life Church in Brantford, Ontario (click here).

Yours, going for “gold,”

David

P.S. Yesterday, Lorna Dueck and her 100 Huntley Street on-air team began two weeks of special programming as we approach the financial year-end for the ministry. Here is a link to yesterday’s program. Please help the ministry to end the year strongly!

With my grandson, Eric David Mainse, and his wife Kara at their Graduation from Masters College and Seminary. I look short beside six-foot-eight Eric!