Sep 19 2024

Today's Bible Verse

Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

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Before this verse, Eliphaz tells Job, his friend, that he must be guilty of some sin, even though Job's innocence is certain. Eliphaz's words to Job were ill-timed because they were used to wrongly imply Job's guilt, but his thoughts after condemning Job, including today's verse, ring true for us today. There is no gain to God if we are righteous or blameless in our lives.

The Lord is fully sufficient without us. There is no way we could ever find the Lord to be indebted to us; He has done so much that we will never fully comprehend His goodness to us. The Lord is not lucky to have us on His team, nor is he pining for our hearts. Nothing about Him will change, even if every person on Earth rejected Him.

The Lord is infinite in His perfection, and He is completely without need. He is fully satisfied in Himself and does not need us. Without Him, however, we are lost and unable to live properly. We are the ones who need Him—not the other way around. We need Him for our very breath, we trace our creation back to Him, and we rely on His mercies for forgiveness and love.

But oh, how the Lord delights when we call to Him! He is pleased with His servants who strive after Him, and He looks on the faithful with gladness. Even though He does not need us, He chooses to come into fellowship with us not for His pleasure, but for our own.

We have a God who invited us to become His children, even though such an invitation came at the cost of His own Son. Think about the love that the Lord must show us to welcome us into His Kingdom, even when He does not need us to be there.

Are there people in your life with whom you have nothing to gain from having a relationship with? Think about showing them the same kind of charity that God has shown you and me.

Today's Prayer

Dear Lord, you are so good to me. Thank you for listening to me and hearing me always. Thank you for making a way for me to have a relationship with you, even when you did not need it to be satisfied. Thank you for welcoming me with open arms, and help me respond to others in the same way. In Jesus' name, amen.

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Sep 18 2024

Yesterday's Bible Verse

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

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Yesterday's Bible study

In this verse of Hebrews, the writer is paraphrasing Habakkuk, who is emphasizing the importance of faith among the righteous. The Lord is pleased when we choose to have faith in Him, and we should seek to always be growing in our faith.

Living by faith means we rest knowing that God's promises are true—even when it seems like they aren't. It is what steadies us when we go through difficult times or find ourselves confused. Faith in the Lord's goodness and love for us is what helps us remain tender to His voice and gives us the strength to continue following the Lord in all circumstances.

The Lord takes faith very seriously. If we do not have faith, the writer of Hebrews says, then the Lord will not have any pleasure in us. It does not matter if we do good things if we do not do them unto the Lord because He is concerned primarily that we do things unto Him out of loving obedience. He can see through us when we do things for external recognition instead of out of love. He knows our real motivation, and if it is not faith, it is not pleasing to Him.

We are able to grow in our faith on a daily basis because the Lord has given us many resources. Christian fellowship, reading the Bible, and an active prayer life are among them. We can ask the Lord to show us thoughts that drift away from faith and veer into questioning His love or goodness. When He does, we can lift those thoughts up to Him, over and over again, and in time these thought patterns will break.

We can take comfort in the fact that because the Lord wants us to be ever-growing in our faith, He will help us get there. We can begin to pray for the Lord to give us opportunities to exercise faith, and He will answer. We can have a faithful expectation that He will honor our efforts to become as He has designed us to be.

Yesterday's Prayer

Dear Lord, I thank you so much for the faith that you have given me. I want to grow my faith, exercising it on new levels and growing deeper in my relationship with you. Give me opportunities to put on a new level of faith today. In Jesus' name, amen.


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