Daily Bible Devotionals

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” Psalm 1:1 (NKJV)

As a young recording artist, I received some veteran advice from an older colleague: You never get a second chance to make a first impression. This artist communicated the reality that most first-time concertgoers form their opinions of your music before your first song ends. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that you immediately seize their attention, earn their trust, and establish your message within the first three minutes. No pressure, right? And musical “first impressions” are powerful in our culture. Most churchgoers will not download their pastor’s sermon and listen to it over and over the following week. However, they will go to a music streaming website and listen to worship music. That is why it is so important that the music we sing also communicates the correct theology. Martin Luther said, “Music is the handmaiden of theology,” but for some people, music is their primary source of reinforced theology, especially for young believers who have yet to form the habit of daily Bible study.

So, when it comes to “first impressions,” what is God communicating to His people within the first line of the first song in Israel’s hymnal? Seeking and living according to His Word is paramount for success in life! Notice how He describes a pattern of decline whenever people seek “ungodly” counsel. And what makes counsel ungodly? It simply denies God’s Word. The moment we replace God’s Word, the Bible, with some extra-Biblical source, we are replacing the pursuit of Godly blessing with Worldly goals. Ungodly counsel segregates God from certain areas of our lives where we feel He may hinder progress and sends us into a downward moral trajectory, where we go from seeking non-Biblical counsel to actually “standing” in the path of sinners and being more comfortable around non-believers than among Christians who seek God’s Word.

The longer we live not just among the ungodly but literally “becoming as” the ungodly, the more we become solidified in the world’s value system. Increasingly ungodly values spiral us even further down to the point where we become fully established, sitting in the “seat of the scornful.” This means that we have descended, Biblically, to the point where we are actually mocking and scorning Christians who believe the Bible and are striving to live according to it!

For those of us who have determined to seek God’s Counsel, we begin to spiral upward spiritually. We become more established in a faith that does not defer hope. Instead, God proves Himself faithful to our pursuance of Him.

“But his [the blessed man’s] delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law, he meditates day and night.”  He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” Psalm 1:2-3 (See also Revelation 22:1-3) (NKJV)

“The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”  Psalm 1:4-6 (NKJV)

“Then at last, Job gave the Lord this answer: ‘I know that You can do everything, that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. You asked, “Who is this, hiding his counsel, without having knowledge?” Yes, I spoke, without understanding, of wonders far beyond me, which I didn’t know.  Please listen, and I will speak.  You said, “I will ask questions and you, give Me answers” – I had heard about You with my ears, but now my eyes see You; therefore I detest myself and repent in dust and ashes.’” Job 42:1-6 (CJB)

Growing up, I loved old-school horror movies, films like the original Dracula, the Mummy, Creature From The Black Lagoon, and, of course, Frankenstein. An interesting moral in the Frankenstein narrative is that a well-intended person can create something that gets so out of control that it eventually destroys its creator.

In a rebuke that lasts five chapters, God instructs Job that He created everything and that everything He made is entirely under His control. Even great beasts like Leviathan and Behemoth must answer to the Lord. Scholars have debated over the identities of these creatures. Some say they are a whale and a crocodile. Others believe they are a dinosaur and a giant squid. Still, others suggest they are symbols of sin and the Devil. It doesn’t matter what they are as long as we understand they are under God’s control!

There is so much in this World that we do not understand, and it is comforting that we are not required to know everything about everything. Have you ever gone out with friends and, while you were out together, something so incredible happened that you can’t stop talking about it? Then, when another friend asks what you are talking about, you say, “We can’t explain it; you just had to be there….” That is how it is with God. He tells us all that we NEED to know about Him, but not ALL there is to know about Him. We simply cannot understand some things, such as what existence was like before creation. Or the sound it made when the land was separated from the ocean. We just had to be there. But we weren’t.

It is much the same situation when we share the gospel with non-believers. How can we convey what it is like to know and follow God through a saving relationship with Messiah Jesus? It cannot fully be described, as all analogies end up falling short of the real thing. God cannot be fully appreciated in theories and descriptions. A relationship with God must be lived.  Our relationship with Him must be personal. (John 14:6)

And that is what Job has been doing for 42 chapters, living out his faith in the worst situations. Job’s faith has been tested to the point that it is realized as fact.  Job held on, and God showed up.  That is Job’s confession in today’s passage:

“I had heard about You with my ears, but now my eyes see You; therefore, I detest myself and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:5-6 (CJB)

Are you experiencing difficulty in your faith journey? Hold on! Trust the Lord and His Word and keep pressing on until He shows up and proves His Word true in your life.

Grab your Bible & experience the Groundworks Ministries Podcast as Steve Wiggins leads us through the full chapter of Job 41. Click the links below to watch or listen now!

“The Lord answered Job out of the storm. Stand up like a man and brace yourself. I will ask questions; and you will give the answers! Are you falsely attacking my justice?  Putting Me in the wrong will prove yourself right? Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His? Come on, deck yourself with majesty and dignity, robe yourself in glory and splendor. Let loose your furious anger, look at all who are proud, and humble them. Look at all who are proud and bring them down; tread down the wicked where they stand. Bury them in the ground together, bind their faces in the hidden world. If you do this, then I will confess to you that your own power can save you.” Job 40:6-14 (CJB)

In today’s passage, in essence, God is telling Job, “Everybody wants My job, but nobody can do it!” Whenever we are in the midst of hardship, why is there always some part of us that wants to indict God’s character? We want to claim that God is not being fair or that He is too busy or blind to see us. Perhaps He has the will, but sometimes we wonder if He actually has the power to affect change.

Because we know that God can alleviate suffering, we spend much of our time on earth frustrated that we are not where we feel we should be. Sometimes, the world doesn’t make sense, and God allows wicked people to prosper. Basically, we have seen the system manipulated so many times in the world that we wonder why the rules can’t be bent for us. In short, that kind of attitude communicates one thing: we want to be our own god! But honestly, we only want to determine our destinies until things get over our heads. And things can get over our heads pretty quickly! Not only can you not be God, but it is also impossible for you to be your own savior.

“If you do this, then I will confess to you that your own power can save you.” Job 40:14 (CJB)

For a moment, ponder the gravity of that statement. Only God can save a man. Man cannot save himself. Now consider that if only God can save a man, who must the Savior of all mankind be? Some believe Jesus was a good man, perhaps the best man who ever lived. They even claim that Jesus is the Messiah (the salvation of both Jew & Gentile), but in their ignorance of Scripture, they deny His deity.  

“Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; One will come from you to be ruler over Israel for Me. His origin is from antiquity, from eternity.” Micah 5:2  (see also: John 1:1-14; 10:17-18a)

Because Jesus is God, made flesh, He has both the power & authority to save not only Himself but all mankind as well!

“This is why the Father loves Me, because I am laying down My life so I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from My Father.” John 10:17-18 (HCSB)

“Did you give the horse its strength? Did you clothe its neck with a mane? Did you make him able to leap like a locust? Its majestic snorting is frightening! It paws with force and exults with vigor, then charges into battle; mocking at fear, unafraid, it does not shy away from the sword. But the rider’s quiver rattles over it, his gleaming spear and javelin.  Frenzied and eager, it devours the ground, scarcely believing the trumpet has sounded. At the sound of the shofar it whinnies: as from afar it scents battle, the roar of the chiefs and the shouting.” Job 39:19-25 (CJB)

In today’s chapter, the Lord asks for Job’s knowledge and understanding of eight of His creatures. Job is given a pop quiz concerning the birth of mountain goats & deer that live among treacherous cliffs. He speaks of the impossibility of taming wild donkeys and oxen. The Lord asks if Job has knowledge of the ostrich, which has wings but no wisdom, compassion, or understanding. He points out the wisdom of the hawk and eagles, and in today’s passage, the Lord describes the horse.

Speaking of horses, I grew up in Arkansas and Louisiana horse country. I appreciate the beauty of a horse. In the words of American orator Will Rogers, “There is nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse.” That being said, I also know how dangerous horses can be. A college friend of mine was killed when the horse he was riding was startled and bucked him off.

Horses under submission are very useful, but an un-submissive horse is dangerously unreliable, useful for nothing. The term horse trainers use for taming a horse is “making him meek.” Meekness is power under submission. When considering God’s description of the horse in today’s passage, I am reminded of myself as a young believer. I had a lot of energy and zealous passion, but I had to learn to submit to Jesus.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5 (NIV)

Jesus’s words were a quote from the Psalms and were intended to contrast those Israelites who made themselves meek to the Lord against those who rejected submission and pursued evil. If you remember, it was Israel’s refusal to submit to God that led to their being conquered and deported. God promised that if Israel repented, they would be restored to the land.

“For evildoers will be cut off, but those hoping in the Lord will inherit the land. Soon, the wicked will be no more; you will look for his place, and he won’t be there. But the meek will inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.” Psalm 37:9-11 (CJB)

Have you made yourself “meek” by placing yourself under submission to the Lord’s Word? Or are you still trying to do something big for God in your own way by your own power? When we submit and seek to do the Lord’s work the Lord’s way, we find ourselves resting in the Lord’s peace. God is teaching Job to be meek, surrendering himself to the Lord’s gracious “bridle” so he could be led and not try to seize the reigns.

“Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm: ‘Who is this, darkening my plans with his ignorant words? Stand up like a man and brace yourself; I will ask questions; and you, give the answers!’” Job 38:1-3 (CJB)

In reading Job, it is easy to get the impression that Satan is taking advantage of God and the Lord is passively standing by. It is as if God has been conned by the Devil, pick-pocketed, as it were, and robbed of His best follower. But that is not the case. Satan may be taking advantage of the situation, but he is not taking advantage of God. We must remember that it was God who brought Job into the conversation.

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, ‘From where do you come?’ So Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.’; Then 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, one who fears God and shuns evil?’” Job 1:6-8 (NASB)

So, now we see that it was God’s idea. It sounds cruel - as it no doubt felt to Job - but if God allowed it, Job’s suffering must have ultimately been a good thing. For one thing, at the pinnacle of his suffering, Job uttered these words:

“And to human beings, He said, ‘Look, to fear the Lord is wisdom!  Shunning evil is understanding!’” Job 28:28 (CJB)

We began this probe into Job’s story with a simple thought: FAITH is not FACT until it is TESTED. At the beginning of the book of Job, God declares that Job was “a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil.” Of course, it is easier to be blameless and upright when the times are good! But what if you stripped a man of all his worldly possessions and brought a man to the brink of death? That was basically Satan’s argument to God. Through it all, Job never stopped fearing God, nor did he ever embrace evil.  

In the beginning, Job’s faith was mainly a theory, but by the end, Job had the most valuable knowledge available. Job’s faith was the real thing. God knew it from the beginning, Satan learned it, and (most importantly) Job learned it, but Job still didn’t understand why all this was happening. I am certain he understood after the following conversation with the Lord!!

In today’s passage, the Lord says, “Who is this, darkening My plans with his ignorant words?”  It was God’s plan, not Satan’s, for Job to undergo such tribulation. Therefore, it was ultimately for good.  (Romans 8:28)

Do you feel like you are in the “olive press,” being squeezed for no apparent reason?  When what we believe is not what we feel, and we still hold on, that is when we truly know for certain that we’ve got the real stuff!

“Teach us what we should tell Him, for the darkness keeps us from organizing our case. Is He to be told that I will speak? Can a man speak at all when he is already swallowed up? Now people don’t see the light, which is bright in the sky; but then the wind blows and clears the clouds away. Out of the north comes a golden glow, fearsome majesty surrounding God. Shaddai, whom we cannot find, whose power is immense in His great righteousness does not pervert justice. This is why people fear Him; He does not consider those who think of themselves as wise.” Job 37:19-24 (CJB)

In today’s passage, Job’s friend Elihu takes one final stab and accuses Job. His basic ongoing indictment is that Job is undergoing judgment for his sin by the righteous Judge. As we remember, Elihu is the more mystical and spiritual of Job’s friends. But as far back as chapter 4, Elihu reveals the source of his theology: Satan.

“For a word was stealthily brought to me, my ear caught only a whisper of it. In passing thoughts flashing through visions at night, when sleep lies heavy on people, a shiver of horror came over me; it made all my bones tremble. Then a spirit passed in front of my face; the hair on my flesh stood on end. It stood still, but I couldn’t make out its appearance; yet the form stayed there before my eyes. Then I heard a subdued voice, ‘Can a human be seen by God as righteous? Can a mortal be pure before his maker? God doesn’t trust His own servants, He finds fault even with His angels; much more those living in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust.’” Job 4:12-19 (CJB)

I know it may be laboring that I continue to bring this up, but if we can pinpoint the source of Elihu’s counsel, we can comprehend the real agenda behind the conversation. The reader then must ask, “What is Satan trying to accomplish from this conversation?”  What is evil communicating? I believe Satan is envious of God’s affection towards humanity, and he cannot understand why God would condemn him to Hell yet choose to redeem sinful men & women.

Pay attention to Satan’s question in chapter 4:  “Can a human be seen by God as righteous? Can a mortal be pure before his maker? God doesn’t trust His own servants, He finds fault even with His angels; much more those living in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust.”  Job 4:17b-19 (CJB)

Compare that with Satan’s questioning in today’s passage: “Shaddai, whom we cannot find, whose power is immense in His great righteousness does not pervert justice. This is why people fear Him; He does not consider those who think of themselves as wise.” Job 37:23-24 (CJB)

Satan is telling his own story and trying to convince Job that they have common eternal destinations, so Job should just give up! Envy is pride wounded in competition, and Satan is envious and hates believers because we have attained, by God’s Grace, what he could not achieve, even with his great power and position.

“Those who have a godless heart harbor anger; even when God binds them, they do not cry for help. They die in their youth; their life ends among male cult prostitutes.  God rescues the afflicted by their affliction; He instructs them by their torment. Indeed, He lured you from the jaws of distress to a spacious and unconfined place.  Your table was spread with choice food. Yet now you are obsessed with the judgment due the wicked; judgment and justice have seized you. Be careful that no one lures you with riches; do not let a large ransom lead you astray. Can your wealth or all your physical exertion keep you from distress?” Job 36: 13-19 (HCSB)

Continuing from yesterday’s chapter, Elihu is proclaiming the goodness of God. Indeed, God is good, and for the most part, we find nothing wrong with Elihu’s proclamation, except for one majorly minor tidbit: Job is not being judged! So, while Elihu’s proclamations sound like praise, they expose a major error in his theology. Elihu’s faith (along with the rest of Job’s “friends”) could not comprehend the suffering of the righteous or the (worldly) prosperity of the wicked. He is not the only person in the Bible to wrestle with that concept. Consider these verses:

“Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You; Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?” Jeremiah 12:1 (NKJV)

“There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 8:14 (NKJV)

Our job is not to hold God accountable as if we could understand His ways and hold His wisdom and Lordship in contempt. Our job is to trust in His character (as articulated in His Word) and live obediently, knowing it will all make sense in eternity.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NKJV)

Yes, God resists the proud, but His greatest delight is when sinners turn to Him.

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10  (NKJV)

“For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8 (NKJV)

“Are you so convinced you are right, that you say, ‘I am more just than God’? For you ask what advantage is it to you, ‘How do I gain from not sinning?’” Job 35:1-3 (CJB)

When my wife and I moved from suburban Chicago to Southern California years ago, we were amazed at how many varieties of fruits and vegetables could grow in our backyard.  In Chicago, we only grew icicles. In the 1950s, my old So-Cal neighborhood was a fruit orchard; many of those original fruit trees were still scattered throughout the neighborhood. As a result, everyone in my neighborhood had more than enough oranges, lemons, walnuts, limes, pomegranates, etc., than they knew what to do with! The reason that the neighborhood has fresh fruit today is that someone planted seeds a long time ago.  

In today’s passage, Elihu rebukes Job for asking, “How do I gain from not sinning?” Job asks an honest question, especially if one cannot pinpoint the reason for their suffering. We have the benefit of flipping to the end of Job’s story.  From our perspective, we say, “Hold on, Job! It won’t be long until God restores even more than He allowed to be taken away.” But poor Job couldn’t see how his conditions would turn out. He was literally living on faith and trying to hold on to God’s Word, even when it didn’t feel right.

We would like to believe our faithfulness would be rewarded immediately by the way some sustained level of personal comfort or success. But sometimes, that faithfulness is never realized, at least in our lifetimes. Sometimes, we have to enlist the faith of a “patriarch.” That is, our faithfulness should set into motion habits and patterns of faithfulness that our children or grandchildren will implement. And they will see a level of blessing we only hoped to achieve. This is the story of Israel, leading up to Joshua’s leading Israel into the land of Canaan.

So, what does this all have to do with the fruit trees in my neighborhood and Elihu’s rebuke of Job’s question, “How do I gain from not sinning?” When we faithfully follow the Lord, He guides us by His Spirit. Our faithfulness is like good soil and His Spirit planting the good seed of God’s Word in us. If we continue in faith, God’s Word will develop roots, produce shoots and leaves, and, eventually, bear fruit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 (HCSB)

The benefit of holding on to God’s Word, even when it isn’t comfortable, is that God truly does reward faithfulness, just not always in the ways or time frame we expect. But the more we wait faithfully, the more we experience God’s faithfulness, which builds our endurance and deepens our trust in His Word. That deepened trust manifests itself in love, peace, patience, kindness, etc. It takes soil, seed, water, manure, and time. In time, Job’s faith was realized. That is what Job gained from not sinning in the midst of his suffering. Faith isn’t fact until it’s tested, so hold on and let faith work!