IN BONDAGE Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? —Job 38:2 In our world there are so many “words without knowledge.” People do not really know what they are talking about. They come up with their own ideas and think they know. The Apostle Paul said, “My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2-3). In Jesus is “hidden all the treasures of wisdom and…

LISTEN AND APPLY! “God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him?” —Job 36:22 There is none like the Lord God Almighty… none! He is all powerful— just look at the magnitude of the universe He created. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 19:1-4). The testimony about God’s existence is so evident through…

FORGIVEN! “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you: “ ‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’” —Acts 13:38-41 “Justified, acquitted and declared not guilty! Treated as if we were righteous and as if we had not offended and are free from the guilt…

YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN YOUR SUFFERING! So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God. He burned with anger also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong. Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he. And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, he burned with…

TRUE FREEDOM! So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. Peter…

COVER OF DARKNESS When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up, kills the poor and needy, and in the night steals forth like a thief. The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk; he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’ and he keeps his face concealed. In the dark, thieves break into houses, but by day they shut themselves in; they want nothing to do with the light. For all of them, midnight is their morning; they make friends with the terrors of darkness. —Job 24:14-17 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night. —John 13:30 But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.…

Justification… A heart beats with the chest of a 91 year old man. It is a human heart that he has, no doubt. A heart is also beating in the chest of a 50 year old woman. Yes, it is also a human heart, no doubt. There is a teen-age girl whose heart too is beating systematically within her. Surely her heart is a human heart as well. Then there is a lively boy five years of age and a cooing girl only one month old. They have human hearts, no doubt. What do you say about a child whose heart is beating at 3 weeks and a day in…

MY REDEEMER LIVES! But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more… If someone dies, will they live again? —Job 14:10, 14 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus…

PREACH THE WORD! And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. —Acts 8:1 Up to this time the church did not move out of Jerusalem to “make disciples of all…

THE BREVITY OF LIFE Our days on earth are but a shadow. —Job 8:9 My days are swifter than a runner. —Job 9:25 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. —James 4:14 My neighbors are in their latter 80’s. They have lived next to us for about 25 years. Hard to believe they were in their 60’s when they first moved in or that I was in my latter 30’s. A few weeks ago the wife was moved to a nursing home. She’s doing well there. Now the husband is…