FRIDAY, 8/15/14 POETRY. Job 37 (Page 0581 in the TLASB) “God’s First Language?” (By Barry) WORSHIP: There are several songs from the Passion 2014 Conference that happened earlier this year that God has REALLY used to speak to me lately. This is another one of them! “Don’t Ever Stop!” Chris Tomlin https://youtube/watch?v=jF-7XULw-vI SCRIPTURE: blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Job&c=37&t=NLT HAVE YOU MISSED ANY PREVIOUS EPISODES? HERE ARE SOME HIGHLIGHTS! ---Job was a man who was truly living for the Lord, and he tried to honor Him in everything he did. ---God was proud of Job, calling him the most righteous person in the world. ---Satan challenged God, and told him he could easily make Job sin. God gave Satan permission to test Job. ---Satan caused Job’s life to fall apart. He killed all ten of Job’s children, caused his wife and friends to turn against him, destroyed his wealth, and even inflicted him with a disease. ---Job had no idea why any of this was happening. He remained true to the Lord, but had a LOT of questions and doubts. ---Job’s friends showed up to comfort him, and did a pretty good job in the beginning. But soon, they began to wonder out loud if Job was actually being punished by God, and need to confess some secret sin. Much of the book of Job turns into these speeches by Job’s friends, and his response to them. —A few weeks ago, Elihu showed up. He was much younger than Job’s other friends, and he was just dying to talk. Elihu, like Job’s other friends, was wrong about Job but he did have some great thoughts for us to think about. We have been looking at his speeches, and seeing things he got right, along with some things he probably didn’t. He has a LOT to say in today’s reading. What else can Elihu teach us today? TODAY’S EPISODE: Elihu has really grabbed my attention today. 1 “My heart pounds as I think of this. It trembles within me. 2 Listen carefully to the thunder of God’s voice as it rolls from his mouth. 3 It rolls across the heavens, and his lightning flashes in every direction. 4 Then comes the roaring of the thunder— the tremendous voice of his majesty. He does not restrain it when he speaks. 5 God’s voice is glorious in the thunder. We can’t even imagine the greatness of his power. 6 “He directs the snow to fall on the earth and tells the rain to pour down. 7 Then everyone stops working so they can watch his power. 8 The wild animals take cover and stay inside their dens. 9 The stormy wind comes from its chamber, and the driving winds bring the cold. 10 God’s breath sends the ice, freezing wide expanses of water. 11 He loads the clouds with moisture, and they flash with his lightning. 12 The clouds churn about at his direction. They do whatever he commands throughout the earth. 13 He makes these things happen either to punish people or to show his unfailing love. 14 “Pay attention to this, Job. Stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God! 15 Do you know how God controls the storm and causes the lightning to flash from his clouds? 16 Do you understand how he moves the clouds with wonderful perfection and skill? 17 When you are sweltering in your clothes and the south wind dies down and everything is still, 18 he makes the skies reflect the heat like a bronze mirror. Can you do that? 19 “So teach the rest of us what to say to God. We are too ignorant to make our own arguments. 20 Should God be notified that I want to speak? Can people even speak when they are confused? 21 We cannot look at the sun, for it shines brightly in the sky when the wind clears away the clouds. 22 So also, golden splendor comes from the mountain of God. He is clothed in dazzling splendor. 23 We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty; but even though he is just and righteous, he does not destroy us. 24 No wonder people everywhere fear him. All who are wise show him reverence.” What do you think of these two quotes? First… “God’s first language is nature.” (Henri Nouwen) Secondly… “I believe in Christ like I believe in the sun, not just because I see it, but by it I can see everything else.” (C.S. Lewis) In today’s passage, Elihu reminds Job (and us!) of the power of nature, and how God speaks to us through it. I LOVE nature, don’t you? I love going to the lake, I love being in the mountains, and most of all, there is something incredible about the ocean, and the beach. I can’t be around those waves without being so overwhelmed at what God has made, and how He completely is in charge of every last detail. When I was a kid, my sister told me that rain was God crying, and thunder represented Him having a temper tantrum! I believed that for quite awhile. The truth is, God is much bigger than even nature. Many times, when I am in nature, an old song by a guy named Randy Stonehill comes to mind. I think the lyrics are amazing: “When I Look to the Mountains” When I look to the mountains I can see you there In the wild churning ocean I can feel you there In the warm summer breeze Your voice is in the air Oh my Lord You reflect Your perfection In the smallest leaf In your vastness You render time A captured thief I stand naked before You In amazed belief Oh my Lord Oh my Lord my Creator You have captured my heart With a love I can never repay And I fall to my knees to try to Tell You what words could never say Though You hold all creation In Your holy hands Though the world is as weightless As a grain of sand Still You told me my name And gave me strength to stand Oh my Lord All around us, if we just open our eyes, we can see amazing evidence of an Artist at work. Can you see it? PRAYER: Ask God to help you listen to His “first language” today. Worship Him through nature!
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 04:00:41 +0000
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