"Oh, that my words were recorded,
that they were written on a scroll,
that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead,
or engraved in rock forever!
I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
“If you say, ‘How we will hound him,
since the root of the trouble lies in him,'
you should fear the sword yourselves;
for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,
and then you will know that there is judgment.”
Job 19 v 23-29
Job seems to be sinking to new depths of despair, only to rise to new heights of faith and hope! This is a real turning point for Job. He’s been searching for reasons for his suffering. He’s not found any but he comes to a remarkable conclusion: I can trust God; He will vindicate me when I see Him face to face. Unlike Job, we live after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Our Redeemer does live — Jesus Christ, who has bought us back from sin and snatched us from the clutches of death!
Psalm 27
The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.... continue reading
The Parable of the Growing Seed
He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.”
With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
Mark 6 v 26-34
Your church or Christian group may seem fairly insignificant. Maybe it's large and flourishing. Or maybe you're one of only a few Christians your age in a cold, half-empty building every Sunday and the "kingdom of God" looks unimpressive to say the least. But Jesus says this is what we should expect — it looks small now (like the mustard seed) but its growth is supernatural — it's down to God, and one day it will be seen by everyone. So look around you for signs of the presence and growth of God's kingdom. It is happening.
I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came upon me;
I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.
Then I called on the name of the LORD:
“O LORD, save me!”
The LORD is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
The LORD protects the simplehearted;
when I was in great need, he saved me.
Be at rest once more, O my soul,
for the LORD has been good to you.
For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.
Psalm 116 v 1-9
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28 v 16-20
Because of who Jesus is — the crucified, risen Lord, in charge of absolutely everything — He deserves all people to love Him and respect Him. If we understand who Jesus is, we’ll love and respect Him so much that we’ll tell others about Him. Because we’ll want Him to enjoy their love and respect, too. Jesus is Lord — THEREFORE we should tell others about Him. But doing this is hard!
That’s why the last sentence of Matthew’s Gospel is fantastic! Jesus doesn’t just send us out to tell people about Him — He goes with us as we do it. Awesome.
Praise the Lord.
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
Let the name of the Lord be praised,
both now and forevermore.
From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the Lord is to be praised.
The Lord is exalted over all the nations,
his glory above the heavens.
Who is like the Lord our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,
who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes,
with the princes of their people.
He settles the barren woman in her home
as a happy mother of children.
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 113
God's so great, He even has to stoop down to look at the heavens and earth! He's the King. The boss. In control of everything. He looks after those who need His help. He cares for people we'd probably ignore or look down on. He's glorious. So we should sing and shout about Him. Loads.
Praise the Lord.
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who finds great delight in his commands.
His children will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.
Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
Surely he will never be shaken;
a righteous man will be remembered forever.
He will have no fear of bad news;
his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
His heart is secure, he will have no fear;
in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.
He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor,
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn will be lifted high in honor.
The wicked man will see and be vexed,
he will gnash his teeth and waste away;
Psalm 112
The Christian life is not perfect. There will be times of sadness and stress. But a life lived for God is full of blessing. God hasn't promised to give us everything we want, but He'll make sure His people have everything they need. When we come to trust in Jesus, we're given His "righteousness" — being right with God. and so we're to grow in righteousness, becoming more like God.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created."
James 1 v 17-18
The firstfruits were the first part of the harvest that spoke of even more to come. This means that we can know victory now, by turning away from ourselves and looking to the Father of lights to see the gifts He gives us. And we can know that ultimate victory is guaranteed us, not because of how good we are, but because of who God is — our unchanging, gift-giving, life-promising Father.
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2 v 4-10
"For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God."
Ezekiel 36 v 24-28
When God’s people were scattered all over the place, their enemies mocked them. “Their God must be weak to let that happen.” Now God would bring His people home so the world would know He’s a God of power, justice and holiness. There’s great hope for God’s people. He gives them a new start, a new heart, a desire to obey Him, and His Spirit to help them do it.
