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Published 7/18/19 Read Job 3:16-19 Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light? There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. There the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster. The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master. Reflect • What's the secret to spiritual restoration and contentment? • Do you "eat up" Scripture regularly and tap into a two-wa

Published 7/17/19 Read Job 3:11-15 "Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? For then I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then I would have been at rest, with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves, or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. Reflect • How does God bring healing to those who are crushed in spi

Published 7/16/19 Read Job 3:1-4 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. He said: "May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, 'A boy is conceived!' That day--may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine on it." Reflect • When bad things happen, do you shake your fist at God--or lean into Him? • Remember that Jesus has big arms. He understands our pain, our grief. He cares, and He's right there with us

Published 7/15/19 Read Job 2:13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. Reflect • Job's friends displayed empathy in response to his suffering. Why is this important? (Share about a moment when you did the same for a hurting friend.) • Often we provide the most comfort to those who are hurting by our silent presence. Have you reached out in this way? (Please explain.) •

Published 7/12/19 Read Job 2:11 They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. Reflect • Is your life open enough to comfort a friend in need? • Job's friends sacrificed their own comfort and convenience to help a friend in need. Are you that kind of friend, too? • We can look to others to remind us in times of trouble that we are not alone. Have you done this? Even in ancient times, news traveled. We learn in verse 11 that Job's three frie

Published 7/11/19 Read Job 2:10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. Reflect • When is it hardest to hold fast to your integrity? • Holding fast to our faith can be difficult in times of trouble and when others around us are falling away. What should we do during those moments? • Remembering that we worship God for who He is helps whe

Published 7/10/19 Read Job 2:4-6 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face." And the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life." Reflect • Can you worship in the storm? • Physical pain can constrict our lives by limiting our activities, hijacking our emotions, and dampening our spirits. What shou

Published 7/9/19 Read Job 2:3 And the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason." Reflect • Do you believe that sometimes suffering happens "without reason"? • The natural human tendency is to look for an explanation for suffering. Where should we loo

Published 7/8/19 Read Job 1:21 And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Reflect • Can you worship in the storm? • In the pain of a setback, we have a choice to turn our focus inward, outward, or upward on our Lord. What have you chosen to do? (Share a story.) • Worshipping in the midst of a storm becomes a more natural reaction when it's already a regular part of

Published 7/5/19 Read Job 1:17-19 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the fo

Published 7/4/19 Read Job 1:16 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you." Reflect • How do you respond when your livelihood is threatened? • Our God is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides. He doesn't change even when our circumstances do. Do you believe this? (Why or why not?) • While society may view our jobs as who we are, ou

Published 7/3/19 Read Job 1:8 And the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" Reflect • How often do you consider what's going on in the spiritual realms? • Through good times and bad, God wants to have a relationship with each of us. How does our relationship change during each circumstance? • Good people may stumble in their faith when bad thing

Published 7/2/19 Read Job 1:5 And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, "It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did continually. Reflect • How can I lead spiritually in the "good times"? • Spiritual leadership includes helping our children nurture their relationships with

Published 7/1/19 Read Job 1:1-3 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who...

Published 6/28/19 Read Isaiah 63:3-6 "I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come. I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me. I trampled d

Published 6/27/19 Read Isaiah 61:1-4 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion--to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oi

Published 6/26/19 Read Isaiah 60:19-22 The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my ha

Published 6/25/19 Read Isaiah 59:9-13 Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope for the wall like the blind; we grope like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon as in the twilight, among those in full vigor we are like dead men. We all growl like bears; we moan and moan like doves; we hope for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is f

Published 6/24/19 Read Isaiah 58:6-11 "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousn

Published 6/21/19 Read Isaiah 57:1-5 The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness. But you, draw near, sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman. Whom are you mocking? Against whom do you open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue? Are you not children o

Published 6/20/19 Read Isaiah 56:6-8 "And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant-- these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." The Lor

Published 6/19/19 Read Isaiah 55:6-9 "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts th

Published 6/18/19 Read Isaiah 54:4-8 "Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth wh

Published 6/17/19 Read Isaiah 52:13-15 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you--his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind--so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. Reflect · How do these verses