The Joy of Glory

Discovering endless joy in the boundless glory of God…

Month: April, 2014

April 9, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 28

Job 28 (click here)
Man puts his hand to the flinty rock and overturns mountains by the roots. 10 He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing. 11 He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle, and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light. 12 But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? (Job 28:9-12)

…Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding. (Job 28:28)

Reflection
How often do we mistake knowledge for wisdom? Job lists marvelous technological accomplishments which mankind has achieved by the power of intellect…yet despite all these “advances” we are no wiser.

Is this not true amidst our “advanced” culture. We have seen so many advances in technology over the past several decades. Everywhere you turn, there is another celebration of human accomplishment. We have come so far!…but have we really?

Our world is still one covered in brokenness… and more so than ever before. The 20th century saw the greatest technological advances in history and the greatest human atrocities. For all our increased knowledge we are no wiser.

Wisdom cannot be found in us. It must come from outside us. Wisdom comes from God. The good news is that he is a gracious giver of wisdom to those who humble themselves and seek it in him instead of in themselves. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him (James 1:5).”

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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April 8, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 27

Job 27 (click here)
Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. 6 I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days. (Job 27:5-6)

Reflection
Job will never agree with his friends that he is being punished for some hidden sin. To have a relationship of integrity with God is more valuable to him than life itself. His friends say, “Repent and you will have favorable circumstances again,” but Job says, “I haven’t sinned.”

Let’s imagine for just a moment that Job did what his friends asked. He repented (even though he had not sinned) in order to experience God’s good gifts again. If he did that… he would actually be proving Satan’s accusation in chapter 1, namely, that Job only follows God because of God’s good gifts.

Job will not try to manipulate God! He will not give into his friends who are actually serving as tempters on behalf of Satan. No. He will hold fast to his integrity and value God above all!

Temptation to sin can come from anywhere…even through people attempting to give us “Godly” counsel. Job was able to spot the temptation because he knew the Lord intimately and he knew he’d done nothing to harm that relationship. We will be able to spot and fight temptation more effectively when we know the Lord more intimately.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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April 7, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 26

Job 26 (click here)
Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand? (Job 26:14)

Reflection
Job has had enough! He cuts Bildad’s last speech short and we will hear no more from these “friends.” They have tried to explain the ways of God, but Job reminds them that we only see the outskirts of his ways. Yes, God has revealed himself, but he has also concealed himself… and there is much we do not know about his purposes.

God has revealed enough of himself for us to truly trust him, but not so much of himself for us to exhaustively explain him!

We hear enough of his thunder to know that he is powerful, good, and right… but we do not see enough to always know when, where, and why his lightning strikes.

None of this means that we cannot know God or have confidence about who he is. When we say that there is much we do not know about his ways and purposes… we do not mean that we don’t know who he is! He has made himself known… supremely in Jesus. We know WHO, but we don’t always know WHY… the irony is that if you truly know WHO he is, then you are more ok with not always knowing WHY.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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