Isaiah 6 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. Isaiah 6:2 – In a vision, Isaiah gets the blessing of seeing the throne room of Heaven. Within the chapter are so many pieces that I’d love to write about, even one of my favorite lines in scripture, “Here I am! Send me.” Studying though over this verse, I found a quote from Spurgeon that helped me understand the posture of these angels, and it helped me understand the posture I should take today in my service of the Lord. “Adoration must exceed activity.” The seraphim had six wings. Four were used to humbly covered their face and feet to conceal themselves so they would not look upon the glory of God. Only two though were used to fly, ready to serve the Lord and His call. In our life with God, we often can often find ourselves using more of our “wings” to serve and be active for Him, but the angels here have it right. More of ourselves ought to be given over to the humble adoration and worship of God than action for Him. Yes, we are to be the hands a feet of Jesus in this world, actively serving Him and spreading the gospel. Yet if we are not first and foremost finding ourselves in a posture of worship of our God, we have missed the mark. If then you were to look at your life with God over the past week, has it been filled more with activity for God or adoration of God? Let today be a day that is certainly used to serve our God, but let it first and primary be filled with a heart from us saying “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.” I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: Why do you think God desires our adoration more than our activity?
Link To Full Chapter
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Isaiah 5 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? Isaiah 5:4 - Imagine a vineyard owner who truly loved his vineyard. He made sure it had water, sun, shade, and protection from pests. Everything one could think of that someone could do for a vineyard, he did. Yet, even after all that love, the vineyard yielded bad grapes. The original meaning behind “wild grapes” was one of bitterness and poisonous berries. The question of our verse then arises? What more could the vineyard owner have done to grow good grapes rather than poisonous berries? This question is being asked by God, who is the vineyard owner and caretaker, over His vineyard, which was His people. God poured love, attention, and blessing into His people, hoping to find choice fruit coming from them. Yet instead all He got was “wild grapes,” poisonous, sinful fruit. In our story, what fruit is God getting from us? None can say that we have not been cared for well by Him. From safety, to community, to salvation, to the air in our lungs, God has cared well for us. If then all He is getting from us is wild grapes, that’s a problem. Look deeply as what produce is coming from your life, and ask if this would be pleasing to the Lord and useful for His glory. I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: Why do you think God desires good fruit to come from us?
Link To Full Chapter
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Isaiah 4 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. Isaiah 4:2 – Chapter 3 was a detailed description of the struggle that was to come for God’s people due to their choice of sinfulness. Yet, even in that season of struggle, there was a promised hope for them to look forward to. In the day of the Lord, when Christ returns, there will be a beautiful and glorious future ahead for those who faithfully follow Him. While a short chapter, we see God provide new labels His people will carry once His Righteous Branch, Jesus Christ, comes. Before the labels were things like sinful, adulterous, prideful, and rotten. Now they will be called holy, they will be washed of all filth, they will be shaded from the heat and sheltered from the storms. In Christ, the promise we can lean into is a relationship of security, shade, shelter, and sanctification. Know then today that while we too are still looking forward to the day of the Lord, when He returns and makes all things new and right, we can abide in His love and presence with us and enjoy the fruits of our Savior. We can find the safety in life’s storms because of Jesus. We can find the washing of our sin through Jesus. We can find the refreshing shade in the heat of life within Jesus. What we need, we can find in Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: What else is something we find within a relationship with Jesus?
Link To Full Chapter
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Isaiah 3 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
The Lord has taken his place to contend; he stands to judge peoples. Isaiah 3:13 – Imagine being in court for a crime you committed. The prosecutor stands up and proclaims your wrongs and his belief that you ought to be punished for your wrongs. Now though it’s up to the judge to decide what to do, yet…what if the prosecutor is also the judge? If the prosecutor and the judge are the same person, you know you’ll be found guilty. Here God is declaring Himself both prosecutor and judge. He is shedding light on the sinfulness of Judah, and revealing the coming punishment on such sin. As you read over the chapter, you see such a level of despair ahead for Judah, and if only they would have acknowledged God’s reign, things would likely have been different. Can we then today acknowledge that God is still both prosecutor and judge? If then that’s the case, and God sees all our life, and God is the one that deals out the judgement…ought we not live in such a way that is pleasing to Him? Our obedience and submission to God ought not to be out of fear of punishment, yet let’s acknowledge the majesty and power of the God we follow and treat our relationship with Him with such understanding. While we may be saved from our sin, God will still allow us to taste the bitter consequences of our choices of sin in this life when we continue to embrace it. Choose to embrace a faithful life instead. Understand God’s power, learn His ways, and seek to remain faithful to the path He leads. I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: If God is our Judge, how can you find joy in knowing He carries that title?
Link To Full Chapter
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Isaiah 2 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord. Isaiah 2:5 – Isaiah begins this chapter by proclaiming the wondrous reign of God in the last days. Where He will be established above all other things in this world, and all will bow down and worship Him. While this is the promised future, Isaiah is seeking to open the eyes of his listeners to the truth of how different their life is currently from this. They were not bowing down to God, but worshiping idols created by their hands. So the message to the listeners was to let go of the sin, and begin living now as we will in the last days…humbly before King Jesus in the light of the Lord. I love this quote from Spurgeon on this passage, “You know that, if you were to go to Australia in a good sound ship, you would get there even if you were always to lie down in the hold among the luggage and the rats; but I should like to go in a first-class cabin, and I do not see why you and I, if we are going to heaven, should not go first-class.” We are headed towards Heaven. We are heading towards a time when Jesus will reign over all and every knee will bow before Him. Why not live in the light of the Lord now, like we will for the rest of time, rather than living in the darkness of sin today. Yes, we can live a dark, depressing Christian life of no joy and still saying yes to the sin that so easily entangles, or we can live “first class.” Live in the light, live as Jesus calls us to in scripture to live. There we will find the joy, strength, peace, and rest that God offers each and every day. This all begins though with a choice of who you will bend your knee to today. Yourself? Something of this world? Satan? Or Jesus? Walk in the light, and get practice today bending knee to Jesus, for one day that will be the posture we all will take. I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: What’s an idol that people today bend their knee to?
Link To Full Chapter
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Isaiah 1 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. Isaiah 1:11 – Welcome to a new study together of a new book, Isaiah. With 66 chapters, we’ll be in this for a couple months, so what’s happening? Isaiah is sent to speak to the nation of Judah about their sinfulness and walking away from the Lord’s ways. Here in verse 11 we see the Lord speaking through Isaiah to His people. At first it seems odd for God to say such things. That He has had enough of the sacrifices, that He doesn’t delight in them, and these offerings mean nothing to Him despite a multitude of sacrifices. Now hold on, didn’t God command them to give such sacrifices to Him? Why would He be saying such things then? Well imagine someone activity stealing from you every day. You tell them to stop, but they just keep stealing. One day though they bring you a chocolate bar as a gift, hoping to make you happy with them again, yet they continue to steal from you daily after it. The chocolate bar is nice for sure, but it means nothing if they didn’t stop stealing from you like you asked. The people of Judah were sinning against God constantly, and in their sin, they sought to give God sacrifices to make Him stop punishing them, but they never stopped their sinning. What good is a sacrifice for sin if the sin never stops? For us today, know God loves seeing us do things like going to church, giving our offerings, reading scripture, and serving the least of these. Yet…if we are purposefully continuing in sin somehow, know God isn’t not pleased with the above actions. In fact, the very things we are doing for Him can become an abomination to Him. First set aside the sin, then bring your offering to the Lord. What is it to the Lord if you bring a multitude of religious actions to Him if sin is still close to your heart? I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: What is a religious action someone may do to seek to please God while they are in their sin?
Link To Full Chapter
https://www.esv.org/Isaiah+1/
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Job 42 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Job 42:10 – After speaking with Job, and Job speaking in repentance back to the Lord, God turns his attention to Job’s three friends. God makes it clear that He was displeased with them and their words. They spoke of God incorrectly and this was something that needed to be made right. They were to take seven bulls and seven rams, go to Job, and offer a burnt offering to God with these sacrifices. After that, Job was to pray for them and God would accept Job’s prayer for his friends. Now in verse ten we see that God restored the fortunes of Job…but when? Was it after the whirlwind? Was it after Job himself repented? No, God restored the fortunes after Job prayed for his friends. Something clear in scripture is God’s desire for reconciliation and healing amongst His people. God’s design here was to bring Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar back in a right relationship with one another, and until the four were willing to do this, all four would have been in the wrong and Job would have still been in his loss. Let us prioritize the healing of broken relationships. Know God’s heart is not to be at odds with one another and to have a lack of forgiveness for one another. We are called to love one another. This doesn’t mean we have to be buddy-buddy with them, but we are called to seek peace out as far as it depends on us. And maybe the reason we aren’t in a state of peace within life is because we aren’t being faithful in this command to seek peace with those we are at odds with. Who then is someone you need to find reconciliation with and how could that process begin today? I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: Why do you think God cares that we are at peace with one another?
Link To Full Chapter
https://www.esv.org/Job+42/
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Job 41 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. Job 41:11 – This chapter holds the last remarks of God towards Job. Again God here is establishing His greatness over the greatness of Job. Here we see God speaks of the Leviathan. While we aren’t certain exactly what is meant here, it is some large, powerful creature that man could never dream to control. It could even be referring to Satan himself, and how man could never control or overpower Satan on his own. Yet our God can. Everything under Heaven is His and everything is under His control. While this passage does a fantastic job of highlighting the might of our God, something though that isn’t included in this chapter, or any of the other chapters of God speaking to Job, is anything about why all this happened. Job is never clued into the whole God/devil conversation in the first chapters. At least from what we see is scripture, Job never learns why all this suffering came his way. While that may seem unfair and unjust to us, let us take a moment to reflect on what God had been saying to Job in all these chapters…who is man to question the works of such a mighty God? God is so grand, and man is so not. God sees all, we see so little. God’s hand can control the universe, we barely can control ourselves sometimes. Let us then be willing to be content when we can make no sense of what’s going on in our life. If God is moving, yet we can’t make sense of anything, let’s humble ourselves before Him by letting Him work without our opposition. Trust He loves you, and His glory is going to be found through this. I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: Why do you think God never told Job about what happened in the first few chapters?
Link To Full Chapter
https://www.esv.org/Job+41/
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Job 40 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? Job 40:9 – The Lord has shown up on the scene within the story of Job and is speaking directly to Job. As we read over the words of God to Job, it can certainly have a serious, almost judgmental tense to it all. Yet remember where Job was at in his agony. He felt the presence of God had abandoned him, and if God would only show up, he would use his words to argue his case with God. Now, God has shown up, establishing His presence with Job was never removed. God though is seeking to remind Job that while His presence is being felt, and He is here with Job, God and Job are not on the same level. Asking questions like, “Do you have an arm as strong as me?” or, “Can you dress yourself with the majesty of Heaven”? Of course Job couldn’t, and God wasn’t seeking to humiliate Job either, but simply seeking to remind Job of who he was listening too. Do we need such a reminder today? Do we need a reminder of the grandeur and power of God? Maybe we too have gotten comfortable with feeling like we are equals with God and can handle our relationship with Him as buddies, or even worse His authority telling Him what to do. Yet if God showed up in a violent storm speaking to us with thunder like He did with Job here, I betcha we to would cover our mouths with our hands and be still. Let us remember today the greatness of our God. Let us tomorrow in worship at church remember the greatness of our God. Let that remembrance today, tomorrow, and beyond shape your walk with Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: What reminds you of God’s greatness? What is a space you need to remember His greatness in?
Link To Full Chapter
https://www.esv.org/Job+40/
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Job 39 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high? Job 39:26-27 – In His continued remarks to Job, God begins to look at different creatures that Job would have been familiar with and asked Job some questions concerning them. God asked Job if he knew when all the mountain goats gave birth. God asked if Job was able to make the powerful, wild ox obey him. God asked if Job was the one that gave the horse its might. God asked if Job was the one who made it possible for the hawk to soar in the sky. Each time, if Job were to have given an answer, the answer would have been “No.” Job didn’t know these things and Job didn’t possess the power over such creatures…yet God did. God sees each goat and can overpower even the mightiest of beasts. God is the one who gave strength to the horse and flight to the hawk. If then we don’t have the knowledge, wisdom, power, or strength over any of these things, let’s place our trust in the one that does. While we can’t control the winds or the waves, nor make the sun rise, nor control the beasts of the earth, these are simple things to our God. Let us lean not on our own understanding, for our understanding falls far short of God’s. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and find yourself trusting in the only one that is truly over all. I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: What is something in life that God has control over, but you have no control over?
Link To Full Chapter
https://www.esv.org/Job+39/
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Job 38 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Job 38:4 – God now speaks into this whole situation. Yet, without directly answering Job’s or his friend’s answers, God quickly establishes His greatness over theirs. This chapter is filed with questions like verse 4. Questions that could only be answered with, “Only you Lord,” “No I haven’t,” or just plain silence. Take note that God isn’t here seeking to humiliate Job by all this, God though is seeking to show He is far different than Job or any of the miserable comforters that have surrounded him this whole time. God is far greater, far wiser, and far more powerful than any man. With such a vast separation between our might and God’s, and our understanding and God’s, God is calling us to trust Him. If we can’t even make the sun rise one day, then let’s trust the One who has each and every day since creation. While it can be difficult to let go of control, reading over a chapter like this one can help us see that God can handle things far better than we can. Trust whatever it is to the Lord and let Him work how only He can. I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: What is something that when you see it or think of it causes you to awe at God’s greatness?
Link To Full Chapter
https://www.esv.org/Job+38/
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Job 37 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
Then the beasts go into their lairs, and remain in their dens. From its chamber comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds. By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast. He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning. They turn around and around by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world. Job 37:8-12 – In this last chapter of Elihu’s speech, we see him seeking to establish a truth and command for Job to follow. Job needs to submit to God like all creation does. The beast listens to God and goes into their dens when He says to. The winds are under His authority. The cold and ice are from His breath, and the storms are His workings. All these things turn around by His hand to accomplish His command. If the lions and the waves and the storms submit to God, then Job should too. Job would have wholeheartedly agreed with this truth, yet what his friends didn’t see what that he was already doing this. How about us today? Are we submitting to the Lord today? Does God have the power over the waves and the winds, but not allowed to have authority in your life? Does He have a heart from you that will listen to what He says and that will obey what He says? When we declare Jesus as our Lord, we are finding ourselves in a position under His authority. How He commands the rest of creation is how He gets to command our story. Yet do we live in such a way that defies such authority? While God has the power in our life regardless, do we fight against it, seeking to declare ourselves the king of our story? If you are a follower of Jesus, know the king of your story is no longer you, but Him. Allow the One who truly is Lord of your life to have that role in your life. I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: Why do you think people pushback against the idea of submission to God?
Link To Full Chapter
https://www.esv.org/Job+37/
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Job 36 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
Bear with me a little, and I will show you, for I have yet something to say on God's behalf. Job 36:2 – Elihu must have been able to tell his listeners were getting tired of his longwinded, wordy speech so he begs them to bear with him a little longer. When talking with people about God and about salvation, we must be willing to read the situation and not overload them with exhausting speeches. Spurgeon speaks to this idea, “All our wits should be set to work to put gospel teaching into such a form that it will be the better received. Assuredly, short and pointed addresses are more likely to reach the heart than long and dreary sermons.” While I realize the majority of readers of the devotions are not giving sermons, I long that the believers who are reading this are sharing the gospel with others. Be willing to speak what needs spoken and also be willing to be silent when words are no longer needed. Sometimes what can push people away from the Gospel is not the Word of God but all the words from us. Use all your “wit” to learn the Gospel message and to be able to share it with others clearly. God loves them, the sin in their life has eternally separated them from God, but God sent Jesus to take care of their sin by dying on the cross. Anyone who believes that Jesus rose from the dead, declares Him as Lord, and turns from their sin to follow Him instead will be saved. Go out now and share the good news with those who need to hear the good news. If there is more that you want to say, but would take away from the good news, ask yourself if it truly needs to be heard by them at that moment? I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: When was the last time you heard a long-winded sermon and the result was walking away not remembering anything? (Don’t say this past Sunday at FBC Augusta lol!)
Link To Full Chapter
https://www.esv.org/Job+36/
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Job 35 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out; they call for help because of the arm of the mighty. But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night, who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’ Job 35:9-11 – Continuing his speech to Job, Elihu brings up a unique point about man’s heart when he cries out to the Lord for help. When saying “none says, ‘Where is God my Maker,” he isn’t saying that no one every cries out for help, but that no one truly cries out to the Lord in sincerity. They are just looking for a way out of their trouble, and will take whatever path arises out, even if that path isn’t the God they cried out to. For Elihu, this is why Job wasn’t hearing from God, because Job wasn’t being sincere in his desire for God’s help. Job just wanted out of the pain. While once again we have to remember that Elihu had so much wrong about Job and his situation, this concept he brings up can have something we can glean off it. What is our sincerity level when we cry out to God for help? Are we only looking for a means out of the pain, or are we allowing this painful situation to be an environment that we can draw closer to our Redeemer? I think how we can discover the answer to that question is asking what do we do with God after we are rescued from the pain? Do we further our pursuit of Him and declare His wonderful works to the world, or do we go back to living our life without a looking to Him until the next trial comes? God is seeking after followers that will follow Him before, during, and after hardships. Ones that will acknowledge Him as their Maker, as the one that gives them a song in the night, and the one that gives wisdom at all times, not just in the hard times. Let that be said of us today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: What does your pursuit of God look like today?
Link To Full Chapter
https://www.esv.org/Job+35/
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Job 34 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding: far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the Almighty that he should do wrong. Job 34:10 – Ehilu, still in his long-winded speech, now seeks to teach/remind Job an everlasting truth about God. That God does no wrong. If God does no wrong, then all this suffering can’t be His fault, so the only other person in the equation would be Job, so it must be His wickedness that caused all this. Once again, Job’s unique situation is not being considered here, and as a result he is being falsely condemned of sin that he did not commit. This truth though about God is one we can embrace and take to heart during all seasons in life. Our God does no wrong, nor is He wicked in anyway. While that is a simple message to read today, sometimes it can be a hard one to accept. When we see the horrors in our world or the hurt in our lives, we can begin to question this truth about God. Yet what if we held fast to this truth about God, and allowed it to open our eyes to other factors at play in why such wickedness is present? Maybe we would see a sin in our story that is causing such hurt, maybe we’d see the bigger picture God is working for, maybe we’d see the hand of the enemy we were blinded to. If scripture says something is true, we can bank on it being true, even if life seems to speak a different message. Allow then that truth of scripture, whatever it may be, to become a lens you see the world through. As you look through such a lens, we will see over and over how true the messages of scripture are. I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: What is another scriptural truth, that when believed, can reshape how you see the world?
Link To Full Chapter
https://www.esv.org/Job+34/
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Job 33 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
…then man prays to God, and he accepts him; he sees his face with a shout of joy, and he restores to man his righteousness. He sings before men and says: ‘I sinned and perverted what was right, and it was not repaid to me. He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.’ Job 33:26-28 – Elihu, the young, prideful man speaking is now speaking directly to Job. While boastful and conceited, and misunderstanding Job’s situation like the three miserable comforters, Elihu does drop a beautiful truth here within his windy speech. He shows what life is like beyond a prayer of repentance to God. That God accepts him, and that God is joyful about seeing his face. God will restore those who come to Him to right standing with Him so they can freely be in His presence. The person will sing with a glad heart how their sin, no matter how vile it may have been, is no longer being held against them. Hell is not their future, but the God of all light and holiness is. Know today this promise still stands for any and all who call upon the name of the Lord. Pray, tell the Lord of your choice to turn from your sin, and you want to follow Him and His ways instead. Know you will be heard and know you will be saved. I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: Who do you know that needs Jesus’ salvation?
Link To Full Chapter
https://www.esv.org/Job+33/
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Job 32 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
For I am full of words; the spirit within me constrains me. Job 32:18 – Elihu finally speaks. Who is Elihu you ask? Apparently he was another guy sitting with Job and Job’s three friends during this whole back and forth debate. He was much younger though than the other four in the room so he stayed quiet letting the older men speak as a sign of respect. Yet, after listening to the back and forth dialogue and seeing that it was going nowhere, and with the words Elihu thought should be said not being said, Elihu explodes with words and anger. He speaks for six chapters straight, not giving space for anyone to respond or speak. He has the longest speech out of anyone in the book, including God himself. Finally though, Job and three friends had something to agree on, this kid was out of line. Let us take note of how we speak, when we speak, and what we speak when we do speak up. We’ll touch on the content of Elihu’s speech over the next few days, but here, let us learn that sometimes stillness and silence are needed. Speaking up isn’t always the wisest option. This isn’t giving us an out when God is calling us to speak into a situation, it’s reminding us that sometimes God is calling us to remain quiet. If anger, lack of respect, or pride is the fuel behind the speech, it would be better to remain silent. Let us not tear down one another with our words or give our Savior a poor representation with our speech. Be willing to listen to the Spirit’s lead on such things. If He says speak, then speak. If He says be still, be still. Allow your habit to be a searching of His leading. I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: When was there a time you spoke and you wish you didn’t say what you did?
Link To Full Chapter
https://www.esv.org/Job+32/
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Job 31 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
Does not he see my ways and number all my steps? Job 31:4 – We gain a better understanding of Job’s confusion and frustration in this final appeal. “Does not the Lord see my life and how I act and how I walk,” is essentially what Job is asking here. The chapter then has verse after verse that begin with “If I have…” If I have walked with falsehood, if I have rejected the cause of a manservant, if I have look lustfully at another woman, if I had made gold my trust. If Job had done any or all these things, then he would understand why God would be dealing with him so severely, the confusion for Job was he knew he hadn’t sinned in any of these ways. Did the Lord not see that Job’s life didn’t include any of those things? Of course God saw, God knew full well the righteous life of Job. And God also sees our life to. He sees every holy step we take in pursuit of Him and He sees every faithless step we take after sin. God sees. Acknowledge this ever-present sight of God and let it change our relationship to sinful things. If God truly does see, would you still allow your hands to go there? If God knows, would you still allow your mind to dwell there? God isn’t seeking to scare us into submission here with His presence, but He is inviting us to change our ways. If the One who loves us most that we love most is right here with us, then why would we say yes to something that would hurt our relationship with them? While God sees, let your actions show the Lord you also see Him and are choosing Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: What is a thing in your life right now that you wish God’s eyes didn’t take note of? Why?
Link To Full Chapter
https://www.esv.org/Job+31/
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Job 30 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, and in his disaster cry for help? Job 30:24 – Job has now been in his place of suffering for a while. The image given in this chapter is a man, cast out into the city dump, with a decaying body, who is mocked by the children of worthless men. Such a vast contrast to the honor and prosperity Job had that we see unpacked in the previous chapter. Here, in this deep place of suffering, Job is crying out to the Lord for help, yet what he is receiving in return from the Lord is silence. When suffering is deep, and truly the only possible outcome that you can see for yourself is death at the end of it, and your cries for rescue are not answered…that’s a pretty sad space to be in. Let us though be willing to fast forward to the end of Job’s story. God does answer and God’s blessing is above and beyond anything Job had before. When then we experience silence from the Lord, don’t take it as evidence for God’s displeasure in you or his lack of care for you. God hears our cries and He is working. Yes, sometimes God will use silence to open our eyes to a sin within our life that needs to be addressed and repented of, but even in that God is working to bring your focus back on Him rather than the sin you’ve been saying yes to. If then you are receiving silence from God like Job is here, be willing to check your heart and see if any sin is presence. If so, bring that to the Lord. If not, then be willing to trust the God you’re calling out to has a purpose for His silence. Don’t confuse silence with stillness. I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: What is a way someone can find time with God even in a season where God seems hard to find?
Link To Full Chapter
https://www.esv.org/Job+30/
Daily DEVO 2655
Job 29 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO
The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know. Job 29:13-16 – In this chapter, Job longs for his life prior to this whole season he was currently in. When God’s closeness was felt by him and when blessings flowed like steams of oil. To contrast all the defaming ways his three friends spoke about Job, he uses this space to remind them the of the sort of man he was prior to all the suffering. A man who would search out the cause of the needy and stand up for the widow. A man who would be eyes for the blind and feet for the lame. Not the wicked man his friends assumed he must be due to such heavy sufferings coming to Job. What we see though from Job is a reminder of what our life ought to look like when we are so richly blessed. We ought to be a blessing to others. If we have eyes, let’s use them to help others see what they are not. If we have feet, let’s help those that are stuck right now. If we have strength, let’s use it for those who have none. Being “richly blessed” doesn’t just have to mean financially. So much of what we have would be considered a massive blessing to have by someone else. Whether it’s the example of Job, or other individuals in scripture who used their blessings for others, or even God Himself, let’s imitate such an example within our own life. Let’s be a blessing to others since we have been so richly blessed. I love you, but Jesus loves you more - Mac
Question To Ponder: What sort of message about Christ are we giving when we don’t share our blessings?
Link To Full Chapter
https://www.esv.org/Job+29/
Daily DEVO 2654